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I have seem this in other boards systems (although this is not actually a board). Maybe it would be helpful to offer a list of the previous answers so you can read what was stated while editing? I thought this would be good for two things:

1st. It would encourage users to quote the answer instead of just rewriting with their own words making it difficult for the reader to notice and find which answer he is talking about.

2nd. I wouldn't need to memorize the name of the person in my head or open two tabs to mention that person X suggested something.

What do you think? I will understand that a up vote here would mean this feature wold be appreciated and down voted otherwise. If not, I would appreciate know why.

Edit:

The functionality is already available but only for those who have edit privileges. Question is now a matter of why it could not be available for everyone. Please see below on the answers.

Thank you.

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    $\begingroup$ I appreciate your willingness to contribute ideas: newcomers often see what those more familiar with the site may overlook. But may I suggest that you learn a little more about how our site works before posting so many suggestions at once? In this case, if I have understood you correctly, you are asking for a feature that has always been available: if you scroll the page while editing, you will see everything on it. You can also dynamically adjust the height of the editing window by dragging its bottom. $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:24
  • $\begingroup$ Maybe I was misunderstood or I am missing something. I scrolled down the whole page but what I see is a preview of my question, while what I was suggesting here is to see what other people answered on my question. No such thing is show here. Do I need to click somewhere or change a settings then? Sorry for asking too much, I thought that as long as the question was relevant it wouldn't be a problem about how many would be posted. Will hold on my horses more from now! $\endgroup$
    – Oeufcoque Penteano
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:29
  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid I'm unable to reproduce the behavior you are describing, Carlos. Please note that if you scroll with a mouse wheel, the behavior depends on the focus: if you are editing, scrolling occurs within the editing window; if you click outside the editing window to give focus to the entire page, then scrolling will move the page. I'm not too concerned about how many questions you post here on meta, but the fact that there is a growing number may be related to your newness to the site and unfamiliarity with how things work. $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:33
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    $\begingroup$ I understand! I will go over the FAQ again and your pointed links more times to avoid extra trouble for the community on answering questions that is already documented then! I just added a figure to the question, I hope this make it clear now what I am suggesting! $\endgroup$
    – Oeufcoque Penteano
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:44
  • $\begingroup$ I do not recognize that screen shot, Carlos. What site is it from? Why is it relevant here? $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:46
  • $\begingroup$ Its not about the site. Please look the Replying to post xxx. The original question is listed there. I just edited my question explaining what I want noticed from the figure: We have information from another page (here the original question). The feature I am suggesting would be when we move to editing our question, have a small box on the bottom pointing to the answers, such as this one point to a original question. Does this make more sense? I am certain I understand what you are talking about the scrolling, but this is not what the feature I am suggesting is about! $\endgroup$
    – Oeufcoque Penteano
    Apr 5, 2012 at 15:50
  • $\begingroup$ I'm totally lost here, Carlos. If your question is not about this site, it certainly doesn't belong here! $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 5, 2012 at 17:22
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    $\begingroup$ @whuber What Carlos is asking about makes sense. When we're answering questions, we get to see the question and all previous questions on the same page. When we're editing our own questions (e.g., to clarify the question in response to a comment or question), all we can see is the question itself. So if I want to edit a question in response to a particular comment/answer, I'd have to have that answer open in a different tab in order to reference it/copy text from it. $\endgroup$
    – Matt Parker
    Apr 5, 2012 at 17:35
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    $\begingroup$ @whuber That screenshot is from a traditionally-threaded forum, in which there are no questions and answers - just messages, which you can see all at once. $\endgroup$
    – Matt Parker
    Apr 5, 2012 at 17:36
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you, I am happy it made sense to someone, my english might be failing on me. It certainly belongs and is about this community site. I hope it is clear now! Sorry for the confusion.. $\endgroup$
    – Oeufcoque Penteano
    Apr 5, 2012 at 17:37
  • $\begingroup$ I tested, Matt, and did not have that experience: when editing my own question, it was possible to scroll through the entire page--answers, comments, and everything. So I'm mystified concerning just what the problem is, and doubly mystified at the appearance of a screenshot from some other site! $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 5, 2012 at 18:53
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    $\begingroup$ After all this, +1 to the proposition - the screen already exists for people with edit privileges, seems useful, and doesn't seem to confer any additional privileges in and of itself. So yes, I'd like to use it whenever I have the appropriate privileges - especially on my own questions! $\endgroup$
    – Matt Parker
    Apr 5, 2012 at 19:48
  • $\begingroup$ So, am still confused what was the conclusion? @whuber is there any particular reason for not being available for those who do not have edit privileges or it is believed that wouldn't be worth making it available? $\endgroup$
    – Oeufcoque Penteano
    Apr 6, 2012 at 23:14
  • $\begingroup$ @OeufcoquePenteano I think whuber would have answered that if he could. He's a moderator of this site, but not actually a StackExchange employee. I think we just need to wait for this to catch their attention. They seem to respond pretty consistently to feature-request tags. $\endgroup$
    – Matt Parker
    Apr 10, 2012 at 16:33
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    $\begingroup$ I think all this discussion is just an example of how complicated this site can be to use. $\endgroup$
    – Michael R. Chernick
    May 9, 2012 at 16:55

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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$\begingroup$

If a person has edit privileges, the screen for editing questions appears as @whuber describes - all answers and comments remain visible. If you don't have edit privileges, you can only see your own question, as in the question. I have edit privileges on StackOverflow but not here on CV, and here's the difference:

A random question on StackOverflow, where I have edit privileges: enter image description here

My own question on CrossValidated, where I do not have edit privileges: enter image description here

... which raises the question of why that difference exists at all. It seems like viewing answers and comments would be equally useful for anybody editing a question.

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    $\begingroup$ +1 Because this reply includes all the information in mine, I'm deleting mine in the interest of streamlining page size and loading time. $\endgroup$
    – whuber Mod
    Apr 6, 2012 at 18:22
  • $\begingroup$ +1 I didn't realize this shortcoming and would also appreciate this feature. I'm hoping it propagates across SE network. $\endgroup$
    – Krista K
    Oct 31, 2013 at 20:38

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