On Quora, users are free to edit their own questions. Sometimes, edits improve the question by fixing the grammatical mistakes or making it clearer. Other times, edits make the question worse by changing the intent of the question, introducing errors, or introducing spam. Changing the intent of the question is harmful because answers that have already been posted may become invalid. The Question Vandalism queue makes sure that users are not abusing the ability to edit questions.
The Question Vandalism queue contains all question edits made by the OP (Original Poster). The OP can only edit the question if no answer is attached to it.
Decisions made in the queue are immediately reflected in the product: if you approve an edit, the edit remains, but if you reject an edit, it is reverted to the original state. In addition, items marked as policy violations in this queue get sent to the Question Policy queue.
Questions will appear in the queue one at a time.
The top section shows the original question, the middle section shows the edits made (along with a link to the original question), and the bottom section shows the current state of the question. Under the current state, you can see if the edits were made by the OP (original poster).
Focus on the middle section, which shows the edits made. There are five possible kinds of question edits you will see:
Edits to question grammar/formatting (ex. fixing capitalization, adding a missing article, deleting an extra question mark)
Edits to question content (ex. adding a specific detail, changing the subject of the question)
Mix of question grammar/formatting and question content edits
No edit at all
In general, you should Approve Edits that make the question better, Reject Edits that make the question worse or that are unnecessary, and Reject Edits as Vandalism when they introduce policy violations. The guidelines below tell you how to review each kind of edit. After approving or rejecting the edits, you should make sure the final version of the question does not contain any policy violations. Click here for more details on checking for policy violations.
For a simplified version of the guidelines, you can check out the Question Vandalism flow chart.
Approve edits if any of the following happens:
They fix grammar/formatting mistakes in the original question.
Use the formatting guidelines to determine what counts as a mistake.
Original question: What is it like to live in Austin, TEXAS?
Edited question: What is it like to live in Austin, Texas?
Edits fixed the capitalization error.
Original question: What is it like to live in Austin, Texas? Thanks for your answers!
Edited question: What is it like to live in Austin, Texas?
Edits removed the unnecessary question extra.
They fix some grammar/formatting mistakes in the original question, but not all of them.
Original question: What is it like to live in Austin, TEXAS???
Edited question: What is it like to live in Austin, Texas???
The original question had 2 errors: capitalization and punctuation. The edits fixed the capitalization, but not the punctuation.
They add proper math formatting.
Original question: If 1^2 = 1^3 then can we write 2 = 3?
Edited question: Click here to view
They are neutral edits by the OP.
Click here for more details on neutral edits.
Reject edits if any of the following happens:
They add grammar/formatting mistakes or other violations of the formatting guidelines, like adding question extras.
Original question: How is Jon Snow still alive after getting shot with 3 arrows?
Edited question: How is John Snow still alive after getting shot with 3 arrows?
The original question had the correct spelling of Jon.
Original question: How can I be quick-witted?
Edited question: How can I be quick-witted? Thanks!
Edits added a question extra.
Original question: Is it possible to become fluent in French in 2 months?
Edited question: Is it possible to become fluent in French in 2 months? :)
Edits added an unnecessary element.
They fix some mistakes but also introduce mistakes.
Original question: How is Jon Snow STILL ALIVE after getting shot with 3 arrows?
Edited question: How is Jon Snow still alivee after getting shot with 3 arrows?
Edits fixed the capitalization errors, but they also introduced a spelling error.
Exception: Adding one extra space between words or before/after a punctuation mark is OK. Do not consider this a mistake.
Original question: What is your favorritee punctuation marks?
Edited question: What is your favorite punctuation mark ?
The user fixed the spelling and grammar, but they accidentally introduced one extra space in two places. This is OK and should be approved.
If the user adds more than one extra space between words (“favorite punctuation”) or before/after a punctuation mark (“mark ?”), or if they add an extra space within a word (“fav orite”), then you should reject edits.
If the user has only added an extra space without making any good edits, then you should reject edits.
They remove proper math formatting.
Approve edits if any of the following happens:
They make the question factually correct.
Original question: How has Quora changed since it was founded in 2013?
Edited question: How has Quora changed since it was founded in 2009?
Original question: What makes Matt Damon a talented actress?
Edited question: What makes Matt Damon a talented actor?
Original question: Will electric vehicles help to produce our carbon footprint?
Edited question: Will electric vehicles help to reduce our carbon footprint?
The OP made a mistake by writing "produce" instead of "reduce." The edits fix that mistake.
Original question: When did Bengaluru become the capital of India?
Edited question: When did New Delhi become the capital of India?
Bengaluru is not/was never the capital of India.
They add clarifying details to the question without changing the question meaning.
Original question: What is it like to work with Sundar Pichai?
Edited question: What is it like to work with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai?
Original question: What do you think of the quote "A work of art which does not begin in emotion is not art"?
Edited question: What do you think of the quote "A work of art which does not begin in emotion is not art" by Paul Cezanne?
Original question: I started to like my friend and I think he knows it. What should I do?
Edited question: I started to romantically like my friend and I think he knows it. What should I do?
It's obvious that if they're your friend, you already like them. The edits are helpful because they clarify the romantic component.
They add clarifying details to a question that was originally not clear enough to answer.
Original question: Do sharks really invest their own money?
Edited question: Do the Sharks on Shark Tank really invest their own money?
Original question: What are some video game moments that made you go?
Edited question: What are some video game moments that made you go “What!?”
Original question: What business can I start with 200?
Edited question: What business can I start with $200?
The original question was not clear because there was no currency specified.
They add a short secondary question that doesn't change the meaning of the original question.
Original question: Is the sky blue?
Edited question: Is the sky blue? Why?
Original question: Is it possible to become fluent in French in 2 months?
Edited question: Is it possible to become fluent in French in 2 months? How?
Original question: What do you feed your cat?
Edited question: What do you feed your cat? How much do you feed it?
Good answers to “What do you feed your cat?” would likely also cover “how much.”
Original question: Is walking on a treadmill harmful in the long run?
Edited question: Is walking on a treadmill harmful in the long run? What does it do to your body?
Good answers to “Is walking on a treadmill harmful in the long run?” would likely also cover how it affects your body.
They remove or reduce the severity of policy violations without changing the meaning of the original question.
Approve these edits even if they also introduce grammar/formatting mistakes. The benefits of fixing policy violations outweigh the cons of introducing the mistakes.
Original question: Why are Americans so shallow and superficial?
Edited question: Are Americans shallow and superficial?
The edits change the question from hate speech to Ok, which removes the violation.
Original question: Does Paytm offer high quality customer support?83.09.12.58.48
Edited question: Does Paytm offer high quality customer support
Although the edits introduce a formatting error (missing question mark), they remove the spammy phone number, so they should be approved.
They are neutral edits by the OP.
Click here for more details on neutral edits.
Reject edits if any of the following happens:
They make the question factually incorrect.
They change the meaning of the question.
This includes edits that change, add, or remove details and thereby change the meaning of the question.
This includes edits that add additional questions that the original question doesn't cover (answers to the new question would be different).
This includes edits that change a survey question to a non-survey question, or vice versa.
Original question: How can the lost gory of West Bengal be revived?
Edited question: How can the lost glory of India be revived?
Edits change the location named, making it more broad.
Original question: What is it like to study at Harvard or Princeton?
Edited question: What is it like to study at Harvard, Princeton, or Yale?
Edits introduce a new option that wasn't listed in the original question.
Original question: Who will be the President of the United States in 2008?
Edited question: As of 2008, who is the President of the United States?
Changes question meaning from asking about predictions to asking about facts
Reject edits as vandalism if any of the following happens:
They introduce any platform policy violations.
Original question: Why do Chinese people eat so much rice?
Edited question: Why do chinks eat so much rice?
The edits introduced an ethnic slur into the question. This is hate speech.
They deface the question so it is non-readable or non-answerable.
Original question: I suspect that my husband is cheating on me. He lies to me on lot of occasions. Will hiring an infidelity investigator help?
Edited question: Deleted
Even if the OP wants to delete the whole question since it reveals personal information, we want to protect the integrity of the question by reverting edits.
Original question: How do you change a tire?
Edited question: How?
The edits make the question un-answerable.
They add commentary to the question.
Edits that add commentary, rather than helpful information that improves the question, should be considered as edits that deface the question.
Commentary should be interpreted as something someone would write about another user's question. By this definition, adding things like "read comments" does not count as commentary because this is something someone would write on their own question.
Original question: Are interracial marriages a sign of self-hate?
Edited question: Are interracial marriages a sign of self-hate? [bad question, don't answer]
Original question: Do police officers enjoy ruining people's lives?
Edited question: TROLL QUESTION Do police officers enjoy ruining people's lives?
Original question: How can I make it so that my students stop questioning the history of Alex Jones?
Edited question: (Anonymous): how can I make it so that my students stop questioning the history of Alex Jones?
You might come across edits that are a combination of grammar/formatting and content edits.
In general, if there are good edits and bad edits made at the same time, then you should reject edits.
Ex. If the edits fix grammar/formatting issues but also change the meaning of the question, then reject edits.
Original question: How do you change tire?
Edited question: How do you change a tire on a Mazda MX-5?
Edits fixed the missing article issue, but they also made the question more specific.
Ex. If the edits add a clarifying detail but also introduce a grammar/formatting issue, then reject edits.
Original question: What is it like to work with Sundar Pichai?
Edited question: What is it like to work with alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai?
Edits added Pichai's title, but they also introduced a capitalization error.
You might see some items where no changes are actually made, like this example.
We should approve these edits because it creates a better user experience.
When edits are rejected, users get a notification about it. Getting a rejected edits notification when you haven’t actually made any edits is a confusing user experience.
Neutral edits are edits that don't make the question any worse or any better. In these cases, the original question was already ok.
We should approve neutral edits by the OP because this leads to a better user experience. If we didn't approve their edit, the OP would be confused why their technically correct edit wasn’t accepted.
Examples of neutral question grammar/formatting edits:
Original question: What is your favorite song between Billie Jean, Beat It, and Smooth Criminal?
Edited question: Which is your favorite song among Billie Jean, Beat It, and Smooth Criminal?
Edits changed "what" to "which" and "between" to "among." In the Quora question formatting guidelines, what/which are interchangeable and between/among are interchangeable, so the original question was already ok.
Original question: What is your favorite song and why?
Edited question: What is your favorite song, and why?
Edits added a comma. In the Quora question formatting guidelines, we don't require commas unless the question is hard to understand, so the original question was already ok.
Examples of neutral question content edits:
Original question: How far away is AI technology from being able to tell a lie, and what are some things that could happen once it gets there?
Edited question: How far is AI technology from being able to lie, and what could happen once it gets there?
Edits changed the wording, but the original question was already ok.
Original question: Why has WeChat found it difficult to be a market leader outside of China?
Edited question: Why has WeChat found it difficult to be a market leader in markets outside of China?
Edits added "in markets", but this was already implied in the original question.
If the final state of the question contains policy violations after you've approved or rejected edits, also flag as a Policy Violation (PV).
NOTE: Formatting (Grammar and Question Structure) is not a policy violation.
Use this table as a quick reference for what to do with questions that add/remove policy violations:
Examples -- a Google Sheet with 50+ examples of question text edits, labeled. You can use this sheet as a practice sheet.