Correcting spelling errors in thread titless

Discussion in 'Managing Your Online Community' started by Michael, Aug 31, 2009.

  1. Michael

    Michael Regular Member

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    On your forum do you ask mods to correct spelling errors in thread titles? Do you correct them yourself? Do you ever re-write the whole title when it isnt descriptive?

    Sometimes we will get really bad errors which I like to correct myself, I am not fond of commonly used thread titles like "need help thnx" but I do leave them be.
     
  2. FullMetalBabe

    FullMetalBabe Zealot

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    People might thing one is 'abusing' so I just leave it be as much as I hate it.
     
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  3. David

    David Regular Member

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    I always correct them and leave a note in the thread or PM box I corrected a small grammatical error. If they don't like it I tell them, tough titty cried the kitty, grow up and spell things correctly, its the internet for god sakes use dictionary.com if you aren't sure. Topic titles are a major part of SEO, I realize a lot of users don't understand that so that's why I usually fix them all :D
     
  4. Tom

    Tom Regular Member

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    I try not to, unless the error is very extreme.
     
  5. Broadsword

    Broadsword Newcomer

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    I don't correct people on spelling, grammer or punctuation. I personaly hate this kind of moderation and cosider it a form of Trolling. I have members from many nations who's first language is not English. There is nothing worse or more embarrassing than having someone correcting simple mistakes like this. As long as it's on topic I have no issues with it. Consider this, you are new to a forum and you make some posts and the first thing that happens is someone corrects you on a basic thing like this. This is more likely to drive people away rather than endere them to your forum.
     
  6. gnatster

    gnatster Regular Member

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    endere is spelled endear. ;)

    Sorry, could not help myself.

    I do fix titles only, mostly to be more descriptive.
     
  7. OneUpDave

    OneUpDave Guest

    I don't, for two reasons: If they made a simple mistake, they'll either fix it themselves, or leave it. It usually doesn't break the server if you let it go.

    If they are one of those people that really post all of their titles like that, then I still let it go. If someone wants to look like an illiterate fool on the internet, then I let them look like an illiterate fool on the internet. No business of mine as an admin.

    The only exception I would make is if the forum was professional or for a business, and even then, I'd just send the member a nice PM after the second or third misspelled title.
     
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  8. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

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    As anal as I am when it comes to using proper grammar and spelling, I tend to not correct the mistakes made in thread titles.

    As administrators, we have to realize that the members of our community(s) are only human - as such, mistakes of some sort are bound to be made on a daily basis. While it would be my pleasure to correct each mistake in each thread title, I'll only do so if requested by the original poster. If he/she fails to acknowledge the mistake and/or chooses to simply ignore it, I'll let it be. I'll obviously take the initiative to edit a thread title if it contains something inappropriate or offensive, but other than that, ...

    ... I won't touch it.
     
  9. torque

    torque Regular Member

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    I mainly leave it as it is... unless it is really stupid or bad writing i will maybe fix it.
     
  10. BananaQueen

    BananaQueen Grand Master

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    not telling anyone ;)
    no, i dont edit other peoples thread titles if they make spelling mistakes, i leave it for them to do it if they want to. as long as their post is readable, it doesnt really matter to me.
     
  11. Hagar

    Hagar Newcomer

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    I'd correct this thread title if I could. :lol:

    That's a rather unfortunate typo.
     
  12. Dragonfire

    Dragonfire Newcomer

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    No, I don't. While I absolutely hate bad spelling/grammar, I hate doing something like this even more.

    As a matter of fact, when I first became an admin, way back when I was like, 15 (so like 6 years ago?), I had an argument with the co-admin over a couple of things on the site and forum, and this was one of them. We had... very different ways of administrating the forum. Needless to say, it escalated to the point where I left and more than half of the members followed me. But that's a story for another topic. ;)
     

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