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Well, a moderator edited my question and all he did was change the text style. My sentences and grammar were correct. I used short sentences, he merged them into longer ones.

I'm thankful when moderators edit my posts and correct my formatting if I messed it up or add tags. But doing so just to change the personal style? Again, the moderator's edit had no clarifying nature, just merging the sentences.

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    gaming.stackexchange.com/posts/46460/revisions
    – juan Mod
    Commented Jan 10, 2012 at 19:42
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    FYI, it wasn't the moderator who made the edit, he just approved the suggested edit of another user.
    – bwarner
    Commented Jan 10, 2012 at 20:34
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    Your sentences contained a number of typographical errors, and the flow of your speech made it hard to follow the question, so I disagree with your assertion that your 'sentences and grammar were correct'. Even that aside, it's absolutely allowed for someone to edit your post.
    – George Stocker
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:31
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    You credibility when saying you grammar was correct is harmed by posting this question with grammatical errors. Perhaps it isn't a bad idea to assume any edits someone submits are good-natured attempts at fixing errors and not just changing the structure on a whim. Most people on the Stack Exchange sites tend to be generally nice, helpful folks.
    – Andy_Vulhop
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:48

2 Answers 2

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Yes, it most certainly is. Even the most basic of edits, such as formatting, grammatical correctness or making a question title a whole sentence can have dramatic differences on the success of a question, or a questions and answers website. Quality matters.

Keep in mind, in general, that everybody on the internet can edit all posts on Gaming (though they need to be approved by one of our high-reputation users), as all content is licensed through the cc-wiki license. There's nothing special about being a moderator here.

If you do not agree with an edit, feel free to roll it back (just do avoid edit wars, obviously.)

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Your sentences and grammar were not perfect. The edit made several corrections.

It's not OK to change the style of a post just to change the style, however. The editing page says:

HOW TO EDIT

► fix grammatical or spelling errors

► clarify meaning without changing it

► correct minor mistakes

► add related resources or links

► always respect the original author

If you're not doing any of the first four, then the fifth (respect the author) is the most important thing left. It trumps searchability and other aspects that may contribute to the "success" of a post.

I think badp is saying the same thing, since he's talking about grammar, formatting, and quality. But I wouldn't agree with "Yes, it most certainly is [OK to change the writing style]" in the absence of those other concerns.

I would take partial issue with the first edit that subbed in an exclamation mark where you hadn't put one (which was reverted by the next edit) since we shouldn't inject fake emotion on someone else's behalf, and so on, but on the whole it was an improvement. Lengthening the sentences wasn't purely cosmetic, for example — it makes it more readable. With that in mind I've added another minor edit that restores a little of your wording and pauses (commas), so hopefully it feels more like your writing without the original issues.

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    It really depends on what you mean by "style." If your "style" is everything lowercase, no punctuation, no newlines, run on sentences and a lol every three words (I'm not saying this is Evgeni's "style"), I'll edit the hell out of it. In my eyes, making a good-willing attempt to improve a post certainly is a sign of respect towards the post, and who wrote it, and a token of appreciation stronger than just an upvote. (Edit warring isn't. Making the post actually worse isn't. Adding "nevermind me I suck cocks" at the end isn't.)
    – badp Mod
    Commented Jan 10, 2012 at 20:56
  • @badp Fully agreed.
    – Matthew Read
    Commented Jan 10, 2012 at 21:32

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