It is frustrating when you want to improve (or provide a fix to) an already good answer, and the edit is rejected for no good reason.

One example that just happened is about THIS question. As it is old (from 2013), the answer was based on Angular 1.1

For newer versions of Angular, however, the accepted answer does not work. It only needs one line of code, as explained by my answer on that post.

I tried to make an edit, but this is what I got:

enter image description here

I believe that as a good answer was given, and just a few details are needed, they should be edited instead of having more and more answers.

This would keep the information better, more complete, and concentrated in one single answer, sparing the user to read all of them (which, in most cases, are not much better, and have repeated information).

Am I missing something or does this make sense? Shouldn't edits be encouraged?

  • Does this new improved answer still answers the original question? – Just Do It Sep 24 '15 at 22:37
  • I just uploaded this question and it was already downvoted. I bet there was not enough time for someone to read it all and comprehend. I wonder why people act so recklessly – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:37
  • @edrodriguez yes, it answers. It is just a detail, one line of code, to make the accepted answer work for newer versions of the Framework – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:38
  • Well, we don't really know reviewers motives. So my suggestion to you is to put that change as comment. Or an answer referencing the answer you wanted to improve. – Just Do It Sep 24 '15 at 22:40
  • So we have to assume that EVERYBODY from now on, that reads that question, MUST read my comment as well so it works for them. Otherwise, they'll struggle with errors. I believe an answer should not be to the author himself. Should be for anybody who is having the same issue – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:44
  • Yeah, don't make a comment your only way to communicate this; they're pretty awful. Nothing wrong with commenting in addition to editing or answering, but that's strictly optional. – Shog9 Sep 24 '15 at 22:45
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    @Aleksandrus It appears your edit breaks the answer for older versions. That by itself is a reason to reject the edit. – Rob Sep 25 '15 at 0:25
  • I think that the system is correct in prohibiting you from changing someone else's answer. Your are potentially meddling with his/her rep. Post your own with the correction. – Rohit Gupta Sep 25 '15 at 2:14
  • If the question asked about v1.1, and the answer was written for v1.1, and it answers the question for v1.1, leave it alone, because an answer that addresses a future version no longer answers the v1.1 question asked. If you want to provide the information regarding a later version, post it as a comment to the existing answer or create a new self-answered question of your own. Don't break existing answers, and don't change them in a way that can cause the poster of that answer to lose reputation when people find out it's wrong because it's no longer correct for the question asked. – Ken White Sep 25 '15 at 3:20
  • but the solution should address other peipke's issues. I lost about an hour to find the solytion. I've even downvoted his answer for it was not working. So providing an edit that changes only one line of code is the best alternative in my opinion and it doesnt make any sense to have 1 answer for each version – Aleksandrus Sep 25 '15 at 3:25

Folks tend to get all tetchy about edits that modify code. You have to be really clear that what you're doing won't break anything.

Your edit is not bad... But what if I'm still using Angular 1.1? Now you've broken the answer for me.

So you have two choices:

  1. Edit the answer such that it provides a clean solution for both old and current Angular versions.
  2. Provide a separate answer that addresses current versions.

Either choice is good; make the one that suits you.

  • Now this makes sense, though it's hard to believe anyone would use Angular1.1 instead of the newer versions. My point is that the answer should not address the question author alone, but is to anybody who is dealing with this problem. As it was not clear the version needed (I knew because of the Fiddle), people FROM NOW ON that try that solution will struggle with errors – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:49
  • and most likely the author himself got what he wanted, as the answer if from 2013... but you have a point there. it makes sense having both – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:51
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    Hey, I don't disagree; I'm just theorizing as to why anyone would reject that edit. Note that once you earn 2000 reputation, you can edit without needing pre-approval and generally be a lot less paranoid about this stuff... But it still doesn't hurt to be careful, since, well... There probably are still unfortunate people out there forced to use Angular 1.1. – Shog9 Sep 24 '15 at 22:53
  • Getting to that much reputation is not feasible to me... It seems the only way to get a question or answer upvoted hundreds of time is to ask a simple question like "how to convert string to int"... Those get thousands of upvotes... really unfair, but it is subject for another topic – Aleksandrus Sep 24 '15 at 22:57
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    It is a separate topic, but I'm compelled to note... There are thousands of unanswered questions on Stack Overflow; heck, there are thousands of unanswered AngularJS questions. You don't need answers with hundreds of upvotes to earn full editing privileges; 200 answers with one upvote each will do it. I earned editing privileges answering one or two questions a day over lunch; like most writing tasks, the hardest part is just sitting down and doing it. – Shog9 Sep 24 '15 at 23:01

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