4
$\begingroup$

Twice in the last 24 hours I have rolled back edits that the OP has made to their own question, because the nature of the question was completely changed or substantial supplementary questions were added.

Does the recent news of "ten times more galaxies" imply that there is correspondingly less dark matter?

How to convert ra&dec between different epoches?

I think such edits are fine when no answers to a question have been advanced, but in both these cases, I had given a substantial answer that had received upvotes and in one case been accepted.

Please could question askers not do this, it makes existing answers look ill thought-out, incomplete or even irrelevant. If you have a different question, ask a different question.

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

Yes, in both of those cases inappropriate changes were made to the question. In the first, the nature of the question was changed completely. In the second, the additions were more suitable for new question(s). We do accept some level of modification to questions after they have been answered, but that is mostly for minor adjustments/clarifications to the central question. It is not intended to allow for the scope of the question to change completely, or for additional separate questions to be added. When this happens, the correct approach is to roll back the edit, as you did here.

If an edit war starts, flag the post for moderator attention.

$\endgroup$
2
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ You folks are right, I shouldn't have done it, @RobJeffries rolled it back, left a message, I left a second message saying essentially "you are right, thank you!." I meant to ask 'does this mean there is more 'normal matter', and if so. does that mean there is more total mass than previously thought, or is the total mass of the Universe the same and the difference is made up by there being a little less dark matter than previously thought? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 17:06
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ So as I explained in that comment, I noticed that the question had started attracting low quality comments and answers. Realizing that it was probably the reference to dark matter - which I didn't care about - I wanted to help by removing it. But that's what moderators are for. It was a well-intentioned edit, but next time I'll resist the temptation to "help". If I had received a message or complaint - I would have immediately rolled it back myself. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Oct 20, 2016 at 17:11

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .