Wikipedia:Tip of the day/January 8

What are dummy edits good for?

A dummy edit is a slight change in an article's wikitext that has no effect on the rendered page but allows you to save a useful edit summary. This is like a SMS (Short Message Service).

To make a "dummy edit" just make a slight non-rendering change to the page, fill out the edit summary with your short message including this tag: WP:dummy edit (include the four square brackets), and save your change. (Note that a null edit does not modify the wikitext and does not allow you to leave an edit summary.)

Uses for dummy edits:
 * Correcting a previous edit summary
 * Repairing insufficient attribution for copy-and-pasted Wikipedia content
 * Addressing an accidental use of rollback
 * Providing a note, from a user while logged-in, that notes an edit performed while logged out
 * Sending brief messages regarding editing issues
 * Providing proof of activity from time to time by a dormant but not dead user
 * Prompting a bot to re-examine a page