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Comments on How to edit a post for small modifications without affecting the visibility of other posts?
Parent
How to edit a post for small modifications without affecting the visibility of other posts?
Related: Could we have a way to edit without bumping posts?
Motivation
I usually edit my own posts a lot of times in order to improve them. This put the corresponding post on top of the "main post page list" (for e.g. meta.codidact.com).
However, most of the time I do very little changes to my post (correct a typo, add a link, etc.), so it does not deserve to draw attention to the post in question.
So my post takes the place of other posts that would need more attention...
In this case, a general recommendation could be: "Avoid editing a post for small modifications (e.g. correct a typo) because it affects the visibility of other posts"
Starting from this postulate (which could obviously be discussed ;-), the question is:
How to edit a post for small modifications without affecting the visibility of other posts?
Proposal
A solution could be to allow the author of the edit to choose if they wants to put the post on the top of the list or not (the default behavior could be to move the post on top, as it is currently done).
This could be achieved, for e.g., by adding a check box at the end of the edit view which could look like this:
I like the idea, and I was going to suggest it myself. However, I also understand the concerns of @trichoplax about t …
1y ago
I like this, but... I've often wanted this feature. I feel bad about cluttering the top of the question list when I mak …
1y ago
Maybe when our communities are much larger I share the others' concerns about getting fresh eyes on edits to avoid ab …
1y ago
Post
I like this, but...
I've often wanted this feature. I feel bad about cluttering the top of the question list when I make a minor typo fix on an old post.
However, having thought about it more over time, I can see a problem with letting a user decide which of their edits should be visible.
Misuse
If a user wants to make an edit that they expect will be disapproved of, and that may lead to their post being flagged for moderator attention, being able to keep their edit from appearing at the top of the question list would allow them to make the edit with much reduced risk of detection.
Moderation
One solution to this would be to allow the edit to be kept off the top of the question list, but notify moderators that the edit has been made so they can check this unscrupulous usage is not happening. However, this diverts work that can be done by the community to being only done by the moderators.
I see a moderator's role as dealing with overflow. A moderator should be solving problems that the community cannot solve. Anything that the community can deal with itself should not be referred to moderators. This leaves the maximum amount of moderator time available for the things that only they can handle.
Community moderation
For this reason I think it is important that every edit, no matter how small, results in the post going to the top of the question list. This way the editing user does not get to decide whether their edit is seen by the community, and the community can spot problems (and flag if necessary) rather than putting the full burden of monitoring all edits on a small number of moderators.
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