Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser

AutoWikiBrowser 6.3.0.0

• Home
  Introduction and rules
• User manual
  How to use AWB
• Discussion
  Discuss AWB, report errors, and request features
• User tasks
  Request or help with AWB-able tasks
• Technical
  Technical documentation

• Changelog
• Developer discussion
• Modules
• Regular expression
• Sandbox
• Template redirects
• Typos
• Usage stats
• Userbox

This is the discussion page for the AWB project. It is also the place to discuss using the AWB program itself (if you need help, or have a question about AWB, etc.). Where to make specific types of reports or requests is explained in the Before you post section below. Before asking questions, please read the Frequently asked questions below.

Before you post

Do you want to ...	Please use
Report a bug or request a feature in AWB?	Check reported tasks before filing a new task. You do not need to create another account there; just log in with your normal Wikimedia account. See this MediaWiki wiki page on how to report bugs and request features on Phabricator. Report a bug details Try to report bugs in the current version of the software. Update to the most recent version and check to make sure your bug has not been reported already on this page. See "How to Report Bugs Effectively" for advice on how to write bug reports. Before posting anything related to non-Wikimedia Foundation wikis, verify that the site is running a recent version of MediaWiki with enabled Bot API. Older versions of MediaWiki or without the Bot API are not supported. Be sure to mention the exact URL of your wiki. Request a feature details Please use the feature request button to add new feature requests. This format allows the developers to keep track of feature requests. Take some time to search the archives, both on-wiki and on Phabricator to check whether a similar request was previously discussed.
Report an incorrectly fixed typo?	Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos
Request approval to use AWB?	Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/AutoWikiBrowser
Ask a question about AWB or ask for help?	This page

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

When I start it up I get one of the following errors: "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.", or "To run this application, you must first install one of the following versions of the .NET Framework..." This error means your computer does not have the .NET framework version 2 installed properly. You can choose from various versions for download here, or you can run Windows Update and select version 2 of the .Net framework from the "Optional Updates" section, if you want the choice made for you. Does AWB run on Linux or Mac? AWB runs reasonably under Wine. See details here AWB might also run under Mono. AWB (Windows) with Unix scripts can be done with Cygwin or Virtualbox On the Mac, AWB is not natively available, but an option is to use virtualisation with Parallels Desktop for Mac (subject to meeting supported operating systems requirements) and then run Microsoft Windows virtually with AWB as the Windows instructions above. Note this option is not free, as a license is required for both Parallels Desktop for Mac and Microsoft Windows. An alternative visualization method is to use the free VirtualBox, see also Comparison of platform virtual machines. You can use the JavaScript Wiki Browser instead. Does AWB work on other projects and languages? Many Wikimedia projects and languages are supported, see the "User and project preferences" option in the general menu. Other languages will be added on request, though at the moment the interface is always in English. You are also able to use AWB with third-party wikis: Options > Preferences > Site, you can change the wiki there. The wiki must support the Bot API required by AWB. This means that it should have latest HEAD version of MediaWiki or something close to that. The wmf-deployment branch is also recommended, as this is what is currently live on WMF sites. Under Windows Vista (and newer), AWB is using wrong font size, which results in clipped text and lost buttons and options, (see example here). How to fix it? Tracked in Phabricator Task T103506 Solution #1: Go to "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display" and switch resizing of the fonts to 100%. Solution #2: Right click on AutoWikiBrowser.exe --> Properties -> Compatibility (tab) --> enable the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" option or for Windows 10, if available, select System (Enhanced). AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki? According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, by convention they are placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear last. If your wiki uses another order, please let us know here. I don't like or use Internet Explorer; please use Firefox instead. AWB does not use Internet Explorer per se. It does, however, use the same web browser control (MSHTML) as Internet Explorer; the equivalent Firefox component does not provide the needed functionality. How do I open the page in another browser if I can't use the one in AWB? Right click on the edit box in the bottom right side of your screen. Select "Open page in browser". How do I edit a page that doesn't exist? Uncheck "Ignore non existing pages" in the "Skip articles" box. How do I skip certain articles? Use the "Skip if contains" and "Skip if doesn't contain" on the "Skip" tab Can't you leave up a "stable" version, so I don't have to download new versions? It is important to keep people up to date with the latest versions, because their use of the software doesn't just affect them, but the whole of Wikipedia. As any bugs that remain will be trivial, hopefully releases won't be too frequent. How can I stop AWB clicking when it changes pages? This is a Windows sound theme setting. This page explains how to turn off the clicking sound. Alternatively, delete the following key from the Windows registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\Navigating\.Current AWB randomly crashes upon page load on my system, and I always use a browser other than Internet Explorer when using Wikipedia. You may have installed custom scripts incompatible with IE. Wrap the contents of your monobook.js into conditional: //Detect IE5.5+ if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE")==-1) { // Previous contents go here .... } I get Just In Time Debugger Messages when loading AWB/loading pages. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools → Options → Advanced. Make sure 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' and 'Disable Script Debugging (Other)' Are both checked. Press apply and close. Why does AWB run very, very slowly if I try to make changes in the edit window on larger pages, especially pages with long lists or tables? If running on Windows, exit the Speech Recognition software that is built into some versions of Windows; don't just turn it 'Off', you must 'Exit' the software if you have started up Speech Recognition. When I do a clean install of AutoWikiBrowser the application seems to find old setting data somewhere. I'd like to do a really clean install. Any ideas? Clean up your registry and remove the folder "C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser" (Windows XP) or "C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\" (Windows 7). Note that the application data folder may be hidden. AWB prompts that there is a newer version but won't update Check the version number of your AWBUpdater.exe. The current version is 2.4.0.0. If you have an older version, you have to download the latest AWB version and make a clean install. Which .NET Framework version do I have? You can find your .NET Framework version in Help → About box. Where are the default settings stored? Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser Windows Vista onwards: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\Default.xml I cannot copy text from the diff window using the Control+C keyboard shortcut. You must have Microsoft.mshtml.dll available for AWB to use for this functionality to work. You can try downloading the file (there are a number of third-party websites offering DLL file downloads) and putting it in the same folder as AutoWikiBrowser.exe. This is reported not to work for all users, presumably due to .NET Framework problems. Is there any way to set AWB to not use https? (GFW blocks 443 port) In preferences, set project to "custom". Set the left box to http. In the webpage box, type en.wikipedia.org/w/ (English Wikipedia) or zh.wikipedia.org/w/ (Chinese Wikipedia). Note that leaving off the /w/ will result in a "root element missing" error. How do I login to AWB with accounts enabled with two-factor authentication? You should use a bot password. Despite the name, they aren't just for bots. See Wikipedia:Using AWB with 2FA.

Discussion

Connection errors

A few days ago I was able to connect via AWB and work with it in a private wiki (a few thousand changes). Only one day later I get another error, so no connection.

The wiki is a 1.34.0 i tested AWB 6.1.0.1, 5.10.1.0 both give the same error. The error text varies depending on the protocol and IE access: http://cloud.go-designs.de/s/A2CHPiwM3PrGmG7.

I also tested different workstations with different operating systems to avoid having a misdirected firewall rule causing this.

I'm not sure if it's a common mistake and how to fix it. I've always had mistakes before, but as I said I was able to work with them that day without any problems. I only had some problems with the user before, that was solvable by creating a new one for tests.

Any ideas what could causes that or way i can try? maybe theres a way to force the adress, to skip the tests? --Gunnar.offel (talk) 04:48, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

AWB - Error connecting to wiki

I created an internal rebuild of the wiki by just using the database. it uses the default settings in LocalSettings. It doesn't workes either. On a later test it could login, as long the application was open it works several hundred changes. after restarting AWB, the error comes back. So i would like to reask, any ideas which setting could force this or any way how i could skip the tests? An older version (1.33) seems to work always. -- Gunnar.offel (talk) 06:57, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

I have the same issue on an independent wiki. This happened suddenly, with no changes made to the wiki's or AWB's settings. I'm surprised this is barely reported. And even though I'm using the latest version, the "Check for updates" option literally tells me it fails even though it should just tell me I'm up-to-date. Klow (talk) 19:42, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

Importing PetScan query list to AWB?

I'd like go through a list of pages categorized as essays but missing {{essaysort}} on their talk page. I don't know how to set this up in AWB, but it's reflected in the PetScan queries linked here. Is there any way to import those to AWB? {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 00:16, 14 September 2020 (UTC)

Sdkb, if you have a way of converting the list into plaintext (i.e. each line contains *just* the page name), you should be able to just copy-paste it into AWB's page list area. If not, you could set the output format in PetScan to "Wiki", copy that and paste it into some page in your userspace, and then use the "Links on page" search type in AWB. Ionmars10 (talk) 00:25, 14 September 2020 (UTC)

It might be worth asking for a "simple list" option to be added to PetScan's output formats. I'm sure that would be a trivial enhancement, which I would also find useful. I currently request a .tsv then use a pre-canned regex to have my text editor remove all but the second column. Certes (talk) 11:12, 14 September 2020 (UTC)

Sdkb, you should convert the PetScan query to PagePile (use PagePile option in Output tab), and click on PlainText in the result. IKhitron (talk) 12:06, 17 September 2020 (UTC)

Making a list against Special:UnconnectedPages

Is that have any method to make a list to Special:UnconnectedPages with the namespace available to select, recently an user created some article then connects to Wikidata which leaves those pages in the list. If is's possible it will be better to create a list and do a null edit for those pages to clean up those items. Shinjiman ⇔ ♨ 04:42, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

List generator: feature request

Can be usefule a list generator tool to generate list of pages: The tool must generate 2 indipendent lists, generated with the usual source of AWB (List 1 and List 2) then the output must be:

• only the pages present in the two lists
• only the pages in list 1 thar aren't in list 2
• only the pages in list 2 thar aren't in list 1

--ValterVB (talk) 14:42, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

@ValterVB: I think AWB already has this. Select "Tools > List comparer" from the AWB menu bar. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:23, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

@John of Reading: Thanks a lot, I have missing this ... --ValterVB (talk) 16:32, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

Problem using CheckWiki error numbers to build page list

Using AWB with Simple English Wikipedia, I'm unable to load a list of pages via the "CheckWiki error (number)" option. When I try, I get the following message:

Network access error
The remote server returned an error: (308) Permanent Redirect.

I've had the same error with two different CheckWiki error ID numbers. Do I need to open something on Phabricator, or does anyone know what is causing this? It does look like task T257689, but I don't see how to apply that fix to what I'm seeing. Thanks. --Auntof6 (talk) 05:33, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

@Auntof6: That fix will be released whenever Reedy does a release of AWB. Reedy Would it be possible to have a slightly more-regular timeline on releases in general? Like, once every 1/2/3/4/6 months or something? --Izno (talk) 19:01, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

@Izno: Thanks. I will wait for the new release. --Auntof6 (talk) 20:37, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Bots section not showing up

Pretty self explanatory, the "Bots" tab is not showing up, and thus not letting me fully automate the editing. Any help? 62.122.233.124 (talk) 18:06, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Were you logged in? I got logged out for no obvious reason a few hours ago. Certes (talk) 18:16, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

You have to be logged in, with a bot account, for that to show up. — xaosflux ^Talk 19:22, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Author's response - Yep. I am logged in with a bot account. I feel like I also should mention that this is on a Fandom wiki (which I properly linked, as I was able to save pages manually). 62.122.233.124 (talk) 18:49, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Why do you people keep saying "bots", when the correct spelling is automated robot or simple robot ifnot tool?86.120.235.68 (talk) 05:47, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

"Bot" is Wikipedia jargon for a specific type of software robot which makes automated changes to the encyclopedia. Certes (talk) 11:34, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

See Internet bot Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 15:10, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

reading an external file on a local drive

Possible?

I want to have awb ingest a local copy of the IANA language-subtag-registry file, parse that apart, format appropriate data, and then replace the content of the several lua modules:

Module:Language/data/iana languages

Module:Language/data/iana scripts

Module:Language/data/iana regions

Module:Language/data/iana variants

Module:Language/data/iana suppressed scripts

Module:Language/data/ISO 639-1

The registry file is periodically updated so the process now is to fetch a copy, put it in a sandbox, and then run Module:Language/data/iana languages/make. Then it's copy pasta to update the various modules. Would be nice to automate that more. Can awb open and read that external file? If so, tips on how to accomplish this?

—Trappist the monk (talk) 19:51, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

@Trappist the monk: You can write a custom module to read the external file. — Ganeshk (talk) 20:38, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

Excellent, thank you.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 22:58, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

Got it working (User:Trappist the monk/IANA subtag registry file update); now to wait for the next update. While writing this script, and because my ignorance of c# is profound, I spent a bit of time on the internets for tips about how to do this or about how to do that. On one such visit I stumbled upon WebClient with which it is apparently possible to read the content of a webpage. This seems a better solution than using my browser to download and save the language-subtag-registry file. Is it possible for a custom module to read the IANA language-subtag-registry file directly from the web? Any working examples that I can adapt to this use?

—Trappist the monk (talk) 10:18, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

The simplified (modern) way is string buffer = (new HttpClient()).GetStringAsync(url).Result; But you need additional lines if you want to set a UserAgent. And you may need to precede that with ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12; because AWB uses framework 4.5 which defaults to TLS 1.1, although I think AWB will have already set the protocol globally. Don't be confused by the "Async" part of the name; the Result property forces a synchronous wait. One could also use the older HttpWebRequest mechanism, but I don't think you can do that in one line. David Brooks (talk) 16:33, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

ETA: Oh, smacking my head for not testing in situ. It looks like an AWB module can't handle System.Net.Http.HttpClient() because AWB didn't include the DLL reference. You'll have to use WebClient after all. Working up some code. David Brooks (talk) 16:43, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

I was just going to report that... Thank you.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 17:01, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

System.Net.HttpWebRequest webRequest =
  (System.Net.HttpWebRequest)System.Net.WebRequest.Create("https://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry/language-subtag-registry");
webRequest.UserAgent = "Trappist code";
System.IO.Stream str = webRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream();
string registry = new System.IO.StreamReader(str).ReadToEnd();

actually tested in situ this time... There are some undisposed Disposable objects, but you probably won't notice. David Brooks (talk) 17:19, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Yay! Works. Thank you.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 17:54, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

You are most welcome. There are a couple of ways it could have been more elegant, but I had to get to an appointment as soon as I got it working. Obviously the User Agent can be any string; that depends on what IANA would prefer you do. David Brooks (talk) 21:17, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

And just now, IANA updated the language-subtag-registry file so I have used the script to update the Lua modules. So much easier, thanks. Apparently webRequest.UserAgent has to be set to something (either for c# or for IANA, don't know which). According to our article about the user-agent header, Google will be deprecating the header in their browsers; I had hoped that an empty string or space character would suffice. Alas, no. So I'll give it a bot-like user-agent header (or I could, maybe, spoof an old Netscape 1.2 on Windows 3.1 as user agent ...)

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:01, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia's own API asks us to set a user agent so it knows who or what is using the system and can see that it's in good faith rather than a denial-of-service attack or other misuse. IANA may have a similar system. Certes (talk) 00:08, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Yes; if you don't set the UserAgent, IANA returns a 403 error with content "Status 403 Forbidden: User-Agent required. Contact [email protected] with questions". Given that "please set the string to something that suggests who you are and what you are doing" is in the MW API, I guess that's what IANA wants too. It should probably be more informative, and sorry I didn't explain that. David Brooks (talk) 15:32, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

orphan according to AWB

I think AWB tags an article as an orhpan if there are three, or less incoming links. The definition/criteria has been changed now to zero links. Is there a way to change this in installed AWB, or is the definition controlled by the devs, and not by end user/installation? —usernamekiran (talk) 04:41, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

I am completely unfamiliar with the use of any automated tools, but an orphan article is an article with zero incoming links. So, any automated tool that encourages tagging articles with one, two or three incoming links as "orphans" should be modified or disabled. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:02, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

The AWB setting "Options > Restrict orphan tag addition to linkless pages" should be ticked by all editors using AWB on the English-language Wikipedia. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:26, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

@John of Reading: But that restricts the addition entirely. I think if an article is orphan, then it should be tagged as an orphan. Otherwise there is a very high chances of these article literally being forgotten, and ending up at WP:Forgotten Articles. We should tag them to integrate in the encyclopaedia :) —usernamekiran (talk) 10:35, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

@Usernamekiran: I believe that when the auto tagger is turned on and the "Restrict orphan tag addition to linkless pages" option is ticked, AWB will add the tag to pages having zero links. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:43, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

@Usernamekiran and John of Reading: Looking at the code (Taggers.cs line 766 ff), the above inferences seem correct, except that the default is <3 (not <=3). And, yes, it's 0 if the option is set. And no action if you're Swedish. And it tries to remove an orphan tag if there are 3 or more links. David Brooks (talk) 15:00, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Full time

I am not reporting this as a bug because I am not certain whether it is a problem with AWB or a problem with the users editing it, but I have now had to revert two different editors, one claiming to use AWB, who are automatically changing the phrase "full time" into "full-time" even in situations where it is inappropriate, and together have made three times the same bad edit to the same article. This change should only be made when the next word after the phrase is a noun, as part of a noun adjunct phrase. When "full time" is used as a standalone adjective-noun phrase, for instance as the subject or object of a sentence or the object of a preposition, it should not be hyphenated. If the software cannot understand such distinctions in grammar it should not be making this change. If it is indeed a bug in AWB itself, I would appreciate it if someone would report it in the appropriate channels.

Meanwhile, is there some way of locking out all AWB changes to an article until an issue like this is fixed? I don't see instructions for that on WP:AWB and it seems like an important capability to have. —David Eppstein (talk) 21:59, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

You might try {{bots|deny=AWB}}. I don't know if that works for awb users who are not bots but I suspect that you'll find out soon enough.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 22:04, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added that. We should at least find out if it doesn't work. Harder to tell whether it works or whether the people who troll recent changes for AWB-worthy gnomery have moved on to new ground. —David Eppstein (talk) 22:16, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

David Eppstein, As an editor who has watched your page for 3 years plus now, I don’t think I have ever seen you this upset. I’d say the problem is partly both with AWB software itself & AWB users blindly trusting the software to a fault. You have made this point & as I said earlier I appreciate your frustration, as an English tutor myself i totally understand your point, which is grammatically absolutely correct. In the end I think AWB users shouldn’t 100% trust the software & clearly we have to double check before saving the edits. I saw your post on Captain Raju’s tp & I concur with you that blindly trusting the software isn’t a good idea. I too am guilty of this & moving forward I won’t be so blindly trusting anymore. Don’t get yourself worked up David, from your tone I sense frustration and rightfully so, but like I said please do calm down. Celestina007 (talk) 22:20, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

I just tried to use awb to delete all text in Lisa Lix but awb saw the {{bots|deny=AWB}} and skipped the article.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 22:41, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

David Eppstein, wrap phrases you know to be correct in {{not a typo}}, which AWB will respect by default (and friends such as {{sic}}). Whether editors on a mission with their own handwritten changes will is a different story (and it's generally hard to tell if users are rolling their own or using the AWB typo fixer). You should be able to remove the bots template accordingly. --Izno (talk) 22:45, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the more targeted workaround. Regardless of the ability to work around this issue in isolated cases, it still should be the case that software does not change that which it does not understand. —David Eppstein (talk) 23:02, 2 October 2020 (UTC)

This isn't really the software's fault. The rules of use for AWB clearly state that users are responsible for all edits and all parts of each edit. If you're catching people making an incorrect typo-fix, either they didn't know it was wrong (in which case they need education regardless of tool use) or didn't check the edit fully (which means they need to slow down). The AWB typo module in particular defaults to off and, if I recall correctly, when enabled it tells people that they need to be super careful because likely typos are context-sensitive. (I never run with it on as a matter of fact because it can be so distracting to check every part of every edit. Probably the wiki's loss, but I have other stuff to do, which is why I'm using AWB I'm the first place myself.)

If you really think this is not a change the module should ever recommend at all when turned on, the list of typo fixes is at WP:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos (where indeed a regex pattern for this change appears, leading me to believe the user in question was using the typos module), which is subject to the consensus process of course. That said, I think this is not a case which should be removed from there. --Izno (talk) 00:54, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

The change code in .../Typos in question, as far as I can tell, is this:

<Typo word="(Full/Part)-time" find="\b([fF]ull|[pP]art)\s?time\b(?![−―–—\s]limit)(?<!at full time)" replace="$1-time"/><!--avoid "at full time" in association football articles-->

It looks like it avoids "at full time" but needs more limits on when it does a replacement. David Eppstein, do you have links to any inappropriate edits that changed "full time" to "full-time"? – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:06, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

It is obviously not reasonable to say that it's not AWB's fault and that users should be carefully checking all of their edits, because obviously the users are not and have not been checking all their edits. As for diffs: the three from today that frustrated me so much by wasting my time undoing repeated automated mistakes: Lix 1 Lix 2 Lix 3, and two more that I found from much earlier by searching for similar strings that were incorrectly hyphenated: Curb Racing from July 2016 and Daytona from March 2016. Also note that none of these articles has anything to do with association football, that association football's use of "full-time" rather than "full time" when this phrase is used as a noun appears rather grammatically idiosyncratic to me (I can't say whether it is correct for football but it is too far removed from mainstream hyphenation rules to be incorporated into AWB without safeguards that it only apply to football articles) and that these are four different people supposedly responsible for the same mistake. —David Eppstein (talk) 07:28, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

Don't know what to tell you then, as I've already told you how to resolve this. The rules of use are clear on the point on who/what is responsible for each change. --Izno (talk) 12:55, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

I have removed the regex pending a more specific replacement pattern. I think that it would be reasonable to have a replacement that targeted specific phrases like "full time work" and "full time students", but a search for "full time" in article space shows too many potential incorrect replacements and judgement calls. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:06, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

And as for this, a search now is survivor bias, not an indication that a change like this is needed. --Izno (talk) 02:01, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

I have no way of knowing. There are still many instances of "full time" being used incorrectly, but too many of them require significant evaluation of the context, a strong grammatical mind, or both. Someone with those qualities could make it a pet project, just as editors have adopted the phrase "comprised of" and similar bugbears. I do not see this as a case for a general-purpose typo script that shows evidence of careless use. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:37, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

@Izno: The rules certainly do not make me, as a non-user of AWB, the responsible party for dealing with repeated problems on the part of AWB users. Your position would lead to the conclusion that, when AWB users have been demonstrated to have failed in their responsibility for checking edits, they should have their AWB privileges rescinded. Would you like to propose doing so for the four editors whose diffs are listed above? Or perhaps would you think it a better alternative for AWB not to include regexps likely to become problematic in this way? —David Eppstein (talk) 22:56, 3 October 2020 (UTC)

undent: when AWB users have been demonstrated to have failed in their responsibility for checking edits, they should have their AWB privileges rescinded. Yes, that's how it works, after there is sufficient cause for it. Have they been informed they made errors as expected on a collaborative project and have they continued to do so? No? Move along then. You got what you wanted, and I have no taste for reverting, even though I think it was wrong to do so. --Izno (talk) 01:51, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

AWB marking "middle ages" (not head-capped) as a "typo"?

Hi! Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this. (I'll take it elsewhere if so.)

I don't use this tool myself, but I just now noticed that a number of edits I've had to revert over and over again were apparently tagged as having been performed with AWB.[1][2][3][4][5] The two times I can recall taking this issue to a talk page (the first and second times it happened) it was not explained to me that the edit and the edit summary had been generated semi-automatically despite my actually demonstrating my own ignorance of automatically-generated edit summaries several times. (I should probably apologize for assuming back then that I was dealing with disruptive IDHT behaviour by someone who had already been told to stop, but in my defense I didn't know a semi-automated tool was directing these edits to be made, and again no one seems to have told me that this was the case.)

Given that, even with the European Middle Ages, capitalization is apparently not universal, if AWB is directing people to fix the "typo", it should probably be amended not to do so...

Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 08:33, 8 October 2020 (UTC)

The "Bots" section is not showing up

Despite me logging in to a bot account, the section is not showing up. Any help? image Joker876PL (talk) 12:46, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

@Joker876PL: your account has to be both bot flagged and on this list: WP:AWB/CP#Bots. Which account are you using? — xaosflux ^Talk 13:06, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

@Xaosflux: My bot account is JokerBot (userpage on my main fandom wiki). Does it have to be on that list in order to work on Fandom wikis?

@Joker876PL: because that project has made use of page-specific access controls, you should add the account to their page here. — xaosflux ^Talk 16:49, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

New build please

The downloadable version is over a year old and causing problems. Please could it be updated. — GhostInTheMachine ^{talk to me} 10:43, 10 October 2020 (UTC)

I've uploaded a new snapshot, AutoWikiBrowser6102-12426.zip to here, which makes available the latest AWB version. Rjwilmsi 15:02, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

restarting in (seconds) What does this mean, and how can I fix it?

https://imgur.com/a/YVm34cE

I tried to edit using AWB, but a window saying Restarting in (seconds) pops up, and I can't edit any more. How can I fix it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1.239.25.66 (talk) 05:43, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

DAB page handling

AWB seems to have special handling for DAB pages (e.g. it won't tag them as orphans or stubs). I found today that this special processing was NOT invoked on 6500 (disambiguation) - probably because it is designated with {{number disambiguation}} instead of the more common {{disambiguation}}. MB 21:38, 15 October 2020 (UTC)