Wikiversity:Bots

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This page is an official policy on English Wikiversity. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

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Robots or bots are semi-automatic or automatic processes that interact with Wikiversity as though they were a human editor. They are used to manage systematic or boring tasks. Please read the guidelines below before designing and implementing any bot on Wikiversity.

[edit] Summary

Simply put, a bot is something that can do repetitive tasks in a predictable fashion, and it can be done in such a way as to be healthy for the community.

[edit] Expectations

The operation of a bot requires approval. Any user can submit a request at Wikiversity:Bots/Status to obtain bot status, which prevents cluttering recent changes. Bot status is given by Bureaucrats about seven days after the request has been made, provided there has been no objection to the request by another user. The decision lies with the bureaucrats.

The burden of proof is on the bot-maker to demonstrate that the bot:

is harmless
is useful
is not a server hog
has been approved

Bot operators must:

create a separate account for bot operation
indicate on their bot's user page:
- which program / language is used (Pywikipedia, Ruby, javascript...)
- who the owner is
not make more than four edits per minute
discuss with other Wikiversity editors before running their bot. Any bot request has to reach consensus to be fulfilled.
log in with their own user account when talking to other users.

Bot operators should:

choose a name containing the word "bot" so that editors realize they are dealing with an automaton

Bot operators may:

run their bot without the bot status only during its request for approval and if asked so by another editor to check how the bot works. When testing, bot operators must delay 30-60 seconds between edits.

Bot operators are encouraged to:

Release their bot's source code.
Program their bot to stop editing if someone leaves a message on its talk page. This can be checked by looking for the "You have new messages..." banner in the HTML for the edit form.
Program their bot to stop editing if they detect that they have logged out. This can be checked by looking for bot's name in the HTML for the edit form. If the bot is not logged in, then the bot's name won't be listed in the HTML. Bots running anonymously may be blocked.

[edit] Bot functionalities

Although a bot can be assigned a sysop flag, these requests are discouraged.

[edit] Currently flagged bots

Name of the bot	Contributions	Operator	Functions
User:DraiconeBot	Contribs	Draicone	Simplify common tasks, fetch data, update counts, remove categories etc.
User:HagermanBot	Contribs	Hagerman	Adds {{unsigned}} to unsigned posts automatically.
User:Sebbot	Contribs	Sebmol	Recategorization, search-and-replace, link updates, general fixes.
User:Wherebot	Contribs	Where	Detecting copyright violation.
User:Mike's bot account	Contribs	Mike.lifeguard	Many things; mostly manipulation of templates. Other tasks by request.