User talk:EdwardsBot/Archive 2

HighBeam messages

All the HighBeam messages left an unclosed <sup> tag on the talk pages. - Kingpin¹³ (talk) 07:43, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Huge f-up by me. I must have clipped the closing tag when I removed the timestamp from my signature which I copied and pasted. I am new to AWB but I do have it. Can you give me a quick run-down of how to use it to add the sup on each talk page? Also, I understand removing my access; hopefully once I fix this and show I can be more careful in the future I can have it again. Cheers, Ocaasi ^{t | c} 12:01, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I have AWB open and I added the find-replace text. But I'm having trouble loading the correct list. It's all of the talk pages here: User:Ocaasi/Highbeamapproved. How do I go through them? Ocaasi ^{t | c} 12:29, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

For your source, select "links on page (only bluelinks)", and enter User:Ocaasi/Highbeamapproved in the "links on" field. That should load the pages up, pretty straightforward find and replace after that. Make sure you don't edit pages which have already been fixed (e.g. here), but not a huge deal if you do. - Kingpin¹³ (talk) 13:07, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Got it. Doing it now. I'll keep an eye out for already fixed pages--would a double closing sup tag do any harm, aside from being an unneeded edit? Ocaasi ^{t | c} 13:10, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Not unless there is already an open sup tag elsewhere, in which case you would be closing that one early. Highly unlikely on a user talk page, so not really something to worry too much about. If you do come across a case like this where there are two replacements but you only need to keep one, you can double click on the replacement to cancel in the diff window, and AWB will lose the one you double clicked on, but keep the others. - Kingpin¹³ (talk) 13:16, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

 Done. Phew. I got some help from rcsprinter. We made a few duplicate fixes, which means double closing sup tags. From my brief testing and what you've said they're harmless. Thanks for keeping an eye on this. Will check the message more closely next time. Cheers, Ocaasi ^{t | c} 17:10, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for not getting back sooner. Thanks for clearing up. By the way, I have no objections to you being re-added to the access list at some point in the future. I think you will have learnt from this the importance of thoroughly checking everything first when using bots, as you don't get a chance to after it's started, and also your response to the problem (cleaning it up quickly and effectively) demonstrates a good sense of responsibility. So don't feel too bad about the mess up :). If you want access again in the future, feel free to re-request at User talk:EdwardsBot/Access list (but you may want to link to this, for transparency) or ask me directly. - Kingpin¹³ (talk) 22:19, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Request to use the bot

Hi--I was wondering if someone could please help me use EdwardsBot to advertise this event, Wikipedia:Meetup/Women at Princeton Edit-a-thon. Thanks Undead q 14:59, 24 April 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Undead q (talk • contribs)

Hi. Would you like to run the delivery yourself or have me do it? If you'd like to have me do it, I'll need the subject line, message text, and a list of targets. If you'd like to do it yourself, you'll need an admin to add you to the access list. --MZMcBride (talk) 21:43, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Grovelling for bot delivery of newsletter

Oh, great and auspicious one, whose praises are sung throughout the land. This poor wretch seeks to impose on your magnificent generosity to perhaps do him a favor for which he would owe your magnificent self for the rest of his worthless life. If you could see fit, in your magnaminence, to deliver Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach/May 2012 to the people listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach in the "Subscriptions" section, he would sing your praises to all who would hear him.

(OK, maybe I overdid that a little. But your assistance would be greatly appreciated.) John Carter (talk) 19:55, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Heh, just a little. ;-)

I made a few changes to the message and told the bot to start.

If you want to do the link-only deliveries, that'll be a separate run. Add yourself to the access list and have at it. --MZMcBride (talk) 20:11, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

Smithsonian Institution Archives edit-a-thon delivery

Hi! I was hoping someone who works with this bot could deliver an invitation for me: Wikipedia:Meetup/DC 32 - it's at the top of the page (the header). It'd be awesome to have it sent out to this list: Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/Invite/List. I hope this is the right place to request help with this. I'm not the most savvy when it comes to things like this. Thanks everyone :) Sarah (talk) 15:06, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Sure, it'll run in a minute or two. --MZMcBride (talk) 21:38, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks :) Sarah (talk) 21:42, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

HighBeam 3

I'd like to message 45 users about the latest round of HighBeam accounts. The last message went well. Any objections to another run? Ocaasi ^{t | c} 21:10, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Who are you asking? --MZMcBride (talk) 01:59, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

I guess Kingpin, since he was the one who I checked in with the other two for. I would just go ahead and do it, but my first run had a little html hangup that resulted in 4 hours of AWB fixes. Second run was fine. If there's no objection, I'll just go ahead with it like last time. Ocaasi ^{t | c} 02:21, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

Since I'm on the approved list and I'm using the same text as last time, I'm going to go ahead and send out the messages. Cheers, Ocaasi ^{t | c} 21:54, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

Religious Crap

Keep your religious drivel off my user page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DannyMuse (talk • contribs)

You signed up for some religion-related WikiProject, I imagine. User:EdwardsBot/FAQ explains opt-out procedures. --MZMcBride (talk) 22:27, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Delivery at talk page, despite {{nobots}} in place

Hi. Could you please advise me if EdwardsBot is {{nobots}} compliant please? It delivered on my talk page in the early hours of this morning, despite my page being marked with the nobots keyword. If it isn't compliant, is there any way to opt out of deliveries from it please? Cat in the Hat | To the Thinga-ma-jigger | Whistle for Things 1 and 2 14:45, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

The bot is not {{nobots}} compliant. For opt-out instructions, please see User:EdwardsBot/FAQ. --MZMcBride (talk) 22:27, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Upcoming event in SF

Hi there! It would be greatly appreciated if someone could run EdwardsBot in the near future regarding this upcoming San Francisco Bay Area event! Here is the invite list, and it'd be awesome to have the template at the top of the invite page. I deeply appreciate it!! Thank you. Sarah (talk) 23:12, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Sure, it'll start in a minute or two. --MZMcBride (talk) 23:23, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Thank you as always! Sarah (talk) 23:30, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

how do you choose who is invited?

Do you have a special list of invitees? MathewTownsend (talk) 01:28, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

The bot is controlled from User:EdwardsBot/Spam. Look under the line "RECIPIENTS (PAGE LIST)" to see the target list for a particular run. For example, the most recent run used Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco/Invite as a target list. --MZMcBride (talk) 01:41, 23 May 2012 (UTC)

Before delivering a newsletter ...

Could you please check the no delivery list. I am on it for the Ichthus newsletter and your bot seems to be ignoring it. Regards --Matilda ^talk 08:24, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

The issue is that you're listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach/Full content Delivery for whatever reason. --MZMcBride (talk) 06:07, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Access

I seen your message on Meta and was wondering if I could use EdwardsBot to deliver a monthly newsletter. Thanks! -- Nascar1996^{(Talk • Contribs)} 00:24, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

I would like to deliver {{Wikipedia:WikiProject NASCAR/Newsletter/201206}} (no substitute...) to Wikipedia:WikiProject NASCAR/Newsletter/Recipients around 12:00 pm EDT on June 26 or June 27, 2012; I would prefer on the 26th. I would like the header to be [[WP:NASCAR]] Newsletter (June 2012). Thanks! -- Nascar1996^{(Talk • Contribs)} 00:41, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Not done: {{edit protected}} is not required for edits to unprotected pages, or pending changes protected pages.—cyberpower ^Chat_Online 23:50, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

It is now fully protected. -- Nascar1996^{(Talk • Contribs)} 12:15, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

The thing is, it wasn't clear to Cyberpower678 that it was User:EdwardsBot/Access list that you wanted editing; in the absence of a specific page name, we assume that it's the page for this talk page which is to be edited, i.e. User:EdwardsBot, which is not protected (and never has been).

I am aware that you wish your name to be added to User:EdwardsBot/Access list, but in the absence of authorisation from MZMcBride (talk · contribs), I am reluctant to do so. --Redrose64 (talk) 13:59, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Sure... of course. -- Nascar1996^{(Talk • Contribs)} 21:40, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

I laid out my views on this here. --MZMcBride (talk) 06:05, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

I'll take that as an "OK", so Done. --Redrose64 (talk) 10:35, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! -- Nascar1996^{(Talk • Contribs)} 16:30, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Request to use EdwardsBot

Hello, I would like to request to be added to the access list so that I can send monthly newsletters to the members of WikiProject Formula One who have opted-in to receive it. I normally use MessageDeliveryBot, which is down right now. Thanks,--Midgrid(talk) 19:57, 2 July 2012 (UTC)

Done I have added Midgrid to the list.

MZMcBride: please could you countersign such requests, so that admins know that they have been approved by you - otherwise we're left guessing whether it's a legit request, or somebody angling for extra rights that they shouldn't have (as happened recently at WP:PERM). If the request in the section above should still be acted upon, please reopen it. --Redrose64 (talk) 10:51, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

I usually try to stay out of the process altogether, actually. I can't vouch for most of the people requesting access. Sometimes I'll add a {{sudo}} tag if I notice the request, but that's only to call the attention of an admin to review it.

I'm not sure what the best approach for granting access to the bot is. In an ideal world, it wouldn't involve me at all, though. That was part of the reason I made the access list a wiki page rather than using a configuration file or something else that I completely control. --MZMcBride (talk) 14:49, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Thank you!--Midgrid(talk) 18:17, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Spurious and unwanted pages

EdwardsBot is creating spurious and unwanted pages, for example User talk:Epipelagic/Articles‎ and User talk:Epipelagic/DYKs‎. --Epipelagic (talk) 18:00, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Poor input list, I imagine. --MZMcBride (talk) 19:04, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, see here, where in the diffs there is the following additional line:

#{{Check mark|15}}{{user2|Epipelagic}}. [http://toolserver.org/~soxred93/pcount/index.php?name=Epipelagic&lang=en&wiki=wikipedia 22,000 article edits], [[User:Epipelagic/DYKs|45 DYKs]], [[User:Epipelagic/Articles|many articles]]. --[[User:Epipelagic|Epipelagic]] ([[User talk:Epipelagic|talk]]) 09:42, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

which displays as:

1. YEpipelagic (talk · contribs · count). 22,000 article edits, 45 DYKs, many articles. --Epipelagic (talk) 09:42, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

two links to subpages therefore a delivery to two user talk subpages. --Redrose64 (talk) 19:16, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Why did EdwardsBot leave this message?

I'm not talking about the message content, I'm wondering why this message was delivered to a user's subpage. tedder (talk) 18:08, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Poor input list, I imagine. --MZMcBride (talk) 19:03, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Yes, see here, where in the diffs there is the following additional line:

#{{Check mark|15}}{{user2|Valfontis}} One [[Oregon State Capitol|FA]], five [[User:Valfontis/Articles started#GA and FA articles on which I did significant copy editing|GAs]], and 15 [[User:Valfontis/Barnstars#DYKs|DYKs]], regular [[User:Valfontis/Articles started|content creation]]. [[User:Valfontis|Valfontis]] ([[User talk:Valfontis|talk]]) 22:00, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

which displays as:

1. YValfontis (talk · contribs · count) One FA, five GAs, and 15 DYKs, regular content creation. Valfontis (talk) 22:00, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

three links to subpages therefore a delivery to three user talk subpages. --Redrose64 (talk) 19:20, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Aha. I wondered where the input list came from. That explains all the other "overdeliveries". At least it was a small list. tedder (talk) 19:29, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, Redrose64, for explaining. I appreciate it.

EdwardsBot supports posting to subpages like this because the bot was originally written for the Signpost, and some people prefer to receive the Signpost on a page such as "User talk:Example/Signpost". The solution here is to not feed the bot a list of signatures and instead clean up the list before telling the bot to start. Silly Ocaasi! --MZMcBride (talk) 16:52, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

P.S. If anyone wants to mark the pages for deletion, you can mark them as CSD G6 or CSD G7. Or just delete them if you're an admin.

Call for nominations (FDC)

Hi EdwardsBot, do you have any idea why this message wasn't distributed to de-wp? --Lyzzy (talk) 19:01, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

Because EdwardsBot is blocked at de.wikipedia.org. :-) There was some sort of hiccup with m:Global message delivery and the bot was told to start twice (cf. the page history of m:Global message delivery/Spam on 17 July 2012). The German Wikipedia noticed the duplicate postings and an admin blocked the bot. A bit more info is available here. --MZMcBride (talk) 19:37, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Not the best practice to stay informed ... I'll add it by myself. --Lyzzy (talk) 19:39, 20 July 2012 (UTC)

Curious edit

Hey MZM, any idea why EdwardsBot would have done this: [1] ?

It's in a userspace subpage, and the user was indeed supposed to be messaged, but on her talk page. Otherwise, no complaints out of 400 recipients. Cheers! Ocaasi ^{t | c} 02:21, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Hi. You used User:Ocaasi/CREDO as an input list, I think. User:Ocaasi/CREDO contains a link to User:Anna Frodesiak/Barnstars (in her signature). The bot looks at all User and User talk page links from an input list, de-dupes the list, and then posts to the talk page of each link (if it's a talk page link, it posts to that talk page, otherwise it posts to the associated talk page). The bot posts to subpages because it was originally written for publications such as the Signpost, and some users prefer to receive bot spam on a subpage such as User talk:Example/Signposts. --MZMcBride (talk) 04:55, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Ah, that makes sense, thanks. Ocaasi ^{t | c} 18:47, 10 August 2012 (UTC)

Signpost delivery

I received a copy of The Signpost from Edwardsbot on 14 August (still on my usertalk). I've not had it delivered for as long as I can remember (I have a mini front page transcluded at the top of my usertalk page). Any reason why the bot suddenly started delivering? --Dweller (talk) 20:49, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

Ignore. It wasn't the bot that delivered the paper! --Dweller (talk) 20:53, 15 August 2012 (UTC)