The discussion revolves around the issue of editing posts without logging the changes. meglio suggests implementing a “Don’t record this edit” option for admins/mods, as correcting grammar and formatting can be perceived as condescending by some users, especially those over 55.
Mittineague agrees that correcting typos and grammar can be beneficial, especially in topic titles, but believes it depends on the severity of the error and its impact on understanding. They suggest prioritizing corrections that affect searchability or clarity.
DeanMarkTaylor shares a related issue, where users are notified of changes but can’t see what was modified. This often occurs when only the category is changed.
We used to fix errors and improve formatting for a big portion of what is getting posted in our forum.
However, we started to receive complains: people don’t like when their grammar is fixed. So we stopped fixing formatting and grammar issues for now and would like to change the tactics:
Fix errors in messages not earlier than in 1 month after they are created.
Do not leave any traces.
It would be good to have a tickbox shown to admins/mods “Don’t record this edit”. In our case, it only makes people angry and disappointed. Some of them are 55+ years old and they feel not so nice when a young person corrects their speech. Yet we believe a better formatting and grammar makes the forum a bit more good-looking and clean in the eyes of newcomers and people who care.
