The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. The result of the discussion was Approved for AWB newsletter delivery.

Operator: WODUP

Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic

Programming Language(s): AWB

Function Summary: Message subscribers to Wikipedia:WikiProject WikipediaWeekly/delivery

Edit period(s) (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): As needed, usually not more than once per week

Already has a bot flag (Y/N):

Function Details: The bot would deliver a notification to subscribers that a Wikipedia Weekly episode has been released.

In addition to the function stated above, I also intend to use the bot's account to manually create requested accounts (Wikipedia:ACC), as flagged bots are not stopped by the 6-per-IP-per-day account creation limit, but are stopped by the anti-spoof feature. WODUP 04:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can you explain why this task is a necessary part of a notification bot? I also don't understand why you can't use the Account tool. AKAF (talk) 16:36, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't really matter what kind of bot; any bot-flagged account would do. It just so happens that I could use it for both tasks.

I do use the tool, but it does not create accounts itself. It lists requested accounts, and users come back to Wikipedia to create those accounts. If the account was created, the user tells the tool, and it e-mails the user. If the name is too similar to an old, unused or barely used account, the user tells the tool, and that request is flagged as needing an administrator to create the account. Etc. WODUP 17:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm a bit surprised this isn't already a part of the administrator allowances (Were a user to not have the bit, I'd have a problem with this function). AKAF (talk) 17:22, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators can already create any account that's not taken, so I could do that now, but I'd never be warned that it's similar to an existing account. Admin accounts are stopped by neither the IP creation limit nor the anti-spoof; bot accounts aren't hit with the IP creation limit, but are stopped by the anti-spoof. WODUP 17:31, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Theses tasks are very disparate; I don't think I really like the idea of using a bot account to create more accounts, what type of volume would you be expecting to process this way? — xaosflux ^Talk 02:12, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As I write this, there are 242 outstanding requests on the Toolserver tool. Some of these will undoubtedly require a sysop account to create, and some may be declined as too similar to an existing active account, taken, a violation of the username policy, or for technical reasons.

There are about 70 account requests per day. I wouldn't cover all of the requests in a given day, and not all of those that I would close would be created by the bot-flagged account. I estimate that I would create maybe 30 or so accounts a day with the bot account after any existing backlog is cleared.

Why don't you like the idea of using a bot-flagged account to process these requests? Maybe I haven't been clear, but the account creation would not be automated at all, and it would be made very clear on the bot account's user page that all account creations are manually done. WODUP 04:28, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the quick reply. By nature bot flagged accounts are designed for doing automated tasks, not as a means to bypass other technical restrictions for manual use, (in this case an account creations throttle). A preferable method may be to have the 'too similiar' check happen for admins, but allow override. Not sure where if there was previous discussion as to why bots need this exemptions already. Note, this is in no way a concern that YOU will create inappropriate accounts. — xaosflux ^Talk 11:16, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure why bot accounts are exempt from the account creation throttle, but it may have been precisely because whoever developed the feature foresaw a possible need for unthrottled but otherwise unprivileged account creation. Or maybe they just generally felt that an account-creation bot might, in some circumstances, make sense. Warning sysops when they're creating an account too similar to an existing one would be nice, but needs someone to take the time to write it. In the mean time, using a bot account instead makes perfect sense as a precautionary workaround. Aren't people already doing that, anyway? I always kind of assumed they'd be, given the obvious advantages. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 16:04, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec-shows how long I was working on this one) That's a good idea, filed as bugzilla:13917. WODUP 16:27, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

bugzilla:13426 already exists so I am marking 13917 a dupe of that; just so you know. GDonato (talk) 16:39, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. WODUP 17:10, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just so you know, I regularly use User:SQLBot to create accounts. It's done manually, and, the only way right now to create the requested accounts (more than 6 a day, we get about 100 requests a day), without ignoring dupes. I should note, that SQLBot is presently the #1 account creator on the english wikipedia. It's not a huge deal. SQL^{Query me!} 05:17, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If the second task is to be approved, it is dissimilar enough from the other to warrant the creation of a secondary account. — Werdna talk 12:07, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd be inclined to allow WODUP to use the same account for both tasks, precisely because they're so different; it is unlikely that there could be any confusion between the two. That said, based on the comments so far I'd say a separate account, or at least a separate approval request later for a secondary task on the same account, might be the easiest option. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 16:04, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) I could create another account to use just for that. I included both tasks in this request because if I were going to use a bot account for just one of these purposes, I wouldn't have asked; I didn't think that I'd be given a bot flag just to send messages to subscribers; it isn't a critical task and an overwhelming one to do manually (though my clicking finger does sometimes get tired), and I didn't think that I'd be given a bot flag solely to bypass the technical restriction (even for a good reason such as quickly creating requested accounts so as not to lose potential contributors), but because I could make use of the flag to do both of these tasks, I figured that there was at least a fair chance that it'd be approved and placed the request. WODUP 16:27, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if it's within remit of the approvals group, but FWIW, I would support you in getting a botflag for a second account. — Werdna talk 05:19, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, thanks for your input. This request is now just for the AWB bot task. I've made a request at Wikipedia:BN to have another account flagged for the account creations. WODUP 03:59, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Approved for trial (7 days). Please provide a link to the relevant contributions and/or diffs when the trial is complete. — Werdna talk 04:10, 4 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

((BAGAssistanceNeeded))  Done WODUP 23:51, 8 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

 Approved. for AWB newsletter delivery. Gimmetrow 05:30, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.