Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/PearBOT II 13


 * 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

PearBOT II 13
Operator:

Time filed: 16:05, Monday, December 18, 2023 (UTC)

Automatic, Supervised, or Manual: automatic

Programming language(s): AWB

Source code available:

Function overview: Remove unknown parameters from infoboxes that are either empty or have specific values with consensus for removal

Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate): User talk:OpalYosutebito

Edit period(s): On demand

Estimated number of pages affected: Thousands

Exclusion compliant (Yes/No): Yes

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

Function details: This is intended for Category:Pages using infobox film with unknown parameters and Category:Pages using infobox organization with motto or pledge in paricular where there are thousands of empty border and image_size parameters clogging up the category. The rest is for keeping my options open so I can do similar work in other unknown parameter categories.

Discussion
Botop is basically inactive, with no traction on this by anyone (BAG or otherwise) since the new year. Primefac (talk) 07:34, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Comment This is a really neat idea that I wish I had thought of. Have you thought of any other ways to expand this task into areas that might have higher need? It's ok if you haven't I was just interested in hearing about how you found out about this problem and if you're thinking about any next steps.  Dr vulpes  (Talk) 07:01, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I find that I cannot outright deny this request because I have been involved in discussions related to this in the past. I am extremely opposed to tasks where the only point is to remove empty parameter values, and I honestly think that this functionality in Module:Check for unknown parameters should be removed. While this does throw pages into a maintenance category, somewhat alleviating the COSMETICBOT issue, simply setting 1 does exactly the same thing, saving potentially thousands of edits. Primefac (talk) 08:30, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * To be fair, there really isn't any visual difference between filled out unsupported parameters and unfilled ones. They both don't change the display. Any rational for removing filled out parameters is just as valid for the unfilled ones. As an anecdotal, since clearing out 5 or so years ago a large amount of unfilled parameters in Infobox television, the amount of unsupported and strange filled out parameters has dropped almost to zero. Gonnym (talk) 17:18, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
 * As a separate thought to the above - the above two categories mentioned have (at the moment) a grand total of 2 pages in them, indicating in this particular instance the "blank parameter" issue has been solved. Primefac (talk) 08:32, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * As a third thought, my bot already does non-blank invalid-parameter removal. Primefac (talk) 08:32, 31 December 2023 (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.