Here on AtheistForums we have a nifty quote feature that usually links back to the originating post. It's quite useful for people who might be responding to a larger context but are using a set of selected points to debate with.
However, changing quotes to say something utterly else is not what we had in mind. Doubly so for those who keep the 'pid' section of the quote tag to point to the Original Post intact but rewrite what was said (sometimes tongue in cheek, often vitriolic, totally can be put within your own post in your own words).
We really don't need to do that.
Especially when the vast majority of y'all have decent enough arguments handy and a matching brain to utilize them.
It has been a part of the rules for a while, but I feel it is necessary to give a 'Heads Up' to the community before this becomes an issue.
Thanks, Syn.
I would like to point out that the majority of you do not do this and we appreciate that. Whenever a quote is changed and noticed, a staff member has to fix the offending quote and sometimes take other steps to handle the issue. This is a waste of resources. Personally, I would prefer we spend our time coming up with cool ways to raise money for the forums or just generally making the place better.
Was this brought on by my joke in the Photos thread? I changed what Tiberius' quote said for comedic effect and then said "Fixed that for you". If that silly joke brought this on, I apologize for making it seem necessary. It was quite obviously a joke.
Oh, no, Paul. That was not it at all. I didn't notice that. I believe there is wording in the rule that allows for changing, as long as it is pointed out that it has been changed. The point of the rule is to prevent insulting via quotes and making misquotes appear legitimate.
Ah. Okay, thanks. I know that it's a bad thing to change someone's quote and would be quite pissed if someone did it to me, so I felt a little weird about doing it even for a joke. My guilty conscience got to me. Heheh
That happens to me all the time. It's called paranoia. /kidding
What if your obsession for proper spelling and grammar is the reason for changing someone's quoted material? In such cases the content is not truly changed; it still says the exact same thing but with proper spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and so forth. And with the link back to the original anyone can confirm that it says the exact same thing. I typically do not indicate when I have done this to the quoted material, if only because I am well known to do it to practically every quoted material. Moreover, when the person's point can be made more clearly by rearranging or adding words, I do so but indicate having done so by placing the changed wording within square brackets (thus indicating that it is my rewording of their statement).
Even an added comma can change the meaning of something. I believe this is a popular meme among nerds. At any rate, it's unnecessary to edit people's posts for spelling and grammar. If you're going to do it, I suggest adding bolding to your corrections. Of course, the rest of the staff may weigh in on this as well and potentially come to a consensus that differs from my opinion.
I quoted someone and left that unchanged, but then I copy/pasted what he said and changed some words around to make a point. This that cool? I can link you where I did it.
If you made it clear that you were doing that, there is no problem.