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D&DBeyond is the official online source for D&D 5e. If not more people, then at least a significant portion of people, have access D&DBeyond rather than the PHB. When quoting rules excepts can we quote from D&DBeyond or do we need to find the equivalent in the PHB?

I ask because I posted a question quoting D&DBeyond, my comment was edited to include the PHB quote, and when I asked why this edit was done I was told that rules come from the PHB and my comment was deleted.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Hi @jgn: I think the linked question pretty well covers what you've asked (and what KRyan accurately summarizes/restates below). If you're bumping up against something that's not addressed please feel free either to edit this post and flag for reopening or just start up a new meta post. Thanks! \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 Mod
    Oct 16, 2019 at 2:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also, to clarify... I don't think anyone's edited your question to "quote the PHB instead of D&D Beyond". Assuming you mean this question, then you misunderstood my comment. As I said: "Assuming you're asking about my edit, I figured I'd just provide a little more context with regard to where in the rules the quoted section appeared (along with adding links)." The edit in question did exactly that. I only explained what a sidebar was in the previous comment because that's what you had asked. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Oct 16, 2019 at 3:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ In other words: Rather than just saying "Hiding:" and then including the quote, I elaborated a bit more to explain what the quote was and where it appeared within the rules (and also added a link to that rules section on D&D Beyond). This context is particularly helpful when referencing the hiding rules, because the relevant rules are basically split up between 3 different rules sections (one of which is the one you cited). \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Oct 16, 2019 at 3:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ @V2Blast I read your reply as saying that "the rules come from the PHB" and me saying that I got the quote from D&D Beyond was irrelevant because that source is no good. I was initially confused as to what a sidebar was because D&D Beyond doesn't have anything like that, and it's certainly not where I got the quote from. I think you (along with others) have cleared up all the confusion I had, thanks! I should have asked my question more explicitly than expecting you to understand what I was talking about and why. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 16, 2019 at 4:28

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The ideal is to have both a Beyond link and a book page number—but ultimately, as long as you actually include the relevant content in your answer (quotation or paraphrase), it’s fine to indicate where that came from however you like. Other users may edit in other ways of finding it.

And if someone makes up a rule that isn’t actually where they say it is, that answer will get comments and downvotes, so readers will know. So if instead an answer gets upvotes and no one comments that the quoted text is missing in the sources, we can be pretty sure it’s there even if we don’t have access to the same source.

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