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For a long, long while (more than two years) we've been proactively "editorializing" the questions and answers people type into our site. To fix titles, spelling, punctuation, etc, etc.
However...well, I'm definitley not the guy who knows how to make 100K+ members happy :) It's not what I do for a living, and to be honest, this is all new to me. And given the recent (new members, obviously intelligent people, etc) who've all complained about the policies here, we're going to try it differently.
So, starting today, my staff (and me, of course) will be backing off from editing questions. If it says "help" we'll still take a whack at it, or if it's "please answer" etc, but other than those extremely vague examples, we won't touch it.
Thoughts? Bad idea, good idea?
The truth and fact is, that the adults on this site who are more experienced and can give meaningful and helpful answers will not even bat an eyelid at hard-to-read answers. This includes l337 and CAPS typing. You will mostly get answers from kids who can give good advice, but you will be missing out on an experienced point of view.
Why should they waste their time if you can't be bothered getting everyone to understand your problem? For adults who come on this site, their time spent on this site is limited, so they will only answer clearly written questions than taking more time to read slang typing. You are just giving yourself a disadvantage in trying to solve your problem.
I say that members here have a right to not have their typing, grammar, and spelling altered. If they don't want proper advice, they can spell as improperly as they want. It's their choice.
However, why is everyone so attached to their vague titles? Titles and headlines are the key to catch people's attention and a way for you to get the right people for the right advice. FunAdvice is only trying to help you be more clear in your question, so I think title changes are fine. If anyone who says that their 'character' or 'personality' is changed when FunAdvice changes their title, please. How are a handful of words a representation of you? People, be realistic.
Dude- First thanks for the link to this page! I understand the desire to maintain a neatly run site and you folks do a good job but thank you for backing away from all the editing. In my opinion the questions and answers people leave here make the site what it is and changing the question is changing the character of the individual asking the question. I know my spelling and grammar isn't the greatest but it's who I am. I think an open forum like this needs to be open minus profanity and crudeness, let it grow into it's own and see where it takes us! I really appreciate the ability to talk openly with the creators of this site and have those creators actually listen :) Very refreshing and thank you for listening :)
I wasn't being rude to you at all ma'am. I was expalining that typing in all caps, is hard to read, which means a lot of people wont even take the time to read your questions, which means you won't get the advice that you need. I'm on several thread sites that dont allow All Caps. You get warned and even banned sometimes. I'm sorry I just dont understand why it's so hard to unlock your caps when your typing, especially since you tend to do so in a couple words every time you answer. Although, to let you know I was not trying to be rude, I was trying to help you understand why it's annoying and why they change it.
Obviously I agree with the all CAPS editing...there are so many people that won't even read the question regardless of what it is about...so why would anybody object if they knew they might get more answers to their questions?
As for the titles...I think the ones that only say Help or Please Answer should obviously be changed other than that I would let them alone because a question asked a certain way appeals to people differently.
The way I see it...
Change: All caps Excessive profanity Vague questions These things make reading questions difficult, and also take away from the friendly atmosphere of the site.
Don't change: Punctuation Grammatical errors Fun-styling (such as using numbers instead of words) These are minor issues and personal touches, and they aren't damaging to the site's reputation.
babygirl8732 The point is though, your asking other people for advice. How are you supposed to get advice if people dont even want to read your question because it's hard to read. I never said the world was coming to an end because they are typing in call caps, I'm saying it makes people not even want to open their question or take them seriously.
intelligent people have been complaining about the title changes? its just a simple form of changing one or 2 words, nothin big to complain about... and its not like it will generate less answers just because a big HELP or please is deleted... as for those who write with all caps, you are all n00bs,SU-BQ, nuff said...
Typing in All Caps has been proven to be harder to read. In most threads on the internet, All Caps is actually against the rules on the websites. Your lucky that dont have that here. Why does it matter if it get's changed. It's to help you out, so that more people will be willing to read your questions and answer you.
whitney8732 "ACTUALLY THE SITE CHANGED MY WORDS 2 LOWERCASE. whyWOULD I just RANDOMLYCHANGE CERTAIN WORDS?? LOL THERE WOULDNT BE A POINT"
You just did in that post, and the site hadn't changed it yet I just put stars around it so you could see. So yes, you do randomly type certain words uncapped.
I actually liked when you were changing the title's of people's questions. It made it easier to understand what they were talking about. Also, what about the All Caps? Are you going to back off and not change those. They can be really annoying, I loved that ya'll would change them.
another that would be good, is that the newer comments should be at the beginning. They technically go in reverse order, please change it, as I've gradually gone through this site, many people have said that, but no-one ever does anything about it. Funmail me please.
Well, I would tend to prefer no intervention at all unless it's required for posts that violate the guidelines. Personally, I wouldn't mind profanity or explicit language being allowed either, but I know you want to appeal to kids...
Thank you! As long as that's done, I guess I really dont mind the other things. Bad punctuation isn't that big of a problem, it's just the people who type in all caps and numbers instead of letters that get to me. lol
@whitney
girl youre 21 act your age and stop babbling on about something you need not... you dont like the lowercase? then delete your account, we arent forcing you to stay here and thats that
As long as the questions aren't going to break the policy I think it's a great idea to leave those questions alone. People are fet up with their question titles being changed.
mandyloo, we'll probably keep changing those, as it's verifiable fact that all caps is harder to read & slower to read than something written in proper casing.
Oh well, it doesn't matter. All I was saying is there is no need to get an attitude and curse when I was simply trying to explain, why they change it.
whitney8732 Honey all I did was copy and paste your exact answer to show that you were in fact, lowercasing some of your words. No need to get mad.
I agree - I don't even bother to read anything that is all caps, if you seriously want advice on something you could at least use proper English.
whitney8732 Your not getting smart with anybody? Is that why your cursed me out, when I explained to you why they change the All Caps answers?
I agree with the editing of questions as it makes it easier for other users to read and understand (plain and simple).
