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Suppose one person posts a partial answer to a question. (Perhaps the question had many parts and the answerer didn't answer every part.) And that answer is not CW. May another user edit that answer so as to supply what (s)he thinks is the missing info?

(I've just been sent a case of this. I thought "No, (s)he may not" but I am not sure of the etiquette, so I decided to skip the suggested edit -- someone more knowledgeable about the etiquette can deal with it. For the benefit of people reading these words long after I wrote them, my rep here reached 2000 only 5 days ago.)

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    $\begingroup$ On any other site, the answer is pretty consistently "No". However, the usual "Suggest the edit in comments"/"Write your own answer" only really works when multi-part questions are disallowed, which is not the case here. $\endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Commented Aug 26, 2016 at 23:47

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One of the reasons for editing is 'Adding relevant information':

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So as long as you don't change the original intention of the post, it's okay. And of course, if the OP doesn't like your edit, (s)he can roll it back. See this Meta.SE post: What is the etiquette for modifying posts?

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  • $\begingroup$ Even if the answer, after the edit, would look as if the original answerer came up with those parts of the answer supplied by the other person who made the edit? My point is that, in p.SE, a user's intention in answering Q with A is not "A answers Q" but "Q's answer is A, and I found that". $\endgroup$
    – Rosie F
    Commented Aug 27, 2016 at 5:18
  • $\begingroup$ If you want to get the credit for the finding, then don’t edit somebody else’s answer — write a comment, or add your own answer — or annotate your edit to label it as your contribution. But that’s not what you’re asking. If your edit would make the original answerer look bad, then you would be violating the “always respect the original author” rule. But if the edit would make the original answerer look brilliant, then it’s permissible. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … P.S. Congratulations on your skyrocketing rep. $\endgroup$
    – Peregrine Rook
    Commented Sep 23, 2016 at 19:18

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