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Now that I've reached 2k on Stack Overflow, I get access to the "Suggested Edits" review queue.

Although I only have 20 edits per day, the "suggested edit awaiting" icon in the top bar is always there and it bothers me a lot!

My suggestion is to apply one of three solutions:

  1. Remove the suggested edits icon when we reach the maximum (50) edits
  2. Remove the Highlight (orange) on the suggested edits
  3. Remove the suggested edits part when we click on it

What do you think?

18
  • I think bothering you is kind of the point (at least whilst you have approvals left) - they want people to help look at it and currently not enough people do. Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 9:15
  • 15
    @Flexo I know, but when I reach 50 edits I keep beeing bothered ;) that's what I suggest them to change ^^
    – aF.
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 9:15
  • 3
    I was saying I didn't like 2 and 3, but 1 sounded sensible :) Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 9:17
  • @Flexo I was just giving more solutions, but the first one is my favorite as well :)
    – aF.
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 9:21
  • You can actually access the edit queue at 5k, you just don't get the number next to the flag count.
    – Kevin
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 12:03
  • 6
    I'm getting close to 10k on SO and was thinking this would bother me as well.
    – Kevin
    Commented Jun 21, 2012 at 12:04
  • 2
    I wasn't aware of this until today when I hit 10k on StackOverflow. This morning I'd already completed my 20 Suggested Edit reviews, so I was greeted with disappointment when clicking on the bright orange link for the very first time. Commented Oct 21, 2013 at 11:06
  • @JamesDonnelly you are not alone my friend :(
    – aF.
    Commented Oct 21, 2013 at 12:32
  • 10
    Here's a graphic I prepared to make this argument myself before I found this post: i.sstatic.net/g187R.png Commented Dec 27, 2013 at 5:56
  • You don't need 10k for this. I also see this (currently at 8.7k) and it's annyoing if my edit limit (20) is reached anyway.
    – Devolus
    Commented Jan 8, 2014 at 18:38
  • Face the same on SO. I think they can gray out the link to edits.
    – Zo Has
    Commented Jan 10, 2014 at 10:31
  • 6
    I'm throwing in another vote for #1. Remove the icon when I reach my limit. I always assume the icon means that I can do something, so I click. If you train me to stop clicking because I can't actually do anything, the purpose of the icon is being undermined. Commented Mar 7, 2014 at 21:18
  • 1
    Isn't it just an bug? I really wonder why discussion is going in strange way...
    – cnd
    Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 12:15
  • 1
    And the moment I'm done reviewing a Late answer or first post, it comes back to haunt me!! Commented Jul 17, 2014 at 20:26
  • 2
    I just reached 2k yesterday and discovered this behavior. It is already training me to ignore orange numbers at the top of the screen. If that's the goal, well done. Commented May 30, 2015 at 20:25

2 Answers 2

48
+100

I agree with you aF, but I propose another solution, because:

  • Reviewing is important to keep the quality of questions and answers high.
  • As far as I know, the button only appears for pending edits, not reopen, close, first questions, late answers etc. (at least for user with less than 10k rep as myself).

My two cents:

Keep the button, but:

  • When you have reviewed 20 edits, don't show pending edits, but rather pending First Questions
  • When you have reviewed 20 first questions, show pending Reopen-votes
  • Continue down the line
  • Regarding Close Votes: I can't really make up my mind. Everyone knows the queue is growing every day and that something should be done about it, but showing an orange button with "105k reviews pending" is not necessarily a good idea.

I also propose not showing the button all the time, but rather:

  • After 10 (or something else) minutes on SO, show the button for the first time. If the user hits the button and do reviews, wait another 10 minutes, then:
  • Show the button again

(I know it's not shown all the time now, as there aren't always pending edits).

Agree / disagree?

4
  • 1
    As for the part "after 20 reviews down't show pending edits" I agree, and continue down the line with "first questions" etc could work. For the part about not showing the button based on time I don't like it, it works fine as it does now (based on number of pending entries)
    – Marcus
    Commented Feb 12, 2014 at 10:02
  • 2
    Agree with shifting focus to another review queue (except exploded one), or not showing at all if 20 edits on suggested were done. First one preferable. Commented Mar 19, 2014 at 17:50
  • I'd love a notification about any kind of review queue being available. I'm happy helping with any kind of review queue. I'm less happy being bugged to help with review queues I can't help with because I already finished. (It is weird finally having access to a queue that gets enough stuff in it that I routinely finish 20 reviews well before the end of the day.)
    – neminem
    Commented Jul 21, 2014 at 17:54
  • 2
    Too complicated - too much needed interpretation/memory by users. The highlighted number should be shown only when (a) there actually are posts awaiting review (not the case presently) and (b) you can review them.
    – Drew
    Commented Oct 26, 2014 at 19:23
11

Here are some suggestions of mine:

  • Customize how this Approve Edits button appears. A more generic version of (2).

    enter image description here

    If I want a different background, I should be able to set that. White on black should look less disturbing. Other people may find another color works best for them. White on grey, white on brown - anything that fits other elements on the top bar.

    enter image description here

  • If I want to hide it altogether, the system should let me do it. Seriously, if I prefer answering questions more than reviewing it, why force me into it?

  • Okay, okay, as a compromise decision to the previous, the system may show this icon once a day, so once I review anything, it no longer shows until next day. An extension to (3).

I decided to post my ideas as an answer here - my question was closed as a duplicate of this one.

5
  • 2
    "the system should let me do it" - sure, just write a userstyle. SO doesn't use !important inline styles, and even then a userscript would do. Commented Jan 6, 2014 at 17:40
  • @JanDvorak: Any good tool you can recommend for Google Chrome? Something that I can use to inspect a page, add markup, save and have it like that from now on? I did a quick google search on Google Chrome userstyle, there are many results, but nothing is what I would expect to get, i.e. some HTML editor. This could be a solution (at least for now). Commented Jan 6, 2014 at 17:46
  • 3
    I use Stylish. Just develop your styles in the dev console (this one is easy) and then input them into Stylish as a single ruleset. Commented Jan 6, 2014 at 17:58
  • 1
    @JanDvorak: Stylish rocks! Very intuitive, it took me 5min to install, change, apply and see the results (sorry only got to it now). If you want, you can post this as an answer, which I will upvote in no time. Thank you so much! Commented Feb 27, 2014 at 13:38
  • 3
    The question here should not be about individual users being able to get rid of this annoyance using customization. The question should be limited to what the ordinary, default behavior is. Currently, that behavior sucks - the number is shown even when there are zero review possibilities (all queues zero) and even when you cannot review posts that are available to others to review. Seeing this annoyance as a problem should be a no-brainer. Dunno whether the solution is simple to implement, but the problem should be obvious: just bad UI.
    – Drew
    Commented Oct 26, 2014 at 19:26

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