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Accurate summaries help other contributors decide whether it is worthwhile for them to review an edit, and to understand the change should they choose to review it. When a major edit (e.g. deletion of a substantial amount of text) doesn't have an edit summary, there are fewer reasons to [[WP:AGF|assume good faith]] and busy editors may be more inclined to revert the change without checking it in detail. Summaries are less important for ''[[Help:Minor edit|minor changes]]'' (which means generally unchallengeable changes such as spelling or grammar corrections), but a brief note like "fixed spelling" is helpful even then.
==How to summarise==
* ''Summarise''. Summarise the change, even if only briefly; even a short summary is better than no summary.
* ''Explain''. Give reasons for the change, if there is a reasonable chance that other editors may be unclear as to why it was made.
* ''Abbreviations''. Abbreviations should be used with care. They can be confusing for new contributors. For an explanation of some commonly used abbreviations, see this [[WP:ESL|edit summary legend]].
* ''Talk pages''. When editing [[WP:TALKPAGE|talk pages]], consider copying your comment to the edit summary, if it is brief; this allows users to check Recent changes, Page history and User contributions (see below) very efficiently. It also reduces the load on the servers.
* ''Expand on important information''. Readers who see only the summary might not get the entire picture. Prevent misunderstanding: If an edit requires more explanation than will fit in the summary box, use the [[WP:TALK|Talk page]] to give more information, adding "See Talk" or "See Discussion Page" to the summary.
* '' Avoid misleading summaries''. Mentioning one change but not another one can be misleading to someone who finds the other one more important; add "and misc." to cover the other changes.
* '' Avoid inappropriate summaries''. Editors should explain their edits, but not be overly critical or harsh when editing or reverting others' work. This may be perceived as uncivil, and cause tension or bad feelings, which makes collaboration more difficult. Explain what you changed, and cite the relevant policies, guidelines or principles of good writing, but try not to target or to single out others in a way that may come across as an attack or an insult.
===Use of edit summaries in disputes===
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Proper use of edit summaries is critical to resolving [[Wikipedia:Dispute resolution|content dispute]]s. Edit summaries should accurately and succinctly summarize the nature of the edit, especially if it could be controversial. If the edit involves [[Help:Reverting|reverting previous changes]], it should be marked as a revert ("rv") in the edit summary.
Avoid using edit summaries to carry on debates or negotiation over the content or to express opinions of the other users involved. This creates an atmosphere where the only way to carry on discussion is to revert other editors! If you notice this happening, start a section on the talk page and place your comments there. This keeps discussions and debates away from the article page itself. For example:
:''reverted edits by [[User:Example]], see talk for rationale''
===Fixing===
After you save the page, you cannot change the edit summary, so be careful with it, particularly if you are in a heated content dispute – do not write things you will regret.
If you make an important omission or error in an edit summary, you can correct this by making a [[Help:Dummy edit|dummy edit]] (an edit with no changes), and adding further information in its own edit summary.
In the extreme case of an edit summary containing certain kinds of harmful content, the summary can be deleted on request. They may be removed from public view by [[WP:ADMIN|administrators]] using [[WP:REVDEL|Revision Deletion]]; such edit summaries remain visible to administrators. In even more limited circumstances the entire edit may be [[WP:OVERSIGHT|oversighted]], leaving it and its edit summary visible only to the handful of users with the Oversight permission.
==Edit summary properties and features==
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