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In a recent post I changed my answer completely, so I edited it.

But then I thought that, being a "new" answer, it should be a separate one, so I posted a new answer. (I just let the previous one edited).

What would be here the accepted course of action, edit the answer, or post a new one?

This is the original answer (I deleted it) and the previous version.

This is the new answer

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    Do both answers provide a useful solution? Does one complement the other? Are they completely different? Was the original answer wrong?
    – terdon Mod
    May 5, 2020 at 9:27
  • @terdon The first one got downvoted without feedback. In a personal note, I have to say that I still don't handle well downvotes. I get insecure and afraid of new downvotes, I tend to delete them. They don't complement each other, they are completely different. The first was wrong? I'm not sure to be honest, maybe it's not wrong but just bad. It surely could have been better.
    – schrodingerscatcuriosity
    May 5, 2020 at 14:58
  • @terdon The first answer also was very similar to other posted, so I took the challenge of posting a new approach, thinking in the likes of "well, my answer is not welcomed, and it's similar to others. Doesn't really add anything useful. Let's try something different."
    – schrodingerscatcuriosity
    May 5, 2020 at 15:07
  • Related: Is it OK to write a new answer after I deleted a downvoted one earlier on?
    – Pandya
    May 5, 2020 at 16:22

1 Answer 1

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If your existing answer had received votes (up- or down-), I would restrict edits to improvements on that answer. If it had not yet received any votes, I say go ahead and change it completely if you want to. I believe that edits within the first few minutes of posting are absorbed into the "initial" version of the posting. After that, there's an edit history.

I don't have a strong opinion on multiple, separate, answers by the same person -- versus one consolidated answer with many variations. I've seen both here. The all-in-one model can showcase your encyclopedic knowledge as well as point out pros & cons between them. Often, a multi-answer post will be community wiki so that others can add their ideas. The separate-ideas as separate-posts model lets the community vote on ideas that they prefer (for or against).

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