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Earlier today, I came across a question that had an accepted answer to it, but the OP had asked for additional information which the answerer refused to give. So I decided to edit his/her answer myself, to add some content to cover the additional info the OP was asking for.

But it seems that because the OP asked for the additional info by commenting on the answer, my suggested edit was rejected?

Reason for disapproval:

This edit is incorrect or an attempt to reply to or comment on the existing post.

The suggested edit can be found here.

Why are users not allowed to do this? I mean, what's wrong with helping someone out when the original poster doesn't want to for whatever reason?

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  • "Added some content for the user" is not the best edit comment. Had you been more specific, the edit may have been approved (something to the tune of - "amended answer, adding details/code as requested in comments")
    – Oded
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:37
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    Just as an aside: I really dislike "edit/update", and "your comment" is not a useful reference for future readers either. Also, as an aside, I don't see any proof of "additional information which the answerer refused to give" -- these sites are not some paid customer service.
    – Arjan
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:37
  • That question didn't deserve a better answer, it was asking us to do all the work for the OP...
    – bfavaretto
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:38
  • I'm not pointing this question to that exact post. I just thought this was not allowed in general? Or was it just this once because of the comment I left with the edit?
    – user176835
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:39

2 Answers 2

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Keep in mind that we don't see the comment (inside the suggested edit review queue) and for all we can tell from within the queue, you seem to be hijacking the user's answer.

You might be better off adding your own answer. Especially if it's such a substantial amount of content. And reading the actual question, I would have voted to close it. But that's not your problem of course.

It's not wrong or disallowed per se. However, I would keep edits limited to corrections mostly. As soon as you start to add a substantial amount of content, it becomes hard to review and in most cases I would personally reject it, favoring the user to create his/her own answer.

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  • The comment is right here though: stackoverflow.com/questions/11692870/…
    – user176835
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:37
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    Absolutely, but that's not presented to us in the suggested edit review panel. It would require us to go to the actual question. But even with the comment it's so substantial that I would tell you to create your own answer.
    – Bart
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:38
  • Yeah I guess that covers why this exact edit was rejected. But I just thought this wasn't allowed in general? Which is why I came here and asked about it.
    – user176835
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:44
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In general, if a follow-up question gets asked in a comment, there are three scenarios:

  • It's really just a need for clarification or a minor tweak of the answer.

    In this case, you can add a comment answering the follow-up question.

  • The answer is incomplete.

    In this case, you can add an answer of your own.

  • It's a new question, not covered by the original one.

    In this case, the OP should ask a new question.

In this specific case, the whole problem could have been avoided by closing the question before any answers got posted. It's a question, if I ever saw one.

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  • Yeah that's a good point. But I wasn't refereeing to that exact post. I just thought it wasn't allowed in general. But I see it is now. Thanks for the post xD
    – user176835
    Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 19:50

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