When I edit a page in MediaWiki, the form contains these hidden variables:
<input type='hidden' value="20051008140830" name="wpStarttime" /> <input type='hidden' value="20051008140830" name="wpEdittime" /> <input type='hidden' value="106c45867969e6679906ec3acc5b7c2e" name="wpEditToken" />
I guess they are used to detect and resolve edit conflicts. Are these values necessary when I (or a robot) create a new page?
I guess the timestamps could be set to 1970 or blank, to ensure that the robot doesn't overwrite any existing pages?
In http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_Bulk_Page_Creator the script retrieves the edit page only to extract the token. What's the point in this? What is the function of wpEditToken?