When the reply you posted was wrong

Someone points out your public answer was wrong. The tempting fix is to quietly edit the sentence and move on.

Our guide on this starts one step earlier. Check the source first, then figure out which of three cases you're in. You were wrong when you posted it. The facts changed after you posted. Or you can't confirm the answer yet. Each one needs different words, and calling a plain mistake an "update" just makes it harder to trust the next reply.

The part we keep coming back to: if anyone already acted on the old answer, editing the text finishes the writing job and leaves their problem open. Somebody has to follow up with them.

The worked examples are here: correcting a public reply you got wrong.