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I was testing some behavior with a low rep account, and when I was trying to suggest a few edits, I was greeted with the following message when trying to submit an edit:

Error box saying "This edit would have to be a suggested edit"

Huh?!?!?! It was a suggested edit, so why are you telling me it needs to be a suggested edit?

Turns out it was a suggested edit conflict. The post in question had an existing suggested edit by the time I tried to submit mine. For brand new users, this is certainly not ideal behavior as it is only confusing to them.

Can this message be changed to something more descriptive? Or at least less confusing?

I would suggest

This edit cannot be submitted as there is a pending suggested edit on this post.


Note there is a question that looks similar, but is essentially different: "This edit would have to be a suggested edit" / edit button grayed out This is a feature request asking that the language be changed, while the other is a support question asking, basically, what it means.

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  • 2
    At least it's not "You can't do that", or "Unicorn ate your edit"! Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:17
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    @ShaWizDowArd at least "Unicorn ate your edit" isn't telling me that I have to do something that I am trying to do anyway Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:18
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    What about "Unicorn ate your edit, please submit again"? :-D Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:23
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    I would definitely vote for Unicorn ate your edit instead. Also, your printer is on fire. Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:25
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    @ShaWizDowArd only if it has an animation of the unicorn eating the edit Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:26
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    @psubsee2003 here is one ;) Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 11:31
  • @Sha any idea why that didn't come up when I search for the exact error message? Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 15:31
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    @psubsee2003 yep, search is dot sensitive! Feel free to report as bug of course. :) Commented Sep 1, 2013 at 18:09
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    @ShaWizDowArd - Can you explain how this is a duplicate of “This edit would have to be a suggested edit” / edit button grayed out? This is a feature request asking that the language be changed, while the other is a support question asking, basically, what it means.
    – JDB
    Commented Sep 6, 2013 at 14:03
  • @Cyborgx37 it ends with "It would be even more helpful if the error message itself provided the explanation, or if the message were defined somewhere in the help pages" - I still think it's duplicate but won't fight for it. Commented Sep 6, 2013 at 17:38
  • I've offered a bounty on the linked question now.
    – user215114
    Commented Nov 10, 2013 at 18:53

1 Answer 1

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As noted here, the new error should read:

Another edit is awaiting approval for this post. Further edits cannot be submitted until the pending edit is reviewed.

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