Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/MalnadachBot 12


 * The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at Bots/Noticeboard. The result of the discussion was

MalnadachBot 12
Operator:

Time filed: 06:07, Sunday, January 2, 2022 (UTC)

Automatic, Supervised, or Manual: automatic

Programming language(s): AutoWikiBrowser

Source code available: AWB, replacement strings are posted in User:MalnadachBot/Task 12

Function overview: Fix obsolete html tag Lint errors by replacing tt tags in substituted templates and user signatures. If they have other Lint errors, they too will be fixed in the same edit.

Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate):

Edit period(s): One time run

Estimated number of pages affected: 151,000 in the initial run. About 90,000 more for extended task

Exclusion compliant (Yes/No): Yes

Already has a bot flag (Yes/No): Yes

Function details: This task would be to replace  tags, which are obsolete in HTML 5. Its usage creates a Lint error which is tracked by Special:LintErrors/obsolete-tag. Popular web browsers may down support for tt tags at some point in future. They already do not work in mobile wikipedia, where tt tags show as plaintext (for example, compare this in mobile and desktop view).

The usage of tt tags is context specific. However tt tags were used in many substed templates and user signatures, which spread the same tag usage patterns across a large number of pages. These can be safely replaced by bot without worrying about WP:CONTEXTBOT issues. I will begin with the 10 replacements listed in User:MalnadachBot/Task 12. More replacements will be done when I find them and a record of replacements will be kept in the task page. Also if a signature contains obsolete  tags and other Lint errors along with tt tags, they will be fixed in the same edit as well.

A sitewide search for tt tags gives result in 255,000+ pages. Replacing the initial 10 patterns will remove 151,000 from the list. I expect from the remaining ones, about 85-90,000 can be safely replaced by bot. So the bot will edit approximately 240,000 pages.

MalnadachBot has fixed about 4.9 million Lint erorors in 1.08 million edits so far. I have a lot of experience with fixing Lint errors, both bot and manual. Based on this, I would like to request a broad approval to replace tt tags without restriction to specific patterns. If a broad approval is not possible, I would be happy to settle for the initial 10 replacements and file another BRFA in future for more replacements.

Discussion
Experienced operator for this type of task. Please note that I am accepting this task as a broad "lint error fix" bot under the assumption that it will save time in the future and avoid the necessity for a half-dozen similar tasks. The main point of necessity here is to ensure that all mass-change find/replace operations are recorded in a central location for accuracy and bug-checking. Primefac (talk) 09:56, 2 January 2022 (UTC) Updated 17:56, 2 January 2022 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at Bots/Noticeboard.