# Personal message responses should not have a minimum length
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900
**Category:** UX
**Tags:** personal-messages
**Created:** [November 1, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900 "2021-11-01T21:49:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aliceryhl](https://meta.discourse.org/u/aliceryhl)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900/1 "2021-11-01T21:49:47Z")
I sometimes get private messages from people who just want to say hi or say thanks. It’s annoying that “Thanks!” is too short for responses to private messages.
---
### Author:  [@ondrej](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ondrej)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900/2 "2021-11-01T21:55:00Z")
This can be changed via the `min personal message post length` site setting I believe
---
### Author:  [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900/3 "2021-11-01T21:56:00Z")
The post length requirement for PMs can be configured by the site admin, the setting is called `min personal message post length` and by default it’s a little shorter than the minimum public post length requirement.
Sometimes people find short messages like “Thanks!” annoying (did this need to be a message at all? maybe the like button is enough!), so the default is to require someone to put a little effort into their message before sending it to someone.
---
### Author:  [@aliceryhl](https://meta.discourse.org/u/aliceryhl)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900/4 "2021-11-01T21:59:34Z")
Okay thanks, I’ll ask the people who manage the site in question.
> [@awesomerobot](#):
>
> Sometimes people find short messages like “Thanks!” annoying (did this need to be a message at all? maybe the like button is enough!), so the default is to require someone to put a little effort into their message before sending it to someone.
This is also why I specified responses only. I think the minimum length is very reasonable for the first message in a PM thread.
---
### Author:  [@kornelski](https://meta.discourse.org/u/kornelski)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/personal-message-responses-should-not-have-a-minimum-length/207900/5 "2022-06-12T22:33:22Z")
I’ve ran into the same thing. I’m surprised that this setting even exists, and that it has a default \> 0. This is IMHO an unpleasant default behavior, and puts burden on site admins to fix it.
I understand the desire to limit “noise” in a public discussion, but 1:1 conversations are completely different. It’s fine to have a limit on the first message to avoid low-effort “hi”, but not for replies. If someone has sent the first message they’ve already given an implicit permission to receive a reply.
I don’t think the heart button is a sufficient substitute. It doesn’t feel like a proper reply to me. It is a bit ambiguous (is it merely an acknowledgement, or did I _love_ the message?). I _want_ to reply with a manually typed text, even if short, because it feels more appropriate and personal than just pressing a button.