Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser

AutoWikiBrowser 6.3.1.1

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  Request or help with AWB-able tasks
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Feel free to download a SVN snapshot

Before you post

Do you want to ...	Please use
Report a bug in AWB?	Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Bugs
Report an incorrectly fixed typo?	Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos
Request a feature for a future version of AWB?	Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Feature requests
Request approval to use AWB?	Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage
Ask a question about AWB or ask for help?	This page

Frequently asked questions

• When I start it up I get one of the following errors:
  • "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.", or
  • "To run this application, you must first install one of the following versions of the .NET Framework..."

  This error means your computer does not have the .NET framework version 2 installed properly. You can choose from various versions for download here, or you can run Microsoft Update and select version 2 of the .Net framework from the "Optional Updates" section, if you want the choice made for you.

• Does AWB run on Linux or Mac?

AWB runs reasonably under Wine. See details here

AWB might also run under Mono. See here for a status report of AWB vs Mono v2.6.

A native version, PyAutoWikiBrowser (screenshots here), based on Python, is being developed separately for Unix-like systems.

• Does AWB work on other projects/languages?

  Many Wikimedia projects and languages are supported, see the "User and project preferences" option in the general menu. Other languages will be added on request, though at the moment the interface is always in English. You are also able to use AWB with third-party wikis: Options > Preferences > Site, you can change the wiki there. The wiki must support the Bot API required by AWB. This means that it should have latest HEAD version of MediaWiki or something close to that. The wmf-deployment branch is also recommended, as this is what is currently live on WMF sites.

• What interwiki link order does AWB use?

  The software reads the interwiki sort order from Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/IW, which is generally mirrored to reflect the order at m:Interwiki sorting order.

• AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki?

  According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, By convention this is placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear last. If your wiki uses other order, please let us know here.

• I don't like or use Internet Explorer; please use Firefox instead.

  AWB does not use Internet Explorer per se. It does, however, use the same web browser control (MSHTML) as Internet Explorer; the equivalent Firefox component does not provide the needed functionality.

• How do I open the page in another browser if I can't use the one in AWB?

  Right click on the edit box in the bottom right side of your screen. Select "Open page in browser".

• How do I edit a page that doesn't exist?

  Uncheck "Ignore non existing pages" in the "Skip articles" box.

• How do I skip certain articles?

  Use the "Skip if contains" and "Skip if doesn't contain" on the "Skip" tab

• Can't you leave up a "stable" version, so I don't have to download new versions?

  It is important to keep people up to date with the latest versions, because their use of the software doesn't just affect them, but the whole of Wikipedia. As any bugs that remain will be trivial; hopefully releases won't be too frequent.

• How can I stop AWB clicking when it changes pages?

  This is a Windows sound theme setting. This page explains how to turn off the clicking sound.

  Alternatively, delete the following key from the Windows registry:

  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\Navigating\.Current

• AWB randomly crashes upon page load on my system, and I always use a browser other than Internet Explorer when using Wikipedia.'

  You may have installed custom scripts incompatible with IE. Wrap the contents of your monobook.js into conditional:

               //Detect IE5.5+
               if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE")==-1)
               {
                   // Previous contents go here
                   ....
               }

• I get Just In Time Debugger Messages when loading AWB/loading pages

  In Internet Explorer, go to Tools --> Options --> Advanced. Make sure 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' and 'Disable Script Debugging (Other)' Are both checked. Press apply and close.

• When I do a clean install of AutoWikiBrowser the application seems to find old setting data somewhere. I'd like to do a really clean install. Any ideas?

  Clean up your registry and remove the folder "C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser" (Windows XP) or "C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\" (Windows 7). Note that the application data folder may be hidden.

• AWB prompts that there a newer version but won't update

  Check you AWBUpdater version. Current version is 2.0.0.8. If you have an older version, you have to download the latest AWB version and make a clean install.

• Which .NET Framework version I have?

  You can find your .NET Framework version in Help --> About box.

Discussion

This talk page is automatically archived by MiszaBot I. Any sections older than 7 days are automatically archived to Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Archive 23. Sections without timestamps are not archived.

Wikify tag

It is impossible for a bot of any sort to analyze an article in a correct way to remove the {{Wikify}} tag. Should AWB be reconfigured so it no longer removes the tag? Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:31, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

• Support as requester AWB should no longer remove {{Wikify}} Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:32, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Comment: I ask all editors who wish to involve themselves in this RfC to make sure they read the section below, the discussion Magioladitis links to, this and this. Otherwise I think it'll be easy to make knee-jerk comments (in favor of either "side") without knowing the whole background. Thanks! Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 01:41, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Further comment: I would like to request that the discussion limit itself to the removal of {{wikify}} and not the use of the template or discussion on what templates should be used instead. Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:54, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Support as a matter of practicality—how is it possible for the bot to calculate sufficient wikification, especially if an article that has all sorts of syntax codes and links is probably gawdy and needs to be toned down a little? hare j 02:08, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Question: Are you seeing human AWB users incorrectly removing the wikify template? If so, what is their response when you have brought this to their attention? GoingBatty (talk) 02:32, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  Did you notice the third link posted by Nolelover? In addition, I have removed the wikify tag while using AWB before with this edit which led me to start this section. Ryan Vesey Review me! 02:37, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  Hi Ryan - I reread the third link posted by Nolelover, and don't see any comments saying SMasters (or anyone else) was incorrectly removing the wikify tag using AWB. Although you demonstrated that it is possible to incorrectly remove the wikify template using AWB, I have faith that you would not otherwise make incorrect edits with AWB. Are you concerned because there many editors who are currently using AWB to incorrectly remove the wikify template, or are you concerned because it could happen in the future? Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 03:03, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  Other than the removal that I made, I haven't analyzed many of the edits other editors using AWB are making. So I believe it is fair to say that I am more concerned about the potential for a user using an automated tool to remove {{wikify}} without checking. I did a trial where I tried to make some general fixes to articles in Category:All articles that need to be wikified and there were many occasions where AWB would have removed the tag. Ryan Vesey Review me! 03:10, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  (edit conflict) Slightsmile, Shawn in Montreal and I all said that some of the articles shouldn't have had their {{wikify}} tags removed, so I'm not sure what you're seeing. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 03:13, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  Got it now, Nolelover - your quote "I must admit that some of the articles should not have had the wikify tag taken off without a couple minor fixes." Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 03:24, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  (edit conflict) No prob. :) Also note that I specified in the next line that the wikilinks weren't the problem. In other words, AWB did its job by taking off the tag because there were three links present. However, it couldn't measure the "odd section headers or needed bold/italic fixes" that were also needed. That, in essance, is the reason for this RfC. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 03:31, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

• Question 2: Are you seeing bots using AWB incorrectly removing the wikify template? If so, what is the response you received when you have brought this to the attention of the bot owners? GoingBatty (talk) 02:34, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
  • No bots, since bots wouldn't be using AWB (I think?). Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 03:14, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
    • I see 62 bots in Category:Wikipedia bots using AutoWikiBrowser, although I don't know how many (if any) remove the wikify tag during the course of their other duties. GoingBatty (talk) 03:29, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
      • After looking through the contribs of those bots, I only found one that had added a wikify tag in his last 50 edits...and UnCatBot hasn't edited since March of 2009. I can say with 99% certainty that the others didn't - its generally pretty easy to see what a bots task is, and none of them involved tagging articles with wikify. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 03:53, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
        • I found one questionable removal from Locobot. It was a long time ago and I accidentally deleted the page and lost the link. The page had sections; however, the lead could have been improved, more wikilinks would have been desired, and an infobox would have been usable. Ryan Vesey Review me! 04:12, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
          • But FWIW, Locobot has made one edit since February 2010. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 04:17, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
• Support - While I don't mind so much AWB tagging articles, I think that any criteria for removing the tags won't ever quite be enough. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 03:27, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
  • We're not gonna get any more activity on this, are we... Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 13:01, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
    • Not without trying to bring in some people who aren't watching this talk page. Perhaps start a thread on one of the pumps. –xeno^talk 13:04, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
      • Thanks for the suggestion Xeno. :) Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 13:14, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
        • Per Xeno, I have left a message at the village pump. Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 13:24, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Threaded Discussion

Wikification is much more complex than the amount of Wikilinks a page has. I am not sure if the criteria for addition of a wikify tag should stay the same, but it needs to be set so it does not remove a wikify tag just because links exist. Ryan Vesey Review me! 18:35, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Check discussion in wikify tag page. -- Magioladitis (talk) 21:40, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Could you at least supply me with a link, your current response didn't assist me at all. I can't find a wikify tag page. Do you mean Template talk:Wikify? Nothing on that page deals with AWB incorrectly removing the Wikify tag from articles. Ryan Vesey Review me! 21:49, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Please check Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Wikify/Archive_3#AWB_changes and provide an example of incorrect removal. -- Magioladitis (talk) 23:31, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

I have checked. The discussion never established consensus for anything so hopefully we can do so here. First, here is an example of an incorrect removal I made myself. Wikification is a complex process which requires manual oversight. There is no formula which can create a good reason for a tool to remove the tag. The example I provided could have had more wikilinks and probably a lead section with section headers. My proposal is that AWB can no longer remove Wikify tags for any reason. Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:07, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Support - whenever I see that AWB is about to remove a wikify tag, I turn off the autotagger and process the page again. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:42, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

So, I revive the proposal a bit modified: a page should be considered wikified when:

• Wikilink counts as usual
• The article has at list one word enbolden
• If about person then it has an infobox

For other specific problems there are proper tags. -- Magioladitis (talk) 07:08, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Sorry for not writing more detailed messages. I have limited internet access these days. -- Magioladitis (talk) 07:18, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

I think this is too subtle for software to do. Before removing a wikify tag from an article, I would look at the talk page to see if specific issues were raised there, and would remove the tag only if those issues had been addressed. If there was nothing on the talk page, I'd look in the history to see what the article looked like when the tag was added, and see if the layout and formatting had improved significantly since then. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:39, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

I disagree with your proposed parameters. First, there is no way for AWB to tell if the lead of the article adequately summarizes the article. There are subjects outside of people (businesses, buildings, science related articles, etc.) which can benefit from infoboxes. Some articles need multiple sections added, some stubs do not. I know that one day I was using AWB and a message popped up saying the next article was tagged with an in use template. Please consider skipping it. I wouldn't be against a message which stated "This page may not meed the criteria for articles which need to be wikified. Please review the article and its talk page and consider removing the tag." Ryan Vesey Review me! 13:22, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

When an editor adds a wikify tag without specifying why, they should not be surprised if another editor (using AWB or editing manually) has a different set of criteria to determine if an article is sufficiently wikified before removing the tag. I agree with Madioladitis: using {{lead missing}} and {{sections}} would be better. GoingBatty (talk) 16:29, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

If you look at {{wikify}} you will notice that it has a list of requirements for a page to be considered wikified. Wiki markup should be used in place of html markup where available, wikilinks should be added, the lead should be formatted, section headers should be arranged, and an infobox should be created. All of these things vary by page; however, the tag is designed for pages which have problems with wikilinks and/or more than one of these issues. Yes, if a page is only missing sections it should be tagged with {{sections}} but when more than one of these issues exist wikify is the correct tag. If an editor wants to remove the tag and replace it with {{sections}} they can do that. AWB is not capable of human reasoning to decide exactly when to do this. Ryan Vesey Review me! 16:49, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Hi Ryan - I agree that AWB is not capable of determining when the article is sufficiently "wikified" based on the {{wikify}} definition. It's challenging enough for humans to try to guess what the person who tagged the article thought needed to be done. That's why I think it would be better if {{wikify}} would only be used for articles with insufficient wikilinks, and use other tags for other issues. However, it seems that I'm in the minority. GoingBatty (talk) 18:22, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Actually, I agree with you. If I had my way, I'd make all 'under construction' tags invisible in read mode but that's a different issue. Lightmouse (talk) 18:55, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps we should consider Hysteresis. One threshold for addition of the tag, another for removal. Lightmouse (talk) 13:26, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

I actually think the current threshold for addition is fine. I just don't think there is an adequate threshold for removal which will only remove correctly wikified tags. The current threshold for removal isn't even adequate just on the basis of wikilinks. The article I pointed to earlier was not even close to being adequately wikilinked when the wikify tag was removed. Ryan Vesey Review me! 13:30, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

• Does this sound crazy - how about AWB not remove wikify tags at all? That's my personal opinion; style issues (and whether we like it or not, {{wikify}} has become a catch-all for style issues) can't be measured by a bot or program. Thoughts? Nolelover ^{Talk·Contribs} 01:17, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

  I am starting a request for comment on this so consensus can be gained for a change or otherwise. Ryan Vesey Review me! 01:31, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Error 407: Proxy Authentication Required

I get this error, although I have proxy settings set up in IE (and WinXP control panel). Other browsers like IE, FF or Chrome work wihout a need to provide authentication. I am in enterprise environment. I would note that in the past I usually got to authenticate when opening IE or Chrome (FF worked wouthout auth laways - kind of strange to me), but now since some time I do not need to. Yesterday AWB worked without problems though.--Kozuch (talk) 09:30, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

I have been getting this a lot myself. Especially if I leave AWB alone idle for a while I wil frequently have to close and restart the application completelety to get it to work again. --Kumioko (talk) 13:00, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Unable to connect to the server

Every time I have tried to use AWB today I get the same message:

An error occured while connecting to the server or loading project information from it. Please make sure that your internet connection works and such combination of project/language exist. Enter the URL in the format "en.wikipedia.org/w/" (including path where index.php and api.php reside). Error description: Unable to connect to the remote server

I haven't changed any of the settings (it worked fine a couple of days ago) and obviously my internet connection is fine. Can anyone suggest a solution? Cheers, Number 57 21:30, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

I have deleted the programme and reinstalled today, but am still having the same problem. Does anyone have any idea what may be causing it? Number 57 16:55, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

What do you have under Options -> Preferences on the Site tab, and are you trying to connect to the English Wikipedia or something else? Thanks Rjwilmsi 08:48, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Bizarrely I cannot even access that section. If I click on preferences I now get the message "The type initializer for 'WikiFunctions.Parse.SiteMatrix' threw an exception." But yes, I was trying to access the English Wikipedia. Cheers, Number 57 11:43, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Next try File->Reset to default settings, then see if you can get into the Preferences screen. Rjwilmsi 12:04, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Unfortuntely I get the same error as originally reported if I try to reset to default settings! Now I have reinstalled, I also get a "Unable to connect to remote servers" before the original one also comes up. Number 57 18:08, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

OK, I've managed to resolve the issue. My firewall had decided to start restricting the programme - now it has been set to allow it, everything works fine. Sorry to waste your time. Number 57 00:45, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

A question about the preview window

I suppose the preview window is generated by some version of IE. Does anyone know which version. I've noticed that the {{Location map}} template places its marks strangely in the preview window but works well on all the recent versions of browsers on which I've tested it. This isn't a complaint. I'm just curious. –droll [chat] 03:47, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

It's the C# web control browser, which is something like a trimmed down version of IE6. Obviously a trimmed version and IE6 mean that overall as you've found it's not a great browser! Not sure we can do anything about it though. Rjwilmsi 08:46, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! Another user has commented that {{Location map}} misplaces things on IE6 so now I have a testbed. I might try to figure out were the problem with the template is and if it can be fixed. I'm not going to waste much time on it though. –droll [chat] 16:19, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Here's a way to move multiple F&R rules from one AWB settings file to another

If you don't want to use a full-fledged XML editor to splice rules from one AWB settings file to another, here's HTML code to let you have the equivalent of a bunch of one-line clipboards.

<html><!-- Multiple small clipboard boxes -->

<head>

</head>

<body>

<h1>Multiple clipboard boxes</h1>

<input type="text" size="15"> &nbsp; <input type="text" size="95"><br />

<input type="text" size="15"> &nbsp; <input type="text" size="95"><br /> <!-- duplicate this line to your heart's content -->

</body>

</html>

Save this as, perhaps, MultClip.html and then open it with your regular browser.

This gives two rows of boxes (4 boxes total). Duplicate the line as noted; you may want 20 lines or so. Change the size of the boxes if you like. The smaller box on each line can be used to hold a name or other reference, or you can put "Replace with" text in the smaller box and "Find" text in the larger box.

If you adjust AWB to take up the left half of your screen, and your browser to take up the other half, you can quickly copy and paste rules into the boxes, then open a different settings file in AWB, insert new lines and then copy and paste from the clipboard boxes.

You could also use Notepad or some other editor to create lines in a text file, but this clipboard HTML file makes it less likely to inadvertently add or drop leading and trailing blanks. Chris the speller ^yack 20:26, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

More problems with the Wikify tag

AWB tagged University Television-13 with {{Wikify}} right after I Wikified it. Ryan Vesey Review me! 00:31, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

AWB's general fixes appends {{Wikify}} if article has < 3 wikilinks or the number of wikilinks is smaller than 0.25% of article's size. University Television-13 has two wikilinks. GoingBatty (talk) 00:53, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

I understand why AWB adds {{Wikify}}. The problem is, AWB cannot do it correctly. Just like it can't remove tags correctly. The problem is, every time I start a discussion on modifying how AWB tags and/or removes the Wikify tag it fizzles into nothing because people stop participating. By the way, I addressed your issue about reasons not being given with the Wikify tag, check Template talk:Wikify#Parameter addition. Ryan Vesey Review me! 14:30, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

One possible solution could be for AWB to not add the {{Wikify}} template to stubs.

Adding a parameter to the template is definitely a step in the right direction. If will be interesting to see how editors use this option. Another solution could be for AWB to not remove the template if the parameter is not blank. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 16:59, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

I am currently working with Twinkle to have it prompt for a reason. What needs to be done for AWB to actually be modified to include your two suggestions. I would be completely happy if those changes are made. Ryan Vesey Review me! 17:40, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

I submitted an AWB feature request for my two suggestions. Good luck with your work to add the template parameter! GoingBatty (talk) 22:31, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Net Access

My computer says I am connected to the internet...yet when I try to load a page it won't load. I can use skype but nothing else loads. Safari starts to load the page but I only get a spinning wheel. I have tried on multiple computers and my PS3 and no pages will load. It started today 30 Aug 2011. Is anyone else experiencing this issue? And how do I fix it? Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.56.111.114 (talk) 17:10, 30 August 2011 (UTC)