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As far as I was aware, it is common Stack Exchange policy that posts shouldn't contain any salutations, including introductions ("Hi!") or closing statements ("Thanks!", "Cheers!").

Related SO.Meta posts:

Should 'Hi', 'thanks', taglines, and salutations be removed from posts?

What's the right policy on suggested edit pending on removing user sign or cheers

So is this policy different for Security.SE? I ask because I suggested such an edit to this post which was denied by a moderator. Just want some clarification.

"Thanks!

~ Jeff"

:)

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    Only edit out salutations if you're also fixing embarrassing typos in titles... – Shog9 Apr 8 '14 at 22:33
  • @Shog9 Should've done it, then. Haha – asteri Apr 9 '14 at 0:32
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This one was one I rejected today - As @scuzzy-delta pointed out, this has gone through vast debate, and generally the view is that removal of just the salutation is really not worth the effort.

If there are more substantial edits you can carry out at the same time, please include removal of salutations, but otherwise this was 'too minor' which is the reason you should have been notified of.

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  • Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation. – asteri Apr 8 '14 at 0:34
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Hi @Jeff Gohlke great to read your question and hope you enjoy my answer.

I respectfully disagree that it is "common policy".

The discussions linked to indicate there is actually significant debate about whether or not intros and outtros should be retained or edited out.

The balance appears to have tilted in favor of "remove intros", but IMO a significant contributing factor to that was that @Jeff Atwood (a StackExchange developer at the time) was opposed to intros/outtros and able to action his preference by making StackExchange remove common intro statements at the time of posting.

As benevolent dictator, this is/was his prerogative, but the community preference appears to have stopped short of "edit out every intro/outtro that you see". (I think - perhaps there is more aggressive editing on the busier sites).

I personally subscribe to the "accept intro/outtro removal if part of a wider edit to the post, reject if it is the only change" school of thought. My main concern is that new users (who are most likely to include intro/outtro remarks if they are trying to be polite, and politeness is a great thing and should be encouraged) will be put off by such editing.

Thanks and hope you have a great day!

*Yes, I have deliberately included an extended intro/outtro here in a possibly misplaced attempt at humour.

Edit: Furthermore, if it were common policy we wouldn't need to have this discussion :)

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  • Makes sense. Thanks. (And I did the same thing for sad humor, haha.) – asteri Apr 8 '14 at 0:34
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When I first posted a question on a Stack-Exchange site, I was kinda of scared, shy, and not sure how it worked.

Started with a "First post, hello =)"

I'm glad to this day that no one edited that out, and the next questions did not included that sort of thing.

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    I tend to agree that it's useful for first posts and helps ease the tension. :) It also makes questions seem more like a friendly request rather than a demand. Still, that's how Stack Exchange dictates the format, so... – asteri Apr 14 '14 at 17:29

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