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(Top)
 


1 Revert entire change instead of just removing link?  





2 Pardon?  
1 comment  




3 Live and Learn  
2 comments  




4 why the revert  
2 comments  




5 Talkback  
1 comment  




6 Pro Bono Publico  
3 comments  




7 Rotterdam links  
2 comments  




8 Sterling Long-Colbo  
3 comments  




9 External links  
2 comments  




10 Reporting mistake XLinkBot made  
2 comments  




11 posted on complaint boards on internet  
3 comments  




12 Monica Sone  
2 comments  




13 Image delete messages  
2 comments  




14 Pozzetto Massacre  
1 comment  




15 Earliest uses  
12 comments  




16 This bot is brainless  
11 comments  




17 Fresh start - explanation of reversions  
7 comments  




18 Reverted  
1 comment  




19 regex issue  
5 comments  




20 Melinda Caroll wiki page  
1 comment  




21 Page Deletion  
2 comments  




22 welldone !  
3 comments  




23 why revert hot100brasil ?  
1 comment  




24 Another Flawed Correction by XLinkBot  
5 comments  




25 What is wrong with my contribution on Copenhagen?  
3 comments  




26 some more references?  
1 comment  




27 Hero Quest boardgame page of wikipedia  
8 comments  




28 inappropriate comments and false external links!  
5 comments  




29 Concerning: Adrenaline (Connecticut Band) page  
2 comments  




30 No Subject/headline  
6 comments  













User talk:XLinkBot: Difference between revisions




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Content deleted Content added
SineBot (talk | contribs)
2,547,157 edits
hopefully this is the right place to file my grievance
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== Revert entire change instead of just removing link? ==


Did you really need to undo my ENTIRE change just to get rid of what was a correction to somebody else's MySpace reference?



== Pardon? ==

== Pardon? ==


Revision as of 01:34, 22 October 2009

Administrators: if this bot is malfunctioning, try changing its settings. It can also be shut off there in a server friendly way.

This is the talkpage of XLinkBot (formerly SquelchBot), a bot designed to revert spamming, or other edits that introduce external links which do not comply with our external links guideline, or with the policy 'What wikipedia is not' (not a repository of links section).

Please leave new comments here by clicking this link

If your additions were reverted by XLinkBot, please take time to review our external links & spam guidelines, and take note that Wikipedia is not a repository of links, a directory, nor a place to promote your own work. If you feel your addition was within those policies and guidelines and are Reliable and Verifiable, and do not violate Copyright, you may undo the changes made by XLinkBot. Questions are welcome, however this talk page is for civil discussion and is not a complaints department.


Revert entire change instead of just removing link?

Did you really need to undo my ENTIRE change just to get rid of what was a correction to somebody else's MySpace reference?

Pardon?

I *corrected* a link that was *already there*. Good job! High fives all around! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.238.160 (talk) 21:05, 29 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Live and Learn

We want to stick to the Wikipedia guidelines. Thanks for the edit on Richard Shaw Brown. Now I know. Thanks.--125.24.114.15 (talk) 22:51, 29 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome, and thanks for the understanding. --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:15, 30 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

why the revert

Welcome to Wikipedia. Although everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia, your addition of one or more external links to the page Power Rangers has been reverted. Your edit here was reverted by an automated bot that attempts to remove links which are discouraged per our external links guideline from Wikipedia. The external link you added or changed is on my list of links to remove and probably shouldn't be included in Wikipedia. I removed the following link(s): http://www.hulu.com/mighty-morphin-power-rangers (matching the regex rule \bhulu\.com\b). If you were trying to insert an external link that does comply with our policies and guidelines, then please accept my creator's apologies and feel free to undo the bot's revert. However, if the link does not comply with our policies and guidelines, but your edit included other, constructive, changes to the article, feel free to make those changes again without re-adding the link. Please read Wikipedia's external links guideline for more information, and consult my list of frequently-reverted sites. For more information about me, see my FAQ page. Thanks! --XLinkBot (talk) 18:39, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

The link I posted for Power rangers the moive on the Hulu site i don't see what is wrong with it being on the power ranger's page seeing as HULU acquires the right to post the movie form Twentieth Century Fox . read Hulu's about page (link http://www.hulu.com/about) and it tells you all about how the site works. i was only trying to give fans of power rangers the link to the movie on Hulu. sorry if i cause any problems.

Hulu is free and legal through an advertising supported model. Videos are available for unlimited streaming; watch favorite shows and clips over and over, for free Videos contain fewer ads than on TV. Advertisements appear during normal commercial breaks Hulu acquires the rights to distribute its videos, making them available to users legally

oh and as for the vandilsm warning sent to this IP i'm not the same person who has been posting stupid stuff. the IP is used many students at Macon State College

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 168.16.190.96 (talk) 19:02, 30 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, well, this link still fails our external links guideline, and we are not a linkfarm. The revert of the linkaddition seems quite correct IMHO. --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:18, 30 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Talkback

{{Talkback|GadsebyE}}

Answered on user talkpage. --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:48, 2 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Pro Bono Publico

I'd appreciate some guidance on the Pro Bono Publico external links that were removed. The article's very general nature had encouraged the addition of many links from those providing pro bono services, legal or otherwise, and as a participant, I enjoyed the variety of pro bono initiatives reflected in those links (e.g., I didn't know about Taproot). I refrained from deleting links that were not for legal resources.

If the link that remains is appropriate because it points to further relevant data on pro bono (lists of organizations), I'd suggest that the www.lawhelp.org link is as useful since it would point individuals to locate their particular state's website to help them find legal information and connect to pro bono organizations.

As I understand your external links policy, it's better to work relevant items into the actual article text and footnote them--so I'll try to describe these resources that way, if that's okay. Also, would you please consider the wording of the one external link - there is no "Access to Justice program" at the ABA (though there are many at the state level)--that link is pointing to the American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono (thanks for that) but we provide more resources (for free) than just the directory of organizations.

Ctrprobono (talk) 18:26, 2 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think that is correct. Next to the external links guideline you might also want to see this section from 'What Wikipedia is not'. I'll have a look myself as well. --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:48, 2 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Also, Ctrprobono (talk · contribs), please do not d redirecting links as you did here and here thanks.--Hu12 (talk) 19:55, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rotterdam links

I think the following links are almost essential to the topic Rotterdam as not much other video and photo material is shown or linked to right now

, greetings Floris5 (talk) 21:37, 3 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is not linked because most would violate our External links guideline, just like these. I hope this explains. --Dirk Beetstra T C 18:56, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sterling Long-Colbo

my name is Sterling Long-Colbo

I added a link to one of several fan sites to our book

one is from Facebook and is a Facebook Fan Page - not a personal page - and i do believe taht it complies

please advise otherwise as I am re-adding

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-7-Scouts-And-The-Mystery-Of-The-Commie-Spies/143989574856/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sterlinglongcolbo (talkcontribs) 18:32, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think they do not belong there, per our External links guideline. Also, you might want to have a read through our conflict of interest guideline. Thanks. --Dirk Beetstra T C 18:57, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Agree a Book Fan Club, Fan Page and FaceBook are all WP:ELNO's. --Hu12 (talk) 19:01, 6 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

External links

I think your bot should scan the version it reverted to for the same stupid links it warns about, since if they occur, then obviously, there's a problem in the reverted version already. Perhaps it should add an external link warning template to the page it "reverted" to since it is already problematic. 76.66.197.30 (talk) 06:20, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is a good suggestion, though a bit difficult to implement (as the offending links can be in so many places in the document). I could try a not-revert and issue a message on the talkpage of the user. Often the link simply should not be there anyway. --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:26, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Reporting mistake XLinkBot made

[1] The old link is to a website that links to the new location. That new location was thus used to replaced the old link as is proper. XLinkBot mistakenly reverted it. So I undid that mistake. Dream Focus 12:12, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But to say that this is a proper link .. this does not add anything more than what reproducing the same 5 sources in the text would do. Unsuitable external link. Both should go. --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:28, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

posted on complaint boards on internet

Im confused.

UFO Research Network has articles related to the Gulf Breeze Hoax. MIG has investigative reports on Missouri cases.

Why do you allow UFO INFO and ABOUT( which is clearly a money making webiste) and not mine?

BBecker BBecker (talk) 19:53, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]


I am the owner of two websites, MIG - Missouri Investigators Group (http://ufomig.bravehost.com) and UFORN - UFO Research Network (http://uforn.bravehost.com) both of which have been up and running and on the Internet for 10 years. MIG is dedictaed to UFO Research and Investigation with articles and investigative reports. UFORN has articles on the Ed Walters/Gulf Breeze hoax.

Wikipedia has a search category called UFO Groups/Organizations. Under this category they have allowed UFOINFO and ABOUT (ABOUT being clearly a paid website) which are similar in content to MIG and UFORN, however neither MIG nor UFORN are allowed in Wikipedia. Each time I have uploaded the URLs they have been removed saying that Wikipedia is not "a repository of links section", if not, then why allow ABOUT and UFOINFO? I have been through this before with these people on another issue and the UFO article I submitted on the Gulf Breeze hoax was denied admittance. Wikepedia is nothing more than a bunch of arrogant, egocentered males who use the "guidelines" any way they want to to keep out anything they dont like.

BBecker BBecker (talk) 20:36, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Brilliant, BBecker, saying that we are nothing more than a bunch of arrogant, egocentered males (sic) who user the "guidelines" any way they want to keep out anything they don't like, while you are arrogant and egocentered enough to link your own websites at the top of the external links sections, as you apparently are the one to decide that the link is the most important one (diff. Use the guidelines, BBecker, well, they are written by many, many wikipedia editors, both male ánd female, and are generally agreed upon by even more editors. Who are you to decide that they hence don't make sense. And, in your response, you clearly do not consider that a) maybe those other links do not belong there either (see WP:WAX), or that maybe they were included after discussion (as said guidelines suggest). Thank you for your attention. --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:46, 7 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Monica Sone

What is wrong with incl. the link to Monica Sone incl. her comments, interviews and thoughts?

Monica Sone http://monicasone.blogspot.com/

Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pigglewigglefans (talkcontribs) 06:52, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's a primary source.   — Jeff G. (talk|contribs) 07:21, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Image delete messages

Hi, I created a new wiki page for Melinda Caroll (she is my wife). I wasn't certain what to use for 'license' on the images I added thru the wiki common vehicle and when I click on the photos there is a 'subject to deletion message' in red. How do I get rid of that message? I don't want to see the images deleted. We own the images that I used. Also, I would like to create a link or reference for the comments about One Warm Coat, a charitable organization. Would you direct me to the proper guideline page for doing that? Thanks, George (gerosete) Gerosete (talk) 08:38, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am not a specialist in this, but does Wikipedia:Uploading_images help? --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:03, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Pozzetto Massacre

I edit all very good, you are the son of a bitch. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.79.46.254 (talkcontribs)

See item below. And please remain civil, there are issues with those edits. --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:33, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Earliest uses

I've undone this edit. I find these "earliest uses" links useful. We should not have a bot undoing them without human attention, nor a human undoing them merely because they're links to that particular site. Michael Hardy (talk) 18:13, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The bot reverts edits in which links to specific domains are added. Experience has determined that removing only links or reverting only the edit in which the link was added when the editor has made a series of edits causes more problems than it solves.
The domains which XLinkBot reverts are listed at User:XLinkBot/Revertlist, Any administrator may edit this list, it's format is the same as the Mediawiki:Spam-blacklist. Domains such as tripod.com and youtube.com are reverted when added by IP editors or non-autoconfirmed editors because they are more often than not, used inappropriately. --Versageek 19:05, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In this particular case, only the link was removed, not other material.

So you're saying if an editor adds a lot of good material to an article, and also a link that is frowned upon, then all of that editor's contributions to the article need to get deleted? Can you explain that? Michael Hardy (talk) 21:24, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, that is not what we are saying, and it is also not what the bot says. I also has a reasonable catch built in. --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:39, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Also, because you now found one bad edit, below (which however is duly explained by the bot as well), while it is doing, at least that is the impression I get from others, a lot of good work, you feel it necessary to block it? --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:45, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Where was it "duly explained"? I haven't seen that. Michael Hardy (talk) 23:01, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This line about "you have found one bad edit neglects several things:
  • I pointed out two bad edits.
  • Those are the only two edits by this bot of which I am aware (I could look at the edit history, but to introduce oneself to a stranger by calling attention to one's mistakes is never going to go over very well).
  • The last time I heard that line, I heard it dozens of times from Wikipedia's CSD community: "you have found only one bad edit" iterated dozens of times for different bad edits, when the only edits from the CSD community I'd ever seen were those dozens of bad edits, when they spent six weeks deleting several articles on mathematics every day because they were article on mathematics, and must therefore be speedily deleted, after which my harshly rebuking them caused them to clean up their act absolutely abruptly, even while they told me that such rebukes couldn't do any good. Eventually the CSD community became civilized. The same still needs to happen with Wikipedia's anti-spam community, as I've pointed out elsewhere. Michael Hardy (talk) 23:09, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Elsewhere? --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:47, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

We're talking about two bad edits at least, and possible newbie-biting.

I'm really lost as to what is being said here. In one article the bot not only deleted a link but also deleted most of the article along with it, on the grounds that the link was a link to youtube. So the bot's owner says deleting only the link would cause problems. I don't understand that, so I asked for clarification. You responded that that's NOT what is being said. But you don't offer any alternative interpretation. You also say there's a "reasonable catch built in", but I'm wondering why I should believe that just after I see an edit where the bot deletes most of the article because a link to youtube was added. If there's something wrong with linking to youtube, the bot could delete just the link to youtube. But the alleged "reasonable" catch didn't stop if from deleting the whole article. Michael Hardy (talk) 22:59, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Well, if leaving a friendly message as it does is newby biting .. Do you think that the message is unfriendly? Does it not explain what the issue could be, and what the user can do?
We did not say that if an editor is adding a lot of good stuff and a bad link, that then it bot SHOULD revert. It does, and it gives an explanation what the editor should/can do after that. You say 'the bot is bad, because it reverts all', you have not yet asked, why does it revert all and you did not ask why we do not try to remove the link only.
The reasonable catch is that when there is a lot of data added, the bot does not revert. It also does not revert twice, it does not leave a warning on first edit (but a remark), etc. etc.
The other case it removed only the link, on a free hosting domain, where links, generally, don't add to the document.
I am sorry, you block the bot before asking questions, you say that it makes two mistakes. For one the solution is a discussion if that domain is really OK to revert. For youtube, I know that in a lot of cases, the bot is correctly reverting it, as there are problems with it, but there there is another issue at hand.
Generally, bots get blocked when owners don't respond, and not because they make a mistake. You have assumed here that the bot only makes mistakes and blocked it quickly. I am sorry, I find this a bad block. --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:15, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Duly explained: "If you were trying to insert an external link that does comply with our policies and guidelines, then please accept my creator's apologies and feel free to undo the bot's revert. However, if the link does not comply with our policies and guidelines, but your edit included other, constructive, changes to the article, feel free to make those changes again without re-adding the link. Please read Wikipedia's external links guideline for more information ..." .. is that not exactly the issue you block for? --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:17, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I started a thread below. --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:38, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

This bot is brainless

This was an incredibly bad edit. Clearly this bot both lack and badly needs human supervision. Michael Hardy (talk) 18:16, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mwaagh, in that edit three youtube links were added, which are discouraged. Yes, it also reverted earlier edits, but the tags should have remained as well, as those issues were not resolved. Some seem official movies, is the copyright on these videos OK? --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:32, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What "tags" are you referring to?

Why would there be a copyright issue on youtube videos? That's an issue for youtube, not for Wikipedia. If the videos are not on Wikipedia, but rather on youtube, then Wikipedia doesn't need permission.

The edit not only deleted some links; it deleted most of the article's content. Michael Hardy (talk) 21:21, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Nope, see WP:COPYRIGHT, and WP:ELNO, they still are discouraged. --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:36, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Just in case: "Knowingly and intentionally directing others to a site that violates copyright has been considered a form of contributory infringement in the United States (Intellectual Reserve v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry). Linking to a page that illegally distributes someone else's work sheds a bad light on Wikipedia and its editors." --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:49, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The tags {{unreferenced}}, {{cleanup}} and {{orphan}}, I meant. --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:38, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I have re-removed the external links. The first one seems professional, and has an unknown copyright status, the second one has a tag that the soundtrack has been removed, while of the third one, the Beatles track is not; still the copyright status of that is unknown. All three are not in English, the last two are original research. Though you are right about the content of the article, XLinkBot seems quite right to call these links questionable. --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:05, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think what Michael Hardy is saying is that the bot should just remove the links, not revert the entire edit. I agree. — Carl (CBM · talk) 22:24, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would agree as well, but that is simply impossible, as there are too many ways of inserting external links, and where removing the link only would leave 'debris' (empty tags, an opening asterisk on a line without content, etc. etc., or simply leaving the rest of the spam content). Gentlemen, it is a bot, bots make mistakes, they all do. We have done our utter best to make that a minimum. IMHO the bot leave a very friendly explanation of what to do when one gets reverted, explaining exactly what you here describe. Blocking this bot for that results in a lot of external links going through for the next two days, many of which violate our policies and/or guidelines. I know that it is a WAXy answer, but all of our antivandalism bots have this or similar problems, so I am tempted to say, if you want to check it all by hand ... --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:32, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
(as a note, I don't believe that removing this youtube links was a mistake, removing the rest of the edit, yes, and I think that that is where the problem lies). --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:34, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Started a thread below. --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:39, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Fresh start - explanation of reversions

It is over bedtime for me, but let me try and explain (most of these are also explained in the bot-approval):

That is impossible to filter. You can not just remove the link, as that would, expecially in the last example, not remove the spam.

Now, there are domains where there are good cases, but where the majority of the links on a domain fails, WP:EL, WP:NOT, WP:SPAM, WP:COPYRIGHT, WP:COI, etc. (not all, if it was all, we would probably blacklist them). Youtube is an example, myspace another. I have done a list of myspaces some time ago, and found that on 30 reverts, it made one 'mistake' (where the link appropriate, though there were already better ones, but lets put it in a way of: I would not have reverted that one edit). 5-7 were questionably OK, the other 23 were absolutely improper external links. You are right, there will always be cases where it reverts a good link on such servers, but if that becomes too much, then that rule should be reverted. I have planned for some time to do the same for youtube, but, as in this edit, there are often links which are questionable (here I am afraid that two break some form of copyright, one was repaired on youtube not to break copyright). Generally, the youtube links that do not break copyright and are good external links are exceptions (as they often make good references, anyway), for the rest, if they don't break copyright, they generally are not suitable as an external link because of content (a video of granny making cake is not a good external link on Cake...).

I hope this explains a bit further. This should probably be included on the userpage, though most of it is in the BRFA (the bot has actually mellowed since!). --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:38, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You could take a more middle route. For example, it is not too hard to detect (most) links that are items in the external links section. If removing all these gets rid of all the bad links on the page, then it isn't necessary to roll back the reset of the edit. If there are still bad links after you remove lines from the external links section, then reverting the rest of the edit is more justifiable.
When I looked into one example, I found there is an even simpler improvement: only revert the actual edit that added the links. For example, the bot reverted this edit because of this edit. — Carl (CBM · talk) 23:53, 11 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Whatever algorithm is used, there will always be cases which "should" have been handled another way. XLinkBot is very commonly seen in edit histories and the small number of problem reports indicates that people are generally pretty happy with what XLinkBot does. The message left by the bot is very well crafted and it should not concern any good-faith editor. If this bot were not running, there would be hundreds of youtube and other dubious links added within a week, and like all bots, an occasional mistake is considered worth the benefit. Johnuniq (talk) 01:33, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That doesn't explain why the bot reverts other edits besides the ones that add the links. I run several bots, and am quite aware of their limitations, which is why that practice seems strange. — Carl (CBM · talk) 02:22, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That is a setting, CBM. It can be changed in runtime. As I explained somewhere above, it has been done both ways in the past, and this seemed to give less problems with pages being broken than the other way (we are talking here about the optimum between 'a spammer testing some edits and finally managing to insert the working link; reverting this results in the test edits still remaining', and 'a good editor who adds quite some data and a link that offends the bot; where all gets reverted and the editor is asked to re-consider everything'. The first situation leaves debris (just like taking out the external link only), the latter leaves a clean edit; both need the text of 'reconsider that addition' anyway, both can be undone/rollbacked, etc, but the debris has to be manually removed from the edit. I don't think that reverting all edits is much more bitey or bad than reverting only one edit. We could work on trying to optimise the message and the options.
We are not talking about external links in external links sections only! There are many, many spammers who add in the body of the article 'You can by Viagra at [http://www.example.org our company] for reduced prices' .. so then we revert a possibly good link in the external links section, but not the blatant spam that is in the text. --Dirk Beetstra T C 05:40, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I could not find an example for XLinkBot, but had a look at VOABot II. It seems VOABot is reverting all as well: offending diff + offending diff + revert of both offending edits. Now I don't know if VOABot actually filters that, but it seems that it also reverts all edits by an editor.
Please keep in mind that spammers are a totally different ballpark from vandals. While vandals are generally uncoordinated editors, spammers know what they are trying to accomplish. Still, we have to make sure that good faith editors do not get a victim of that practice, but it gives a bot more an idea of the problem we are looking at. --Dirk Beetstra T C 06:22, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Better VOABot example: a vandal here adds some text to a link and removes a template, this edit does not seem too bad, I don't think that VOABot sees this as vandalism yet. In the next edit the editor removes the text, replaces it with 'nothing', a lot of newlines, and 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA made you scroll', obvious vandalism. VOABot II reverts all. --Dirk Beetstra T C 06:27, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Reverted

Just wait until I find a way to turn you off you stupid bot! I'm trying to build and article and you are being disruptive.--Spoon Maniac (talk) 00:58, 20 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

regex issue

Independent of the stuff above, I tried to witelist the domain "jeff560.tripod.com" by adding this regex to the bot:

(?<!jeff560\.)tripod\.com

That does what it should if you test it in perl, but the bot rejects it. Apparently the error message is

ALERT: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/:en:User:XLinkBot/RevertList) edited.
Faulty regex ((?<!jeff560\.)tripod\.com) inserted, see diff!!

The regex is OK, so something else is tripping. Also, the < in the message should be <. — Carl (CBM · talk) 02:41, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

huh .. that is curious. Think this is a real bug. I recall something similar in another bot, lately, which may come from api-results. I will have a look at this, and also at 'real' on-wiki whitelisting of links. --Dirk Beetstra T C 05:42, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see it alerting on the regex at the moment. If the bot regards the regex as broken due to some conversion (and it should work, the external-link extraction process works with lookahead and lookback regexes), then it will simply throw an error message in the log, and not revert (it actually should crash on it, as I missed two 'eval { };'-statements around two regex-testing-if statements. That crashing has happened before with good-faith admins who wrote broken regexes, so the crashing works ;-).
Still, that alert is worrying, there is something wrong there. I presume the alert was given by COIBot? --Dirk Beetstra T C 06:14, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes; I had contacted Versageek to say I was putting the new regex in, and she passed along the error message. — Carl (CBM · talk) 10:25, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Well, the bots are still running and operational. I'll have a look where it is broken, but I think that it is all fine. --Dirk Beetstra T C 10:38, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Melinda Caroll wiki page

Oy Vey! I don't know where to place 'hang on'. It says under the 'tag'...where is that? You have a lot of rules but not many instructions that are easy to follow.

Now you want to delete the page I created because it violates copyright of information on a web site that WE own and operate. I'm about to give up. We own www.gsmusic.com. Much of the information for the wiki page created about Melinda comes from that web site (as well as other web sites noted and referenced). This is becoming much more difficult than necessary. Do you folks receive money from people who want to have information added to wikipedia? Is that it? I'm sorry, I can't afford it. If you wish to delete the information and the page I created with text and info from a web site that we own (we own the copyright - it's OUR material) then go ahead. Thanks anyway. gerosete George Rosete 07:48, 12 October 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gerosete (talkcontribs)

The tag is the thing that makes the message, the 'speedy message', but I see it is already gone on Melinda Caroll. Regarding your website, you might want to consider reading the external links guideline and the conflict of interest guideline. Also the business FAQ could be good to read.
I think that the problem was that it seems to be copied from your website. That is, generally, a case for concern, because when you have a copyright on it, and Wikipedia copies it, then that would be a violation of the copyright, even if you yourself are giving it to us. You might want to read through the copyright policy and Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission (I think those are the two). You might want/need to transfer that permission (but I am not sure). I hope this explains. --Dirk Beetstra T C 08:29, 12 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Page Deletion

This is the page of artist Aunia Kahn, I don't understand how this is not wrtten well it is exactly like many other artists pages on Wiki. Can you help me, thanks.

  1. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since May 2009.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunia_Kahn —Preceding unsigned comment added by SaraElis (talkcontribs) 21:00, 14 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I had a look. Your argument is not a reason to do the same, maybe those other pages have issues as well. I have retagged the article. --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:40, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

welldone !

hi ! i've been watching ur anti-vandalism effort's around the clock ..... all your revert's here ( 319843685 ) were amazing ....no human could imagine working so in a jiffy ..... good luck ....& btw i wish to award u this barn star but ur user page is edit protected so im putting it here ....kindly accept ..... --Doctor muthu's muthu wanna talk ? 02:53, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar
for ur instant & productive revert's in the Hogenakkal Falls article . good luck & kind regards Doctor muthu's muthu wanna talk ? 02:53, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:38, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

why revert hot100brasil ?

I'm adding the external link: http://www.hot100brasil.com/chtalbums.html, but is reverted by bot. Why can't I quote the chart result and add the reference link?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Nicemanpower (talkcontribs)

hot100brasil.com is a depracated chart, as it has apparently a 'dubious methodology', see Wikipedia:BADCHARTS#Deprecated charts. Hence, it should not be used as a link, nor as a reference. --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:33, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Another Flawed Correction by XLinkBot

XLinkBot failed yet again at correcting false external links: On Martingrove Collegiate Institute, it claimed that my updating of a math teacher's website for homework was in reality a bad website that should be automatically reverted. Does this bot have issues with the webs.com domain? If so, could that please be added to the list of domains this bot doesn't like?

Thank you!

JamesB (talk) 03:39, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Webs.com is a free hosting site, which is, at the moment, plainly spammed by a socking account. If you look at Special:Linksearch/*.webs.com there are many that fail our external links, conflict of interest and, as I mentioned, spam guidelines. However, there will be some which do pass, and hence it is on XLinkBot, and not on the Spam blacklist (which would simply disable all linking).
If in your case you feel that the webs.com is indeed a proper and good link (I will have a look as well), then please feel free to undo the bot. I hope this explains. --Dirk Beetstra T C 06:24, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
As I said, I would have a look, and I did. I have removed a whole list of websites there, as most of them are not directly linked to the subject of the page. E.g. the website of a teacher on the school does not belong on the wikipage of the school, it belongs on the wikipage of the teacher. Also the website of the library of the school does not belong on the wikipage of the school, it belongs on the wikipage of the library of the school. If neither have wikipages, then that is not an excuse to put them on the wikipage of the school, the page of the school should link to them. I hope this explains. --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:38, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have some further questions about the links you deleted. 1) I can understand how you may have a valid argument regarding some of the teacher-related links. However, since the classes themselves are directly tied into the school (for if there were no classes, there would be no school), would it be allowed to have the external links lead directly to the webpages of the classes themselves? 2) Again, the library is a critical part of the school. Embedded near the center of the building, it is not a public library, but one run solely for the students. Why can the library be classed as 'not part of the school'? Would it be better to create a two-line stub page about the library and put the link there, and why?

Regards, JamesB (talk) 23:45, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Replies:
1) No, we are not an internet directory. We provide information on the school, not on its classes, as the classes are hardly ever notable enough for an own wiki article
2) If the library is a critical part of the school then it is prominently linked from the homepage of the school (and the toilets, the head office, and the archive are also critical parts of a school). There is hence no need to provide extra links. We are not an internet directory for the school. Nowhere did I suggest that they are 'not part of the school', but where to put the line? Do you want every part of the school that has a separate page on the website of the school to be linked from here? So for the head office, the archive, the library, and every teacher that has an own page. And for a school that may be a reasonably limited list, for a university (which is basically a very big school) ...
It is made quite simple, the pages linked should be directly linked to the subject of the page. Hence: School <-> school website. Teacher is not directly linked: School <-> teacher <-> teachers website. They are closely linked, that is true, but that is not the same.
I hope this explains. --Dirk Beetstra T C 23:11, 17 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What is wrong with my contribution on Copenhagen?

I am of good faith and I have difficulties in understanding your policies of taking off contributions without the smallest explanation

Luc Aleria —Preceding unsigned comment added by LucAleria (talkcontribs) 10:56, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is it too difficult to justify your position? Which is your position? You are not clear!!!!

Luc Aleria— Preceding unsigned comment added by LucAleria (talkcontribs)

Well, it is a bot, so it does not answer by itself, the operators have to do that, and that may take time.
I have disabled the bot, it should not have reverted your edits. I have to check. I have also reverted the bot on your edit. I am sorry for the inconvenience. --Dirk Beetstra T C 11:43, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Luc Aleria— Preceding unsigned comment added by LucAleria (talkcontribs) Thanks. I am ready to improve and to learn.

I had a bug in the bot, which now has been resolved. I had a look at the two movies, are you sure they would pass our reliable sources guideline?? --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:22, 15 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

some more references?

I guess you would require some more external references on the benchmarking method? May be then we could add references from Mc Kinsey about their cost curve and from ICCA that commissionned to Mc Kinsey a world study on carbon abatement see http://www.icca-chem.org/ICCADocs/ICCA_A4_LR.pdf. What do you think? Luc Aleria— Preceding unsigned comment added by LucAleria (talkcontribs)

That seems a better reference. By the way, you can sign automagically by typing '~~~~' at the end of your post (don't include the nowiki tags you see in the code, just the 4 tildes). --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:20, 18 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hero Quest boardgame page of wikipedia

There is a spammer that uses the ip 204.58.233.6 (ip of a national bank) that deletes every day the link of the site http://heroquestbaker.altervista.org/indexenglish.htm the only with the permission of Hasbro, publisher of Hero Quest. Can you block this spammer ?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Heroquest89 (talkcontribs)

Eh, I think you are the spammer here, Heroquest89. Did you actually read the external links guideline. Unofficial fanpages are certianly links to avoid, especially at the top of the list, and even more since you seem to have a conflict of interest. Please do NOT insert that link again, but discuss the link on the talkpage. --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:04, 17 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand why the site http://home.quicknet.nl/qn/prive/lm.broers/download.htm that is illegal for Hasbro, remains in the Hero Quest page, while the site http://heroquestbaker.altervista.org/indexenglish.htm that has the permission of Hasbro, has been deleted. Hasbro is the publisher of this game. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heroquest89 (talkcontribs) 22:01, 17 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have explained that to you last time. It is, however, NOT a reason to keep spamming YOUR link, disregarding discussion, warnings. --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:34, 17 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
And while you are here, may I ask you, as you seem to be a specialist in the field, ask you to actually improve the article, instead of only pushing a link? The article has been tagged since almost 2 years as being unreferenced. --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:38, 17 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You have right, I'm a specialist in the field, I know everything about Hero Quest. But why I would have to help wikipedia, since wikipedia deletes the ONLY link with the permission of the Hero Quest publisher ? Give me one only reason.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Heroquest89 (talkcontribs)

Of course you don't have any obligation to help us, just as we don't have any obligation to include that link. It is not like 'if you help us, you can have your link'. Fine with me. --Dirk Beetstra T C 21:03, 18 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"My link", as you call it, gives all information about Hero Quest. Information that does not exist in Wikipedia. That link gives better information about Hero Quest than Boardgamegeek. It is absurd that Wikipedia ignore "My link". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heroquest89 (talkcontribs) 13:12, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that is all fine, and I will adapt my wording. If that site 'gives all information about Hero Quest. Information that does not exist in Wikipedia.', why do you then not incorporate that information on the page, but insist in adding the link only. Whatever, whether you are involved in the site or not, also that is not a reason to insist in pushing the link, neither is 'That link gives better information about Hero Quest than Boardgamegeek'. Compare what we are not vs. what we actually are. --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:26, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

At this point, delete ALL external links for ALL pages of Wikipedia. The section "external links" has not sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heroquest89 (talkcontribs) 20:02, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

inappropriate comments and false external links!

Re: Wikipedia Page “EccoPro”.

I am the owner of the original still existing EccoPro Yahoo User Group "http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eccopro/". We not only tried to correct the false link (ecco pro, with a space!) placed by a competing Yahoo User Group owner who owns “http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ecco_pro/” but also the false and misleading claim of “(where any members are advised to use the 'hide email address' option to avoid a known problem with email harvesting bots in the group).” Please see below:

/* Ongoing EccoPro community support */

--- " ... More information is available in the following community-based support groups:

A downloadable archive of the ECCO Pro forum is also available. __

Furthermore, the competing group copied all of our original messages and offers those without giving the source as an archive in their file section. (see above!)

While we were not successful to implement the changes and link updates, Wikipedia should allow us as much space and links as they - according to the published policies - inappropriately gave competing web site and Yahoo group owners.

Charlie1945 (talk) 00:18, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And they are all inappropriate external links. Yours as well as the others. I'm sorry. I'll have a look. --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Dirk ...

As far as I know, we don’t have any links on that page. The “false” link was intentionally placed by a different writer. You clearly detect the blatant ideological slant of the page creator connected to all the present links.

We are not only the owners of the original Yahoo User group, we own CompuSol. Nowhere is our membership driven EccoPro support site mentioned. Given, we do not need to promote our site per Wikipedia, we are already on top of all search engines. Why? We were resellers and connected to Arabesque since the very early days. We pushed NetManage in 2004 to put the program in public domain (see NetManage Mail Additionally, we created in August of 2005 the EccoPro Wiki Home while NetManage considered the move to release the EccoPro source code. That is why we know of your problems of spamming and vandalism on Wiki’s and created membership requirements to access parts of our site. Please have a look at the Wiki, just hit “cancel” at the login prompt.

Thanks, Charlie1945 (talk) 14:20, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Whether or not promotion does not make much of a difference, links to yahoo groups, like you inserted here are inappropriate links. That there are (now:were) other links in that document that are (were) also inappropriate is then not the point. Also, Wikipedia would not improve your google ranking, so I'm not worried that one becomes or is the top ranking site. The information that was kept in the article was as a whole inappropriate and not encyclopedic, it does not belong here, that is information where google gives better results, or which belongs on an internet directory. I have therefore removed all of it. --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:58, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much! Charlie1945 (talk) 17:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Concerning: Adrenaline (Connecticut Band) page

I believe this page should not be deleted. Although it may be seen as a promotional advertisement, it is more than meets the eye. Musicians and singers on wikipedia have an overview or a summary of who they are, and then important events in their life and that's what it shows for Adrenaline. Additionally, they are an upcoming band so they have limited information right now. The sentences I put up are facts and not just a promotional gig. DombroskirnDombroskirn (talk) 12:44, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Just add {{hangon}} and make your case at the talkpage. I will have a look as well. --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:15, 19 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No Subject/headline

Hello, XLinkBot … there appears to be a small problem with the bot not creating a Subject/headline, such as this entry. Happy Editing! — 141.156.161.245 (talk · contribs) 10:53, 20 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm .. yes .. hmm .. XLinkBot detects if there is a header for the month on the page, and if so, does not create a new one at the bottom. But you are right, in this case that goes completely wrong, as it is not posting in that section. I will try to resolve that. Adding such a header would create a duplicate, not having the header results in the item to become in the wrong section .. this will need creative thinking. Thanks for showing me this. --Dirk Beetstra T C 12:28, 20 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I'm confused … why should it matter if there is another header with the current month in it? For this type of message, the bot should always insert a header, e.g., Revert by XLinkBot, just like many templates do by default … if you're worried about a duplication of the header because of a previous notification, well, it happens all the time with WP:PROD and WP:CSD template warnings about recreated articles … BTW, I somehow missed that this bot is one of yours … long time no see, amigo. :-) — 141.156.161.245 (talk) 19:26, 20 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
No, the problem is, that if the bot then reverts a real spammer, you might get to a handful of the same headers, each with their own warning, that becomes also confusing. There is somewhere a bit of guideline, where warnings are put into the same section with month/year in it. I am following there the same strategy that other antivandalism bots use, and maybe even Huggle and the like.
Well, the bot is technically Versageeks, it is her account. However, I am, after Shadow, the active programmer behind the bot. Bit of a joint venture. Hope to see you around! --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:24, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]
OK, how about Revert of [[ArticleName]] by XLinkBot? There is still the possibility of duplicate headers, but the bot could easily detect its own previous headers and add (2nd warning), etc. when it encounters them … as for "confusion", the reality is that multiple tags are a flag that maybe the user should be blocked, right? It should be easy enough to have the bot ping an admin or notice board when it encounters a previous tag. — 141.156.161.245 (talk) 12:40, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am thinking to try and detect the last header on the page. If that is not the standard heading, then it creates a new one, otherwise it uses that section. I'll stick to the date-format, as that most closely resembles Wikipedia:UWT#Layout. --Dirk Beetstra T C 12:43, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:XLinkBot&oldid=321306354"





This page was last edited on 22 October 2009, at 01:34 (UTC).

This version of the page has been revised. Besides normal editing, the reason for revision may have been that this version contains factual inaccuracies, vandalism, or material not compatible with the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.



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