Wikipedia talk:Bots/Archive 13

I would like to run a simple replace.py bot to fix various problems with ==External links== and ==See also== sections. For example some people seem to call "External links" "Weblinks" (I think borrowed from the German wiki), and other mis-capitalisations and minor problems. Martin 19:25, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Is there a specific list of replacements that folks can check for potential problems? -- Beland 07:08, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

• ==Also see== to ==See also==
• ==Internal links== to ==See also==
• ==Weblinks== to ==External links==
• ==Web links== to ==External links==

Plus all capitalisation variations, and equivalent changes for different types of headings (e.g. ===Weblinks===).

There are a quite a lot and they get introduced fairly quickly as well, I have done about 500 by hand already but its not worth it when a bot could do it! thanks Martin 09:02, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

Has there been any decision on this bot? I'm ready to set him up with a flag. Datrio 06:53, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Over 22,000 edits with no valid complaints counts as a decision for me! thanks - Martin 10:34, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

As part of the ungoing effort to remove illegally used images from Wikipedia, and to clarify our license tags, I have created, and am continuing to develop, a collection of python scripts to facilitate the bulk processes of media content. My scripts interact directly with a local copy of the Wikipedia backend database, which facilitate operations which would be unreasonable with a traditional bot. For example, a normal bot would need to load all 21,000 fair use images to determine which are linked in the main namespace, while my bot has the answer with a single query. Although I'm currenty running these scripts on my account in a supervised and very slow manner, I believe it would be a good idea to move these edits into their own accout and potentially operate with the bot flag. Operation of Roomba will be automatic, semi-manual, or manual depending on the exact nature of the changes but unless I later request retasking here, all of roomba's operation will be confined to tasks related to the bulk handling of media pages potentially including adding notices to user talk pages however I would want to discuss that more with others because I feel it is much better to have notices placed by someone who can answer questions, which is also why I have little desire to produce a bot which edits articles. --Gmaxwell 23:06, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

I suggest a new feature for Roomba, adding edit summaries on behalf of its boss. How's that sound? :) Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 03:50, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

On talk page posts no less? I dunno, sounds risky. Plus Roomba doesn't speak english. --Gmaxwell 05:42, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

• What sort of "bulk processing" other than leaving talk messages would it do? AllyUnion is already working on a bot to leave deletion notifications on talk pages and flag pages for deletion. You would definitely need to coordinate to avoid accidental destructive interference. -- Beland 07:12, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Ah, I said above that I am not really interested in doing talk page notices. I'm aware of that. Some of our rules are difficult for other bots to help with, I gave an example above: fair use images which are not used in the main namespace are a CSD 7 days after a notice is added. The problem is we have over 20,000 image. Because my bot talks directly to a wikipedia database I can identify the images in question instantly, then the bot goes and tags them (about 2,200) for other users to act on. Thats what I've done so far, but it will need to be done on an ongoing basis, they aren't easy to catch from the upload log because people need time to link them in the first place. Also, my database can answer questions like "what images look orphaned but are really provided as external style links in the main namespace" and then go tag images accordingly... This was a concern for the 2,200 I tagged above, it turned out that none were linked externally, but about 50 were cases of image pages linked in the main namespace (I talked a human into retagging these since there weren't that many). So really thats it, the bot is intended to tag content using criteria that are difficult to apply in other ways. --Gmaxwell 02:14, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

I'd like permission to run Commander Keane bot. It uses the pywikipedia framework, specifically solve_disambiguation.py and touch.py, but I may uses other pywikipedia functions when I become more experienced.

Admittedly, I have been running the bot for a couple of weeks. The instructions on the project page gave me the impression that only newly designed bots needed discussion here (the use of "bot-maker" specicfically). --Commander Keane 16:00, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

Approved for the official week's trial run. Please list it on the WP:BOTS page under "bots running without a flag" - I don't foresee any problems with you applying for a bot flag after a short while, though. Rob Church ^Talk 21:39, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm asking for permission to use this bot. It uses pywikipedia, and I'd like to use it to fix highway disambiguation pages, add templates to pages, and maybe more after I learn more about the program. --Rschen7754 talk 04:12, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

I'm happy with the highway stuff; but what templates are you adding to which pages? Rob Church ^Talk 21:38, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

It's a big pain to do WikiProject templates... this bot would add stuff like {{California State Highway WikiProject}} to talk pages of highway articles. --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 23:56, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Should I go ahead and do the trial run? --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 04:35, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Authorised for a week's trial run. Please add a link on WP:BOTS under those without a flag, throttle edits to one every 60 seconds, and report back after the trial with exact details of anything else you have planned, before applying for a bot flag. Rob Church ^Talk 20:48, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

A question: How do you use template.py? Because it doesn't seem to work on my computer. The disambiguation is fine however. --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 02:56, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I had the same problem, and fixed it by editing family.py; in the definition of self.namespaces for namespace 10 I added a line with 'en': u'Template', (at line 368 in my version). It's not the best fix (as just works around the problem), but it does the job. --Mairi 03:21, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Another question: Does anyone know how to add Wikiproject notices to talk pages? Thanks... --Rschen7754 (talk - contribs) 03:55, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I would like to run a bot with account User:HELLO, WORLD! to maintain the lists of asteroids and create new articles for asteroids. - Yaohua2000 03:44, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, if you're going to use it, I recommend that you do as I suggested. You should also make sure that the asteroid articles are categorized correctly (into family level). Use also the Template:MinorPlanets Navigator, it's handy. If possible, could you add data from the PDS Asteroid Data Sets? It has plenty of information on the asteroid families, compositions, spin rates, occultations and so on.--Jyril 21:19, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Please don't run it under that account; the name should make it clear that it's a bot. —Cryptic (talk) 01:41, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

What is the status of this request? Does the user still wish to run a bot? If so, please post here exactly what username will be used and what the bot will be doing. Rob Church ^Talk 20:51, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Sure. I'd use this username: User:Asteroid bot — Yaohua2000 02:26, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

Either create a mini user page for the bot, or redirect User:Asteroid bot to a subpage of your own user page - whichever option; have that page provide a short description of what the bot does, a link to its contributions, and instructions on getting in touch with you. Rob Church ^Talk 07:53, 7 November 2005 (UTC)