User:MadmanBot

Tasks approved by the Bot Approvals Group

Tasks approved by the Bot Approvals Group – temporarily suspended

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

Operator: Madman bum and angel

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic.

Programming Language(s): PHP.

Function Summary: Evaluates templates in Category:WikiProject banners for support of {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}, then outputs a report to an operator-configurable location.

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Daily.

Edit rate requested: 1 edit per day.

Already has a bot flag (Y/N): N.

Function Details: Bot uses query.php to retrieve all articles in the Template mainspace in the WikiProject banners category (query.php?format=php&what=category&cptitle=WikiProject%20banners&cpnamespace=10). Bot then retrieves the latest revision of each article using Special:Export and searches for indicators of {{WikiProjectBannerShell}} support ({{{nested|}}}). Finally, bot generates a report and outputs it to an operator-configurable location. As it is my understanding that bots that edit in the User namespace are generally speedily approved, location is currently configured to User:MadmanBot/Report.

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

Operator: Madman bum and angel

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic (edits reviewed).

Programming Language(s): PHP.

Function Summary: Consolidates multiple (four or more) WikiProject banners on talk pages into a {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}.

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Daily, or less often depending on the backlog.

Edit rate requested: Bot will use the maxlag parameter at its recommended value (currently: 5) to ensure that there is no unnecessary load on the server and that human editors are given priority.

Already has a bot flag (Y/N): Y.

Function Details:

I've always held the strong opinion that adding {{WikiProjectBannerShell}} to talk pages automatically is undesirable, as a bot can't handle some of the more complicated situations that crop up on talk pages (WikiProject banners ending up in a "Templates" section, blank space in between banners, banners that break the encapsulation such as {{Film}}, parameters that break the encapsulation such as |needs-photo=yes and |needs-infobox=yes, and |auto=yes on {{WPBiography}}, etc.)

However, seeing the backlog of talk pages needing banner consolidation, a backlog that MadmanBot and SatyrBot have only seen get bigger, it becomes clear that such an automated solution is necessary at this time, and I've developed a MadmanBot module over the course of a week that should help out.

The module:

1. Consolidates all identified WikiProject banners on the talk page, regardless of their location. (The location of the first WikiProject banner is identified, and all subsequent WikiProject banners are moved beneath it.)
2. Adds the |nested=yes parameter to each WikiProject banner's transclusion (every template in Category:WikiProject banners, which the bot uses to detect WikiProject banners, supports this parameter.)
3. Surrounds the WikiProject banners with a {{WikiProjectBannerShell}} transclusion.

   |blp=yes is added if there is a {{WPBiography}} transclusion with |living=yes.

   |activepol=yes is added if there is a {{WPBiography}} transclusion with |activepol=yes.

   {{Reqphoto}} is added after the {{WikiProjectBannerShell}} if there is a {{WPBiography}} transclusion with |needs-photo=yes. The |needs-photo=yes parameter is then removed to prevent disruption of the {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}.

   Category:Articles needing an infobox is added and the page is logged if there is a template with |needs-infobox=yes. The |needs-infobox=yes parameter is then removed to prevent disruption of the {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}.

   The page is logged if there is a template with |auto=yes. The |auto=yes parameter is then removed to prevent disruption of the {{WikiProjectBannerShell}}.

I have run the bot in its test mode and reviewed more than three hundred diffs and previews, and I'm convinced that this code does the best possible job it can in doing its task and minimizing interference with the talk page. It logs and skips any page it detects that has four or more WikiProject banner transclusions, but for which it cannot find the transclusions in the article's raw text. It logs any removal of a WikiProject banner's parameter. The final report also includes a link to a diff of every edit it made, all of which I can and will easily review after each bot run.

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

Operator: — madman bum and angel

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic.

Programming Language(s): PHP.

Function Summary: Clone of SelketBot (in functionality; source code is NOT identical). MadmanBot performs an IP whois request when anonymous editors' talk pages are edited (it never checks the same IP address more than once). If the IP address is owned by a college/university/school, {{SharedIPEDU}} is added, including the organization name.

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Continuous.

Edit rate requested: You know the drill. maxlag = 5. In reality, it'll probably edit very, very rarely and very, very, slowly.

Already has a bot flag (Y/N): Y.

Function Details:

Notes: This task has been moved to the Toolserver and should hopefully be more stable. 22:56, 9 February 2008 (UTC)