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As English is not my first language, I make a lot of spelling, grammar and phrasing errors. Thankfully, some people are kind enough to edit my post to correct those mistakes. (Yes, Dori, Grace note, and aarobot (along others), I'm talking of you.)

There should be a way for the original author of a post to thank those editors that correct our text, rewarding them with at least one point or more. This duty is essential to the Stack Exchange websites.

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    Possible duplicate of Let me reward a good edit on my question/answer. In addition, if you just want to thank the person who edited your question, comment replies can reach editors too, so something along the lines of "@<name of editor> Thanks for the edit!" will do
    – Yi Jiang
    Jan 23, 2011 at 3:43
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    @Yi Jiang and any other closer, The main point of my post was "A way to thanks". Reputation is accessory. I wasn't aware of that other post, but I think it's just a misdirection. the point is a "way for the original author of a post to thanks those editor that correct ours text", it could be reputation, it could be just an approval message, but just a "claps in the back" (this is a translation from "tappe dans le dos" I'm not sure about it) for the editor. Than duty is very important and should be rewarded by on way or the other. And I know a thanks is sometime valuable reward.
    – DavRob60
    Jan 23, 2011 at 4:23
  • @meta: "Thanks" doesn't really mean anything on a scale like this. Better just demonstrate gratitude by contributing back to the community.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Jul 17, 2011 at 20:17
  • Maybe on some sites a brief and helpful comment
    – M H
    Nov 9, 2020 at 13:20

4 Answers 4

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As Yi Jiang pointed out @username comments work on post editors, so if you want to thank an editor for a really great edit do it in a comment, e.g.:

@davesmith thanks for the edit, that cleared up the question considerably for me.

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  • Agreed. For anyone reading Jeff's answer, see as an example the comments of stackoverflow.com/questions/2741069/…
    – VonC
    Jan 23, 2011 at 8:21
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    Ok, we could say tanks as in a @username comment, but has it has been said by someone else, I would not did it that way because I did not want "clutter up the comments with such thanks". meta.stackexchange.com/questions/11226/…
    – DavRob60
    Jan 24, 2011 at 13:53
  • Except, that isn't much different from the otherwise shunned 'tank you' posts, as it doesn'T add any useful information for other readers.
    – Raffzahn
    Sep 14, 2018 at 22:55
  • It feels weird to thank in a comment, the comment doesn't always add to the discussion, just to that one individual...and the comment is permanent...
    – rogerdpack
    Sep 14, 2021 at 16:47
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I think this is an interesting concept. I'm not sure if this has been suggested before or not, but I like the idea. I know automatic rep for editing has been suggested, which I am against, but the idea of the OP awarding an editor is different. Yes, there are already badges out there rewarding the active post editors based on sheer number of edits but the OP giving a rep reward is not something we have. This might even be a more reliable way of thanking the editors instead of using badges which are more easily gamed. If an OP thinks that an edit is beneficial then they could award a small amount of rep for the edit.

Editors in general make the sites better. That is deserving of a rep reward to me.

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  • Why you don't want rep given to editor?
    – tshepang
    Jan 23, 2011 at 9:52
  • I do, that's what I'm saying.
    – squillman
    Jan 23, 2011 at 14:11
  • If the editors are here to gain rep then they are not here for the right reasons. This is a non-issue.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Jul 17, 2011 at 20:17
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Actually I like the idea of being able to donate a small amount of rep to any other person, for any reason. Is there any reason why this could/should not be added as a feature? All you would need is a way to identify the target user, a field for the amount (perhaps constrained to be something small, e.g. 1-10 points) and perhaps a short text field for a reason that will be seen by the recipient, and which may be left blank. A "tip" if you will.

I see this as covering this particular case (thanking an editor) as well as any other niche cases where someone goes out of their way to help you.

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You can thank them in a comment and for me 9/10 the editor has posted an answer so I give them an upvote.

If they didn't asnwer the question you can go on there profile and choose a question/answer by them to upvote.

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    -1 You shouldn't give them an upvote just for editing, judge the answer on its own merit.
    – Nifle
    Jan 23, 2011 at 9:58
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    @Benny: This is absolutely the wrong thing to do. Don't just pick one of their answers/questions. Upvoting/downvoting is supposed to reflect the quality of the post, not the person. You may have unwittingly given support to a poor post when you did not intend to.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Jul 17, 2011 at 20:18

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