User talk:Merge bot

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Hi Merge bot! Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia.
Be our guest at the Teahouse! The Teahouse is a friendly space where new editors can ask questions about contributing to Wikipedia and get help from peers and experienced editors. I hope to see you there! Hajatvrc (I'm a Teahouse host)

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This message was delivered automatically by your robot friend, HostBot (talk) 01:17, 25 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
How cute, a bot inviting another bot to tea. Unfortunately it will be some time before Merge bot has the intelligence of Watson and will be able to intelligently participate ;) Wbm1058 (talk) 16:03, 9 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Bots

You are receiving this message because a technical change may affect a bot, gadget, or user script you have been using. The breaking change involves API calls. This change has been planned for two years. The WMF will start making this change on 30 June 2015. A partial list of affected bots can be seen here: https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikitech-l/2015-June/081931.html This includes all bots that are using pywikibot compat. Some of these bots have already been fixed. However, if you write user scripts or operate a bot that uses the API, then you should check your code, to make sure that it will not break.

What, exactly, is breaking? The "default continuation mode" for action=query requests to api.php will be changing to be easier for new coders to use correctly. To find out whether your script or bot may be affected, then search the source code (including any frameworks or libraries) for the string "query-continue". If that is not present, then the script or bot is not affected. In a few cases, the code will be present but not used. In that case, the script or bot will continue working.

This change will be part of 1.26wmf12. It will be deployed to test wikis (including mediawiki.org) on 30 June, to non-Wikipedias (such as Wiktionary) on 1 July, and to all Wikipedias on 2 July 2015.

If your bot or script is receiving the warning about this upcoming change (as seen at https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=allpages ), it's time to fix your code!

Either of the above solutions may be tested immediately, you'll know it works because you stop seeing the warning.

Do you need help with your own bot or script? Ask questions in e-mail on the mediawiki-api or wikitech-l mailing lists. Volunteers at m:Tech or w:en:WP:Village pump (technical) or w:en:Wikipedia:Bot owners' noticeboard may also be able to help you.

Are you using someone else's gadgets or user scripts? Most scripts are not affected. To find out if a script you use needs to be updated, then post a note at the discussion page for the gadget or the talk page of the user who originally made the script. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 19:03, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Separate pages for each task

Category:Mersey built ships

Who approved this bot mangeling this category and where is the discussion? Kitchen Knife (talk) 22:24, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

(talk page stalker) Merge bot did not mangle the category in any way (it didn't exist with that spelling prior to the bot's actions, and doesn't exist now). All it did is move old history from one place to another. I'll answer your question anyway: the bot was approved by an editor who has since courtesy vanished per a discussion at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Merge bot 2 * Pppery * it has begun... 22:30, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Ok I apologize, WHo deleted that Catrgpty and incorrectly merged it the SHip built on Merseyside.Kitchen Knife (talk) 22:34, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Fayenatic london, implementing the consensus at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2018 May 3#Foo-built_ships. * Pppery * it has begun... 22:50, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The bot's history-merge was of edits left behind after the move approved at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2007 September 14#Ships built in the United Kingdom by dockyards. – wbm1058 (talk) 01:19, 8 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Princess Diaries

Hi. The bot is doing something that I think is unintended on The Princess Diaries, specifically, repeatedly adding the text The Princess Diaries, Volume II: within one of the parameters of the merge template. See page history. Cheers, SunloungerFrog (talk) 09:17, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Garbage in, garbage out. I ran the bot again; should have been cleaned up. Not worth my time to attempt any coding changes to catch this. – wbm1058 (talk) 11:25, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Merge bot not editing & possible use for pending mergers

wbm1058, Merge bot hasn't updated the logs in a few days now. Is this a known issue?

I noticed because I recently transcluded the log pages directly onto Wikipedia:Proposed article mergers since the manual list wasn't very useful. We're trying to make the merger process more useful, and we've also considered that a set of Wikipedia:Being merged/Log pages could be created using {{Being merged}} to track mergers that have consensus but still need to be completed. But I don't know how big of a workload this would be or if there are any other considerations. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 🛸 03:50, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the notice. It was working fine as recently as Wednesday, November 12, 2025 5:00:03 PM. Something happened since then to break it, which I wasn't aware of until you just posted your message here. Investigating... wbm1058 (talk) 12:11, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Well, duh!
@ 22:34, 13 November 2025 JJMC89 bot III moved page Category:Articles to be merged to Category:Articles proposed for merging without leaving a redirect (Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 October 14#Articles to be merged)
Nobody bothered to inform the bot operator (me) about that discussion! wbm1058 (talk) 13:05, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Not even FaviFake. I don't really actively watch that page, I'm too busy to use watch-lists very much. You can't change the bot's coding by editing its user page. Only I can change the bot's code, because it resides locally on my PC. User:Merge bot/proposedmergers.php is merely a copy of the code running on my personal machine. – wbm1058 (talk) 13:28, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Wbm1058 The reason I didn't notify you is that I was fully unaware of the existence of a bot that managed proposed merge logs, even after my CfD was closed. Actually, I don't think your bot is mentioned anywhere in any category, template documentations like those of {{Merge}} and {{Being merged}}, or how-tos like WP:MERGE. I'm guessing that the closer @Pppery also had no idea?
I'm glad it's fixed now, but I think it should be advertised somewhere to prevent these misunderstandings from happening in the future. FaviFake (talk) 15:08, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@FaviFake: somewhere is Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge#Tagged articles (This section is updated by Merge bot). I see that you edited Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Merge#Is this considered consensus? in August, and more recently put a table of contents on the project page (fix newline?!). You could add your name to the participants list. GenQuest (talk · contribs), #13 on that list (right below me), has worked on mergers (through the PM noticeboard) since October 2012. I've thought about replacing that with something bot-managed, but didn't want to step on anyone's toes. For more background, you may review User talk:wbm1058#Wikipedia "Merge" like WP:RM or WP:AFD. – wbm1058 (talk) 17:17, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Wbm1058: @FaviFake: @Pppery: If you can make a Bot do more of the merge process, please have at it. We've discussed this before, and realized the difficulty of merging two articles together without human input. But, things change. Perhaps AI would be wholly or partially helpful in Project Merge? I've stepped away from the project the last two years for various reasons, but am now slowly getting my toes wet again. GenQuest "scribble" 01:04, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I'm probably the least technical person here, but I fully support a bot for the ~200 pages currently being merged! We're discussing this at Wikipedia talk:Proposed article mergers § What should we do with § Articles currently being merged?. FaviFake (talk) 09:54, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
somewhere is Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge#Tagged articles
I've never read that long page in full, and I don't believe that small mention will be enough to prevent this from happening in the future.
(fix newline?!)
Yes, I fixed an accidental newline. And the TOC for V22 users since, as I said, the page is long. FaviFake (talk) 17:23, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I knew about merge bot with one part of my brain, but it didn't come to mind when processing that CfD, probably because there was so much other stuff to do there that I was focusing on the more direct technical consequences (make sure the templates poplulate the new category, update links, etc.). Sorry for the trouble - I should have done better there. * Pppery * it has begun... 15:11, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
 Fixed by bot version 2.0 – wbm1058 (talk) 13:59, 17 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@FaviFake: You never read that long page in full, but now you expect me to read this long discussion in full?! The basic problem here is that we have lots and lots of editors around here proposing merges, but then expecting someone else to actually do the merge. I figure if something has been "currently being merged" for over a month, and it's still on that list, then it is not actually currently being merged and should simply just be removed from the list. Editors requesting consensus to merge articles should be willing to do it themselves after they get consensus. Unlike requested moves, everyone can merge articles – you don't need to be an admisistrator to do it. – wbm1058 (talk) 13:03, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You "never read that long page in full", but now you expect me to read this long discussion in full?!
@Wbm1058: No, I was not replying to you.
if something has been "currently being merged" for over a month, and it's still on that list, then it is not actually currently being merged and should simply just be removed from the list.
The name of Category:Articles currently being merged is misleading. There are ~200 pages, going as far back as 2019, which have reached a consensus to merge. None of them are actually being merged right now. FaviFake (talk) 13:45, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@FaviFake: Well then, Category:Articles to be merged would be a less-misleading name, then, wouldn't it – wbm1058 (talk) 14:38, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Wbm1058 That's a bit vague imo, as that same name was used for discussions that didn't have consensus, so it might be confusing to some. Maybe Category:Articles with consensus to merge? FaviFake (talk) 14:42, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Rest assured I will notify you next time i create a CfD for this category :) FaviFake (talk) 14:43, 22 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Merge_bot