Over-editing my own answer

Question

It looks that I have just over-edited my own (first!) answer and got a comment:

Please try to keep the edits down to a minimal now. Thanks!

I was wondering what has just happened, searched a bit and found this question here:

... Every time you edit, your question is bumped to the front page, which you can use to get additional attention.

Now it makes sense, maybe even so many upvotes I got - surprised me, the answer was not that good, other answers were more to the point, mine was just friendly generic overview about code-styling, comments, doxygen, how to write a code... but I actually did not examine the code to be reviewed in such a detail as others did. But those upvotes made me think about the question and answers more and more... So I occasionally corrected few typos, reacted to comments, improved, corrected the move-assignment operator... and finally added full re-thinked code under Addendum - that was the last bit obviously.

Now I am unsure how to behave: Edits are on one side encouraged, but on the other side get too much attention - I don't wan't to bother others by my corrections, I only wanted to improve my answer once it is there. (And I really don't care about points, until I stay above 50 to be able to comment.)

Would it be possible to edit without getting that unwanted attention?

Could such a feature (check-box) be added? I mean not to bump it to the top.

Maybe I should just stop correcting my answers unless they really, really need it. Create some file on the cloud (to access it from different places) for my notes and corrections to place them all at once when I have something really valuable to add.

Answer 1

Now it makes sense, maybe even so many upvotes I got - surprised me,

Welcome to Code Review :) Voting is what we try to do around here. (Although on some questions, we still fail unfortunately)

Now I am unsure how to behave: Edits are on one side encouraged, but on the other side get too much attention

In this case, I don't think there's much harm done really.

But those upvotes made me think about the question and answers more and more... So I occasionally corrected few typos, reacted to comments, improved, corrected the move-assignment operator... and finally added full re-thinked code under Addendum - that was the last bit obviously.

And I don't see anything wrong with either of these.

I personally don't consider the bumping to front page much of a concern, there are others around here that do that quite a lot already.

I would recommend though, that sometimes when it's a minor thing, like a little typo or something that could be improved a little bit, you can let comments speak for themselves. I think in many cases people will read the comments to your answer as well, especially if those comments have likely been up-voted.

Also, the advice Jamal gave about updating more 'in batches' is a good one, although I don't think that is possible in all cases.

Answer 2

I don't think this would quite work. For one thing, it could be abused by anyone looking to edit in malicious content behind the scenes (although you can maybe argue that new users cannot have access to this). This feature is also in place to help ensure that edited posts are seen, so that it's easier for others to assess those changes. As a frequent editor, I too am not quite fond of this, but it has its uses and I just have to manage with it.

The advice I've given would still be best to follow. It's great that you want to keep it up-to-date, and it is definitely encouraged, but the frequent bumps can still seem annoying and possibly be seen by some as a way of trying to gain extra attention (even in spite of your specific edits). After reaching a large number of edits from yourself (a mod may comment about it after being notified), you could consider editing in batches instead of individually. This will minimize the bumping while still allowing you to make edits.