7 Components: the Function Pages - Developers

Conventions
Minor edit
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With regard to the summary, a few conventions have established
themselves when using wikis in order to make working with them
easier for everyone. One important guideline is that one should always
provide a summary. Even a short description is better than
none at all. Especially if you have deleted or modified another user's
text, you should comment on it, so that the alterations are not interpreted
as being malicious. In addition, modifications that are not explained
are more likely to be undone. However, lengthy explanations
should be reserved for the discussion page.
If you have only added a sentence or two to an article, it is advisable
to copy them completely into the summary box.
Tip: Think of an abbreviation to use before the summary that will
indicate to everyone that the summary includes all of the modified
text, so that people will not have to go through the trouble of looking
up the page on the Recent changes page. For example, one common
abbreviation used at Wikipedia is ft for “full text.”
Registered users additionally have the option of defining their modifications
as “minor edits,” i.e. to indicate relatively insignificant
changes, such as in correcting a typing error or making any formatting
changes. Before saving, simply mark the box next to “This is a
minor edit” below the summary.
On the other hand, there are major edits that mainly affect the
content of the article. These suggest to the user that it is worthwhile
to look at the modifications, since a significant development of the
text has taken place. This may even be the case if only one word is
changed.
Differentiation between minor and major edits is relevant, since
registered users have the option of hiding unimportant alterations on
the Recent changes page. The decision as to whether modifications
are major or minor is, of course, a subjective one, and may lead to
readers missing out on important information. That is why you
should think carefully about how other users would assess your
modifications. It is for good reason that this function is unavailable
to non-registered users, to prevent abuse.
Tip: If you have saved alterations as being minor by mistake, we
advise just feigning an editing procedure and making a note in the
summary that the previous edit was significant.
4 The Core Functions of MediaWiki