Star Trek Timelines:AutoWikiBrowser
AutoWikiBrowser (abbreviated to AWB) is a semi-automated MediaWiki editor designed to make tedious or repetitive tasks quicker and easier. It is essentially a browser that automatically opens up a new page when the last is saved. When set to do so, it suggests some changes (typically formatting) that are generally meant to be incidental to the main change.
At present, AutoWikiBrowser can create a list of pages from single or multiple categories, "what links here", the wiki links on a page, a text file, a Google search, a user's watchlist, or a user's contributions. AWB can also create a page list from special pages, such as Special:AllPages.
In addition, AWB comes with a program to scan the database. Database dumps can be downloaded using Special:Export.
Regulations
The use of AWB at an edit rate fast enough to flood the Recent changes should be taken to a separate account designated for AWB and given the bot flag. Though the exact rate varies, and common sense should be used, a good benchmark threshold is 5 edits per minute sustained for a period of three or more minutes. Users who use AWB at a rate below what is necessary to flood the Recent Changes are not required to use a separate bot account.
AWB accounts are required to have some kind of emergency shutdown link on their userpage. Star Trek Timelines:AutoWikiBrowser/Shutdown preload is recommended, and may be added to the userpage with the following code: <div style="font-size:150%;">'''[https://stt.wiki/index.php?title=User_talk:(INSERT BOT NAME HERE)&action=edit§ion=new&preload=Star_Trek_Timelines:AutoWikiBrowser/Shutdown_preload Emergency shutdown link]'''</div> . Replace (INSERT BOT NAME HERE) with the AWB account's username. Please note that an underscore is required wherever there is a space in the name.
Sysop AWB accounts
Sysops may request that their AWB accounts receive sysop tools without the need for further discussion. This is because the person is given administrator tools in an RfA, and not the account. However, sysops should take the following measures into consideration.
- Do not perform any consensus-determination on the bot account. Do it on your main account. This is to prevent any potentially important closing messages from being excluded from the Recent Changes.
- Only use sysop tools on the bot account when necessary, such as when the AWB task requires the use of sysop tools. Actions that are not urgent, such as the requested protection of userpages, should be done on the main account.
Usage
To have AWB edit the Star Trek Timelines, you must first set the Star Trek Timelines to be the project to edit in the Preferences. To do this, open AWB:
- Select Options on the menu bar at the top of the window and choose Preferences....
- Open the Site tab. Click the Project selection field and confirm it says "wikipedia"
- Under the Project selection field is a text input field with "http://" before it and ".wiki" after it. Type "stt" into that field.
- Click Okay to apply the settings.
You may now save the setting by going to the menu bar at the top of the window and clicking File, then choosing Save settings, Save settings as..., or Save settings default, depending on how you want to have the settings saved.
Requests for AWB access
Please visit here to request the ability to use AWB, as well as the bot flag if needed. Users considering requesting a bot account to complete a single task are reminded that there are several users with access to a bot account who may be willing to perform the task for you.
See also
- List of current AWB accounts
- AutoWikiBrowser, the project page at Wikipedia