Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/BrownBot

The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. The result of the discussion was Approved.

[edit] BrownBot

tasks • contribs • count • sul • logs • page moves • block user • block log • flag log • flag bot

Operator: Cbrown1023

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic, but normally supervised

Programming Language(s): AutoWikiBrowser

Function Summary: AWB-editor: newsletter distrubtion and other AWB tasks

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Continuous: Always at then end of the month (for newsletter distribution) but may also be used for other AWB tasks.

Edit rate requested: 10 edits per minute

Already has a bot flag (Y/N):

Function Details: The bot primarily uses AutoWikiBrowser to do a number of tedious tasks at a faster rate than a human editor. The bot distributes the montly WikiProject Films newsletter at the end of each month. Other than that, the bot edits sporadically to substitute templates that need to be substituted, adds WikiProject Banners to talk pages, and removes the AfD notice/adds an {{oldafdfull}} tag for mass-nominations that close as Keep or No consensus. Distribute notice of Current Wikipedia:Cinema Collaboration of the Week to voters

[edit] Discussion

I see no problems with delivering the newsletter, but you need to be much more specific about the other tasks of the bot. —METS501 (talk) 16:50, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

How is it now? (the Function Details section) Cbrown1023 talk 17:20, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Editors can use AWB for miscelaneous taks, but not flagged bots. Bots need to have specific, approved functions, open-ended functions are not allowed. — xaosflux ^Talk 02:51, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay, how about now? :) Cbrown1023 talk 03:03, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Please note that I have done all these tasks by hand (well... AWB-assisted-by-hand) at about the rate of 8-10 edits per minute, the only difference is that Automatic mode will be enabled on AWB. Cbrown1023 talk 19:41, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tasks

1. Ditribute Newsletter for WikiProject Films

   Trial Approved for up to 150 edits, post results here when complete. — xaosflux ^Talk 18:36, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

   How do I do a trial when it is the beginning of the month? The newsletter is distributed monthly. Cbrown1023 talk 19:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

   Trials do not have to run concurrently, this function can be trialed whenever you are ready for it. — xaosflux ^Talk 00:54, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

   Done, absolutely no problems as well. Most recent Special:Contributions/BrownBot. Cbrown1023 talk 00:49, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

2. Process WP:SUBST items

   Trial Approved for up to 150 edits, post results here when complete. — xaosflux ^Talk 18:36, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

   Trial completed, no problems. BrownBot 03:06, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

   These edits correspond to this task. Cbrown1023 talk 22:57, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

3. Project Banners

   This is too open ended, these type of bots tasks are generraly for specific projects and or banners. — xaosflux ^Talk 00:56, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

   Understood. Denied. Cbrown1023 talk 01:21, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

4. AFD Notices for mass-noms

   Is this for posting the afd notices on articles when nominating a batch of them, or for contacting users? — xaosflux ^Talk 01:32, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

   Run when I close a large AfD nomination (i.e. +5) as Keep/No consensus, the bot will remove all the {{AfD}}s (AfD notices) and will add a {{oldafdfull}} to the talk page. Cbrown1023 talk 02:52, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

   Trials approved for this task for up to 100 edits. Post here when complete. — xaosflux ^Talk 13:18, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

   Task Withdrawn This task is giving me some problems. If I choose to add this task at a later date, I will create a new request for approval. Cbrown1023 talk 22:55, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

5. Distribute notice of Current Wikipedia:Cinema Collaboration of the Week to voters

   Trials approved for up to 150 edits. — xaosflux ^Talk 00:54, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

   Done and no problems, the most recent for Special:contributions/BrownBot. Cbrown1023 talk 21:05, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Approved for trial.Have you run trials on all of these tasks? When you have please post back here with diffs for each. —METS501 (talk) 16:19, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

{{BAGAssistanceNeeded}} (Done with trials.) Cbrown1023 talk 00:49, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Could you give us specific diffs to the different trial results please? As there are multiple trials, itmakes it much easier than for us to trawl through hundreds of edits! Martinp23 21:52, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I finally got this, sorry, I was on Wikbreak. :) Here are the diffs.

1. Newsletter
2. has most of the SUBST items
3. Withdrawn
4. Withdrawn
5. Some CineVoters

Cbrown1023 talk 02:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

OK :). On the issue of bot editing in general be careful to make sure that you're logged into the right account! On to the tasks:

1. Looks fine

2. Now, the templates are substing well, but are leaving the Wikitext in a bit of a mess, for example with duplicate categories and defaultsorts [1] [2] [3] (note also that the categories are effectively split). This could be a bug in AWB, but before listing it, could you do another 5 edits on the same template with the "General fixes" option checked. That may resolve the issues :). A final point - it would better to have the edits marked minor, as no visible change is being made to the page (and it prevents the new messages bar appearing, if you ever go into substing user templates).

Here are about 9 (the list is now cleared): Special:Contributions/BrownBot. There are some double-spaces, but that's what AWB seems to do when it moves the stub templates to the bottom of the page. Cbrown1023 talk 20:33, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

OK - this diff shows that "General fixes" has solved the problem. It'll be OK for you to keep that button checked on all of the substing tasks, including user pages (where it will ensure that most user messages get substed - not just the one you're working on) Martinp23 21:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

3. -

4. -

5. Look OK - a more informative edit summary would be nice :). You also need to create an opt-out list for that job, and link to it in the bot's signature line.

The listing is created from those who voted in the most recent collaboration. It is created by importing the User space links on that page and converting to talk pages. Cbrown1023 talk 20:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah - OK. However, to state the obvious, make sure that, if someone approaches you and asks not to be spammed, that you do manually remove them from the lists. Martinp23 21:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Martinp23 10:17, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Everything seems fine - I'm happy to approve. Approved. The bot will run with a flag, and until that flag is granted, its edit rate should remain below 2 per minute. If you ever wish to add another task to the bot, be sure to come through BRFA first - Martinp23 21:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.