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Given that

  • there are different rules for the capitalization of words in headlines, e.g. for newspapers; here is randomly chosen link to some rules
  • there are no related styleguides for MO

I would localize the preference of one rule over the other in the realm of personal taste or opinion and would like to learn how others think about the benefit of edits that primarily change capitalization according to one's personal preference; should these edits be welcome or deprecated?

Regarding the convention for up/down-voting the question: let upvotes mean that edits motivated by personal preference should not be made and down votes that those kinds of edits are ok

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    $\begingroup$ I vote: do not do such changes. In the same category as: do not change colour to color or vice versa; do not change $e^x$ to $\mathrm{e}^x$ or vice versa. (The way you worded the question makes it hard to tell what up and downvotes mean.) $\endgroup$
    – Gerald Edgar
    Commented Aug 31 at 14:33
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    $\begingroup$ @GeraldEdgar I have added a convention for the meaning of upvotes and downvotes; hope it helps $\endgroup$
    – Manfred Weis
    Commented Aug 31 at 15:51
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    $\begingroup$ I think it's too complicated for a simple yes/no vote. I think Abelian/abelian is a matter of personal preference, but Abel isn't. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Commented Aug 31 at 21:51
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    $\begingroup$ I think editing titles to fix people's names to be capitalised is worth doing, even if old, even if just out of respect. Similarly for typos in people's names. Adjectives like boolean and abelian are as Gerry says, more of a stylistic issue, and not really worth being the only edit. $\endgroup$
    – David Roberts Mod
    Commented Sep 2 at 2:06
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    $\begingroup$ @GeraldEdgar Upvotes and downvotes on the question always mean "It is a good question" / "It is not a good question". Opinions on what the answer to the question is should be votes on answers $\endgroup$
    – John Pardon
    Commented Sep 6 at 13:48
  • $\begingroup$ There is someone who regularly edits my titles, despite them using standard American English conventions. I figured it was some universal MO rule. If it's not, then I am extremely irritated and a little bit insulted. $\endgroup$
    – Jonathan Beardsley
    Commented Nov 13 at 3:35
  • $\begingroup$ @JonathanBeardsley my experience was the same andi s the reason for this question $\endgroup$
    – Manfred Weis
    Commented Nov 13 at 4:33

1 Answer 1

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I would say that even minor grammatical errors and misprints in posts more than 1 month old should be left alone, unless they seriously interfere with readability. As to the questions of style and such, just let everyone do it their way as long as it is within the (loosely understood) norms of the English language. I think that "A question ON the HARMONIC analysis" deserves an immediate correction with an accompanying comment to the OP, but "A Question on the Harmonic Analysis", "A question on the harmonic analysis" and "A question on the Harmonic analysis" should all pass.

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    $\begingroup$ I try to respect author intention, but I do edit "a question on the harmonic analysis" (initial lowercase). Would you put that in the "needs correction" camp, or the "should pass" camp? (I'm talking here mostly only of posts already on the front page, or needing other edits.) $\endgroup$
    – LSpice
    Commented Sep 1 at 1:55
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    $\begingroup$ @LSpice "needs correction" if recent, "should pass", if old. $\endgroup$
    – fedja
    Commented Sep 1 at 1:57
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    $\begingroup$ I'd guess at least some users treat the questions which have already bumped to the frontpage (for some other reason) similarly as the new questions. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Commented Sep 1 at 4:05
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    $\begingroup$ I generally agree, but fixing misprints can be useful: if that title read "on the hamronic analysis", then it wouldn't show up on searches for "harmonic". $\endgroup$
    – Federico Poloni
    Commented Sep 1 at 11:27
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    $\begingroup$ I certainly do as @MartinSleziak says. $\endgroup$
    – LSpice
    Commented Sep 1 at 13:05
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    $\begingroup$ The length of time after which errors should be left alone probably depends on whether the question has already gotten an answer. If it hasn't, bumping the question might lead to it being seen by someone who wants to answer it, somewhat mitigating the annoyance of it being bumped. Also fixing grammatical errors on an unanswered question might be slightly more helpful if it makes it easier to read for someone who eventually answers it. $\endgroup$
    – Will Sawin
    Commented Sep 6 at 17:58

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