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Apropos an issue that came up in Comments under the first Answer to this question, does anyone [else] ever edit Question titles in pursuit of 'standardisation'?

I say 'else' there because the other day, having already noticed that many questions have the form WordA vs[.] WordB, I coerced a new question to that format. While making some other changes that were effectively 'necessary' - I wouldn't have edited purely for that.

At the time I simply assumed ...vs... was in fact an explicitly-recognised 'standard' here, but I didn't bother to check. Now it's been suggested the prevalence of that format may be nothing more than happenstance, I feel I should make the effort to find out more.

I should say that I personally find that particular convention (if indeed it is one) very useful. If you want to check whether this type of Question has already been asked re two words you have in mind, it's useful to have an idea of the likely title.

Does anyone else do this kind of thing? Is it considered desirable? Is there a list of standard forms that are generally endorsed?

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    I've edited titles for spelling, but I feel funny doing much more (to that or the body of the text too).
    – Mitch
    May 24, 2011 at 20:10
  • I once saw someone say something about matching quote characters, but I just thought "Life's too short".
    – FumbleFingers
    May 24, 2011 at 20:17
  • Anyway, it's obviously not a hot topic, and I've just been picked up for doing it, so I guess the emerging concensus is "don't bother".
    – FumbleFingers
    May 24, 2011 at 22:04
  • I think we've hit on your bête noire.
    – Robusto
    May 25, 2011 at 10:30
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    @Robusto: I think it's the programmer in me. Consistency of coding style is often more important than actually doing things the best possible way, and naming conventions etc. are relevant in that context as well. But you're right - I am at heart a whingebag in search of a suitable target.
    – FumbleFingers
    May 25, 2011 at 14:17
  • @FumbleFingers: Hahaha. +1 for whingebag. I like this word. :)
    – Robusto
    May 25, 2011 at 14:25
  • Style questions in general have a good meta jumping point. I am not sure if anyone has directly addressed specific title style issues but something like Word vs. Word is a good topic. If you make a discussion specifically for that, please update the linked meta question so we can keep things organized. :)
    – MrHen
    May 25, 2011 at 15:31
  • @Robusto: The English language is full of such gems. That's why I like EL&U so much - you can drop them in (or find them) all over the place here, not just explicitly being pored over as subjects for questions. If only we could get some traction for my current favourite tichy (tongue-in-cheek), I'd be in seventh heaven.
    – FumbleFingers
    May 25, 2011 at 15:32
  • Don't you mean "standardization"? :)
    – Eddie
    Sep 20, 2011 at 21:45

1 Answer 1

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I think if you're gonna edit the question anyway, then the title is fair game, including fitting it into the usual sort of pattern for that type of question, if there is such a pattern.

Don't worry too much about people who get upset about edits: they can always revert, and if they stick around, they'll eventually learn that editing is a good thing.

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