Edit Summary box -- what is good practice?

Question

I have been taking a rather casual approach to what I type into the Edit Summary box when I finish editing a question, but I have started to think that may not be such a good idea. However, I really don't understand how these summaries fit into the long term scheme of things. I would like to get recommendations on what would be good practice for entries into Edit Summary.

My own current practice is mostly to use one of three stock phrases: "Improved formatting", "Made English more idiomatic" and "General cleanup". The first of these is one I use most and is a reasonably accurate brief description of a lot of my editing. It is the other two that I think might be dropped in favor of something better.

Answer 1

I don't see anything wrong with your descriptions for general editing. Keep up the good work.

The Edit Summary becomes necessary in the case of code modifications or other edits that may not be entirely self-evident. For example, if you change a question to better reflect the accepted answer it would be good to note that, rather than leaving people wondering why you changed the apparent meaning of the question.