
How does a MediaWiki bot work? Overview of operation If the bot runs on a remote server, will other editors be able to operate the bot or start it running?.If the bot is a standalone program, will it run on your local computer, or on a remote server such as the Toolforge?.Will the bot run inside a web browser (for example, written in JavaScript), or will it be a standalone program?.Will the bot's requests, edits, or other actions be logged? If so, will the logs be stored on local media, or on wiki pages?.What language will be used to implement the bot?.Will you create the bot alone, or with the help of other programmers?.Will the bot be manually assisted or fully automated?.The following initial considerations are important: Planning is crucial to obtain an error-free, efficient, and effective program. A completely new bot must undergo substantial testing before it will be approved for regular operation. Writing a new bot requires significant programming ability.
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Other examples of bot frameworks can be found below.įor some of these bot frameworks, such as PWB, a general familiarity with scripts is all that is necessary to run the bot successfully (it is important to update these frameworks regularly). It is thoroughly documented and tested and many standardized Pywikibot scripts (bot instructions) are already available. The most popular and common of these frameworks is Pywikibot (PWB), a bot framework written in Python. Since these bot frameworks are in common usage and the complex coding has been done by others and has been heavily tested, it is far easier to get bots based on these frameworks approved for use. These frameworks comprise the vast majority of a bot's code. There are also a number of standard bot frameworks available for download. Many bots publish their source code, which can sometimes be reused with little additional development time. If you decide you need a bot of your own due to the frequency or novelty of your requirements, you don't need to write one from scratch. Use Toolhub to explore available tools for Wikimedia wikis. Tools, such as AWB, can often be operated with little or no understanding of programming. The most popular of these is AutoWikiBrowser (AWB), a browser specifically designed to assist with editing on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.Ī more complete list of tools can be found at w:Wikipedia:Tools/Editing tools on English Wikipedia. Most of these take the form of enhanced web browsers with MediaWiki-specific functionality. In addition, there are a number of tools available to anyone. Some wikis have a dedicated page where such requests can be made. If you have only periodic requests or are uncomfortable with programming, this is usually the best solution. It is often far simpler to request a bot job from an existing bot. If you have a simple task that you need to perform lots of times (an example might be to add a template to all pages in a category with 1000 pages), then this is a task better suited to a bot than a human.Ĭonsiderations before creating a bot Reuse existing bots
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The explanation is geared mainly towards those who have some prior programming experience, but are unsure of how to apply this knowledge to creating a MediaWiki bot.īots can automate tasks and perform them much faster than humans.

This page attempts to explain how to carry out the development of a bot for use on Wikimedia projects and much of this is transferable to other wikis based on MediaWiki. MediaWiki Robots or just bots are automatic processes that interact with Wikipedia (and other Wikimedia projects) as though they were human editors.

This article is based on Creating a bot on English Wikipedia and was last synced in October 2022.
