[WikiEN-l] Bot policy for all wikis

White Cat wikipedia.kawaii.neko at gmail.com
Wed May 28 00:55:26 UTC 2008


We should require interwiki bot operators to

Know each language they operate their bot so that they can read and memorize
each and every bot policy.

Expect them to watch and follow each and every talk page on every wiki.
Require them to have 5-10 checks of these talk pages per day.

Wait several years (for the wiki to grow) before getting a bot flag.

Or would that be unreasonable?

Perhaps a unified standard bot policy is needed for mindless tasks like
interwiki linking, double redirect fixing and commons delinking.

The interwiki bot policy would set the standard for these mindless tasks.
Such a standard would let bot operators to operate more efficiently.
Particularly the largest wikis and the smallest wikis are very aloof from
such a standard.

Very small wikis often have a mini dictatorship by a few users (not
referancing anybody spesific). Such small wikis generally have cooperative
people but sometimes the wikis regulars do not understand what interwiki
bots and botflags are about and why such are necessary.

Very large wikis often have overly complicated policies. For someone only
interested in dealing with mindless bot tasks these pose an unnecessary
bureaucracy. Due to the language barrier reading these policies alone can be
quite a challenge.

     - White Cat


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