# Correcting titles



## Cracker Jack

How is it possible to correct titles?  Sometimes in making posts some inadvertent errors are committed.  If this occurs within the text, it is easy to edit and make the necessary corrections.  However, I don't think it is possible to correct titles.

I have tried several times before but to no avail.  Sometimes errors in the titles are very glaring. Is there any solution for this?  Thanks in advance.


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## GenJen54

Hi Cracker Jack, 

You can correct a thread title.  Just PM your friendly mod, and he/she will gladly correct the title for you.  Of course, this will only correct the thread title as it appears on the page, not in the subsequent, individual posts.


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## alc112

If you made a mistake in your title, you have 3 minutes to correct it. After that time, only a mod or Mike can correct it.


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## Insider

I also have a question concerning the corrections of the titles.

For instance, I had such expierence. One time I named the title (it was in German forum) in one way, but after some time (perhaps, 1 or 2 days or, maybe, even less, but, frankly speaking, it doesn't matter) it was changed (or corrected, or I think, renamed)... 

Actually, I was a bit disappointed because nobody asked me and it was a thread made by me. Now I clearly understand that the changing or the correction of the titles are good and its should be provided further. 

But, as more me, I just couldn't get, why nobody asked me?  

To finish my post, I'd like to add that I'm totally agree with the renaming of my thread, but I suppose that it's better to ask first.

Would do you, folks, think about it?


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## TrentinaNE

Dear Insider,

As a new moderator, I find that I have to change many thread titles.  There simply isn't time to contact each thread owner first.  If you think a thread title was changed inappropriately, you can always send a PM to that sub-forum's moderators to request an explanation.  

Best wishes,
Elisabetta


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## Cracker Jack

Thanks a lot for all your replies especially to GJ.  I was actually thinking of PMing a moderator to request a correction.  However, most moderators are quick witted and they changed titles before giving me time to ask for it.  That I think is remarkable.

One thing, I appreciated all moderators like GJ and cuchu because they PM me whenever there is something wrong with a post I just made.  Once again thanks.  Regarding what TrenatiNE said,  I understand that.  Because there are so many of us here, they don't have enough time to ''run'' after all of us to inform us of the changes they effected ont he threads.


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## GenJen54

Keep in mind, too, that if your title:

a) follows the guidelines;
b) is clear and relevant to your thread topic (such as a key word or phrase);
c) is not a plea for "Help!" or "Translation Needed;"

chances are, it will not be changed at all.


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## Etcetera

alc112 said:


> If you made a mistake in your title, you have 3 minutes to correct it.


How?
I remember that once I started a new thread, and then I thought that I could use a better formulation for its title. I tried to change it, but didn't find any clue how to do it...
Of course, I might be just too late to do it.


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## Jana337

Insider said:


> I also have a question concerning the corrections of the titles.
> 
> For instance, I had such expierence. One time I named the title (it was in German forum) in one way, but after some time (perhaps, 1 or 2 days or, maybe, even less, but, frankly speaking, it doesn't matter) it was changed (or corrected, or I think, renamed)...
> 
> Actually, I was a bit disappointed because nobody asked me and it was a thread made by me. Now I clearly understand that the changing or the correction of the titles are good and its should be provided further.
> 
> But, as more me, I just couldn't get, why nobody asked me?
> 
> To finish my post, I'd like to add that I'm totally agree with the renaming of my thread, but I suppose that it's better to ask first.
> 
> Would do you, folks, think about it?


I am sorry, this is just too much to ask.  I edit tens of thread titles every day. I fix typos, grammar mistakes, weed out "help please", "traduzione" and other non-specific stuff. Sometimes I use my judgement to change quite a passable title to make the thread more useful from the viewpoint of our dictionary users. I am supposed to keep the forums well organized and easy to navigate. I trust that I am allowed to do all of the above without having to negotiate with thread openers.

I am sure that many people would be annoyed if I PMed them because of it. I do sent a PM if someone does not take the hint after the first change and persists in the habit of calling each thread "URGENT help pls", I do send a PM if I see that the poster is a technically challenged newbie who would have hard time finding the renamed thread, but those are just informative PMs, definitely not requests for permission.  

Jana


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## Kelly B

I make many thread title changes too, and I do it with the Search function in mind. How can I make this discussion easy to find again, whether through the dictionary or in a regular forum search? If you've asked a good question, you've probably started an interesting discussion, and that may be very valuable to someone else - if he can find it.


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## Insider

TrentinaNE,

Thank you for your reply and explanation. As I wrote above, I'm not judging someone or something in that way, I just wanted to find out the answer to my question - why? I clearily understand that it's really hard to moderate, for this you need to spend a lot of time. 

If next time I have some problems, I would surely ask some moderator. 

Insider


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## Insider

Jana,

I didn't want to offense someone, I was trying to find out the answer. You are doing really a good job, correcting the titles, the mistakes in titles, or some stuff like this. I agree with you that titles such "I need a help" of "you're the only pepole who can help me" should be corrected or renamed. 

On the other hand, if you send me a PM with such question/problem (I mean correcting or renaming), I would send a responce for sure. Perhaps, it depends on the people. 

Insider


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## Fredsie

alc112 said:


> If you made a mistake in your title, you have 3 minutes to correct it. After that time, only a mod or Mike can correct it.



I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but I looked to do exactly that (easily within three minutes), through the 'edit' button, but saw no way of actually changing the title. The body is editable but the title is a protected field. I've looked through these posts and many answers just seem to give links to other posts which also don't tell you how to do it!


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## benjy.in.disguise

When you are on the forum page just double click on the space around the title (not the title itself of course), it will change to an editable field. This is obvously only permitted within very limited time constraints


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## Fredsie

Thanks Benjy.i.d - it's not obvious!


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