Anderton
The problem is that the majority of the OPs don't mark their own posts promptly, or put "solved" in the thread title when it's solved, even when they say in a thread that it's solved...they're happy the problem is solved and they go back to making music.
 

But don't you think we should at least try to get the original poster to mark his/her own post? Maybe with a PM if they don't respond to a suggestion in the thread?
 

Anderton 
 If I add "solved" for any reason other than the two above, I will post in the thread saying I added "solved," and explain why.
 

This, I think, is a good idea. Why not always post in the thread to explain when you alter somebody else's header? After a while, more people will come to see the value of marking their own posts appropriately.
 
I hope no hosts or staff see this as critical. I mean it only as a way of improving this great forum. Sometimes we ruffle feathers without meaning to, and that takes away from our purpose here.

Larry Jones

Anderton
The problem is that the majority of the OPs don't mark their own posts promptly, or put "solved" in the thread title when it's solved, even when they say in a thread that it's solved...they're happy the problem is solved and they go back to making music.
 

But don't you think we should at least try to get the original poster to mark his/her own post? Maybe with a PM if they don't respond to a suggestion in the thread?

 
In an ideal world where there are 96 hours in a day, sure. But if they come to the forum, see "solved" where it's appropriate, are asked to do so in the thread, and don't, am I going to take the time to write a message, check that it was received, reply if needed, go back to the thread to make sure they really did mark it, and deal with my already overflowing private message box? Or worse yet, write a note saying "Hey, when you said the problem was solved, did you really, really, truly mean 'solved' or did you maybe mean something else? I just want to make sure we agree on what 'solved' means before I mark it 'solved' if you don't, but it's really important to find out, lest someone think I'm being deceptive for accepting your saying something was solved at face value, when for all I know, it might not have been because some other problem cropped out a day later."
 
Multiply having to contact all these people by the number of issues that are solved every day, and jeez, what a waste of time. As it is, there are already plenty of issues that are solved but are never marked as such because no host has the time to read all the threads and evaluate if something has been solved when the OP doesn't take the trouble to indicate one way or the other. In a case like that, no host even knows that the problem has been solved, and therefore won't write an email asking someone to mark the thread "solved."
 
Larry, life's too short. The fact that anyone would see putting "solved" in a header as "deceptive" instead of an attempt to help people find answers to problems faster truly boggles my mind. It's just a friggin' peer-to-peer internet forum. I think my head is going to explode. Then again, if someone wants to point out all these threads that say "solved" where nothing was actually solved, bring it on and I'll correct them. But let's see how many are cited before deciding this is some major problem.
 

Larry Jones

Anderton 
 If I add "solved" for any reason other than the two above, I will post in the thread saying I added "solved," and explain why.
 

This, I think, is a good idea. Why not always post in the thread to explain when you alter somebody else's header?

 
Because it takes a couple minutes to write a post and explain "Hey, I put 'solved' in the header because that's what we do around here to help highlight solutions to problems. You should be doing it yourself, and if you had any powers of observation whatsoever, you'd see that's the protocol. But I certainly understand your joy at having some helpful person solve your problem so you can get back to making music. Fortunately, there are people who can take care of it for you, so you can keep on enjoying making music, even though you really should be doing it yourself, and if we do it, we will be accused of being deceptive. We hope you understand, and you're not tooooo upset that we did something it would be nice if you did, and we sure hope you do it in the future. We also hope that when you said it was solved, it was really solved and you weren't just making stuff up."
 
Or I can take five seconds, put "solved" in the header, and move on. Of course that doesn't take into account the time required to explain to people why it's a good idea to do so, and how it makes it easier to find solutions, but overall I still think it requires less time.
 

I hope no hosts or staff see this as critical. I mean it only as a way of improving this great forum. Sometimes we ruffle feathers without meaning to, and that takes away from our purpose here.

 
I don't see it as being critical at all, and totally understand the spirit in which it is given. I also believe you are making a sincere "can't we all get along" pitch and I appreciate that. But speaking as someone to whom time is extremely valuable, I do see it as asking us to go out of our way to accommodate people who have no rational reason whatsoever to be upset about what I feel is such a trivial matter.
 

Craig, I'm not going to quote the all things you said to me in #33 above. I just suggested a simple idea that I thought might help in some situations. We both know you wouldn't write all that stuff explaining why you marked somebody's thread solved. You would change the header to show "solved," and you would write a comment saying something like "issue resolved, see comment #xx." If you don't have time, nothing I can do, but I have to tell you I felt dismissed by the tone of your comment, so you will owe me a latte if we ever meet in person, and I mean a venti. 

Larry Jones
We both know you wouldn't write all that stuff explaining why you marked somebody's thread solved.

 
Of course not, I was being flippant about comments another poster was making in this thread. I apologize if you thought that was directed specifically at you and not at the generally negative tone of some people in this thread. What WAS specifically directed at you was "I don't see [your comments] as being critical at all, and totally understand the spirit in which it is given. I also believe you are making a sincere 'can't we all get along' pitch and I appreciate that. But speaking as someone to whom time is extremely valuable, I do see it as asking us to go out of our way to accommodate people who have no rational reason whatsoever to be upset about what I feel is such a trivial matter."
 
But I'll buy you a venti anyway, just on general principle that I like to meet people from the forums. 

The reason it has been done by hosts is because CW used to do for all the reasons Craig has said. Its a really helpful annotation to a thread title. Also please note we put it in brackets to show that it was edited by a host or staffer.
 
One thing you may not have thought of is I scan the forum and will not enter a thread that has been marked solved unless I wish to know more. This helps me find those that have not been helped and put my time into that.
 
Let me also address the wild accusations of hosts ever editing any person's post. I wont do it even if asked to. I consider it their property and will not touch it for any reason. Actually it belongs to CW. However I don't view it that way. I don't believe any other host holds a different view on this. The proof of what I say is simple produce a single post that was edited/changed by a host without having permission or at the very least notating the fact.
 
What CW may do is completely up to them and I have no control or influence over what they do. I can't recall CW ever editing a post. I have seen them delete entire threads.
 
What Larry was getting at is about perception I think. I don't think he was saying we do things for bad reasons but that we could be seen that way by some. My answer as here when an issue comes up ask about it and give us a chance to clarify and explain. Often its as simple to understand as this one was.
 
   

Craig, I don't have time (!) to go through and mark your answers.   But as a user, and for the time being as a contributor sometimes good and admittedly sometimes bad, I think you, Craig Anderton, sometimes overstep the boundaries of appropriateness.  It doesn't mean I hate you, just that I would err, personally, a bit more on the side of less intervention. 
 
William

Ok, thanks for the detailed response.   Again, I'd say putting "solved" on this one post was not a good thing, thinking of other users, but you have argued your side, and I don't pretend to be an authority on how forums can be run; my perceptions can be wrong.   As to "many, many", yes, I still say there have been many posts re-labeled, moved, and re-directed.   Look at my own history for a plethora. 

williamcopper
Ok, thanks for the detailed response.   Again, I'd say putting "solved" on this one post was not a good thing, thinking of other users, but you have argued your side, and I don't pretend to be an authority on how forums can be run; my perceptions can be wrong.   As to "many, many", yes, I still say there have been many posts re-labeled, moved, and re-directed.   Look at my own history for a plethora. 

Adding solved to the title is not editing the post. Moving a thread is a hosts job when it is posted in the wrong forum. That is not editing it either. Re-directing is what is left in the forum to alert members that a thread has been move and where to find it. Objecting to that seems very odd. Also an Email is sent to the author that it has been moved. This is optional and I do it as a courtesy.
 
I have no problem with someone finding fault when there is fault to be found. What I do have a problem with is asserting that a fault has been done when that is not the case.  
 
We do not edit other peoples posts. I can't say this any clearer. Even now after a long and tiresome thread making this point clear you still cling to your assertion.