# How to change the title of the thread?



## supercrom

Hallo!

Extra questions:

*Can I ask a mod to do so?*

*Why are mods usually in ghost mode?*
 We don't know if they can help us at the moment we need them.

Thanks a bunch

*CROM*


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## cuchuflete

cromteaches said:
			
		

> Hallo!
> 
> Extra questions:
> 
> *Can I ask a mod to do so?*
> 
> *Why are mods usually in ghost mode?*
> We don't know if they can help us at the moment we need them.
> 
> Thanks a bunch
> 
> *CROM*


1. Because the forum software will not allow it.  I know that is a terrible answer, but it's the only one I have at the moment.
2. Of course!  I've done it many times at the request of friendly, polite foreros.
3. The answer will depend on the mod.  I personally like running around dressed in white sheets.  If by ghost mode, you mean 'invisible', my own reason is very simple.  When my name appears in the list of active members, I receive so many PMs that I could not possibly reply and still have time to be a forero or a mod.

If you need help from a mod, just send a PM to the mods for that forum.
If any of the mods is online, they will be pleased to assist you. You may address a PM to as many as 5 people, so you do not need to write more than a single message.

saludos,
Cuchu


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## supercrom

Yup, I meant "invisible mode".

Thanks a lot for your really kind and very fast reply.

Thahks again.

*CROM*


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## cuchuflete

No hay de qué.
c


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## Tayllc

Hello, I realized that I misspelled the title of the thread I just started. Is there of way of changing this? I clicked on the edit button, but it wouldn't let me edit the title. Thanks!


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## Flaminius

Ask whichever moderator you want in the forum your thread is.  The best way to do so is to report your post by the red triangle on the right shoulder of your post.  Then, write a comment requesting a title change.


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## jann

flaminius said:
			
		

> The best way to do so is to report your post by the red triangle on the right shoulder of your post. Then, write a comment requesting a title change.


Let me repeat this fabulous comment just for emphasis! 

*The best, easiest, fastest, most efficient way to correct a typo or an error in the title of a thread is to click the red triangle* (
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





) in the upper right corner of any post in the thread.  In the box that appears, type a short message requesting a title correction. Your message will be posted on a "to-do" list that is visible to all moderators.  That way, the first moderator for your forum to see your request will come along and fix the problem.


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## rodoke

I have a related question. I've only started a few threads, but sooner or later my thread title gets changed (usually it gets shortened). Is there a policy on thread titles that I'm running afoul of? How would I find out if I was?


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## jann

> Is there a policy on thread titles that I'm running afoul of? How would I find out if I was?


Well, I'm the one who changed your most recent thread title. And yes, I did make it shorter.   But saying that you ran "afoul of a rule" would be too strong.  Your original title was pretty good; I just adjusted it a bit. 

On the French-English forum, we outline what sort of titles we want in our sticky.

The title serves to identify the contents of a thread, not only for people who are browsing the forums, but also for those who search strategically.  Ideally, a good title will contain just enough information so that you can tell whether or not a thread is relevant for you before you even read it.  

Remember that our forums are comparable to an interactive dictionary, with each thread focusing on the discussion/translation of a single word or phrase.  For this reason, the key word or phrase is the most important part of the title.  Usually, the key word/phrase is sufficient, but on occasion it is necessary to add a parenthetical remark to clear up ambiguity, make the keyword understandable or more precise, etc.  

Sometimes we also tweak titles with a mind to making them more "findable" for those who would be likely to search for help on a related topic. In your case, it made sense to include _pangramme_ in the title because it is likely that your thread will be useful to anyone looking for the meaning or translation of this word.  However, it did not make sense to put it first, since this was not the word you needed help understanding/translating.  So I put it in parenthesis at the end.

You may have noticed that our WR dictionary returns a list of threads containing the search word at the bottom of the dictionary entry... even if we don't have a dictionary entry for the word (or phrase) you looked up.  This means that if you search for the word "and" in the French-English dictionary, every single thread containing the word "and" in the title will be listed!  Obviously, to make these dictionary thread lists useful, it is important to minimize the number of unimportant extra words in thread titles.  Another particularity of the title-based search is that if you are searching for _toute_, but the thread title is _toute(s)_, you won't see it in your results.  For this reason, we try to put things in the simplest form (or the idiomatic form) and remove unnecessary punctuation.  

Please don't worry about it if we occasionally make small adjustments to your thread titles! As long as you are including the original keywords (ie., you don't understand a French sentence, so your title is in French vs. You want to know how to translate an English expression so your title is in English)... and as long as you avoid the dreaded "help plz!!!" then we moderators really don't have anything to complain about!!


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## rodoke

jann said:


> Exactly what I asked for.


......Ah. That's sorta what I figured. Thanks for the informative (and quick) response. Given the size of this forum and the age of the posts, I never expected an answer like that!


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