Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/CapsuleBot

The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at Wikipedia:Bots/Noticeboard. The result of the discussion was Denied.

CapsuleBot

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Operator: Capsulecap (talk · contribs · SUL · edit count · logs · page moves · block log · rights log · ANI search)

Time filed: 19:05, Saturday, May 21, 2022 (UTC)

Function overview: This bot will look for user warnings placed on the Wikipedia sandbox. It will remove any user warnings placed in the sandbox and inform the user who added it on their talk page.

Automatic, Supervised, or Manual: Automatic

Programming language(s): Python

Source code available: Not available yet.

Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate): [1]

Edit period(s): Continuous (every 20 seconds)

Estimated number of pages affected: 1

Namespace(s): Wikipedia, User talk

Exclusion compliant (Yes/No): No

Function details: Every 20 seconds, the bot will look in WP:Sandbox for any user warning templates. If it finds a warning, it will look for the user who added it and post a message on their talk page which explains why using sandboxes for user warnings is a bad idea, additionally linking to User talk:Sandbox for user warnings. There is no need to add exclusion compliance to this bot as it will only be editing one page besides user talk pages.

Discussion

cyberbot I already clears out the sandbox every couple of hours hour, is this really necessary? Primefac (talk) 20:04, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

Also, I see no indication that User warnings are not allowed (as stated by the BOTREQ request). Where is this instruction given? Primefac (talk) 20:31, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

As CyberBot only clears the sandbox once every three hours, warning messages can stay on it for a long time if not removed by other users. Sometimes the sandbox may not be edited for over an hour before another user or CyberBot edits it. WP:WARNSAND explains the rule in detail, including its purpose. It mentions that new users may be confused by user warnings on the sandbox, believing that they have done something that violates the policies of Wikipedia or have been blocked. This bot looks for user warnings much more frequently than CyberBot clears the page -- every 20 seconds. Capsulecap ^{(talk • contribs)} 21:22, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

Fair enough; I would argue this restriction is not obviously known, but it leads me to my second question - how frequently does this happen? If cyberbot blanks the sandbox every hour (assuming a post is made in that hour, and yes, it is every hour), and there are an average of 120 posts a day, this implies that there are about 5 posts per hour; since the average posts-per-user is 4.1, this implies that any warnings tested by a user will likely be blanked by the bot (being the fifth edit) before anyone else would see it.

In other words, to come at it from a numerical standpoint, how many warnings are left in the sandbox in a typical day? Unless it's a higher number than I'm expecting (which is somewhere in the neighbourhood of "less than once a day per user" and "all within the same hour") I just don't see this as a necessary task. Primefac (talk) 07:57, 22 May 2022 (UTC)

• I don't see any reason this is needed, as there is no established consensus that such templates may not be tested in this sandbox. — xaosflux ^Talk 15:22, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
• Denied. There is no demonstrated need, policy requirement, or general consensus for this to happen. Primefac (talk) 08:16, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. To request review of this BRFA, please start a new section at Wikipedia:Bots/Noticeboard.