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The format of StackExchange sites in general discourages the sort of letter-format questions common elsewhere. You know what I'm talking about:

Hi,

I have ${problem}. It has ${details}. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance, ${username}

Is it OK to use our awesome edit-powers to remove these greetings/signoffs? I say it is OK, as it doesn't affect the meaning of the question, and slots right in next to fixing formatting flubs or interesting spelling.

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    It might be nice to include the MSO link Warner provided in any related edits. That's what I've done in the past. At least then users with clue might check the revision history.
    – jscott
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 18:24

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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This has already been addressed:

Are taglines & signatures disallowed?

I support Kyle's idea of a campaign to discourage the behavior via moderation. I typically only remove them if I'm already editing for something else.

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  • This is more about salutation and goodbye messages such as: "Hello techy friends," and "sincerely, lonesome noob"
    – l0c0b0x
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 17:47
  • That's what he's talking about, @l0c0b0x.
    – Warner
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 17:58
  • This is where I am. I don't think its worth editing just for this (unless the flowery language was getting in the way of the question) but I'd certainly tidy it up if I was there anyway.
    – Rob Moir
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 18:35
  • It may have been addressed on another site but we don't all read every Stack Exchange site.
    – John Gardeniers
    Commented Oct 13, 2010 at 20:47
  • Understandably so, John. That's why I pointed it out.
    – Warner
    Commented Oct 14, 2010 at 13:07
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Is it OK to use our awesome edit-powers to remove these greetings/signoffs?

Yes, please do.

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Yes, if you can be bothered to do so, please edit them to:

Hi,

I have ${problem}. It has ${details}. Any thoughts ${actual question}?

Thanks in advance, ${username}

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I've made a number of such edits and will not apologise to anyone for having done so. I also like to point people to the FAQ when it's obvious they haven't bothered to do so.

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