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Sometimes a post is edited in a way that changes the author's intent, and the edit somehow ends up being approved.

Take for example this edit: it adds a paragraph (the last one) with no correspondent in the original post, and it does make a difference.

Is there a recommended way to deal with situations like that, besides reverting the edit and hoping for the best?

Edit: The author of the edit admitted the extra paragraph was his own idea, and claims a honest misunderstanding. I suppose there is no reason to believe otherwise; this is where a system of private messages between users might have been useful.

Still, the question stands: how should I handle edits I strongly disagree with? Currently there is no way to appeal, or even report, edits that have been approved. There is also no way to appeal edit rejects.

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    This definitely looks to all be a good faith effort to improve the post, so it's not vandalism. Beyond that... I don't see where the author's intent was lost. I may well be missing it; could you elaborate? Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 23:51
  • @derobert The last paragraph has no correspondent in the original post: Some records (rows) consist of only one column. In that case, no corresponding file is created and that record is discarded in the output. It's subtle enough that I only noticed because I actually answered the original question. Commented Jul 19, 2016 at 23:58
  • Ah, OK. I figured that had come from a comment (and of course it's OK to edit a question to include clarifications from the comments). Also remember that comments can (and should!) be deleted after incorporation... so the comment may not be there anymore. I think a diamond mod can check. But please clarify your question, that you're asking about that one addition, not the entire edit. Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 0:03
  • @derobert Right, deleted comments. I haven't considered that. Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 0:07

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If you see an edit your strongly disagree with, you have the following options:

  • If you have enough rep, fix it yourself or, if you don't, suggest an edit fixing it. If you disagree with the entire edit, you can roll it back to a previous version. However, if this is then rolled back again, do not engage in an edit war. In that case, flag for mod attention and we'll deal with it.

  • If the edit is vandalism or offensive or otherwise very, very bad and you don't have the rep to fix it directly, flag it for mod attention.

I see you already submitted an edit removing the extra paragraph (I've accepted it). That's great and exactly the right action to take.

As for appealing, that's what meta is for. If you see an edit you really disagree with or want to understand why one of your suggestions was rejected, post about it on meta. Mind you, at the rate you've been gaining rep recently, I don't think that rejected suggestions will be an issuie for you for very long :).

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  • Well, my first edit was rejected, apparently because I didn't (re-)explain the reason for the edit. Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 8:06
  • @SatoKatsura yeah, makes sense. I only accepted because I had read your post here. Without explanation, your edit looks like you're arbitrarily deleting a part of the question. You should always explain the reason for aq given edit to avoid confusion. Commented Jul 20, 2016 at 8:07

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