Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser

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This is the discussion page for the AWB project. It is also the place to discuss using the AWB program itself (if you need help, or have a question about AWB, etc.). Where to make specific types of reports or requests is explained in the Before you post section below. Before asking questions, please read the Frequently asked questions below.

Before you post[edit]

Do you want to ... Please use
Report a bug or request a feature in AWB? Check reported tasks before filing a new task. You do not need to create another account there; just log in with your normal Wikimedia account. See this MediaWiki wiki page on how to report bugs and request features on Phabricator.
Report a bug details

Try to report bugs in the current version of the software. Update to the most recent version and check to make sure your bug has not been reported already on this page. See "How to Report Bugs Effectively" for advice on how to write bug reports.

Before posting anything related to non-Wikimedia Foundation wikis, verify that the site is running a recent version of MediaWiki with enabled Bot API. Older versions of MediaWiki or without the Bot API are not supported. Be sure to mention the exact URL of your wiki.

Request a feature details

Please use the feature request button to add new feature requests. This format allows the developers to keep track of feature requests. Take some time to search the archives, both on-wiki and on Phabricator to check whether a similar request was previously discussed.

Report an incorrectly fixed typo? Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos
Request approval to use AWB? Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/AutoWikiBrowser
Ask a question about AWB or ask for help? This page

Frequently asked questions[edit]

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 Windows 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?
  • Does AWB work on other projects and 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.
  • Under Windows Vista (and newer), AWB is using wrong font size, which results in clipped text and lost buttons and options, (see example here). How to fix it?
    Tracked in Phabricator
    Task T103506
    • Solution #1: Go to "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display" and switch resizing of the fonts to 100%.
    • Solution #2: Right click on AutoWikiBrowser.exe --> Properties -> Compatibility (tab) --> enable the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" option or for Windows 10, if available, select System (Enhanced).
  • AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki?
    According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, by convention they are 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 another 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.
  • Why does AWB run very, very slowly if I try to make changes in the edit window on larger pages, especially pages with long lists or tables?
    If running on Windows, exit the Speech Recognition software that is built into some versions of Windows; don't just turn it 'Off', you must 'Exit' the software if you have started up Speech Recognition.
  • 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 is a newer version but won't update
    Check the version number of your AWBUpdater.exe. The current version is 2.3.0.0. If you have an older version, you have to download the latest AWB version and make a clean install.
  • Which .NET Framework version do I have?
    You can find your .NET Framework version in Help → About box.
  • Where are the default settings stored?
    • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser
    • Windows Vista onwards: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\Default.xml
  • I cannot copy text from the diff window using the Control+C keyboard shortcut.
    You must have Microsoft.mshtml.dll available for AWB to use for this functionality to work. You can try downloading the file (there are a number of third-party websites offering DLL file downloads) and putting it in the same folder as AutoWikiBrowser.exe. This is reported not to work for all users, presumably due to .NET Framework problems.
  • Is there any way to set AWB to not use https? (GFW blocks 443 port)
    In preferences, set project to "custom". Set the left box to http. In the webpage box, type en.wikipedia.org/w/ (English Wikipedia) or zh.wikipedia.org/w/ (Chinese Wikipedia). Note that leaving off the /w/ will result in a "root element missing" error.
  • How do I login to AWB with accounts enabled with two-factor authentication?
    You should use a bot password. Despite the name, they aren't just for bots. See Wikipedia:Using AWB with 2FA.

Discussion[edit]

Making alerts more visible?[edit]

Is there any way I can make the alerts more visible, like by having a popup alerts window to pop up somewhere on top of the diff/preview area as an alert is triggered? Or have the same "highlight errors" feature also available on the diff/preview area. Or something similar - tips are welcome. When editing with AWB, my eyes are focused on the diff/preview area. Now I miss 99.9% of the alerts due to my way editing with AWB, because when making hundreds of edits in a row, it gets exhausting fast to first keep your sight focused on the alerts area, and then move your sight to diff/preview area, or vice versa. 85.76.140.34 (talk) 20:49, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

Can't get past error[edit]

I'm currently trying to use AutoWikiBrowser to edit a fandom but cannot get it to link up with my fandom via the site preferences. Someone please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I am swapping it over to fandom and putting a valid url in (harvestmoon.fandom.com). "An error occured while connecting to the server or loading X 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: Root element is missing." 24.154.206.237 (talk) 06:05, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

AWB bot starts blanking pages[edit]

As reported on User talk:BattyBot, BattyBot started blanking talk pages today before it was stopped. I'm using Version 6.1.0.2 SVN 12432, module User:Magioladitis/WikiProjects, general fixes, and a few find/replace rules. I was sleeping when the issue started, so there wasn't any changes in the configuration. I closed AWB, reopened it, and ran it against the same pages, and it's working fine. Any clue what could have caused the issue, or any ideas on how to prevent it from happening in the future? Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 14:33, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

My bot has run into that before, I think it has to do with lag on the server or something. GreenC set me straight. Couldn't tell you if the discussion is here, at BOTN, or at my talk page archives (most likely the latter). I'm about ten seconds from sleep but if I don't return to this in a day or two (or someone else doesn't reply in more detail) ping me. Primefac (talk) 01:12, 10 April 2021 (UTC)
@Primefac: Ping per your request. GoingBatty (talk) 18:44, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
Found it. Thanks. Primefac (talk) 16:07, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

False positive[edit]

Moved to WT:AWB/T § False positive

Moved.   ~ Tom.Reding (talk ⋅dgaf)  17:28, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

Removing items from list[edit]

How do I filter out pages that contain a specific thing? For example, if I wanted to add a template to a page that doesn't have a template, how would I remove all instances of the page that have the template in the list? Noah 💬 17:33, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

I don't know if you can do it within AWB, but you can generate an article list using Petscan. Here's a sample search that finds articles in both of two categories. You can click on the "Templates&links" tab to include or exclude specific templates, then run the search again. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:35, 14 April 2021 (UTC)
@-noah-: Here's one way how:
  1. Create your list in AWB, and then click Tools > List Comparer.
  2. When asked if you want to copy your list into the List Comparer, click Yes, so it will appear in List 1.
  3. For List 2, select Source "What transcludes page" and What embeds: "Template:Whatever" and click Make List.
  4. When it's made the list, click the Compare button, and you'll generate three lists on the right of the List Comparer window.
  5. In the main AWB window, click List > Clear Current List.
  6. In the List Comparer window, click the Use list button under the "Unique in List 1" results.
  7. Close the List Comparer window.
Another option is to go to the Skip tab and set AWB to skip the page if it Contains: {{Whatever}} - Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 18:54, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

Help installing SharpDevelop?[edit]

Could someone help me with instructions on how to install SharpDevelop so I can compile an updated version of AWB? I've downloaded the file from https://github.com/icsharpcode/SharpDevelop and unzipped it, but don't know how to proceed from there. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 22:22, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

P.S. Should Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Sources and Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Technical redirect here? Posts there haven't received responses recently. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 22:22, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

This is bug?[edit]

Hello? I'm trying to remove non-existent template with a bot in bulk. I checked the list of non-existent template with Special:Wantedtemplates of the wiki, and added the non-existent frames to AWB's Find and replace.

https://archive.org/details/20210416AutoWikiBrowser2 https://archive.org/details/20210416AutoWikiBrowser2/27.JPG https://archive.org/details/20210416dcinside

I set it as above with the Normal settings function of Find and Replace. For testing, I added a document containing {{꼴칰의현실}}, {{씹솩}}, and {{헬조선그자체}}, a template that doesn't exist in the 디시위키:연습장. The upper template has been added to the 'Find' part. And when I clicked the 'Start' button, the upper template were not removed.

https://archive.org/details/20210416AutoWikiBrowser2/26.JPG https://archive.org/details/20210416AutoWikiBrowser2/28.JPG

I set the same with the Advanced settings function. Didn't work.

In my memory, apparently in October 2020, with the Advanced settings feature, I did the template removal with the same settings I had previously, and it worked without any problems. I've been building bots since Monday, and a few days ago, even yesterday, I deleted a few template with the Normal settings feature. However, only some of the template were deleted at that time. But today none of the uninstall functions work.

What should I do? Is this a bug or am I not sure how to use AWB? please answer about my question. Thank you. GTX1060 (talk) 06:44, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

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