Re: Correcting errors in titles when I reply

Yes, please. Feel free to correct errors in titles when you reply. Especially adjust your title to make it more on-topic to your specific reply.

Just please leave the context apparent in the title. So don't mess with the "Re^2:" prefix at all and leave enough of the previous title somewhere in your new title such that a human is likely to notice the connection. There are too many places where the title is displayed out of context of the thread, so it is important to include some context in the title of a reply.

We shouldn't be afraid to point out even simple mistakes, especially when the correction isn't emphasized and it is accompanied by something genuinely useful (which one would hope the reply contains). Replying to say just "You misspelled 'scalar'" is completely inappropriate and quite a waste, IMO. I wouldn't even call out the mistake with "You misspelled 'scalar'" as part of a useful reply. I do find that just rude enough that I would avoid it. I think just demonstrating the correct spelling is usually sufficient (but feel free to point out a mistake in a private /msg).

But we shouldn't put on a charade, pretending that we didn't notice that some word was mispelt. I think more people would be offended by that than by one quietly restating things in a way that one finds more correct or precise.

- tye

Comment on Re: Correcting errors in titles when I reply

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Re^2: Correcting errors in titles when I reply by ruzam (Curate) on May 24, 2008 at 17:24 UTC
There, see? I just read your reply twice because it showed up under a different title in Newest Nodes. It's not the first time I've done that either. I find changing titles disruptive to following the original post. On the other hand I'd hate to miss an important snippet of information using Super Search, just because the OP mis-spelled some key word.	[reply]
Re^3: Correcting errors in titles when I reply (degrees) by tye (Sage) on May 24, 2008 at 17:45 UTC
Yes, I intentionally (mildly, I hope) violated my own advice as demonstration. Just correcting a misspelling in a title (when replying) isn't going to cause that confusion. The title of this reply is a more typical example of how I adjust titles to be more on-topic to my reply. For a more extreme shift in topic, a reply title like "Re^3: Irish space debris (correcting titles when I reply)" might make more sense (and the reply to that might best be just "Re^4: Irish space debris"). - tye	[reply]
Re^2: Correcting errors in titles when I reply by almut (Canon) on May 24, 2008 at 20:50 UTC
We shouldn't be afraid to point out even simple mistakes, especially when the correction isn't emphasized Yes, what I was having in mind is just silently fixing the error, without making a big fuss. It's just that I wouldn't want it to come across in a I-know-better-than-thou tone... That's why I asked if people would perceive it that way or take offense otherwise. If people don't have a problem with it, then that's fine with me, too :) Especially adjust your title to make it more on-topic ... and leave enough of the previous title ... I actually quite like the style often found with your replies, i.e. leaving the original title (mostly) as is, but adding a few words in parentheses at the end — in particular if the key message of the reply lends itself well to being summed up in 1-3 words. In other words, I'd like to use the occasion to encourage people (myself included) to use that style more often — even though this is somewhat unrelated to the original topic of correcting errors.	[reply]