This post is basically to share something I came across on Meta Unix & Linux. Kusalananda♦, a moderator there, posted Editing questions recently put on hold (don't). The gist is something that I don't think is common knowledge, and it would be beneficial to apply the same logic here.
It is common knowledge that editing an on-hold post automatically bumps it into the Reopen review queue. But there are two factors that may not be common knowledge:
- That only happens within the first five days of closure.
- It only happens once.
There are a number of implications.
The five day limitation means that you can time your minor edits on closed posts so they don't unnecessarily force wasteful reviews. If you want to do tag cleanup or make minor English or formatting fixes that don't address the closure issue, wait until after the five days.
If you edit and fix the closure issue on a question closed more than five days, you need to also vote to reopen to get it into the queue.
The bumping happening only once was the impetus for Kusalananda♦'s post. If you edit the recently closed post to do minor polish that doesn't solve the closure issue, that bumps it to the Reopen review queue where it will waste a bunch of reviewers' time and won't result in it being reopened. But that also uses up the question's one shot at the review queue.
Then, when the OP or another user actually fixes the post, that will not bump it into the review queue. Neither will voting to reopen the question. The post will remain closed and potentially be deleted, even though it's been turned into an acceptable question. The only way to get it reopened is to take external action, like recruiting reopen voters or calling attention to it with a question on the Meta SU site.
If you are going to fix a recently closed question, make sure you fix every issue. Questions often have multiple problems and just one may be stated as the close reason. Review the question to identify everything that is a potential close reason, and address them all. Otherwise, you might fix only one of the problems and the question will not be reopened due to the remaining problems. That puts it right back at point #3.
Bottom line: if a question is recently closed, do not edit it until after the five days unless the edit will solve all closure issues.
