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I ran across an edit where the comment wasn't even a word. I thought about rejecting it with the message that they should make their edit summary meaningful, but then I couldn't be sure that my message would be read.

I am on my phone, so I took a screen shot, but the users name would be visible to all. I shouldn't post it since this wouldn't be the best way to get the message across either. What does one do?

If a mod contacts me, I can give them the users name and/or screen shot as well.

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    $\begingroup$ If the edit is not useful, reject it and be done with it. The rejection message should be delivered to the editor. $\endgroup$
    – Pedro Mod
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 19:38
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    $\begingroup$ @PedroTamaroff the edit is useful the message isnt. The message was aaaaa $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 19:44
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    $\begingroup$ Oh, he was probably just filling in empty spaces, which is not necessary. This doesn't seem to need further discussion, really. $\endgroup$
    – Pedro Mod
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 19:49
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    $\begingroup$ (So if you'd allow me, I'll close this.) $\endgroup$
    – Pedro Mod
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 19:56
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    $\begingroup$ @PedroTamaroff why close it? Is it off topic? Is it a duplicate? I don't understand your reasoning for such a suggestion. $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:12
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    $\begingroup$ There doesn't seem to be an issue here. Most users do circumvent the edit summary, yet produce useful edits. This is the case. $\endgroup$
    – Pedro Mod
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:13
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    $\begingroup$ @PedroTamaroff if that is the case, why even force a certain amount of characters? $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:14

1 Answer 1

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Suggested edits are required to have an edit summary. When a user circumvents this restriction, they take the risk of the suggestion being rejected because the reviewers did not understand the reason for editing.

However, the lack of edit summary by itself is not a reason to reject, if you see that the edit is valid.

One thing you can do is click Improve Edit, fix something else in the post (like the title; they never fix the title) and leave a descriptive summary.

You can also leave a comment with a link to MathJax tutorial; unlike the edit summaries, comments can contain links.

You can also ping the editor telling to them that edit summary should be meaningful. Comment pings work for the editors, even though there is no @-autocomplete for them.

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    $\begingroup$ I didn't reject it because the edit was good. I think the summary should be descriptive though since it can help new user who don't know LaTeX. For example, if it said added math delimiters $ for math mode, the new user could learn something. $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:10
  • $\begingroup$ I added a couple more suggestions on how to improve communication there. $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:17
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    $\begingroup$ @dustin The summary could productively be more descriptive - but this doesn't necessarily mean it's a problem if it's not. (The most appropriate things to do would be to look through the editor's previous edits - if this is a pattern, feel free to ping them - and to look through the original author's future posts - if they continue not to use LaTeX, feel free to ping them too to tell them about how it works!) $\endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:18
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    $\begingroup$ @Meelo it seems strange then to force a summary description and then have no one care about it. If that is the course of action the site wants to take, why have it? $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:21
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    $\begingroup$ @dustin The requirement reminds users that they should put in a summary. Some will do it (I always do with my suggested edits), others will not. Let's not fall into the trap of "if things do not work perfectly, this is horrible and we should stop trying". $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:26
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    $\begingroup$ I would rather not stop trying, but if no one cares or wants to prevent it, then there is no need try. I would rather have mods discretely contact the person or persons to let them know that we appreciate useful comments for the edit then say oh well. It would be like a cop not doing his job. Hey there goes the killer. He is doctor and is a productive member oh well. $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 20:48
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    $\begingroup$ @dustin Do you dial 911 when you see a person jaywalking? Presumably not. If you want to tell the user to leave better summaries, go ahead and do it: in a comment under their old post, for example. By the way, the user made only two edit suggestions since the end of October, so they are not exactly flooding the site. (They did make a bunch of edits in October: most of those in fact had edit summaries, but many were pretty poor edits.) $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Commented Dec 24, 2014 at 21:26
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    $\begingroup$ Should you dial 911 when you see a jay walking into traffic? Is it even possible for jay walking to be considered jaywalking? What if you see a pair of great tits fighting outside your window? Or if you're in America, you might see a large cardinal sitting on a tree, do you call a set theorist? $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 7:45
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    $\begingroup$ @Behaviour I don't think random users will take hearing please be more descriptive with your edit summary from some random user. It will be more meaningful from a mod. $\endgroup$
    – dustin
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 22:02
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    $\begingroup$ @dustin Try it. You may be surprised how effective peer feedback can be. $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Commented Dec 25, 2014 at 23:12

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