High rep users suggesting edits to authors

Question

I came upon a question where I wanted to make an edit, but I wasn't sure if it would change the original meaning of the question - as I did not know enough about the subject material to be sure.

I could wait for another user to come around and make the edit, but perhaps they wouldn't notice the problem that I wanted to edit. I could also suggest the edit in the comments, but it is such a minor nitpick of grammar that I seemed like a waste of a comment.

Of course, I can't just let a minor grammatical mistake go unnoticed.

So my suggestion is to allow an editor to mark an edit to instead be suggested to the author for approval, if the author believes it does not sufficiently alter the meaning of the question. It would pop up under their usual notification area to approve or reject a suggested edit.

This is different than the 5k/mod suggested edits version in that it would be from a user who could have edited the question, but still seeks the approval of the original poster.

Answer 1

Minor grammatical errors aren't important enough to edit on their own. If there are only minor grammatical errors and you don't know enough to intelligently edit it for content errors, leave it alone; someone else with more knowledge in the subject area AND the ability to edit will likely see and make the necessary corrections. You CAN make whatever edits you think are necessary and if they do change the sense of the question the author is free to roll them back. If you think it's a content issue but don't feel confident making the changes, a comment would be appropriate (and you can mention the grammar at the same time).

My suggestion is to relax and let the rest of the community do their job. You don't have to clean up everything, just the corner of the world you feel comfortable working on.