Guidelines for Editors on MATLAB Answers

Members of the MATLAB Answers community who achieve a high reputation score can become Editors.

What Can an Editor Do?

Editors can edit or remove any question, answer, or tag. Editors should follow the guidelines outlined in this document.

When you reach 1500 reputation points on MATLAB Answers, you will be given Editor status.

Our primary objective is very simple: Make the questions clear, specific, and short

Good questions lead to good answers and result in an easily searched archive with lasting value.

Ensure that question titles are clear and specific so the question's content is not a mystery.
Correct misspelled words and repair fractured grammar.
Make sure code is properly indented so that it appears in a monospace font.
Add hyperlink or image markup to URLs as needed.
Format links to documentation as follows:
<doc_url |function name|>
Capitalize the first letter of the question title.
Ensure that “MATLAB” appears in all caps.

Break apart tags that have been lumped together by mistake: "simulink ode" should become "simulink" and "ode."
Move tags toward standard usage. This involves adding a new tag and deleting the old tag. For example, use the format “r2010b” for release numbers (not "matlab r2010b" or "r2010b 7.1"). Standard usage will emerge from the community. We simply want to avoid dividing up tag space unnecessarily, as for example with "rand," "random," "randomness," and "randomize."
If a tag references a product name, make sure the appropriate product name is applied.
Remove inappropriate tags.
Add appropriate tags as needed to facilitate search.

It's difficult to prescribe exact editorial responses in these cases, but undesired practices that we would like to move people away from include:

Rudeness. Rewrite in a neutral tone.
Using an answer to thank or leave a comment. Copy the thank you from the answer, paste it into a comment to the appropriate answer, attribute the thanker, then delete the non-answer.
Using an answer to ask a new and different question. Delete and repost with attribution or ask the user to repost.
Posting multiple questions into one space. Break apart and repost questions individually as needed.

Deletion is to be treated with great care. There is no undo. Content to be considered for deletion includes:

These guidelines will evolve as we learn what works best.
Community editing functionality is itself a work in progress. In the future it is likely that different reputation levels will enable more granular levels of editorial power.