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I was just going through some Suggested Edit reviews and reviewed an edit that made a substantial change to how the code works. I decided to reject the edit, and noticed that 2 other users had also flagged it as an "Invalid Edit". However, once I clicked to reject it I got the notification saying that the edit has already been approved.

Still convinced that this was an invalid edit, I opened the answer to check if perhaps any comments had been made that justified that change to the code. I couldn't see any so I decided to rollback the answer.

Was I right to rollback the edit, or should I have left it as it was?

Here is the answer I am referring to in this particular instance.

EDIT: I hadn't originally noticed, but the user that made the suggested edit was in fact the user that asked the question. So consider this when providing an answer, although I personally feel that this still doesn't justify the edit being approved.

Update: The OP of the question, Steve, has since added a new answer which shows the modified code from the original suggested edit. Fair play to Steve for reacting to the situation, and contributing a new answer.


To be more precise about what I am asking:

  • Are there acceptable cases where rolling back an approved suggested edit is considered acceptable?
  • If so, what are the guidelines for judging this?
  • Are there any factors (such as the edit being suggested by the OP) that bypass these "rules"?
  • What alternative actions can be taken other than the rollback? (e.g. should a flag be raised for moderator attention?)

Side note: I forgot to leave a reason for my rollback originally, and I do not seem to be able to edit in a reason - it lets my type and save, but it doesn't persist to the revisions page.

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    Did you happen to notice that the person that made the edit was the question asker? Sep 23, 2013 at 10:04
  • @Martin, No I missed that one. Personally, I still feel that it shouldn't be approved but I will update this question to add that into the discussion mix
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:06
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    Just because someone asked the question doesn't given them full right to make significant changes to any answer. If the OP of the question had such significant changes to the code in the answer, then it should have been a separate answer Sep 23, 2013 at 10:10
  • It happened to me only twice, but instead of rollback I flagged for moderator attention (when I was sure) and asked on site's meta (when I wasn't). If 2 people thinks something is right and I'm the one who thinks it wrong, it would be a bold move to rollback on my own without consulting anyone. I'm not saying wrong move, but the point is that majority of voters are less likely to be wrong than single person, and who am I to argue with that? Certainly not a diamond mod.
    – Mołot
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:19
  • @Mołot: The two people I mention actually agreed with me, they had also flagged for "invalid edit". I don't know how many people approved it that I am conflicting with, I guess the number of users it takes to approve an edit is based on the rep/mod status
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:23
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    That edit was approved by the person who posted the answer. So there's no reason to rollback.
    – interjay
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:28
  • My point is - if most of voters agrees it's good, then either they are robot-reviewers or your point of view might be flawed. Either way evaluation on meta and/or by a diamond moderator is good idea.
    – Mołot
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:28
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    I'm looking at this now, I can see how you got confused.
    – user50049
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:31
  • @Mołot: I see what you are saying. However, I am not able to see if it is "most of votes" that go for approved, maybe it's just one person. Also, I definitely won't know if they are robot reviewers. I don't like bothering mods when I feel we have been given such privileges as an encouragement to make out own decisions. But perhaps bringing something like this up on Meta is the first step in the process
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:32
  • @interjay: how do you know it was approved by the user that poted the answer originally? If I had known this then I certainly would have let it as it was, and not rolled back
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:33
  • @musefan - you will not know. Diamond mod might. That's the point :p And meta is the in-between step for cases like that.
    – Mołot
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:34
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    You can see who approved/rejected it here. You can get to that page by clicking "suggested" on the revisions page.
    – interjay
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:34
  • @interjay: That is useful to know. However, am I correct in thinking that this isn't visible until after the edit is approved/rejected? (I just tried to view it on a suggested edit that had 1 reject, and I couldn't seem to see who that user was at that time). But I would have had access prior to rollback, so that will help me in the future
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:39

1 Answer 1

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I think that the edit should not be rolled back, since the author of the answer approved it. The author of the answer is ultimately responsible for the content of his answer, and this is why he gets a binding vote when a edit is suggested.

In this case, since the author approved the edit, it should not be rolled back.

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    Yes I agree. had I known this information before I certainly would not have rolled back the edit. At least I know about it for the future and can evaluate that factor if this occurs again.
    – musefan
    Sep 23, 2013 at 10:44
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    @musefan: Note that the author approved it after the other rejections but before yours. (Yay, race condition!) Given that you didn't know about the option to see who approved/rejected after the edit was approved, I would say you did the best you could. This isn't an endorsement of drastic changes to code, either. The editor happened to get lucky with understanding what the author meant, but one cannot rely on luck when editing. Sep 23, 2013 at 13:32

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