# Emoticons should not count toward the post character minimum **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature\ **Created:** [2014年九月26日 13:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503 "2014-09-26T13:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AdamCapriola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/adamcapriola/32/5192_2.png) [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 13:02 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/1 "2014-09-26T13:02:33Z")
😄 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AdamCapriola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/adamcapriola/32/5192_2.png) [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 13:03 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/2 "2014-09-26T13:03:24Z")
(I’ve had users make posts exactly like that to skirt past the 20 character requirement. It’s annoying.) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 13:23 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/3 "2014-09-26T13:23:56Z")
I agree with this. Better to stop forum silliness before it gets out of hand and clutter up your categories. ---
**Author:** ![gerhard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gerhard/32/119479_2.png) [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 16:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/4 "2014-09-26T16:04:13Z")
I wouldn’t classify this as a bug. Others thinks so too. > [@Strange behaviour of emoticons in character count](https://meta.discourse.org/t/strange-behaviour-of-emoticons-in-character-count/19049): > > Continuing the discussion from [Notifications not clearing properly unless visited from menu](https://meta.discourse.org/t/notifications-not-clearing-properly-unless-visited-from-menu/19041/6): I was replying to a question of @sam’s, which really just required a “yes” or “no” answer, but of course, Discourse has a 20 character minimum requirement. Stuck for inspiration, I threw in a smilie and found that apparently counts for at least six characters, as you can see. Sometimes an emoji is enough. Why would you want to prohibit posting of one? If someone misuses it than you should use your moderator powers or flag the post. 😉 Just my 2 cents. ---
**Author:** ![AdamCapriola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/adamcapriola/32/5192_2.png) [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 16:33 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/5 "2014-09-26T16:33:16Z")
If `:) :p` isn’t enough to meet the 20-character threshold, 🙂 😛 shouldn’t either. ---
**Author:** ![gerhard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/gerhard/32/119479_2.png) [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 16:55 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/6 "2014-09-26T16:55:03Z")
Well, I’m no fan of minimum character requirements anyway. Someone always finds a way around them anyway, so why enforce them in the first place? But that’s another topic… ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 19:26 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/7 "2014-09-26T19:26:27Z")
Why lock the front door to your house? A determined enough criminal will get in no matter what… ---
**Author:** ![AdamCapriola](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/adamcapriola/32/5192_2.png) [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 20:13 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/8 "2014-09-26T20:13:42Z")
It doesn’t take criminal intent to bypass this, it’s more like Dennis the Menace noticing your spare key sticking out from underneath the doormat. (“Hey Mr. Wilson!”) Emoticons are not substantial content. I know there are plenty of other ways to bypass 20 characters, but this one is pretty blatant. ---
**Author:** ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 21:16 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/9 "2014-09-26T21:16:47Z")
Still this is whack a mole. I don’t really consider this a bug. Where do you stop. Rogue unicode? Single image? Each one of these additional heuristics is really a feature. ---
**Author:** ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月26日 21:17 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/10 "2014-09-26T21:17:07Z")
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**Author:** ![elberet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/elberet/32/122404_2.png) [@elberet](https://meta.discourse.org/u/elberet)\ **Post date:** [2014年九月29日 14:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/emoticons-should-not-count-toward-the-post-character-minimum/20503/11 "2014-09-29T14:25:48Z")
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