# Message too short error - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 21, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500 "2005-07-21T17:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/1 "2005-07-21T17:13:23Z")
Yesterday I posted a response to a thread and today somebody started another thread on what I had posted. I went to the post I made yesterday and copied it. I paste it in the new thread and hit preview and I get the following message; > [@](#): > > 1. The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 2 characters. However, here is what I pasted as a reply: > [@adam yax](#): > > I am sorry for the hijack but since this is the current active comics thread I thought I would mention that I just saw that [James Aparo](http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/07/20/showbuzz/index.html#1) passed away yesterday. I don’t know where he fits in the grand scheme of the animated universe, but I thought I would pass the info along. That was fine as an original post, why is it a problem as a copy & paste post? Is there a new setting that requires something be written after a quote? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/2 "2005-07-21T17:54:16Z")
The software requires you to type an actual message, outside of any quote tags. I don’t why, it seems rather stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/3 "2005-07-21T17:56:00Z")
Text in a quote box doesn’t count towards the minimum. You have to have something outside the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/4 "2005-07-21T17:59:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Text in a quote box doesn’t count towards the minimum. You have to have something outside the quote. Was this always the case? I admit that copying a quote isn’t something that I do alot, maybe I never noticed it before. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/5 "2005-07-21T18:52:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Text in a quote box doesn’t count towards the minimum. You have to have something outside the quote. You mean I can type a 10,000 word essay in quotes and get away with it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/6 "2005-07-21T19:58:54Z")
For those who wish to delve deeper there’s a discussion on this over at the [Vbulletin Forum](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63592) . ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/7 "2005-07-21T22:52:36Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > You mean I can type a 10,000 word essay in quotes and get away with it? 😃 Nope. I just tried to do that, and I got the following message when I tried to preview: > [@The Board](#): > > The following errors occurred when this message was submitted: > > 1. The text that you have entered is too long (30495 characters). Please shorten it to 20000 characters long. > 2. The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 2 characters. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/8 "2005-07-21T23:41:52Z")
> [@wolfstu](#): > > Nope. I just tried to do that, and I got the following message when I tried to preview: Dude, that is messed up. Too long and too short? ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-too-short-error-why/313500/9 "2005-07-22T00:11:49Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Dude, that is messed up. Too long and too short? Too many characters altogether, but they were all inside quote tags, triggering the ‘too short’ message. Not _quite_ what the wording means, but that’s software for you: Garbage In, Garbage Out.