# Editing a thread's title



## spork (May 17, 2010)

Can I edit a thread title that I have created?  What if I disagree with the re-wording or re-categorization that our good admins and mods have imposed on my question?  It feels a bit like my DC membership has been hacked.  The new title is not in my own words.  And I should flee from the site with utmost desperation.

I understand that it's a considerable task of maintaining some order and organization to the chaos of a discussion board, and I may not have the gift of great subject lines, but I hope our community's leaders will exercise restraint and let our discussion titles evolve organically, as they always do, the wonderful way of the web.


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## Andy M. (May 17, 2010)

Thread titles are typically revised for clarity.  I don't know which thread you are referring to, but a mod may have changed it so readers can easily determine if the thread is of interest.


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## FrankZ (May 17, 2010)

Generally thread titles are edited to help:

1) Clarity of the thread.  For example it helps if someone is looking for a recipe to have the thread title indicate that.
2) Spelling.  The search function of the forum isn't very good to start with, it helps to at least spell things correctly.
3) Presentation.  Much like food a thread title can entice viewer, or turn them off.  The titles display differently depending on how you get there (portal, new post search, etc).  If the real gist of the title is at the end of a long one, it might be truncated.

Generally speaking the moderation team isn't trying to put words in your mouth (fingers) but trying to help make things clearer.


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## spork (May 17, 2010)

Thanks, guys, I know I can bounce ideas off you.  Thread titles are often edited, and I understand why.  It's not just one of mine (actually, several), but the practice in general.  1) sometimes we click on a title precisely because it is not clear, and we're curious, 2) spelling... *sigh* both people and machines are struggling to adjust to our new language medium, 3) most of us don't start a thread casually; we decide on a title that we hope will attract replies, sometimes in a very desperate plea for helpful advice.  For the most part, I thank our DC moderators for editing and making the site more accessible to all members' interests.  I want all to recognize though that a single individual's interest, perhaps triggered by a, yes, poorly worded thread title, is equally valid and maybe shouldn't be messed with.

Andy, I loved your recent "started smoking" thread.  As others have noted, for clarity, should I have edited your title to make it more clear that it's not about nicotine?  

Is there a way for us to edit a thread's title, or re-categorize it into another sub-forum?


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## Andy M. (May 17, 2010)

You have to be a mod or admin to edit titles.

Spork, my thread was in the "Smoking" section of the Outdoor Cooking forum group.  That should have made it more understandable.  Actually, I was going for a double entendre and it could have been more clearly worded.  

Threads in a general forum cover a much wider range of topics so can be more ambiguous, making the need for a clear topic more important.

One of the site's goals is to make our content more searchable by non-members so they will be more likely to visit and perhaps join.


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## spork (May 17, 2010)

Understood.

Andy, the double-take of your title was immediately clear to me.  "I quit" would have been an equally clear title.  I've been wondering...  most of my ignore functions are turned off, but it would be helpful to know from which sub-forum a discussion title originated in our portal page.

More often than not, it's not that our titles and questions are ambiguous, but that the topic spreads across several forums.  Maybe the need for a clearer topic for each thread is not as necessary as we think...


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## spork (May 17, 2010)

At the least, I think we should be notified if our thread titles have been edited, and a procedure to contest it spelled out.  Even though I never expect to.


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