Usually I'm not done editing so all they're doing is creating unnecessary revisions that I just clobber anyway. I don't care if I put "it's" when I meant to put "its". Leave it alone, at least until I'm done.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I suggest that when someone creates a post they have a 5 minute window where no-one else can edit it. The same thing would happen when you edit a post. I believe a lot of clobbering occurs during this window.
On the one hand, I've see the problem. For typo correction, I'll usually wait to edit for this very reason.
On the other hand, in cases where a new question really needs editing, that's 5 minutes for it to collect abuse and down-votes on the first page of questions while the (often ESL) author struggles to stop the bleeding.
I think we can put up with a bit of the former to allow us to help out newbies in the latter.
How do we know when you're done?
Seriously -- I'm not trying to be a jerk here. When a question is posted, some folks with edit privs will see it & edit it if it needs editing. There's no clear indication of "when you're done" editing your post.
Now I can see this for answers, where you might want to get in quickly and get the early bird advantage. But for questions, you should certainly be able to get all of your editing done before you hit the post button.
Just my 2 pennies.
I disagree, but conditionally. I take into account the reputation of the user's post I am editing. If it's a user that traditionally doesn't edit their work or is a low-reputation user, I'm more likely to edit their material as soon as it's posted to keep it from being closed. If it's a user like you, I'm much less likely to edit it soon after it's posted, and may not edit it at all.
I usually give the last editor of any post, at least a 3 minute grace period.
There is nothing more annoying than thinking you're going to edit a post again, without leaving another edit to the edit history, and then have someone else edit it in the mean time.
As I said in the comments to John Rudy, I don't know what the big deal is about the conflicting edits. If you post and someone else edits it before you are done, then your newest edit is just going to come out on top anyway.
If you post and someone else is in the process of editing and don't post it in time before your own edit, you already have the tools to roll it back to the appropriate position.
