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Is there a way to report vandalism on edits? I don't mean on suggested edits, but edits that go through, as for example where the editing user has edit privileges?

I have just experienced another user editing the code in my answer such that it makes the code invalid. I assume this isn't vandalism, but if it were, there does not appear to be a way to flag such behaviour.

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    In a case of obvious vandalism, flag the post that was edited for moderator attention, select 'other' and let us know what's going on. There's no need to flag a specific revision, as we're going to look at all of them to see what's going on anyway.
    – Tim Post
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:25
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    I think you're refering to my edit, I just looked it up and I don't see how it invalidated your post. Can you maybe elaborate on it (I'm really curious about it!).
    – hochl
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:29
  • Additionally, if it's your own post, you can just change it back. Invalidation of code (especially if they were fixing the formatting) is likely accidental.
    – yoozer8
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:30
  • @hochl It wasn't you. Although I didn't like your reformatting as a matter of style, there's nothing actually wrong with it. I've posted a link to the "offending" edit as a comment on the question.
    – Marcin
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:31
  • @Jim Yes, I reverted it, but the issue remains in the (rare) cases where it appears to be deliberate.
    – Marcin
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:32
  • Oh ok. phew I did it because of PEP8 Compound statements (multiple statements on the same line) are generally discouraged. but then editing because of taste was a bad idea on my part.
    – hochl
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:33
  • @hochl: It's not the usual style, but I find it preferable to put a single statement on the same line as the colon-statement where both are short. I find it aids readability, in much the same way that the unusual indenting convention for ifs does in lisp.
    – Marcin
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:36

1 Answer 1

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You can handle the issue by doing the following:

  1. Rollback to a proper version.
  2. Post a comment that @replies to the poster that invalidated the code with an explanation of the problem.

This approach is preferable to flagging in that it is more transparent to the community and in that it does not involve moderators to take action.

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  • Right, but if they haven't commented on my answer, surely they won't be alerted?
    – Marcin
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:27
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    @Marcin According to the link on replies I included it will alert the editor. Just put a @ in front of the editor's user name.
    – N.N.
    Mar 14, 2012 at 13:29

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