Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Theo's Little Bot 2

The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at WT:BRFA. The result of the discussion was

Approved.

Theo's Little Bot 2

Operator: Theopolisme (talk · contribs · SUL · edit count · logs · page moves · block log · rights log · ANI search)

Time filed: 00:00, Tuesday April 2, 2013 (UTC)

Automatic, Supervised, or Manual: Automatic

Programming language(s): Python + mwclient

Source code available: github

Function overview: Substitutes {{Add-desc-I}} onto talk pages of file uploaders whose file(s) have been tagged with {{Missing description}} or one of the redirects to it.

Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate): Requested at Wikipedia:Bot_requests#A_Bot_to_notify_uploaders_about_missing_descriptions

Edit period(s): Continuous/daily-ish, depending on Toolserver delays and such

Estimated number of pages affected: Unknown...large batch with initial run, probably significantly fewer in subsequent ones

Exclusion compliant (Yes/No): Yes

Already has a bot flag (Yes/No): Yes

Function details: The bot goes through every file in Category:Wikipedia files lacking a description: first it gets the initial uploader for the file, and then ~~if the template has not already been delivered to the user, substitutes {{Add-desc-I}} to their talk page~~ adds that file to a list of files uploaded by that user that lack a description. Once it has a complete list of uploads for a certain user, it substitutes {{Add-desc-I}} (with each of the files in question as an additional parameter) onto their talk page (provided that the user hasn't already been notified in the past 3 days AND that the template isn't currently present on the page).

Discussion

Oppose He stole my task. :p It's still April Fools over here.—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 00:56, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

WP:NOTAVOTE, buster. ;) —Theopolisme (talk) 01:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Seriously though, how often will it notify the initial uploader, and how frequently?—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 00:57, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've set it to leave a message on the uploader's talk whenever the  is not present on their page, although I could also add in some sort of timed delay, if you think that makes sense. I didn't really think it was necessary, initially.. —Theopolisme (talk) 01:00, 2 April 2013 (UTC
I think a timed delay is necessary. What if the bot adds a notification and the user removes it. The bot would re-add it immediately. I think it should count three days from posting before considering posting there again.—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 01:16, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
What happens if a user has uploaded multiple files without descriptions? Is the user notified about all of them or only about the first one? --Stefan2 (talk) 01:17, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
It notifies the user about only the first one...but, per Cyber's recommendation, I'm going to add a 3 day time delay function as well. —Theopolisme (talk) 01:23, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Stefan2 brought up another concern that shoved toward the back of my head temporarily. It would be advisable to generate a notification for each user individual and compile a list of Files in one message so they are alerted about all of them in a single message.—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 01:26, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It would be great if it could compile a list of files, but if that's too complex, a bunch of messages, one for each, would be ok. MBisanz ^talk 22:03, 2 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Compiling a list of files is a small pain, but it's definitely doable. Give me a day or two to finalize the code (I'll just need to make a dictionary, basically...all it requires is time). Thanks for bearing with me here. —Theopolisme (talk) 01:24, 3 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Done coding...that was quick and painless. :) Can I get the okay for a trial? —Theopolisme (talk) 22:43, 3 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Approved for trial (50 edits). Please provide a link to the relevant contributions and/or diffs when the trial is complete. MBisanz ^talk 22:53, 4 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Trial complete. See edits listed here. Note that one or two users were notified about the same files more than once because the bot had to be restarted midway through. Thanks! —Theopolisme (talk) 02:37, 5 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

When the bot made its first few edits, it removed everything from the user talk page and added this comment in its place (example). The later edits look good, so I assume that the bug was fixed. Before actually editing a page, you might wish to make a test run during which the bot only prints the wikicode or the difference to the screen instead of actually changing a page. That may help avoiding bugs like this. --Stefan2 (talk) 15:07, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, the bug was quickly corrected and the said offending edits were reverted by me. —Theopolisme² (talk) 20:26, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Why aren't you using section = new in the edit function? That would avoid such problems.—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 01:53, 8 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Done here. —Theopolisme (talk) 00:37, 9 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Approved. MBisanz ^talk 01:44, 11 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at WT:BRFA.