GuildWiki:Bots

A bot is an editing tool that can make numerous edits to articles, and it can be a very useful resource to the contributors of the English GuildWiki. Usually, a bot will consists of a type of script (a file with all of the instructions for the bot to follow) and a type of framework (a utility that is used to interface between the script and the wiki).

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

Motivation
There is no policy that forbids the running of bots from regular user accounts. Using a special "flagged" bot account keeps the bot edits out of the default view of the recent changes lag and thus makes it easier for people reading that log. For this reason every bot user is strongly encouraged to only run bots from a bot flagged account.

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 any tool in a way that can submit edits without real-time human input, these should be followed (even if the tool is generally not labeled as a "bot"):
 * It should be run from its own registered account (separate from any account normally used directly by its operator). There must be a notice at the top of the bot's userpage informing users that it is a bot.
 * The operator must be a contributor in good standing.
 * Bots should only be used for non-controversial or consensus-approved editing tasks. Do not have a bot do edits that have not been approved by the community of GuildWiki.
 * Corollary: bots are not a tool to get an advantage over other editors in a conflict and if a bot is used in this way, the operator and bot should be blocked.
 * An operator should not make more than 20 edits per day with unflagged bot accounts, for this may flood recent changes. To bypass this limit, one can get a bot flag for the account (see the following section).

The Bot Flag
Bot accounts can be marked with a bot flag, which prevents the edits made from the bot, from showing up on (and flooding) the default view of Special:Recentchanges. To get the bot flag, make a clear request on the admin noticeboard after your bot has made at least 100 edits in unflagged mode, being sure to follow the restrictions above. It is then up to the discretion of any bureaucrat to decide whether they will accept or reject the request for a bot flag to be given (or ask for more edits to be made first, etc). Any bureaucrat can also remove the bot flag from an account if judged 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 operators must enable this safety trigger.

If a bot account is making harmful and/or disruptive edits or not following the above restrictions, any sysop or bureaucrat are free to temporarily block it in order to halt the harmful 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 quick link to block a bot account (this can help avoid any autoblocking mistakes):