Revision as of 13:18, 27 October 2008

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Before you post

Frequently asked questions

• When I start it up I get one of the following errors:
  • "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.", or
  • "To run this application, you must first install one of the following versions of the .NET Framework..."

  This error means your computer does not have the .NET framework version 2 installed properly. You can choose from various versions for download here, or you can run Microsoft Update and select version 2 of the .Net framework from the "Optional Updates" section, if you want the choice made for you.

• When I try to update to the new version 4.0, the updater freezes halfway through.

  There is a bug in the version 3.9 updater. If you encounter this problem, uninstall AWB, and then re-install the latest version from Sourceforge.

• Does AWB run on Linux or Mac?

  Not yet.

  • A Wine bug on AWB has been filed
  • AWB does not yet start in Wine with Mono 1.9 or native Microsoft .NET 2.0. (Wine 0.9.59, AWB 4.3.1.0.)
  • Please note that problems with AWB on Wine/Mono or Wine/.NET are not reportable AWB bugs.

  A native version, PyAutoWikiBrowser (screenshots here), based on Python, is being developed for Unix-like systems.

• Does AWB work on other projects/languages?

  Many WikiMedia projects and languages are supported, see the "User and project preferences" option in the general menu. Other languages will be added on request, though at the moment the interface is always in English. You are also able to use AWB with third-party wikis, if you go to the General menu and select "User and project preferences", you can change the wiki there. The wiki must support the Bot API required by AWB. This means that it should have latest HEAD version of MediaWiki or something close to that.

• What interwiki link order does AWB use?

  The software reads the interwiki sort order from Misplaced Pages:AutoWikiBrowser/IW, which is generally mirrored to reflect the order at m:Interwiki sorting order.

• AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki?

  According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, By convention this is placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear last. If your wiki uses other order, please let us know here.

• I don't like or use Internet Explorer; please use Firefox instead.

  AWB does not use Internet Explorer per se. It does, however, use the same web browser control (MSHTML) as Internet Explorer; the equivalent Firefox component does not provide the needed functionality.

• How do I open the page in another browser if I can't use the one in AWB?

  Right click on the edit box in the bottom right side of your screen. Select "Open page in browser"

• How do I edit a page that doesn't exist?

  Uncheck "Ignore non existing pages" in the "Skip articles" box.

• How do I skip certain articles?

  Use the "Skip if contains" and "Skip if doesn't contain" in the "(2) Set options" tab

• Can't you leave up a "stable" version, so I don't have to download new versions?

  It is important to keep people up to date with the latest versions, because their use of the software doesn't just affect them, but the whole of Misplaced Pages. As any bugs that remain will be trivial, hopefully releases won't be too frequent.

• How can I stop AWB clicking when it changes pages?

  This is a Windows sound theme setting. This page explains how to turn off the clicking sound.

  Alternatively, delete the following key from the Windows registry:

  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\Navigating\.Current

• AWB randomly crashes upon page load on my system, and I always use a browser other than Internet Explorer when using Misplaced Pages.'

  You may have installed custom scripts incompatible with IE. Wrap the contents of your monobook.js into conditional:

               //Detect IE5.5+
               if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE")==-1)
               {
                   // Previous contents go here
                   ....
               }

• I get Just In Time Debugger Messages when loading AWB/loading pages

  In Internet Explorer, go to Tools --> Options --> Advanced. Make sure 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' and 'Disable Script Debugging (Other)' Are both checked. Press apply and close.

Problems with other software

• Modified versions of monobook.js (e.g. to utilise popups, godmode-light etc.): AWB works, but page loading can be slow. Workaround is to disable Active Scripting in Internet Explorer - see AWB Tips and tricks for more information and workaround.
  • Bugs in monobook.js can cause AWB to crash or be unable to load pages. Use the same workaround, or refer to the answer in the FAQ above. If you've updated monobook.js and are experiencing problems, please verify the bug still occurs with a blank monobook.js before reporting it as an AWB bug.
• Misplaced Pages Skins other than monobook: AWB might not work with other skins due to the skins having bugs.
  • Known problem in Cologne Blue skin: see Bug 9806 and AWB bug report.
• NoScript (Firefox extension) or other XSS-related extensions: some features such as "Open text in browser" may not work correctly. Workaround for NoScript: Disable the "Sanitize cross-site suspicious requests" option.

Discussion

Problem with logging

I've just updated my AWB to 4.4.1.0 version but unfortunately I cannot log in Polish Misplaced Pages at all. In the previous version (4.4.0.0) I had no problems with it. Now when I type login/password and try to press "Zaloguj" (Log in) nothing happens and the status of AWB is "Software disabled"?! (my os is vista). Regards, Patrol110 (talk) 08:05, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

I've sloved my problem, but I encountered another one, just have a look at screenshot. Btw, do you mind moving your project under free Gecko engine instead of f*** IE? Regards, Patrol110 (talk) 17:29, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes it does that. Needs looking at. Should be already improved for next release. Try pressing the start button on the start tab, should enable it. As for the gecko comment, it might be possible, but if we have to start shipping loads of extra libraries to go with it..... We dont actually "use" the IE one. We use a browser from the .NET framework which is IE based. Hopefully, when some more of the API bugs get fixed up, we will be less dependent on the browser, as we shall be moving to the edit api. —Reedy 17:58, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for answer! Now AWB works properly so that you are right I suppose :) Regards, Patrol110 (talk) 19:10, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Images

Why are they no images?. Please add them. Without them it looks so dull :). --SkyWalker (talk) 14:51, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Mono Compatibility

See here for current issues affecting AWB working successfully on mono.

Thanks

—Reedy 17:01, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Using the tool for inconsequential/minor edits

Hey, I've removed the access to the tool of two users now for making excessive inconsequential edits (of this sort). In addition, looking at a recent BRFA, whether their task should be done at all seems to be rather debated, so I would class this as controversial use of the tool. Fyi :) Martinp23 12:25, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

They only seem to be doing what User:Lightbot is doing Gnevin (talk) 13:09, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

The approval for that task was also revoked. –xeno (talk) 13:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Colonies Chris is using AWB to make the same kinds of controversial edits as the users whose AWB access was removed. Tennis expert (talk) 22:52, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Could you point which edits exactly aren't needed? For example, here he changes things per MOS, and here he adds diacritics, which is also a good things. MaxSem 04:04, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm confused about why "Italy" was delinked in . --NE2 04:14, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

For example, Colonies Chris is deleting links to certain (but not all) countries, links to dates, and links to cities. These are the same kinds of deletions that other editors were doing before their AWB rights were revoked. Tennis expert (talk) 06:05, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

TennisExpert (who has not had the courtesy to tell me he was posting against me here) is not happy that I've been adding diacritics, despite the fact that I've been working within the consensus agreed within WikiProject Tennis (see my talk page for a discussion on the subject), and he's therefore trying to attack me via this page. All my edits are significant and in line with the MoS. Colonies Chris (talk) 08:55, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Why did you delink Italy, and why did you create an "easter egg" link to Salvador, Bahia? --NE2 09:16, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

I delinked Italy in line with WP:CONTEXT#What generally should not be linked

"Items that would be familiar to most readers of the article, such as the names of major geographic features and locations, historical events, religions, languages, and common professions"

And I corrected Bahia because it links to the the state of Brazil by that name, but clearly what's meant in that context is the city formerly known as Bahia but now called Salvador, Bahia. Colonies Chris (talk) 09:56, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

OK - I understand the Bahia link, and it does appear that that was correct. But why did you leave Brazil linked? Isn't it a "major geographic location"? Where does the line get drawn? Should every country be delinked, or only European and English-speaking ones? --NE2 11:18, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I probably should have unlinked that too, though no doubt someone would have objected if I had. But this isn't the place to debate that kind of detail. Colonies Chris (talk) 11:31, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Colonies Chris is doing good work by improving the signal to noise ratio of links. There seems to be a worrying trend here. People that don't like implementation of MOS guidance are misusing the phrase 'minor and inconsequential edits'. Something cannot simultaneously be:

• inconsequential
• controversial
• too important to build into 'general fixes'

You can pick any one but you can't have two. Lightmouse (talk) 10:29, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Let me say that Colonies Chris is a meticulous editor and bot-manager who has a fine track-record of fixing not just trivial links and dates, but typos, misspellings (particularly when it comes to non-English-language items) and the more subtle problems in links he encounters that would elude most editors. He is an important asset to the project and has been working away in the background for some years tightening up these aspects of articles. "Italy" should usually be delinked (see WP:CONTEXT).

I note that User:Tennis expert has had numerous squabbles with his WikiProject colleagues on the issue of diacritics and trivial linking, and has taken it upon himself to doggedly undo the good work of others and, on occasions, to confront them in uncompromising terms (ask User:The Rambling Man).

I do not understand the seemingly aggressive approach by some sysops to the use of AWBs to assist WP's editors at large in the massive task of bringing their articles into compliance with our style guides. I would be much more comfortable if the blockings we have witnessed recently were applied as a last resort after debate and clear communication, not as a first-resort expedient in the absence of any form of natural justice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tony1 (talk • contribs) 11:40, October 27, 2008 (UTC)

If Colonies Chris is doing a typo fix (including, I suppose, adding a diacritic if the consensus is that the absence is a spelling error)) on every edit then it's not a minor and inconsequential edit. Simply delinking is considered minor and inconsequential and (under the current policy) AWB should not be used for this task. –xeno (talk) 12:37, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

I always unlink etc, in combination with other fixes, but I don't agree at all that this sort of unlinking is inconsequential - articles are improved for having a clutter of valueless links removed. The AWB rule against inconsequential edits quite clearly had in mind the sort of change that's merely obsessive neatness but doesn't bring any visible benefit to the article (alphabetising the categories, for example), and it's being misused to attack editors who are actively improving WP by bringing it into line with its own Manual of Style - the edits that got Lightmouse and Closedmouth into trouble are not inconsequential, they are beneficial.

And I'll also note that one editor has accused me of acting 'nefariously' by performing spelling corrections and date unlinking in a single edit (he felt I should have done them separately). But of course, if I had, I'd now be in danger of being hauled up before the AWB police - or is this just a one-man campaign by Martinp23?. Colonies Chris (talk) 13:05, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Additions to AWB suggestions

Don't know if this is the place for proposals (please educate me), but here goes anyway: I believe consecutive wikilinks, which should be avoided per MOS:LINK, should be added to the AWB suggestions. Everyme 10:34, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome to add feature requests on the feature requests page. Please make it clear what you want, provide examples and link to Misplaced Pages manual/policy pages supporting the concept. Thanks Rjwilmsi 10:47, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Is it possible to get a list of pages that appear in multiple subcategories?

I would like a list of pages that appear in at least two subcategories of Category:Predecessors of North American railroads, like New York, Boston and Montreal Railway (which is in Category:Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad, Category:Predecessors of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and Category:Predecessors of the Rutland Railroad). I know that I can recurse one level to get a full list of articles, and any repeated ones will be in more than one, but is there any way to pull out those repeated ones? --NE2 03:59, 27 October 2008 (UTC)