Slashdot user-end spell checking [UPDATED]

Journal AntiFreeze's Journal: Slashdot user-end spell checking [UPDATED] 1

Journal by AntiFreeze on Sunday November 03, 2002 @12:41AM

I just posted the following memo to Cliff's journal here attached to his journal entry entitled Even Professional Writer Mis-Spell.

Basically, I was agreeing completely with Cliff (I've always taken the slashdot editors' sides when its come to stupid typos in stories, etc.).

Upon being made aware that Slash has a spell-checker that the editors use to spell check stories and their posts before posting, I made a case for a user-end spell checker. I have spoken with lots of slashdotters, and read many threads where people have asked (quite nicely, actually) for user-end spell checking.

So my question is, do you guys agree with me? Would user-end spell checking be helpful to you? Do you think my case (either follow the thread above or just read my final reiterance below) makes sense? Am I being stupid?

My case:

Heh, no problem. I understand completely what you're saying, and I wasn't making the comment with any intention of you actually taking me up on idea. After all, it's not even really my idea, just my presentation.
I just needed to get it down in writing for my own sake. But since it appears that I was not as clear as I would have liked to be, I'll try and clear things up a little for the sake of anyone reading this thread. [i.e. feel free to stop reading here if you want :)]
Let me start with a little disclaimer: Don't even consider implementing a spell-checker now, just play with the idea. Since slash has the capability for spell checking, you obviously could have implemented it already if you really felt like it. So I'm sure you have your reasons for not doing so at this point in time. What follows are the reasons I think having one would be a good idea.
My first point is that there is a substantial user base which wants at least semi-automated spell checking of their own posts. Just a list of possibly misspelled words. When you click preview, you see your post and you see any blatant spelling errors. This is not a substitute for proofreading, just gentle hand holding. After all, people rarely notice their own spelling mistakes. The word highliting I mentioned is a frill (I only brought it up previously because someone else mentioned it [you?] and it got me thinking about easy ways to tackle the problem) and not necessary by any stretch of the imagination.
My second point is that implementing that simple spell checker on the user end would go a long way to alleviate users' perception about editorial mishaps. And I would bet a bunch of money that you editors would like it if people stopped complaining about those stupid, inconsequential, and minor said mishaps. My reasoning behind this is twofold, a) users would actually see spell-checking capabilities on slashdot and b) users would see how easy it is to make mistakes even when using a spell checker. You'd think people would understand this, but apparently it just isn't the case. Once you have a spell-checker and make the same mistakes, it's just that much harder to go out and rant about someone who has only done the exact same thing.
That's my case. I'm not saying slashdot needs to implement a spell-checker. I'm not saying you can get close to, or should even attempt to get close to, a perfect spell-checker. I'm just saying that there are lots of people out there who want something simple which will jump on braindead misspellings which happen when one posts at 5am after no sleep or during a nice long rant. Adding a simple user spell checker to the preview post pages would go a long way, both for the users and for the editors.

If you've read this far, I just wanted to add that I'm pretty much done with this issue, I just wanted to make the case I outlined above. I'm not planning to fight any fights, or argue with the editors. If they have their reasons, that fine by me. I (sort of) know Rob and whatever decision he's made is fine by me. I'm just interested in what you guys think. So tell me damnit!

11/03/02 11:00pm UPDATE: Cliff has posted this comment in response to my little diatribe above. Coolness! Okay, I'm going to sit down and see if I can hack up that patch myself (seeing as how I am not familiar with Slash at all, I might not be able to tackle it).

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