Editing Help:Edit summary (section)

=== What to avoid in edit summaries ===
{{shortcut|WP:SUMMARYNO}}
* ''Avoid misleading summaries''. Mentioning one change but not another one can be misleading to someone who finds the other one more important. You could add something like "and misc." to cover the other changes.
* ''Avoid vagueness''. While edit summaries can be terse, they should still be specific. Providing an edit summary similar to "I made some changes" is functionally equivalent to not providing a summary at all.
* ''Avoid long summaries''. Edit summaries are not for explaining every detail, writing essays about "the truth", or long-winded arguments with fellow editors. For discussions, you should use the talk page.
* ''Avoid inappropriate summaries''. You should explain your edits, but without being overly critical or harsh when editing or reverting others' work. This may be perceived as [[WP:INCIVILITY|uncivil]], and cause resentment or conflict. Explain what you changed, citing the relevant policies, guidelines, or principles of good writing, but do not target others in a way that may come across as a [[WP:No personal attacks|personal attack]].
* ''Avoid incivility. ''Snide comments, personal remarks about editors, and other aggressive edit summaries are explicit [[WP:Civility#Edit summary dos and don'ts|edit-summary "don'ts"]] of the Wikipedia [[WP:CIVIL|Civility policy]].
'''Warning''': be careful of what you write in edit summaries. Inappropriate edit summaries may be used as evidence against you in behavioral complaints. This applies particularly to uncivil and deliberately misleading edit summaries.