How to interact with a moderator in this/other sites (technical/specific instructions)

Question

How can I interact with a moderator?

1. what specific actions are available for interacting with moderators, and
2. how (literally, which page do I go to, what do I click on, etc) to perform these?

Context:

• I am relatively new (month or so) as a stackexchange.com contributor (but have been reading the site for years)
• I am enjoying using the site and using it more (asking/answering questions), and things generally work fine...
• However, I am admittedly not clear on the process (or what the options are) when questions don't quite meet guidelines, etc

Example 1: One of my first questions on stackexchange.com was closed by a moderator for being too generic. The explanation message advised me to edit the question to make it more specific, which I did. I then (perhaps incorrectly?) assumed my revised question would be reviewed and the question accepted/re-opened, but I did not receive any further updates (no notifications that my edits had been reviewed, no follow-up guidance/explanation on why the question still wasn't acceptable/how to fix this, etc). I made several comments trying to attract moderator attention but there did not seem anything else I could do

Example 2: More recently, I posted a well-received question and answer. A community member suggested some minor stylistic changes (e.g. changing .ps1 --> .ps1) which I thought were helpful, so accepted. Today, I received another edit notification, however upon checking it, I noticed the editor had removed the reference to the O/S (Windows), which I thought was useful to keep. I thought it best to reject the change for now, but then noticed it was done (and so already approved) by a moderator. I don't have a massive problem with their edit, but it would be helpful to be able to discuss the change with them (e.g. if for example, it's better not to reference the O/S, then I should probably know that for future), but again, I am not quite sure how I can initiate this conversation.

My specific questions are:

1. Does stackexchange.com have any kind of 'IM' system (i.e. the ability to send a message to a specific user and ask them a question?)
2. If so, how do I use this? (I tried going to the moderator's profile but could not find any option to contact them)
3. As part of my pre-question search, I read about references to 'chat' in a similarly-titled question. I briefly explored 'chat' (assuming I went to the right place) by clicking the 3rd link in the 1st column of the page footer, however I could only see 18 users / 6 rooms (i.e. only a tiny fraction of stackexchange.com users) and so I didn't quite understand the answer to that question / how I could use 'chat' for my purposes. I assume 'chat' is some kind of real-time, room-based messaging system (like IRC), is that right?
4. If not / there is a way to 'chat' with anyone, how do I do this?
5. Besides commenting and '@'ing users (which is not really appropriate in this context), what other options are there for messaging/interacting with specific users please?
6. Are there any other processes for requesting review/interaction - e.g. if you disagree with an edit made, etc? (again, if so please provide instructions on how to do this please)

My aim here is not to 'start a row with a moderator' / 'take up moderator time with a debate about the proper use of the semicolon, etc'. Ultimately, it is about understanding how to interact with the respected individuals that help govern the site(s), as to-date my experience has been 100% 1-way and I am conscious that as I continue to use the site more-and-more, I want to make sure I know how to use the site fully to ensure I use the site well, understand and follow guidelines, etc. and avoid any negatives, such as having other questions closed in the future, or needing moderators to edit my questions for me, because I am still not clear on some of the guidelines.

Answer 1

How to contact moderators

1. Contact them in a chat room. Many moderators are active in one or more chat rooms, and pinging them (with a simple @[whatever-their-name-is]) can notify them, and then you can discuss whatever you want to discuss. A user must have posted a message in the chatroom in the past week for a normal user to be able to ping them. Also, I noticed your main site is Super User, so this might help you.
2. Email link in profile. Some people put an email link in their profile, to make themselves available for contact. However, some people might not want to be contacted for in-site matters.
3. Bring it up on the per-site meta. For some things that you think are very important (e.g. a deleted your answer which you think was a good answer) you can bring it up on the per-site meta of your site. The per-site meta can be found by clicking the SE logo in the top right, which should open a menu with the option to take you to the per-site meta. Note: this site (meta SE) does not have a per site meta.
4. Flag a post for moderator attention. I would highly recommend against doing this in most situations, but it is an option.

Response to your first example

Editing the post should have placed it into the re-open queue, so maybe it hasn’t been reviewed yet (as the queue has a massive backlog on some sites), or maybe your question still has problems. I would recommend bringing it up in chat, or maybe the per-site meta if chat doesn’t work.

Response to your second example

As mentioned in the comments, that suggested edit was approved by community members, not a moderator. If you don’t like the edit, you can roll it back, and you can leave a comment saying something like “hi @[editors-username], I rolled back your edit because of [reason], if you think it was a good edit I would be happy to discuss it in the comments”.

Answer to specific questions

1. No.
2. See above.
3. Chat is a real time messaging system, and yes, only some users use chat, not all of them. Looking at some posts on your sites per-site meta that have the keyword “chat” on them or checking out the chat site (note that meta chat and stack overflow chat have different links).
4. You can create a chatroom if you have enough reputation, but the only way to bring it to a users notice is by pinging them, and if you can ping somebody you already have a way to talk to them most of the time (exception: diamond moderators can ping a user who isn’t active in a chatroom). Also, if somebody has a chat profile that you can find, you can invite them to a one on one public chat.
5. They may have a link in their profile, or be active in chat. Also, commenting is appropriate in that situation.
6. Moderator flags (though for more important stuff than a disagreed edit, unless an edit war starts), the per-site meta, and the contact us link for Stack Exchange (Note that this should only be used for very important stuff, and a disagreement about an edit doesn’t even come close).

Answer 2

Moderators are regular users too - so there's no special care and handling instructions. We mostly do what a regular user does, just on our own.

Example 1: One of my first questions on stackexchange.com was closed by a moderator for being too generic. The explanation message advised me to edit the question to make it more specific, which I did. I then (perhaps incorrectly?) assumed my revised question would be reviewed and the question accepted/re-opened, but I did not receive any further updates (no notifications that my edits had been reviewed, no follow-up guidance/explanation on why the question still wasn't acceptable/how to fix this, etc). I made several comments trying to attract moderator attention but there did not seem anything else I could do

Bring it up on the per site meta. Make a case for reopening it, explain what you did, ask if folks can review. The feedback from to the meta post can be useful and specific and it gets mod and high rep/engagement user attention effectively

Example 2: More recently, a posted a well-received question and answer... A community member suggested some minor stylistic changes (e.g. changing .ps1 --> .ps1) which I thought were helpful, so accepted. Today, I received another edit notification however upon checking it, noticed the editor had removed the reference to the O/S (Windows), which I thought was useful to keep. I thought it best to reject the change for now, but then noticed it was done (and so already approved) by a moderator... I don't have a massive problem with their edit, but it would be helpful to be able to discuss the change with them (e.g. if for example, it's better not to reference the O/S, then I should probably know that for future), but again, am not quite sure how I can initiate this conversation?

Simply rollback an unwanted revision. Edit in if the revision was wanted but 'missed' something.

Does stackexchange.com have any kind of 'IM' system (i.e. the ability to send a message to a specific user and ask them a question?)

No - its by design.

If so, how do I use this please? (I tried going to the moderator's profile but could not find any option to contact them)

As above

1. As part of my pre-question search, I read about references to 'chat' in a similarly-titled question. I briefly explored 'chat' (assuming I went to the right place) by clicking the 3rd link in the 1st column of the page footer, however I could only see 18 users / 6 rooms (i.e. only a tiny fraction of stackexchange.com users) and so I didn't quite understand the answer to that question / how I could use 'chat' for my purposes... I assume 'chat' is some kind of real-time, room-based messaging system (like IRC), is that right?

Its on the header actually. Chat isn't as obvious to find as it was, and most chatrooms are 'social spaces' so asking questions or questions about questions might not always be appropriate. Its a good place to steep in site culture for many sites

1. If not / there is a way to 'chat' with anyone, how do I do this please?

You can 'trivially' invite someone with a chat account to a 1-1 public chat. Practically not all users would be happy with it, so asking first, and remembering not to take up too much of their time is nice.

If you can find someone's chat profile - either by clicking on their icon in chat or directly, you can invite them to chat like so

1. Besides commenting and '@'ing users (which is not really appropriate in this context), what other options are there for messaging/interacting with specific users please?

SE's quite designed for people not to do that. Trust the wisdom of the crowd.

1. Are there any other processes for requesting review/interaction - e.g. if you disagree with an edit made, etc? (again, if so please provide instructions on how to do this please)

Well - for edits, rolling back is an option. You might want to look at/understand the use for site meta for reviews of things