User talk:Merge bot/Task 1

Recommended change to Merge Bot
Hello Wbm1058! Thank you for running User:Merge bot all this time. I have a recommended change: for proposed merger log entries, use the template Merge log entry instead of having the formatting hard-coded into the script. Partly this is because there is a specific formatting I would like to see implemented (as you can see on the template), but also I think it is in the spirit of the wiki to have as few things as hard-coded as possible. The syntax for the template is as follows:. Please let me know what you think. Thanks, Harej (talk) 04:38, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Hi! So you don't want to use the red and blue merge arrows anymore? I'll look into it. Thanks for clearing out all the bot's old pages. Just a reminder that if you remove one of the pages from the log, as well as the log for that month you also need to delete the associated category, or the bot will just add the page link back to the log (the bot just sees that the category exists, it doesn't look to see whether it's empty). I also updated to use Dashboard grouping.  Wbm1058 (talk) 18:09, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Nothing against the arrows :). Just that in the context of the specific lists, having that high a concentration of symbols is overwhelming and less effective at conveying the necessary information than using simpler symbols in the body of the lists. Thank you for the reminder regarding the categories and for updating the bot to use the template. Incidentally, would it also be possible to code the bot to actually see if a category is empty, and then explicitly mark its own pages for deletion? That would neatly avoid the current situation of log pages being abandoned and left in lingo. Cheers, Harej (talk) 21:55, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
 * The bot's using Merge log entry now; check it out. I added a third, sometimes used parameter to the template, and fixed it so it wouldn't number every line item as #1. Each of the possible use combinations is in Template:Merge log entry/testcases, both old-style and new. I've put checking for empty categories on my to-do list; that's a good idea. Cheers, Wbm1058 (talk) 23:19, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Looks great! Thank you! Harej (talk) 01:17, 9 January 2015 (UTC)

Merge bot
Hi – does Merge bot still work, and if so, how often? I'm just asking because I don't know if it regularly checks the items on Proposed mergers/Log and deletes ones that have been taken care of and removes them from the log. For example, if you look at Proposed mergers/Log/January 2013 and scroll right down to the bottom, you'll see what appears to be the same proposed merger duplicated. I've been carrying out some of the easier and less controversial mergers (e.g. duplicated articles) and wondered if they get removed from the 'to do' list. Richard3120 (talk) 00:44, 15 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, runs once a day. Proposed mergers/Log is actually maintained and updated by the bot (check the revision history). October 2011 will fall off the top of the list within a day of the last four items on that list getting done.  WP:WikiProject Merge tracks the progress. It's moving slow because very few editors actively work in this area. – Wbm1058 (talk) 00:53, 15 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks – yes, I really should have checked the revision history first before asking that dumb question, shouldn't I? Still baffled as to why that entry in January 2013 is listed twice though. I've found another where the merger appears to have been completed and yet it's still showing in the list, and I'm not sure why: all the merger tags have been removed.
 * There are actually two merge tags on Yaaruku Yaaro. Scroll down and find them at the top of both the Cast and Critical Reception sections. – Wbm1058 (talk) 01:07, 15 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Ah, that's why – thank you! I'll delete the second one as it's for a single uncited line and the actor has already been mentioned earlier in the article, as per WP:OVERLINK. Richard3120 (talk) 01:26, 15 October 2015 (UTC)

Mistaken page creation
Hello whoever operates this bot,

It keeps creating and recreating Proposed mergers/Log/ which then gets deleted by admins. This has happened three times. I don't know what is leading this bot to keep creating this page but it is not being used and will just keep getting deleted. Can it be stopped? Liz Read! Talk! 01:36, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
 * wasn't any smarter about figuring this bad user-entered syntax out. The bot will keep re-creating this page until the bad syntax on that page is fixed, or the merge templates are removed, which happened on July 1. – wbm1058 (talk) 02:21, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
 * by bot v 1.98 – the bot will report the error to the operator's console and refrain from creating this page. wbm1058 (talk) 19:07, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

Duplicate nspace= parms
Hi, Wbm1058. In this edit, the bot generated two "nspace=" parms in the entry for Stalking horse offer. Davemck (talk) 19:03, 10 August 2019 (UTC)
 * nspace is not a valid Merge parameter and that template doesn't report an error when unsupported parameters are used. Was added by two-edit wonder Eddywiki78. Users still keep finding ways :( – the syntax was fixed with this edit by superstar gnome . I see we have a monthly error report, which I've never looked at until now, although template data was added to the documentation by on 9 August 2013. Thanks for that! – wbm1058 (talk) 11:22, 17 August 2019 (UTC)

Duplicate 2= parameter
Hi, I had to fix [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AProposed_mergers%2FLog%2FJune_2020&type=revision&diff=961451533&oldid=961409661 this entry]. I think the bot was thrown off by the 2 in the merge template in Share-alike (for merging with more than one target?). Thanks! Plastikspork ―Œ (talk) 15:14, 8 June 2020 (UTC)
 * by bot version 1.101. Thanks for reporting this. – wbm1058 (talk) 17:40, 8 June 2020 (UTC)

Bot malfunction?
Hi, just a heads-up, this edit appears to be in error. —Bruce1eetalk 23:38, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

ViacomCBS
Hi, why is Merge bot deleting ViacomCBS, and how can we stop it? Thanks. BilCat (talk) 21:22, 24 August 2020 (UTC)


 * This is what I'm seeing on the console report:


 * At 03:32, 24 August 2020 SpaceRacersFan14 moved page Viacom International to ViacomCBS International: The name was changed in 2019.


 * The bot generally should be able to handle two different merge proposals on the same page.
 * It should also be able to handle a page move of one of the pages proposed to be merged.
 * But the combination of these two scenarios on the same page is apparently too much. I'm just going to fix it by bypassing the redirect in the merge template manually, which is what the bot was trying to do. – wbm1058 (talk) 22:17, 24 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Ok, thanks. BilCat (talk) 22:44, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

The bot blanked ViacomCBS again. Sigh. Does the page need to protected? BilCat (talk) 21:18, 1 September 2020 (UTC)
 * in bot version 1.102 – at least the bot won't blank the page. But I still need to bypass the redirect manually as I haven't made the bot smart enough to do this itself. – wbm1058 (talk) 23:26, 1 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks! BilCat (talk) 01:46, 2 September 2020 (UTC)