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I just wanted to add furigana to a good answer written by someone else but I get the following error:

Edits must be at least 6 characters; is there something else to improve in this post?

This seems like a silly rule especially as I just wanted to add furigana to make an answer easier to understand.

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    This really is a bit of a bugbear at times. Oftentimes an edit for furigana doesn't meet this arbitrary requirement.
    – akj
    May 20, 2015 at 17:45

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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This only applies to edits made by <2000 rep users (in particular, it won't affect you any longer) since in this case edits will be added to the review queue and need to be reviewed by two people. I guess the idea behind "at least 6 characters" is that very short edits, i.e. less than 6 characters, aren't worth the time of two reviewers.

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    Good point. I didn't know about that 1000rep rule for short edits. I just tested and I was able to edit 3 characters (added furigana) without issue. This seems fine to me. Thanks for letting me know.
    – paullb
    Jun 24, 2015 at 3:36
  • Six characters may not be a lot, but even a single character can make a difference. A few years ago, I got an email from a client instructing me to not change something in a program I was writing for them - but they actually meant to type "could you now make any further changes" instead. In the context of JLU, I can imagine さっか being mis-typed as さか, or similar.
    – GoBusto
    Jun 24, 2015 at 8:17
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    @GoBusto Of course, at times there are smart and well-meaning <1000 rep users, like yourself, for which the rule of six characters just is a nuisance. In case you can't edit, you can leave a comment saying "did you mean to write X instead of Y?" and either the poster him/herself or someone with >1000 rep will notice and edit the post.
    – Earthliŋ Mod
    Jun 24, 2015 at 9:32
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I'm fairly certain this rule is a default enforced in nearly all stackexchange communities. It would probably be removed if it was made a priority, but currently it doesn't seem too big of a problem.

Another possible reason is to avoid short edits, furigana, kanji correction and occasionally a few spelling mistake corrections aren't too much to worry about compared to innacurate information and huge mistakes. Though, in my opinion, all edits are good edits.

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