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A dummy edit is a change in wikitext that has no effect on the rendered page, such as changing the number of [[W:newline|newlines]] at some position from 0 to 1 or from 2 to 3 or conversely (changing from 1 to 2 makes a difference, see below). This allows an edit summary, and is useful for correcting a previous edit summary, or an accidental marking of a previous edit as "minor" (see below). Also it is sometimes needed to refresh the cache of some item in the database, see e.g. [[Help:Category#A_category_tag_in_a_template.3B_caching_problem|A category tag in a template; caching problem]].
== Minor edits ==When editing a page, a [[MediaWiki User's Guide: Logging-in|logged-in]] user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[MediaWiki User's Guide: The Recent Changes page | Recent Changes page]], to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.
When editing a page, a [[MediaWiki User's Guide: Logging-in|logged-in]] user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[MediaWiki User's Guide: The Recent Changes page|Recent Changes page]], to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level. When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that edits consisting of spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth revisiting for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely. So any "real" change, even if it is a single word, should be flagged as a "major edit".
The reason for not allowing a user who is not logged in to mark an edit as minor is that vandalism could then be marked as a minor edit, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in.
