User:Butlerblog

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I work on several projects within Wikipedia, which I have listed below along with some description of what I generally do within those areas.

I also operate an alternate bot account for the purpose of template maintenance within the television WikiProject.

Sometimes folks end up here because they didn't like my edits, reversion of their edits, or some other perceived wiki injustice:

  • If you came here because you didn't like some categorization (or more likely, "de-categorization") edits I made, note that categories on Wikipedia are hierarchical, not meta (i.e. tags). Please read my essay on categorization.

WikiProject Westerns[edit]

If you have a passion for Westerns, or any of its subgenres, and you're looking for ways to contribute to Wikipedia, consider helping out the Westerns project. There is crossover with other WikiProjects and so many of the articles are added, written, and/or maintained by editors in those projects (such as Film or Television) making the Westerns project primarily a curation and organizational project rather than one that produces content.

Although the project is primarily curation, there is also opportunity to create or expand content. Check out a list of stubs for film or literature.

There are currently task forces for television, film, and people. Television has been working for awhile, with film and people recently added. It takes awhile for these to get up and running, but once those are established, there is likely a need for a literature task force as well. These task forces give some focus for specific niches and make it easier to curate articles.

There are currently 9442 pages including articles, templates, and categories that are of interest to the project. Here are the most recent numbers:

The top 500 pages in the Westerns project accounted for 33,260,118 views during the month of February, 2024.

The top 100 pages in the Westerns television task force accounted for 9,110,199 views during the month of January, 2024.

WikiProject Television[edit]

I participate in the television WikiProject. You can, too.

My Mayberry page - notes, sources, and links for TAGS.

Other Work[edit]

In addition to the main work noted above, I participate, albeit indirectly, in some other WikiProjects, most notably, WikiProject Christianity (primarily in its work groups, task forces, and subprojects). Some of that is cross-over with other projects that I already focus on (Television and Film). Other work is on specific articles or topics. I also participate in the Film and Radio projects, but almost all of that is related to my work in the Westerns project.

I spend a good deal of time improving, maintaining, and preventing vandalism to certain articles that generally fall under WP:FRINGE and extremism. Some of this includes articles that fall under British Israelism and Christian Identity. That spills over into some related topics of far-right groups, individuals, and subjects. While some might find some of these extreme views to be wholly unrelated to modern Christianity, there is an intersection of articles on beliefs, organizations, and people linking BI and early CI beliefs to fundamentalism, millennialism, apocalypticism, and Pentecostalism, although there is divergence on views of Christian Zionism. I tend to follow rabbit trails.

I also work on categorization from time-to-time, trying to correct circular hierarchies and addressing issues of WP:CATSPECIFIC and WP:CATDEF, mostly in categories related to the items above. Categorization on Wikipedia is hierarchical, not meta tagging. I'm working on an essay describing the difference.

Sources[edit]

If you need help finding a source, sometimes I can help. I have access to the Wikipedia Library, and generally use that for newspapers and journals. I also have access to two university libraries, one of which is a large land-grant research university. In addition, I have a fairly extensive home library on a number of subjects including fringe topics (BI, CI, and extremism), theology, agrarianism, and film and television references. Many of these are academic sources, and some are rare or out-of-print. I have a collection of rare and out-of-print books on Christian eschatology, specifically with regards to dispensational futurism (i.e. "rapture theology", although I'm not a futurist). If there's something you can't find, source, or verify, I might be able to help (or at least try to - and if I can't, I'll let you know). Note that when it comes to books, a lot of citations I have added on Wikipedia are from sources that I actually own or otherwise have physical or electronic access to, as opposed to something I was just able to find on the Internet.

Software and tools[edit]

I use AutoWikiBrowser to help keep various WikiProject Television maintenance categories cleared. Several categories are monitored regularly to keep them clear. Some of these are maintained by my bot (see "Bot account" section below).

I am an AWB power user, and I use the tool to do tasks that involve repetitive edits. If you need assistance with a large batch of repetitive editing, you can ask for me to do it. If I can write a regex ("regular expression") or a series of regexes to complete the task, I can run it for you through AWB.

I also use Python and the Wikimedia API, and more complex tasks can be done using those tools (see "Bot account" below).

View my AWB projects in progress.

I make use of Huggle to screen for vandalism and other issues.

Bot account[edit]

I have a bot account for operating approved automated tasks. Currently, all bot tasks run using AWB with some help from the Wikimedia API. I also use Python and Pulover's Macro Creator to assist in automation and repetitive tasks.

See the bot's contributions.

If you're here to report a bot malfunction:

stop Use the bot's talk page to stop the bot, or... to report bugs, use my talk page.

Some thoughts...[edit]

  1. If your edit summary says, "providing relevant/factual/correct information" then it's certain to be looked at with scrutiny by experienced editors.
  2. If your edit summary says, "correcting lies," it probably isn't and is likely to be reverted.
  3. Everyone can tell when you're a sockpuppet. You're not fooling anyone.
  4. Don't sealion. It's unbecoming and obvious.
  5. Don't bother telling everyone how brilliant you are. Display it through your editing, or it's mere puffery (actions speak louder than words).
  6. Don't assume everything said to you is about you. Get over yourself (see #5).
  7. Long live the Oxford Comma!

Good essays[edit]

Account info[edit]

This user has AutoWikiBrowser rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has autopatrolled rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has rollback rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user creates userboxes.