This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Hey there. I am having a problem with your bot that delivers the WP:PW Newsletter. My name is on the No Spam list, but I'm still getting the newsletter. Can you help? Thanks! -- MeHolla!23:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm. A subtle bug in the delivery algorithm. You are listed in the memberlist as "Jasont82" but on the spam opt-out as "Me". As the bot first creates a complete delivery list (by subtracting one list from the other) and only follows redirects when actually delivering (without checking the opt-out again) it explains why you received the post.
Now we have two options. I can either try to accommodate for this situation (i.e. check for nospam on delivery instead of on preparation), which might not be as easy as it sounds (due to the nature of the bot's code). Or (the lazy approach, perferable for me :P) you can just update your username on the memberlist. Which will it be, then? ;-) Cheers, Миша1319:31, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
HA! I thought that had something to do with it, but when I looked at the list, it was listed as User:Me I'll delete and readd and see if that helps! -- MeHolla!23:30, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Grawp-bot
Does your block-bot (kudos for having the skill to write it, and the balls to run it, btw!) also handle clearing up the pagemove mess afterwards? Because having edits like these in a user's page history honestly makes me sick. Since you're running an adminbot already, would it be reasonable to do poor-man's-oversight on each page replaced; deleting the page and then restoring everything but the revisions with the ugly page title? Being able to make such horrible vandalism disappear would go a long way towards fulfilling the I in WP:RBI. Just a thought - and if your bot doesn't do the cleanup, ignore the above (although perhaps it would be a sensible addition... you use pywiki, right?). Happy‑melon21:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What's interesting to know is that the bot's been running (quite silently) since around Oct '06 (times where WoW was still around). It used to be pywiki, but that's been thrown out of the window during the recent rewrite, due to speed issues (the framework is too slow with getting the edit token and posting the form - now it's being periodically fetched on a separate thread every few minutes) - now it's mostly just the brilliant Twisted framework.
Regarding cleanup, I never got round to write it, mostly because my long-time experience taught me that it's easy to botch it even when reverting manually (I once or twice deleted the actual page by overwriting it with a redirect, having a wrong checkbox ticked :P), much less with a bot.
Finally, there was at some point an idea that admins could delete individual revisions (pretty much like Oversight, only it would remain visible to other admins and in the logs) but it didn't seem to stick for some reason. Too bad, since for big pages deleting entire histories is stressful for the servers (a limit of 5000 revisions was introduced, which might make manual revision deletion impossible in many cases). Миша1322:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Odd image deletion
Hi, Misza13. I notice you deleted Image:Terror of MechaGodzilla 1975.jpg because it was not used. And, indeed, the deleted image shows no article-links. However the image actually was in used at the article on the film Terror of Mechagodzilla. Perhaps the image description was not done correctly? If you could restore the image, I will provide a description/justification for it. Thanks. Dekkappai (talk) 22:17, 3 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Could you please whitelist my alt. account or something? See [1]. I'm trying to help train an AV bot, and, getting blocked for it every couple mins is starting to get annoying :) (tho, at least I do get to do the rogue unblocks!) SQLQuery me!05:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The current version of the bot doesn't have a whitelist infrastructure, so I'm afraid you'll have to bear with it for a while until I write one (this weekend at earliest). Миша1319:32, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No, not really. Although I could probably email it if you wanted. Do you want to see the image or the image description page? Миша1319:33, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Page moves
Misza, the reason why Grawp is able to move so many pages so quickly - and tends to go for archives these days - is that there's now a "Move all subpages, if applicable" tickbox for moving pages. So it's one click to get a page (and all its subpages) moved at the same time. WjBscribe13:54, 6 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I figured that (as commented on the AN/I thread) - I also recommended an idea of giving admins a "delete resulting redirects" box as well (provided that the "move subpages" remains). I'm afraid Grawp was the first one to notice and exploit this new feature... Миша1315:01, 6 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Unless, of course, it is annoying anyone... I consider the page perfectly harmless. It is part of a game, and not a left-over of any moves; it is not even a proper redirect. The trick is to edit it—not many were meant to notice it, but I certainly did not expect this. :-D Perhaps I ought to make it a little easier. Waltham, The Duke of02:43, 26 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
First things first, when I saw your page on my "secret suspects" report flagged as a redirect, I figure that it was (as many redirects there) a left-over from a user rename. If you badly miss it, I can restore it (the recent MfD ruled some leniency for established contributors, but also decided on deleting all "fake" secret pages - yours suggests to be one) if only because it's smart. Finally, regarding harmlessness and games, WP:NOTMYSPACE - they are a waste of resources that should be expended into building a free encyclopedia. Миша1308:37, 26 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I believe that if you check my contributions you will see that I have offered much to this encyclopaedia, and intend to offer even more. Although I want my personal pages to look nice, I do not spend much time on them—that is, unless you count WP:SBS as an extension of my personal domain :-D. I'd like to have a couple of toys in my userspace for the sake of fun, and if one of my pages is to be deleted, I'd like to be the one who decides it (I am generally rather careful not to break policy). I do agree that certain things on Wikipedia are a regretful waste of resources, but I also believe that many of them are actually assets because they keep editors going and actually help in keeping the community thriving and its members away from burn-out (they are volunteers, after all). I realise that there is a thin line, but I think in my case the decision is not very difficult, given that only two people have found the page so far despite its shameless promotion in every secret page I have found (back, in happier and less busy times). I believe you would have little motive to delete my secret page and the two teasers (it would only result in frustrating a useful editor), but even if you decided it, you'd have to find the page first. :-)
And it isn't just a page to be found, mind you; it's got humour in it. If you want a taste of my humour, check my user page. I believe a lot in the power of humour, and that it is a prime motivator for people, here and elsewhere.
PS: I remember the discussion at ANI on April Fool's but didn't know that a MfD actually started at that moment, although I should have suspected it. Nice to know. Waltham, The Duke of02:31, 28 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You said that if I really wanted it back you would restore my page, and I believe you, so don't mistake his for a bargain. It's just that I felt a pang of guilt with what you said about "fake" pages, and I also read all these discussions and the relevant material. Therefore, I have decided to get rid of my other teaser, User:The Duck of Waltham/Most Secret Page, which is not really necessary. As a gesture of good will and respect to Wikipedia, I officially authorise you to delete it. You would probably do that anyway, given that it is near the top of the report, but I think that my requesting the deletion (a voluntary action) carries a different meaning. Minimum userspace luggage for me from now on—I only get to the "clever" humour—and a light conscience. Waltham, The Duke of03:33, 28 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ya, just that your lengthy comment got me occupied for a bit. The problem with "harmless fun" pages is that, however little resources they use, it's always too much, because if all of the 7mil+ accounts were to have one, that would start to matter a lot. Regarding "fake" pages - a general consensus of the MfD was that, while we might allow some leniency, the "no, it's not my real secret page, keep looking" pages were to go.
Finally, don't get me wrong on this - I love humo(u)r on Wikipedia myself, but not at the expense of resources paid-for by volunteers - rather a subtle situational and contextual humor. Миша1317:53, 1 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Occupied for four days? And I thought I read slowly... :-)
Although I understand your rationale, I am also a little disappointed in what initially looked like a promise. I now realise that this is, to an extent, a result of misinterpretation on my part, but it changes little. Still, I have yet another proposal. (I am sorry if this conversation is turning into a time sink; however things go, however, it will probably end here, so there is no need for alarm.)
If you restore the page, I shall convert it to a preparation page for articles on which I might want to work (I already have a first candidate in mind—a brand-new stand-alone article for Westminster Hall). "Secret page" works well here, because I naturally don't want people to steal my ideas. I shall retain the existing elements (redirect and a message at the top) so that the page can work both as a hidden message for those actually looking for my secret page and a safe-house for my drafts. It would be a legitimate way to manage my userspace, and would not be redundant because I do not have a page for drafts. That's killing two birds with one stone, I believe, not to mention the (relative? who knows) originality of the concept. Would such an arrangement be an acceptable compromise for you? Waltham, The Duke of21:51, 1 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
PS: Accurate as it may be, your "7300+" edit-count userbox appears to need an update; "15,000+" would be much closer, in my not-so-humble opinion. Just a thought. Waltham, The Duke of04:58, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'd like to request that Miszabot II change the archiving schedule from 30 days to 60 or 90 days--the discussion page isn't getting the traffic it used to so there's less of a need for such frequent archiving. Thanks Publicus20:02, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hope you can understand this (I'm not sure I do!): Is it possible to make the bot start a new archive for each month, so that all the messages I get in June are archived to one page, all the messages I get in July are archived to another, etc etc. Currently my archive page is really big, and it's getting annoying when I'm looking for something specific. If it's not possible, would you be able to edit my talk page and make it make a new archive page sooner than it is doing? Thanks! Matthewedwards (talk·contribs·count·email)07:46, 10 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Like this: archive = User talk:Matthewedwards/Archives/%(year)d/%(month)02d. Or you could stick with the %(counter)d-based version but adjust maxarchivesize to a lower value. Миша1317:10, 10 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I went with the first option, so the entire code now looks like:
That's fine - the counter counter can be removed as it is obviously ignored when archives are based on date. In fact, so is maxarchivesize (because excess threads wouldn't have any other place to go), so you can remove that too. Миша1320:31, 12 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Odd, but seems to be one-time glitch as it doesn't seem to want to repeat this stunt. If it does, I'll track it further. Миша1320:52, 11 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
MiszaBot II has an error. It doesn't occur often, but there have been examples in Wikipedia_talk:Citing_sources where the <pre> tag has been used to enclose example code - see for example here - here the example code contains a section heading == Notes ==. MiszaBot II seems to read this as a real section heading. It makes a mess of its archiving of the section as a result. MiszaBot II logic needs to be changed so as not to treat section headings contained within <pre> tags as real. Thank you. --SallyScot (talk) 17:23, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm aware of that, but thanks anyway. The problem is about as rare as difficult to bypass. What if the pre tags are within HTML comments or a nowiki environment (as in your own example above)? Then they should be ignored. You're thinking "you need a wikitext parser"? You're thinking correctly, and the pywikipedia framework might have a reliable one someday... Миша1317:36, 9 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe rare, but, since it's been pointed out, I don't really see the difficulty in fixing. For the purposes of determining where the next talk section really begins, ignore everything enclosed within HTML comment tags, because next talk section heading won't occur within them; ignore everything enclosed within nowiki tags, because next talk section heading won't occur within them; and ignore everything enclosed within pre tags, because the next talk section heading won't occur within them. --SallyScot (talk) 18:20, 10 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No, bugs don't become easier to fix just because you know their nature (also, I was aware of this problem already). Specifically, due to the nature of the bot (it scans the page line-by-line) it would require me to enrich the state machine with yet another state variable (like isInRawTextEnvironment or whatever) as well as test that it behaves correctly when the tags are nested (as well as when they're erroneously interlocked). But since you seem to know so much about the wikitext parser, I suppose you can provide me with a patch ready to apply? In the meantime, I've found the best solution to be reverting the bot and replacing the first equals sign in the headers that shouldn't be treated as such with their equivalent HTML entities. Миша1319:18, 10 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Why did you delete 'Airlines Reporting Corporation'? Don't you know that this is the main reporting entity for airlines and an industry trade group? [2] I'm going to recreate the article. Please note that I am asserting notability. Thanks. --Inetpup (talk) 06:52, 14 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The article I deleted consisted of one sentence: "Airlines Reporting Corporation, a company which handles administrative functions for airlines." This asserts no notability whatsoever. If you think you can write a better one, go ahead, though you don't need my explicit permission to do that. Миша1308:58, 14 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That's what I thought, but I think it's highly unlikely this would happen again. The bot's benefits far outweigh this little slip up though :) Spellcast (talk) 17:18, 15 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Bot
Hello. I'm StewieGriffin!. I am interested in making a bot, and was wondering if you could give me some advice. How did you do it? What did you read? After making a bot, what then?
StewieGriffin! • TalkSign07:04, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Truly, writing a bot involves programming (save for some simple rules for WP:AWB, probably). The problem is therefore more basic and boils down to the question: how experienced are you at coding? (Preferably at python, as it's the language of my choice.) Миша1319:38, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
WPF1 Newsletter delivery
This may seem rude but the WPF1 Newsletter needs a bot to deliver the Newsletter. The last Bot was blocked on account of it not being needed. (I disagree). Please contact if interested for your bot to help. (I think it's rude not to ask you on your talk page instead of your bots talk page.) Chubbennaitor16:24, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
How would the bot handle this?
Just curious, I sometimes copy a diff of my reply back to my talk page and do not sign it. How would the bot handle a thread like this? The last line looks like this:
As long a there's a timestamp in the thread (in that case the one by Emil K), it will be archived at some point. Миша1319:35, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As a corollary to this example, mischievous people whose signatures don't include a timestamp will not mess up archiving, so long as there is at least one non-mischievous signature in the thread? EdJohnston (talk) 21:03, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there: MiszaBot III seems to want to archive material on my talk page that I consider current -- as well, it's archiving the material to the third page of nine, which is not going to help me find material in the future. Is there a way that the bot can be programmed to avoid my talk page? Your assistance would be appreciated. Accounting4Taste:talk14:45, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You have requested archiving yourself by placing an appropriate template on your talk page (User:MiszaBot/config) - from your edit summary, it seems that it wasn't your intention (did you just copy from someone else's page without checking? an unwise thing to do in any case), but how in the world could the bot know that? It's archiving to page #3, because the counter parameter says so. Just adjust it to 9 and you'll be fine. If you feel that they're being archived too soon, adjust the algo parameter (currently set to 5 days) to a longer period. Finally, if you still want the (useful if used properly) bot to ignore your page, just remove the User:MiszaBot/config template. Regards, Миша1315:13, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You're absolutely right -- copied from someone else's page without understanding what I was doing, but I'm what you might call "code-challenged" and borrow useful things where I find them. This has been a good lesson. Thanks for your very complete and helpful explanation and for your patience with my ignorance. Accounting4Taste:talk15:14, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
problem using the MiszaBot I
Hello,
I placed text on the Talk:Al Gore article for MiszaBot. However, it doesn't seem to be working. Could you possibly take a look and see what I did incorrectly? I did copy it from another article where it seems to be working fine. Thank you in advance for your help.-Classicfilms (talk) 13:34, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I meant a problem applying the bot :-) I changed the header. Anyway, I'm a bit challenged with this. Could you explain what the above means and how I can fix it? Thanks, -Classicfilms (talk) 15:16, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Firstly, forgive me if there is a blindingly obvious solution to this - I'm not the most aware of people! My question is, is it possible for there to be content to remain on a talk page when the bot archives the threads? I ask because there are a few bits and bobs at the top of my user talk page that I'd like to see staying when the bot does its business! Thanks! - Erebus555 (talk) 15:10, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As far as I know, the bot only archives threads enclosed by the second level headers (==header goes here==) , so you should be ok. Related question, misza, is there a tag I can add on a thread so as the bot ignores it? xenocidic (talk) 15:13, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Correct. Anything before the first ==header== is left untouched. Regarding your question, I have added Q2 to the FAQ. Миша1320:00, 18 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Please accept this Barnstar of Diligence, not only for running exceptional bots, but for your patience in helping all of us get them working properly as we desire. Keep it up! xenocidic (talk) 00:09, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Coren's talk archive
Hi Misza, more so I can understand archiving than anything else, wrt User talk:Coren, your bot is archiving away per its spec's - but when I look at the talk page and click to the archive index, nothing since mid-January shows up. There's some interplay between Werdnabot and Shadowbot3 that I don't particularly understand, presumably your archivebot took over somewhere. Coren is MIA right now, else I'd ask directly. So, questions:
Does your archivebot update a usertalk archive index automatically? The archives are at uuuu/Archives/yyyy/Month, but not indicated on Coren's talk anywhere, so I can find them, but others won't necessarily make that connection.
Is there something I, or an admin, can do in Coren's temporary absence to create that archive index for your bot to maintain?
Would it be advisable to change the dounreplied=yes parameter to "no" to leave the open threads for Coren's review when they eventually return?
I'm not Misza, but Special:Prefixindex shows that Coren has new-style archive files for each month starting with February, 2008. Feel free to create an archive box that will point to these entries; if Coren doesn't like it it will be easy to undo later. No admin powers are needed to create an archive box. MiszaBot will keep on doing its thing per its instructions (as I understand it) regardless of the presence of an archive box. EdJohnston (talk) 20:41, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
My bot doesn't maintain archive indexes, but see the comment about Special:Prefixindex above.
MiszaBot ignores Werdnabot's directives (such as dounreplied and whatnot) and archives everything. But since threads are being put into monthly archives, Coren will just have to pick up reading from wherever he left. Миша1322:15, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You either forgot to or didn't mention on your userpage, under "accounts on other wikis" that you are, like, THE GOD of The Test Wiki. Cool... just thought I'd let you know. Iamzork (talk) 02:42, 21 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Ok. I have read the artcile, How to set-up auto archives. I just have a question. How do I insert all of this auto mated stuff if I alread have archives? I have been updating my archives manually. How do I turn the job over to your bot?Tm93 (talk) 03:50, 23 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
In no particular way. Simply adjust your settings to whatever you need. If you want the bot to start with archive #2, set counter = 2. If you want if to continue storing in the first, leave it at 1. Миша1319:06, 24 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That makes sense. So if I started a discussion, it would archive only the first one? Is it a bad idea to manually archive discussions, as some of them are quite long? —Erik (talk • contrib) - 20:14, 24 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Not immediately, because the default value of minthreadstoarchive is 2. You can simply lower the minthreadsleft value instead. And it doesn't really matter if you archive some manually. Миша1319:58, 26 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Talk page of Rotary International
I think I have set it correctly but it is not working. I have read and considered the FAQ! Please have a look.
Wrong. You just didn't give it enough time between placing the template and breaking it (it doesn't run continuously). Also, in the process, you have misspelled my name twice... Миша1320:02, 26 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I have recently added this script to my monobook.js. I also added the status list (view) to my monobook. I have the links at the top of the page next to the log out button, but when I click the link it only takes me to the status page. It doesn't update automatically, I have to click "edit this page" and type in the code manually. I would appreciate it if I didn't have to input the code manually.
Not really at the moment. I'd look into this further if you could provide a JavaScript error output. Or, you could test your monobook by blanking it (except the statusChanger-related stuff), CACHE-ing and seeing if it works. Миша1314:29, 27 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Another question for you...
Hi there - thanks for your previous help for the Talk:Al Gore page. The bot seems to be working fine now and it has archived old posts twice. I do have one more question - on the right hand side is a small template that states: "This talk page is automatically archived by MiszaBot I. Any sections older than 5 days are automatically archived. An archive index is available here." However, the index is still blank. I assumed that the bot would create the index - is there something else I need to do to set it up? -Classicfilms (talk) 03:07, 26 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
You assumed wrong (the bot's userpage never claims to do that) - and I didn't design the "This page is automatically archived..." notice. There's an indexer bot you might find useful. Миша1320:06, 26 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
As best I can tell, the bot template is configured correctly, and virtually all the discussions qualify for archiving, yet it's not working. Please help. -Rrius (talk) 16:40, 27 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think I figured it out. Someone moved Archive16 to Archive 16. I've added the space to the archive switch, which I assume will fix it. -Rrius (talk) 16:55, 27 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Bot III Archiving
Misza, this diff scares me a little... ;). Any idea what's gone on? Was it the recent change I made to my talk page header (which I just undid)? I haven't blocked seeing as it only seems to have affected me. Cheers, Alex Muller13:54, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it's that edit. As the instructions say, the template can't be compacted into one line (because then the bot interprets archive as being empty, a.k.a. /dev/null). This may change in the future. Миша1314:09, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Cool - thanks for the quick reply. Though I have to admit, I quite like that idea of archiving to /dev/null from time to time...! Alex Muller14:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Bot III Archiving not Working
At least on my page anyway. This is the code right now
