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There are cases where I down-vote a post for a reason, and I don't leave a comment because there are already comments about what is wrong with the post, and I find unhelpful to report that I agree with what already reported from other users; if I agree with the other comments, I vote those comments, which would let understand that who wrote the comment is not the only user thinking what being reported in that comment.

In the case the OP changes the post I down-voted, I would find useful to know that. The post could not be worth being down-voted anymore, or it could even be up-voted.

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  • 4
    Additionally, if someone changes a question or answer in a significant way so that I no longer agree with it, then I may wish to remove my up-vote. So, I think it would be useful to be notified in a tab next to "Inbox" called "Edits" whenever any question or answer that I voted on (up or down) has been edited. (This question, in its current form, gets 1 up-vote from me.)
    – Randolf Richardson
    Jun 28, 2011 at 22:00
  • 2
    @Jasper Loy: A strain on the system? I don't believe that -- if that was so, then the system architecture behind the scenes is underpowered and/or the database is poorly designed, and there would be other serious problems with the volume that is being handled presently.
    – Randolf Richardson
    Jun 29, 2011 at 17:12
  • Possible duplicate of Is there a way to remind the down-voter upon the related answer or quesion is changed?
    – RegDwigнt
    Jun 30, 2011 at 21:02
  • Should these site-wide questions go on meta.SO?
    – Hugo
    Oct 7, 2011 at 8:01
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    @Hugo Jeff Atwood said that is perfectly fine to ask such questions on the meta site of an SE site, and suggested not to answer with "ask it on MSO."
    – apaderno
    Oct 9, 2011 at 18:06
  • @kiamlaluno Thanks, good to know.
    – Hugo
    Oct 9, 2011 at 19:47

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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[Edit - oops - just noticed the original post was ancient :-| ... ]

Consider using one of the two features already built into the site: the favorites star, and your profile (which shows your history in several ways.) Your browser also has a history, bookmarks, etc.

IMO, if a post warrants your reconsideration via an altered vote, the topic / question is presumably one you would already be interested in enough to pay attention to in the first place. That's what the favorite star is for - it is an effective mechanism when used properly.

But there is another angle to consider: reducing confusion.

On other Stack Exchange sites, when an edit changes the meaning of the original question significantly, the answers and comments can loose context or even become completely inappropriate. The moderators often catch such edits, but it also puts more work in their work queues.

A conscientious poster should be aware of minimizing their work load.

So if an edit enhances and adds to the meaning, that's great. But if an edit were to make things less clear, alter the course of comments and answers, or just generally make it "fuzzier," then it would perhaps be better to post a new question and await new answers. (This approach is based on multiple comments and answers I've received in related topics elsewhere.)

Although your question has many up votes, I don't think the advantages of your request would off set the computing overhead required to implement the suggestion.

So, please do consider using what we have already.

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  • answering ancient questions is a good thing
    – user36722
    Sep 14, 2013 at 0:21
  • @axrwkr cool, then how 'bout an up vote, he asks with self-interest ;-P (assuming, of course, you agree with its degree of "goodness" :))
    – Howard Pautz
    Sep 14, 2013 at 0:27
  • the answer is useful... though I think there should be a feature in the stack exchange engine that optionally notifies people when a post changes, I'm quite sure I've seen this type of feature discussed elsewhere on other stack exchange sites, and most likely on the main meta site
    – user36722
    Sep 14, 2013 at 0:30
  • Yes, notice that when we ask a question, we are given the option to be notified by email when an answer shows up. But to notify by email all of the users "connected" to a post, be it they have answered or commented, would be a ginormous overhead ... Stack sites would be sending hundreds of thousands of emails a day! Sure, it could be done internally, via a notice, or just a flag in say your profile - but that too would be a ginormously large database cruncher. (One of the reasons I think this idea unworkable.)
    – Howard Pautz
    Sep 14, 2013 at 0:38
  • I wouldn't say it was unworkable, it's little different to the favourites list that every user has, there is also a feature on stack exchange to subscribe to daily notifications for posts in specific tags. To me, getting a notification for a specific message is a bit like the favourites feature combined with the edit notifications you get when someone edits your post, with regards to database issues I can't see how it's any less workable than those things, if it gets abused there might be some benefit in limiting how many notifications a person can subscribe to
    – user36722
    Sep 15, 2013 at 15:50
  • I'm more concerned about answers being edited than questions. Questions on ELU are generally improved by edits, not derailed. Answers can be quite drastically changed (for the better!) and a downvote may need to be reversed or even upvoted instead. Although the voting history is retained because downvote penalties are refunded on deletion, there is an overhead in matching edits to votes and sending system messages. I wonder if the Data Explorer can help with analysing volumes...
    – Andrew Leach Mod
    Sep 17, 2013 at 17:59

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