When you try to edit a question, there is a request to not make trivial edits. I wonder what counts as trivial? Adding better tags? Expanding an abbreviation in the question title? Enabling syntax highlighting?
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4both of the examples you give are useful edits. anything that assists in a more effective search is useful. but if a poster misspells a few insignificant words (e.g., "teh" instead of "the") that won't affect a search, that's trivial.– barbara beetonMay 13, 2016 at 15:45
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Ok, nice, got it. Basically, if it helps the future searcher or the current answerer, then it's worth it.– MarkMay 13, 2016 at 16:46
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Well, don't forget that any edit you propose will require 3 reviewers to approve it. If two reviewers approve your edit, and then two reject it, then you will need a fifth editor to decide whether your edits will be approved or not. So every single edit you make could ask 5 other people to look at. That is a LOT of work for, perhaps, nothing. Think twice before you make an edit, and be certain that it is necessary to do it. See this from our sister site.– MatsmathMay 13, 2016 at 17:08
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@Matsmath: I thought it needs two approvers only?– user31729May 13, 2016 at 17:44
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@Matsmath Not sure that case is about 'trivial' edits– Joseph Wright ModMay 13, 2016 at 18:17
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1@ChristianHupfer, all right, this might be site-dependent. In that case at TeX.SE two approve is needed, and with one reject, that is three editor's work.– MatsmathMay 13, 2016 at 18:17
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1@Matsmath: Ah, I did not know that this different on other sites. I am not active there– user31729May 13, 2016 at 18:19
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1Some old, but still applicable discussion here: When is (and isn't) it acceptable to edit?– Alan MunnMay 14, 2016 at 19:23
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1 Answer
Fundamentally edits should improve a post. However, minor typos - things that don't change the context of the post - should really be avoided.
I think the biggest reason behind this stems from the fact that an edited post becomes active, and active posts get bumped to the front page. In that case, chaning "teh" to "the" or removing "Thanks!" doesn't really help, since no new value has been added.
On the other hand, I've made minor edits to post if they've just been bumped as there is no real harm in doing that to an already-bumped post. I consider those just edits missed by the other person.
A broad discussion on (in-)acceptable edits is available from When is (and isn't) it acceptable to edit?.
Meta.SE references:
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It'd be nice if there was an option (not used by default) to not have an edit bump the post into active ones.– JABMay 19, 2016 at 21:33
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It might differ for users whose edits need approval, though, since those will get bumped again much later unless the edit is approved very quickly.– cfrMay 21, 2016 at 22:55
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If someone referes to me with he/his while I'm a she-member, is it a trivial edit to correct it?– CarLaTeXJun 4, 2016 at 5:16
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Oh well, it doesn't matter, if I had realized it at once I would have corrected it immediately, when the post was still on the top of the list.– CarLaTeXJun 4, 2016 at 6:34