How do we decide if we should really go ahead with editing that nagging mistake in someone else's post? Is it OK to edit subtle grammatical mistakes, or typos?
Stack Exchange has this built in rule that the edit needs to be above a certain character count to be allowed. In practice this might mean that someone will edit more than they intended to, to be able to push their minimal edit through that first automated check -- that doesn't mean it will be accepted.
Once you have a certain level of reputation you don't get points for approved editscertain level of reputation you don't get points for approved edits. Below this threshold you do, but your edits will be vetted by several members with sufficient reputation and we might consider your edit too minimal to constitute a valid edit.
If you think about it, there is a big difference between these two things:
- correcting grammar, typos, punctuation (you become the mechanical Turk version of a spell-checker)
- correcting or adding structure, terminology, images, links, and fixing typos
The combination of items in the second bullet point is what benefits the community most, fixing typos and minor grammatical mistakes is fine, but if the edit doesn't help further elucidate a question it will likely be rejected -- not because it was a bad edit.
What other things should we consider before editing a question?
