21
votes
Editing questions: dos and don'ts
This is a series of side-notes to @Glen_b's excellent answer.
Editing is a public service. Even some small edits can just clean up a post and make it easier for everyone to read, which is a positive ...
- 49.1k
21
votes
Accepted
Links to copyright material
SE has a mechanism in place to ensure it meets its legal obligations with respect to copyright. Users† aren't expected or required to determine whether other users are infringing someone else's ...
- 27.8k
20
votes
Accepted
Why was my edit fixing Python indentation rejected?
Some code formatting changes can appear to be purely stylistic in nature, and reviewers may well reject them for this.
Sometimes the improvement is obvious (for example if code hadn't been correctly ...
- 20.9k
16
votes
Editing questions: dos and don'ts
[Just to make clear, though my answers should always be read this way: this is personal opinion]
You don't need to have any intention of answering a question to edit it.
the difficulties facing ...
- 261k
13
votes
Is it acceptable to edit other people's answers to include new information?
I'd say No in broad terms, but as usual much depends on the details.
Positively, substantial new information could help a thread considerably, but that should typically be added through comments or ...
- 49.1k
10
votes
Fixing typos and minimum change length
In general you should not fix a single letter typo; one exception would be if it's an important word in the title (since people search for those!). The fact that the system tries to prevent you from ...
- 261k
10
votes
Editing posts protocol: "Please help", and trivial edits
Based on the discussion in chat and here my understanding is:
Pleas for help should be removed as part of a larger edit, just like "Thanks", and ...
9
votes
Accepted
Is it possible for an OP with less than 2k reputation points to approve, reject or improve edits?
Anyone can review, and approve or deny, edits to their own posts. That is the case whether the post at issue is a question or an answer. Moreover, their review is final: That is, if they are the ...
9
votes
Is it acceptable to edit other people's answers to include new information?
I agree with @NickCox that as a general policy answer edits should only be "minor" (copy editing), i.e. improve grammar, fix spelling and LaTeX mistakes, format the quotes and code blocks, insert full ...
- 95k
8
votes
Should an OP's edit of their own question be accepted before their accounts are merged?
I agree with @amoeba: it's important that authors have the ability to update or improve their question as quickly as possible. Otherwise it may be closed as unclear, or answers that do get posted will ...
- 20.9k
7
votes
Accepted
How to find the list of my rejected edits?
In your user profile choose All actions, then choose Suggestions.
whuberMod
- 290k
7
votes
Fixing typos and minimum change length
If you really can't see anything else that needs fixing, perhaps best to wait until you get 2000 reputation points & the privilege of making edits which don't need review, & can be of any ...
- 27.8k
7
votes
Links to copyright material
Universities spend billions each year to pay to access research papers (and that's mostly taxpayers' money). Paywalls slow down research. US Federal student loan debt is $1.5 trillion, and textbooks ...
6
votes
Accepted
Reviewing suggested edits for questions on hold, when they don't address the main problem
I reject such edits.
As @Scortchi notes, an initial edit of a closed question bumps it into the reopen queue. However, if the edit does not address the reason for closure, that thread should be ...
6
votes
Links to copyright material
Darn copyright on research and educational publications! Darn it to heck!
To the extent that we are not threatened by legal sanctions by specific links, CV's policy should prefer links that undermine ...
- 26.6k
5
votes
Accepted
If rejecting an edit that adds the [self-study] tag, what reason should be given?
I usually type a custom message for the editor telling them to leave a comment for the OP. Here is some example text:
It is best not to add the tag, but to ask the OP to do it so that they will ...
4
votes
Fixing typos and minimum change length
Please don't do minor changes, unless you can combine them with larger changes in the same post. Remember that editing a question bumps it to the top of the "active questions" list. Add this to people ...
- 97k
4
votes
Should an OP's edit of their own question be accepted before their accounts are merged?
(Take this as personal opinion speaking as an ordinary user)
If it's an edit you'd accept if it was from a different user - an improvement without changing the intent too much - you could accept it ...
- 261k
1
vote
Links to copyright material
The site should not be a party to illegally hosting copyrighted content. You should not allow such an edit. When you see a post that does contain pirated content, you should edit it out (or flag it ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible