Wikipedia talk:HotCat/Archive 4

OK and save? User interface surprise
Yes, I was talking about Hotcat. Sorry,, for not seeing your reply before it was archived, and for filing an ambiguous bug report. I am re-filing it more appropriately. HLHJ (talk) 23:20, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

Glitch when trying to remove Template:nocat
When adding categories to a page, HotCat tries to remove nocat (a shortcut for Uncategorized ) with or without parameters from the page. This sometimes breaks popular userbox parameter nocat, which is passed to Template:Userbox. See Special:Diff/900767578. —⁠andrybak (talk) 14:56, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Remove Unicode control characters from category names ?
Hi. Would it be possible for HotCat to remove some Unicode control characters at the end of the category names? (see for examples, some fixes my bot is doing after HotCat has added some categories). --NicoV (Talk on frwiki) 19:43, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Need to save twice when removing a category.
The first time, it gives a warning there is no edit summary. The second time, it saves through the warning. &#32; Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 19:16, 10 August 2019 (UTC)
 * It's possibly a checksum issue of some kind. &#32; Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 19:54, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Multiple changes
I see the documentation says this tool can make multiple category changes in the same edit, yet I still see [ sequences like this] everywhere I look. Is this functionality is too well-hidden or too difficult to use? Could it be made more conspicuous and/or easier? (FYI: I don't use "HotCat" and have only followed the link in the above edit summaries). ―cobaltcigs 06:37, 17 October 2019 (UTC)

Why do I need to include a pipe character to remove an existing sort key?
This tripped me up. I thought I had removed sortkeys from a bunch of categories, but it turned out I hadn't actually performed any edits at all. I eventually found this note in the docs: Note that, to remove an existing sortkey, you should change "Foo I also found this earlier discussion, where it was described as "not a bug", but with no further explanation given.

This seems really counterintuitive to me. If a user goes to edit a category, explicitly deletes the pipe and everything after it, and then hits the save button, that seems like a pretty clear indication of an intent to remove the sortkey from that category, no? It's especially confusing because, from the point of view of the UI, it looks like this causes an edit to be performed. The category briefly turns orange, then the page refreshes. The user will only realize that something went wrong if they double-check the page's history and see that no edit was made (or if they check the category and see that the page is still listed at the old sort key - though they might just think it's a caching thing).

Is there a reason not to interpret this user behaviour as an intention to remove a sort key? If so, is there some way the tool could at least visually indicate to the user that their "change" was actually a no-op? Colin M (talk) 16:34, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

loader updated
FYI, the loader type at MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat.js was updated, if anyone has any issues with hotcat please ping me. — xaosflux  Talk 19:29, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Hotcat was working for me about 20 minutes ago, now it won't load at all on any page. Steel1943  (talk) 19:42, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I also attempted to disable and reenable HotCat, and I still cannot load HotCat. I even attempted to log in and log out of my account ... still cannot load HotCat. Steel1943  (talk) 19:45, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Ping! I was getting Javascript errors on page loads until I disabled HotCat under Gadgets and then re-enabled it. I don't remember the specific error, but I think it was something like "duplicate expression" or similar. - MrX 🖋 19:43, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * ...and HotCat is not loading for me also.- MrX 🖋 19:45, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * And now the error is back: "Javascript Error https://en.wikipedia.org/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector at line 20: Uncaught Error: module already implemented: ext.gadget.HotCat" - MrX 🖋 19:58, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * So what you're saying is that there is nothing we can do at the moment other than wait? I was really looking forward to using it right now. Scorpions13256 (talk) 20:11, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

Problem with HOTCAT
I have used HOTCAT for years but now I am not able to use it. I turned-off and turned-on this tool in my Preferences but I still cannot use it. Do you know what may be the problem? -- LoЯd  ۞pεth  19:53, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Look up ↑ - MrX 🖋 19:58, 7 November 2019 (UTC)


 * the recent change was reverted, see MediaWiki talk:Gadget-HotCat.js. This make take a few mins to fix, if you are still having a problem in 15 mins from now, please ping me. — xaosflux  Talk 20:38, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * see above. We will find a better way to test a future update, thank you for letting us know about the problem! —  xaosflux  Talk 20:40, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Yay, it's working again! Steel1943  (talk) 20:51, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * It's working for me too! I'm glad to know that they aren't getting rid of my favorite gadget.Thanks for being transparent. Scorpions13256 (talk) 21:20, 7 November 2019 (UTC)
 * It's also working for me. Thank you! -- LoЯd  ۞pεth  21:54, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

Tried to add categories to one article today and noticed that HotCat was not running. Turned it off and on and it did not help. Anything else I could do to force it run? Tested on Mozilla Firefox. Zeeshka (talk) 18:52, 20 January 2020 (UTC)
 * seems like it fixed itself, somehow. It's not the first time HotCat is acting like that... Feel free to delete the previous comment if you consider it is not worth staying. Zeeshka (talk) 19:03, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

Add timeless support
I have HotCat enabled, but I really don't use it because HotCat does not have support for the category sidebars. Can that be added to HotCat so I have a vertical something in the sidebar where I can add or remove categories? Aasim 15:45, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Bug in HotCat
Please see the discussion at. —⁠andrybak (talk) 15:49, 14 May 2020 (UTC)

Cats in non-mainspace?
I know you're not supposed to add non-mainspace pages to categories, but I often do anyway when I'm working on drafts and/or userspace pages that are destined for mainspace. Is there some way to get HotCat to automatically detect when I'm doing that and add the obligatory ":" to the front so I don't annoy the catalog police? -- RoySmith (talk) 19:28, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Another Bug in HotCat?
I recently found a formatting error in categories apparently added by HotCat (please see the talk page of Infante Dom Henrique Bridge). Since I don't use HotCat, I can't reproduce it, which is a prerequisite for submitting a bug report. Can someone who uses HotCat please confirm and submit a bug report if one is called for? Rsbrux (talk) 13:10, 24 July 2020 (UTC) P.S. HotCat is evidently not at fault; please see remark by Andrybak on the talk page of Infante Dom Henrique Bridge. Rsbrux (talk) 11:13, 25 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Link to the discussion: Talk:Infante Dom Henrique Bridge. —⁠andrybak (talk) 14:35, 25 July 2020 (UTC)

Edit summary length
It seems that HotCat has not been updated to use extra length in edit summaries which was added in (I think) 2018 or 2019.

So it unnecessarily sumarises changes which could be described in full, e.g..

I am sure that this would be a trivial matter to fix. -- Brown HairedGirl  (talk) • (contribs) 22:04, 18 August 2020 (UTC)

Stub tags and HotCat
Is it possible to modify HotCat to include stub tagging, or is this a perennial proposition which you are not interested in taking on? -- Orange Mike &#124;  Talk  17:28, 20 August 2020 (UTC)
 * THere exists a hotcat-like script for stub tagging, see user:SD0001/StubSorter. SD0001 (talk) 02:11, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

Doesn't always work
I've been using HotCat a lot today, and it fails about 1 in 10 times. It'll reload the page, but the "your edit was saved" checkmark doesn't appear, and the edit doesn't go through. Trying again using the exact same process will generally work. This is a pretty glaring issue, since it gives no clear indication of failure, so many editors may assume it was saved. Is this a known issue and is it being addressed? &#123;{u&#124; Sdkb  }&#125;  talk 22:21, 16 August 2020 (UTC)
 * I've never had any issue with hotcat. Not that it should be a problem,, but what browser and OS do you use? SD0001 (talk) 02:19, 26 August 2020 (UTC)
 * , I'm using Chrome Version 84.0.4147.135 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Windows 10. The issue is subtle/infrequent enough that if you haven't been doing a lot of tagging or paying attention to whether your edits are going through, there's some chance you might be experiencing it but haven't noticed it. Fwiw, I tried using HotCat on Spanish Wikipedia today and experienced the same issue there.
 * If you or anyone else wants to go through a bunch of pages lacking categories to see if you can replicate the issue, here's a PetScan with a bunch of biographies that probably should be categorized under or  but aren't yet. Going through a similar list for another school is what led to me encountering the issue. &#123;{u&#124;  Sdkb  }&#125;  talk 02:56, 26 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Well this is a very widely used gadget used across multiple wikis, so I guess if there were problems, they would have been better noticed. Try raising it on the commons village pump (where the gadget is maintained). SD0001 (talk) 05:00, 26 August 2020 (UTC)
 * You can use this guideline to report javaScript errors. Ruslik_ Zero 14:12, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
 * You can use this guideline to report javaScript errors. Ruslik_ Zero 14:12, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

Edit summary question
If I use the Save button to see changes in a edit window, HotCat fills-in an edit summary. But when saving (if you have the preference set), you get the "did not leave edit summary" warning message. This does not happen with other tools. Is this intentional or can it be changed? MB 03:38, 29 November 2019 (UTC)


 * This formerly did not happen. It seems like a bug. jnestorius(talk) 13:18, 24 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm also having this issue. YorkshireLad ✿  (talk) 14:52, 15 November 2020 (UTC)

HotCat into Draft categories
Any ideas on why HotCat can add categories inside the Draft categories template, keeping them unlisted in certain instances, but not others?
 * Successful examples: Special:Diff/1013690033, Special:Diff/1013690832, Special:Diff/1011412805
 * Unsuccessful examples: Special:Diff/1015488498 and Special:Diff/1015488580

I did notice that the unsuccessful ones had some draft categories added to them. Perhaps that affects the logic? If so, filtering out subcats of Category:Draft articles may be needed. For reference, the AFCH script did something similar discussed here: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Articles for creation/2021 1. Not sure if it's relevant, but wanted to point it out. -2pou (talk) 19:53, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Weird display issue in Monobook
With Monobook skin and HotCat enabled, the display of Category:Cinema of the San Francisco Bay Area at the bottom of its member articles is out of alignment, causing an empty line in the category listing. The shortest article in the category is probably San Francisco 2.0. The issue goes away by disabling HotCat or switching to Vector. —Kusma (t·c) 12:35, 5 May 2021 (UTC)


 * I have no such problem. Can you make a screenshot ? —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 13:23, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Screenshotted, let me know if you need further info. —Kusma (t·c) 13:54, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Tested with different browsers. The problem appears in Safari and does not appear in Chrome for me, so it may also be a Safari issue? —Kusma (t·c) 06:20, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Tried on Windows. Bug does not appear in either Edge or Chrome. (Chrome on Android is also happy) Apparently only Safari on Mac? —Kusma (t·c) 11:55, 6 May 2021 (UTC)
 * I'm on a Mac with a recent version of Safari (specifically 14.0.3 16610.4.3.1.7), and I don't have it either. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 09:33, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Hm. Same version. Apparently it's my font choice (Optima is optimal!) Clearing out my monobook.css makes the problem go away. Still weird. Thank you for testing! —Kusma (t·c) 09:39, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

HotCat issues with uncategorized tag
HotCat removed a merge to tag when it removed the uncategorized tag in this edit to Causal map. –LaundryPizza03 ( d c̄ ) 19:02, 7 May 2021 (UTC)
 * EDIT: It also failed to remove the tag in this edit to Kathanakuthuhalam. –LaundryPizza<b style="color:#b00">03</b> ( d c̄ ) 19:08, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

HotCat on Mobile
I work on Wikipedia with a mobile device so does it work with phone? TheGs2007 (talk) 21:05, 9 May 2021 (UTC)
 * It does not work on the mobile site but it does work when accessing the desktop site through a mobile device. Dudhhr (talk) 00:40, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

Doubled HotCat insertions with Reply Tool
I've recently started seeing HotCat putting double links at the bottoms of pages. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's related to mw:Talk:Talk pages project/Replying. I use the "reply" link and when I save my new content, the Hot Cat links get re-inserted. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:37, 27 June 2021 (UTC)


 * @RoySmith It's not really related to that problem, although it is similar. HotCat doesn't use the  hook, which causes that problem; instead it uses the   hook. The problem here is that it assumes that when the   hook is fired, the list of categories has been re-rendered without the HotCat buttons, and adds its buttons again; but DiscussionTools does not re-render that list, so the buttons are still there, and this duplicates them.
 * There is a  hook that it could be using instead, which would avoid this problem, but it is also fired during editing (e.g. live preview or visual editor), and setting up HotCat in that scenario is probably undesirable.
 * It might be best to just make HotCat check if it's already added its buttons and if so, not add them again. I'll propose a change. Matma Rex talk 12:32, 9 July 2021 (UTC)
 * I went ahead and made the changes to HotCat myself, given that it doesn't seem to be maintained much (judging by the history and the talk page on Commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat.js&diff=574182738&oldid=568234975
 * While testing, I also found a small bug in its interactions with VisualEditor (the HotCat interface stops working after cancelling a visual edit, it works fine after saving though), and proposed a fix for that as well: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/VisualEditor/+/703843 Matma Rex talk 13:00, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

Visual editor to create articles followed by Hotcat leads to error
A refresh of the page of course fixes things. The folks at the Visual Editor do not think it is an error in their code. Shyamal (talk) 16:49, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
 * 1) I create a new article using Visual Editor / (UPDATE - Just the use of Visual Editor followed by use of HotCat is enough)
 * 2) I save the article
 * 3) I try to add categories but when I save, I find the error that I am trying to edit an older version of the article.

Top category suggestion getting hidden by tabs
On redirect pages, when I try to add or modify a category, the top suggestion gets tucked behind the edit source and view history tabs, and is all or mostly invisible. For example at List of presidents of the People's Chamber (German Democratic Republic), select the + to add a category and start typing something in the field and you can't see the top suggestion. It's also blocked by the add-to-watchlist star.

It may have been like this for a while, but I just noticed it today. Should I also bring this up at Village pump (technical) as a possible ITSTHURSDAY bug? --DB1729 (talk) 17:56, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

Broken?
I'm not having luck with HotCat right now so I'm posting a message here. I'm just adding and removing categories manually but I was wondering if there was a problem. Liz <sup style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #006400;">Read! Talk! 18:52, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi Liz. There doesn't seem to be many watching this page anymore. Apparently HotCat is maintained from commons village pump/technical, so I suppose you could try asking there. However, according to a post above by User:Matma Rex... well, no guarantees. --DB1729 (talk) 19:51, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Hello, DB1729,
 * Thanks for letting me know. I'm still waiting on a fix for XFDCloser which has been broken since March 20th. It's difficult to adjust when tools you rely on break and the developers are no longer active on the platform. Liz <sup style="font-family: Times New Roman; color: #006400;">Read! Talk! 20:25, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I hear ya. Best of luck. --DB1729 (talk) 22:01, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

Bug?


On all articles, HotCat suddenly looks like the above for me. Is anyone else seeing this? I've tried restarting my browser, to no effect. Does anyone know the cause, and how to fix it? Andy Mabbett ( Pigsonthewing ); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:25, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
 * This is pretty old, but did you get this figured out? It looks like you turned on "Show hidden categories" in Preferences > Appearance (unrelated to HotCat).  If you got it, great.  Putting this here in case anyone experiences something similar. -2pou (talk) 22:07, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I expect to see the hidden categories; I was referring to the absence of "+" and "-" icons, allowing editing. The issue has meanwhile resolved itself. Andy Mabbett ( Pigsonthewing ); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 11:14, 14 April 2022 (UTC)

"Enabling" auto saving?
Hi, I'm having a weird issue I can't find any information about. When I use hotcat, I am systematically directed to an edit window to confirm and publish my edits. What I would like is for the changes to be immediate, without having to go through the edit window. However, when I read the documentation, it seems like auto saving is supposed to be the default? Is there any reasons why it isn't default for me, and am I the only one with this issue? JBchrch  talk  15:05, 23 April 2022 (UTC)


 * In my experience, auto-saving only works when adding or modifying a single category. If more than one is added or changed, it treats it as if you were doing a large edit (like clicking the two + icon) and sends you to the edit window. -2pou (talk) 15:39, 23 April 2022 (UTC)
 * @2pou Thanks for your answer. This seems consistent with what the docs say. The problem is that on my end autosave still doesn't work when I update only one category. JBchrch   talk  15:49, 23 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Not sure; it just worked for me, and I’ve never changed any settings. You are using this icon (+) and not the (++) icon, right? And when making the entry, you are either hitting Enter or clicking an OK button? (The Save button sends you to the edit window). -2pou (talk) 16:01, 23 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Oooh I get it now, it doesn't work with removing cats, only adding them. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot! JBchrch   talk  16:04, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Imperative mood commit messages
As a programmer and user of the version control system Git, I prefer to write all my edit summaries in the imperative mood (e.g Reorganize article sections, not Reorganized article sections). How can I make HotCat do the same? I'd like to know how to do this both on Wikimedia wikis and third-party wikis. A diehard editor (talk | edits) 18:06, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

Feature request: Dissuade users from adding container categories
Either show container categories in a different color OR don't suggest them in the search box. -MPGuy2824 (talk) 03:10, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

Feature request: Ignore square brackets
If a user enters (e.g. by pasting from the clipboard), HotCat should understand this as intended to be   (as it does when the user enters  ). Andy Mabbett ( Pigsonthewing ); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:13, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

Lack of MOS:ORDER compliance by HotCat edit
See here: Per MOS:ORDER, categories go above stub templates. HotCat put the category below the stub template. Steel1943 (talk) 20:12, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Can't remove single sortkey
I have often found that HotCat randomly fails when making single quick changes. However, I have just found that it consistently fails to commit a change that involves removing a blank sortkey. –<b style="color:#77b">Laundry</b><b style="color:#fb0">Pizza</b><b style="color:#b00">03</b> ( d c̄ ) 01:14, 30 July 2023 (UTC)
 * . Hi. For some reason hardly anyone watches this talk page anymore. Alternative places to report problems with HotCat include Commons:Village_pump (supposedly where it's maintained) and MediaWiki talk:Gadget-HotCat.js. But probably the most visible place to get attention is at Village pump (technical). -- DB 1729 talk 16:33, 4 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Oh and as for your question, that might not be a bug. See Wikipedia talk:HotCat/Archive 4. If you want to remove a sortkey, you need to leave the pipe character there, with no space or any character behind it. -- DB 1729 talk 16:38, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

HotCat vs Visual Editor
@Lupo @Dschwen @TheDJ @Superm401Sock @Merlissimo There appears to be a bug in HotCat which causes problems when used immediately after editing a page with the VisualEditor. Could one of you please take a look at and comment there. Alternatively if you can point me to a different bug tracker you're using I'll be happy to transfer to that. Thanks. RoySmith (talk) 17:55, 2 November 2023 (UTC)


 * @Superm401 fixing ping. Sometimes autocomplete sucks.  This is one of those times. RoySmith (talk) 17:58, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I described the specific issue within HotCat's code in this ticket that got merged into the linked one, which might be helpful. DLynch (WMF) (talk) 18:30, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * This talk page isn't highly watchlisted by the technical folk. Better/more visible places to report problems with HotCat, in no particular order, are:
 * Commons:Village_pump (supposedly where it's maintained)
 * Village pump (technical) (less specific, but most visible)
 * MediaWiki talk:Gadget-HotCat.js
 * -- DB 1729 talk 19:21, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I've gone ahead and just fixed it. DLynch (WMF) (talk) 19:49, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! RoySmith (talk) 20:10, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you Shyamal (talk) 05:15, 3 November 2023 (UTC)