2

Possible Duplicate:
Is there a grace period for correction of edits?

Oftentimes, I need to edit my question or answer because of a spelling mistake, a typo, etc. I find it handy how comments can be quickly edited to make up for the small mistake. Wouldn't it be better to have a way to do this for questions and answers too?

The quick edit would not appear in the version history, nor would the answer or question be marked as editted. This would bring several advantages if I am correct, namely:

  • The question will not get bumped
  • Less history data needs to be stored
  • The version history will be more brief if a lot of a "real" edits are also present.

Of course, a limit in changes need to be set, take 16 characters total change for example, so that a relatively long word may be replaced, and add extra rules like no extra paragraph allowed etc.

Edit: It's not only because of the version history (I didn't know about the 5 minutes period), but also for not being taken to another page to edit it when using quick-edit.

Improve this question
15
  • 1
    There is already a 5 minute grace period for editing that will not bump, store history or show version history for questions and answers.
    – Oded
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:33
  • 1
    You can edit any post within 5 minutes of posting it or making the last edit, without an extra entry in the revision history.
    – Dennis
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:33
  • There is such thing already -- for a first five minutes your changes are not versioned.
    – om-nom-nom
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:33
  • meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1159/…
    – Oded
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:33
  • @Oded I wasn't only asking it for the version history, but also so that the edit action will not take you to another page.
    – MarioDS
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:35
  • It doesn't. It all happens in javascript. You are staying on the same page.
    – Oded
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:36
  • @MarioDeSchaepmeester: Editing questions or answers doesn't take me to another page. If I remember correctly, inline editing kicks in once you earn 2000 rep.
    – Dennis
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:36
  • @Dennis another thing I didn't know. Why the reputation requirement?
    – MarioDS
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:37
  • 1
    @Dennis - I didn't know that was a privilege. I wonder why this isn't implemented for everyone.
    – Oded
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:37
  • @Oded it surprisingly depends. Sometimes it,takes you to /edit
    – Manishearth
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:37
  • @Oded: I think it's to display the Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed. message and the How to Edit and How to Format quick help.
    – Dennis
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:40
  • @Dennis - Fair point. Didn't think about edit privileges, though for edits on ones own questions/answers that shouldn't matter.
    – Oded
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:46
  • Why not make this into an 'allow ajax edit on own posts' feature req? That seems to be the gist of it.
    – Manishearth
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:52
  • @Oded: New users still need the help boxes.
    – Dennis
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 16:52
  • waffles announced that the inline editor only shows up for users with the edit privilege when he announced its rollout. He didn't provide an explanation, but at least it's safe to assume that it's by design and has some rationale behind it. Maybe he could be poked in a comment there.
    – Pops
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 14:15

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

  • You can edit any post within 5 minutes of posting it or making the last edit, without an extra entry in the revision history.

  • Once you get editing privileges (at 2000 rep on SO), you will be able to edit all posts inline (not just your own).

    You can see here how it works.

    I suspect the threshold is needed, since there's no space for the How to Edit and How to Format help boxes when editing inline.

  • Bumping edited posts to the front page is fundamental to prevent vandalism.

    Even with a 16 character limit, you could just make several trivial edits to alter a post's meaning, introduce spam or erase it completely.

    Since an edited post currently gets bumped, chances are that someone will detect the vandalism and rollback the edit.

Improve this answer
3
  • I never knew that preventing vandalism was in whole or part of the rational for bumping edited posts to the front page. Do you happen to know if this was discussed elsewhere?
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 17:28
  • @SomeHelpfulCommenter: It's discussed here.
    – Dennis
    Commented May 3, 2012 at 17:31
  • It's a little more indirect than that. Bumping edits is done to increase visibility of the change. Deterring vandalism/helping to catch vandals is only one reason for wanting that increased visibility. @SomeHelpfulCommenter
    – Pops
    Commented May 4, 2012 at 14:12
1

This is already implemented. When you make a new post or make an edit, you will always be able to make additional edits to that post (without showing them separately in the revision history) until either: a. 5 minutes has passed since the post or edit was made; b. someone else makes an edit to the post.

Additionally, for suggested edits, you can make any changes to the suggested edit up until the point that the edit gets approved (or rejected).

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .