User:DumbBOT

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This user account is a bot operated by Tizio (talk).

It is not a sock puppet, but rather an automated or semi-automated account for making repetitive edits that would be extremely tedious to do manually.
Administrators: if this bot is malfunctioning or causing harm, please block it.

Contents

[edit] Bot functions

  1. creates daily categories and subpages (see User:DumbBOT/CatCreate for details)
  2. list incomplete AfD nominations at User:DumbBOT/IncompleteAfD
  3. complete nominations when the AfD subpage exists but is not listed
  4. creates a summary of the articles tagged WP:PROD at /ProdSummary
  5. list articles that are tagged {{copyvio}} but not listed
  6. maintain User:DumbBOT/RfArSummary and User:DumbBOT/UsernameChange
  7. removes protection templates from non-protected pages

[edit] About unprotection

One of the functions of DumbBOT is to remove protection templates from non-protected pages. Since this function is the one that leads to more questions and complaints, I have written a FAQ about it.


Q1: why did you unprotect page X?

A1: I didn't; the bot is not an administrator, so it cannot protect or unprotect pages;


Q2: but the history says "removing a protection template etc."!

A2: a protection template is a colored box or a small lock image at the top of the article; it does not by itself make the page protected; protection and unprotection is done via a form that looks like this, and the edit summary looks like (Unprotected Wikipedia:New admin school/Protecting/Protect: NAS unprotect test).


Q3: who did unprotect the page, then?

A3: most likely, the page had an expiring protection (see the "expire" field in the form above), and the expiration date has passed; it could also be that an administrator unprotected the page but they forgot to remove the tag;


Q4: how can I have the page protected again?

A4: see Wikipedia:Requests for page protection; note, however, that pages are generally not protected just because they get a couple of vandal edits; see Wikipedia:Protection policy for details;


Q5: I know the page is unprotected, but I want the protection template back on it!

A5: while there is no specific policy against that, I believe this is generally considered wrong unless there is a good reason for doing that; anyway, if there is some reason for doing that, you can do it by yourself (as the page is unprotected and can therefore be edited); add <nowiki></nowiki> after the template, on the same line, and the bot won't remove the template again; some other editor, possibly me, may remove it nevertheless


Q6: I am one other editor who wants to remove such a template nevertheless; is there a list of pages where the bot didn't remove a template because of tags <nowiki></nowiki> on the same line?

A6: Sure: User:DumbBOT/NotRemoved; note that sometimes there is a reason for a protection template being included in a non-protected page, such as showing how the template looks like;

[edit] Bot internals

This bot employs square wheels
This bot employs square wheels
  1. the WP:PROD daily categories are created for the days from yesterday for four days. These categories are created only if they do not exist already. The content of each newly created category is {{subst:Prod subcategory starter}}. It has a 30 sec delay between creation of each category
  2. the list of incomplete AfDs is generated as follows (this function is not scheduled):
    1. the whole category Category:Articles for deletion is downloaded (this requires multiple downloads)
    2. the list of article is extracted, downloaded as a single export, and broke down in a local directory
    3. from the content of this directory, the pages not linking to the AfD category and the pages not containing a link to the AfD debate is computed
    4. the list of AfD subpages is created; these subpages are downloaded as a single export and broke down in a local directory
    5. comparing the list of subpages with the list of downloaded subpages, the list of non-existent subpages is created
    6. for every subpage, it is determined whether it is a redirect (in which case the target is downloaded), and whether it is listed in the page of debates of a day
  3. the unlisted afds are listed:
    1. the pages linking to each is downloaded to check whether the subpage is still unlisted
    2. for every subpage, it is checked whether the header ==[[pagename]]== is present; if not it is added; also added is a note that the AfD was incomplete, with a link to the correct procedure
    3. the wikicode to add to the afd of the day the incomplete nominations is generated (this is added manually)
  4. the prod summary is created by:
    1. downloading the list of articles in Category:All_articles_proposed_for_deletion
    2. downloading all articles in the category
    3. getting the data from the {{dated prod}} template
  5. the copyvio completion is done by:
    1. downloading the list of articles in Category:Possible copyright violations
    2. downloading Wikipedia:Copyright_problems and linked subpages
    3. finding the articles that are in the first list but not in the second
    4. downloading these articles, and getting the url argument of the {{copyvio}} template

[edit] Bot description

  1. It is a bash script using sed, awk, grep, and curl.
  2. The AfD part is manually run
  3. The prod cat creation is done at 15:50 every day, local time
  4. The prod cat part will be run until the toolserver gets the updates for wikien again; it will be run for future periods of unavailability of the toolserver

[edit] Edit count

Edit count

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