GuildWiki:Bots

A bot is a very useful editing tool that can make tasks that require more manual editing easier. Bots can be a very useful tool for the contributors of The English GuildWiki, because it allows tedious tasks to get done faster. Usually, a bot will have a type of script (a file with the instructions for the bot to follow) and a type of framework (a utility that is used to interface between the script and the GuildWiki).

To request that a bot be applied to a specific task, see Bot tasks.

Motivation
Bot edits are subjected to less editorial review. There is no human reading the edit before it is submitted, and many users following the RC log won't see and review the edits. Because of this, special care must be taken that bot edits are error free and not controversial, and that bots who are not can be quickly shut off.

This policy is a guideline to ensure that this is the case.

When to use a bot
There are many tasks on a wiki that bots are very well suited for, but there are just as many tasks for which they are not well suited. Generally, any editing task that is in any way subjective should not be handled by a bot.

These are examples of tasks that bots do well:
 * Moving an article and updating all links to point to the new article
 * Adding a specific block of text to all articles in a category
 * Finding all uses of a template and substituting them

These are examples of tasks that bots should not perform:
 * General spellchecking
 * Applying license information to unattributed images

If you are not sure which category your idea for a bot task falls into, post it at Bot tasks to get other users' input.

Restrictions
When using a bot, these specific restrictions should always be followed:
 * A bot should always be run from it's own registered account (it should not be conjoined with the bot owner's account). There must be some type of notice at the top of the bot's userpage informing users that it is a bot.
 * The owner must always be a contributor in good standing (i.e. The owner should not be a user who is blocked often, etc.).
 * Bot be used for tasks that are not controversial, they should only be used for tasks that have consensus. Do not have a bot do edits that have not been approved by the community of GuildWiki.
 * Corollary: Bots are not tools that you may use to gain some kind of advantage over and editors for any reason. If a bot is used in this way, the owner and bot should be blocked.
 * The owner is not to make more than 20 edits per day if a bot is not flagged, for this may flood recent changes. To exceed this limit, the owner may receive a bot flag for the account (see the below section).

The Bot Flag
Bot accounts can be given a bot flag, which prevents the edits made from the bot, from showing up in (and flooding) the default view of Special:Recentchanges. To get this bot flag, make a request on the admin noticeboard after your bot has made at least 100 edits while unflagged, be sure to follow the restrictions above. It is then up to any bureaucrat to decide whether they will allow the bot to be given a bot flag (or ask for more edits to be made first, etc). Any bureaucrat can also take the bot flag from the bot account if it is found to be appropriate.

Due to the Wikia move, bureaucrats must contact a Wikia staff member to perform the actual bot flagging/deflagging.

Bots
The currently flagged bot accounts on the English GuildWiki are:
 * User:Bot_ishmael (Contributions) owned by User:Dr_ishmael
 * User:Fyrenbot (Contributions) owned by User:Fyren (inactive)
 * User:Galil.bot (Contributions) owned by User:Galil (inactive)
 * User:JediBot (Contributions) owned by User:JediRogue
 * User:MayBot (Contributions) owned by User:Warwick
 * User:RT_bot (Contributions) owned by User:Randomtime

For a system generated list of flagged bot accounts see Special:Listusers/bot

Responsibility
If, despite the precautions, a bot is found to have made harmful and/or disruptive edits, then it is the responsibility of the bot owner to repair any and all damage, even if it requires large amounts of manual editing to do so. There is no reason that help cannot be asked for or offered from another editor.

Shutdown
Bots can be programmed to shut down after any user posts anything on the bot account's talk page. All owners must enable this safety feature.

If a bot account is making harmful and/or disruptive edits or not following the above restrictions, any sysop or bureaucrat are free to block it in order to halt the bots activity. When blocking, the autoblock option should be turned off to avoid blocking the bot owner as well as the bot account.

Operators must add the following code to a bot account's user page to create a link to block a bot account quickly (this can help avoid any autoblocking mistakes):