I like short, clear questions that in simple language explain the problem, and when relevant show some code to reproduce the issue. I tend to believe such questions improve the quality of the site as a whole, as both answerers and later visitors through web searches can quickly identify whether the question is understandable, and for the latter, applies to their problem.

With this mindset, I often edit questions to remove fluff and irrelevant code. I do this specifically after the initial vagueness of a question has been clarified through comments on both question and answers, and potentially when the problem is generally understood by one or more answerers, as indicated by OP through comments or even the "accept" checkmark.

I perform these edits in my quest for canonical questions. I want to do this to make the original goal of Stack Overflow, namely a library of great questions and answers, reachable - as opposed to an endless list of "too localized" problems that aren't helpful for anyone but OP, into which the site is turning more and more.

However, almost every time when I see the beauty in a question but OP fails to communicate that - and I try to reword OP's problem in clear, common, understandable terms that are not local to OP's specific code anymore, but still carry the original problem, OP disagrees and rolls back my edits - with terms like "That is not my problem" or "That does not look like my code".

Of course, in the former case you can say that I failed in my simplification (assuming OP did not fail to simply read).

In the case that my edit is a clarification, but OP rolls back, they're effectively bringing the site in a worse state. What are my options when that happens? Of course I'm not looking to start a rollback-war, but what if I (and maybe some users with me) think my edit is better than OP's?

Earlier questions on the subject:

How to handle user rollbacks due to stubbornness about formatting / content?:

  • "[As an editor, don't rollback to your revision, OP] has more ownership of the post than you do" - err, no.
  • "The point of Stack Exchange sites is to answer [OP's] questions." - nope.

What to do about stubborn Askers?

"don't edit the post any more." - and leave the site in a worse state.

What are we here for, to help OP or to make the web a better resource? Have we given up on improving the site, and are we silently slipping into "just answer every question"-mode, using the edit privilege for mere tag and minor typo fixes? That's fine with me and better for my reputation points anyway, but not what I thought the goal of the site was.

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    In before "expecting others to write short, clear questions and writing an essay". – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:04
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    Well, what if I find OP's question more clear than your edit? Who decides which is more clear? – Epodax Nov 5 '15 at 13:15
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    @Epodax "what if I (and maybe some users with me) think my edit is better than OP's?". As a member of five years, having answered more than two thousand question, I think I'm perfectly able to determine when a question is clear or not. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:17
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    @Epodax that is not at all what I'm trying to discuss here, but solely the case where OP rolls back because they think the edited question does not apply to their problem anymore, because they don't see their exact code or wording. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:22
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    Welp, then I'm not entirely sure what you are trying to say, so I'll just shuffle away again :) – Epodax Nov 5 '15 at 13:24
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    @Epodax basically, and not meant offensively, my question is "How can we, as a community, prove that we know better what we are talking about than OP thinks they do?" - and so turn OP's question into a resource that is useful for more people than just them. :) – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:25
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    @CodeCaster Could you provide an example of one of these rollbacks, and possibly "on this occasion doubt a little of [your] own infallibility"? It might be instructive; otherwise this is all very hypothetical. – Paul Roub Nov 5 '15 at 14:24
  • @Paul I'd rather not draw attention to one specific example, as that will make possibly make the answers biased based on my actions there. I am asking about the general, maybe even hypothetical case. And to make that sure, nowhere am I implying that I am infallible. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 14:31
  • and irrelevant code - I was about to ask how you get away with touching the OP's code at all (beyond formatting) but then noticed your rep. – BSMP Nov 5 '15 at 16:29
  • @BSMP you're right that the advice in general is to not touch OP's code, absolutely. At least, that's what I think you're getting at. I also don't edit code lightly. However, if I think we have a good question at hand with less than fortunate wording and more code than necessary, I take the liberty to "remove the cruft" to make it clearer for everyone. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 16:30
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    Yes, that's what I meant. Unfortunately, I don't know of a way around this other than moderator intervention if you can't convince the OP your edits improve their post. I suspect that the folks responding with "That does not look like my code" are looking to get an answer they can copy/paste into their own code without editing it at all. – BSMP Nov 5 '15 at 16:36
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    If it is that displaying decimals thing that finally caused you to ask this, you added code and changed specific variable-names to general ones. I don't see how that helps at all. When a user reverts plain formatting, I just tell them not to in a comment. Later I consider making the edit again, depending on any response. – Bill Woodger Nov 6 '15 at 10:55
  • @Bill yes, that's the one that triggered it, but it's been lingering for longer. "I don't see how that helps at all" - why noy? It may not help OP specifically, but don't you see how it makes the question more readable for the general public? But then again, read my comment about that I don't want this question to be about a specific case. – CodeCaster Nov 6 '15 at 10:57
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    No one is going to hit on a search by variable-name, whatever it is. So it comes down to "should OP use a generic or a specific name?". A specific name is often useful to indicate more information. Yes, it is still an interesting point in the difference between a general question which provides a general answer for many, versus a specific question which can still provide a general answer for many, but some may avoid because of the apparent specicifity. I think I'd go with "don't try to make a user's question into a canonical one". – Bill Woodger Nov 6 '15 at 11:24
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    The problem is that without a clear example of what are those typically rolled-back edits of yours, nobody can judge if it should be done or not. As a general rule, yes, edits are very welcomed, of course, we both know it and practice it regularly. But if a kind of edits you make is regularly rolled-back, then there may be something specific about this type of edits that we may want to discuss here. – ayaio Nov 6 '15 at 14:05

There's been times where I've edited questions that covered two technologies to remove the one technology that turned out to not be a factor at all in the problem that the question was presenting. If explanations to the OP were needed, I explained that I made their question have a greater chance than it originally had to be found and read by people searching for a solution to their problem. Not only would the question be useful to more people, it would also have a greater chance of getting upvotes, and the OP would have a greater chance to get reputation.

I'm thinking if the "common good" argument did not win them, an appeal to their own self-interest would.

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    Sounds good - I don't like to "threaten" with downvotes though, like "If you don't roll back to my edit, I'll downvote your question because I think it is unclear as you posted it". Can you give an example of how you would phrase a comment that would lead OP to believe your edit is better than theirs? – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:29
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    I don't threaten them with downvotes. Nor do I say that they're more likely to get downvotes if the question is not edited (which I think would generally not be a true statement anyway). I just say that the edited question is more likely to get upvotes because more people will find it useful. If you are asking for an example of a question I edited where I had to say that, I'm afraid I can't bring one up. I don't do such edits very often so I'd have to search my history pretty thoroughly to find one. – Louis Nov 5 '15 at 13:32
  • I meant a comment, see edited comment. :) – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 13:33
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    I don't have a template for such comments (so no canonical example to plunk in here). I explain that what I removed was not actually part of the problem and that its presence would put off people searching for a solution but for whom the unnecessary bit does not apply and then I explain the "greater chance of being read -> greater chance of being useful -> upvotes" dynamic. – Louis Nov 5 '15 at 13:43
  • Alright, thanks for that. I hope "Try to persuade OP of your view by commenting" is not the only answer I'm going to get, because that usually fails for me. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 14:21
  • The point here is not "try to persuade the OP", which presumably you're already doing, so much as "appeal to their own self-interest". There is no indication in your question that you were appealing to their self-interest. – Louis Nov 5 '15 at 14:25
  • Yeah sure, but that still comes down to "Post a comment and hope they don't roll back / hope they agree with your edit". I'm looking for an alternative. – CodeCaster Nov 5 '15 at 14:33
  • @CodeCaster There is no alternative. The OP holds a binding vote on edit rejections and can edit/rollback without approval, unless you're trying to suggest something about that changes. – Kevin B Nov 5 '15 at 23:39

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