Talk:Global message delivery

This global message delivery system (its subpages, underlying code, etc.) is based on the work of MZMcBride at the English Wikipedia, cf. w:Special:PrefixIndex/User:EdwardsBot/.

On bot flags and blocks

The script that the bot relies on tries to set the bot flag when making an edit. Obviously this only works if the bot is in the bot user group on the target wiki. Users are free to add the bot to the bot group if it's annoying them (in RecentChanges, watchlists, whatever). Users are also free to block the bot if they view it as unapproved. It makes no difference to me, it simply means that your wiki won't get deliveries (and you might hurt EdwardsBot's feelings a little). Life is short and I have no intention of trying to figure out the bot policies of 700+ Wikimedia wikis. Do what you will. --MZMcBride 03:28, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

To-do

• Put source code into a public git repo
• Add a public log for the bot
• Handle protected pages gracefully
• Assert edits (to ensure the bot isn't editing logged out)
• Add a stop feature?
• Fix up login code for homewiki

--MZMcBride 22:28, 6 September 2010 (UTC)

• Add feature to schedule distribution of multiple messages with a single /Spam page (e.g. if you want to send translated messages). Nemo 05:36, 3 July 2011 (UTC)
• Make it compatible with pages where mw:Extension:LiquidThreads is enabled (example / fixed version ).
• Add a link to this Meta-wiki page on edit summary.

Helder 14:05, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

I striked your second point. Sorry, I thought about it but then forgot to do it; I've added it to the documentation. Nemo 19:30, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

• Support magic words in {{target}}? Bleh. --MZMcBride 13:09, 19 July 2011 (UTC) Done. --MZMcBride 20:53, 23 November 2011 (UTC)

> except that here the duplicate detection doesnt seem to have worked; https://as.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Project:%E0%A7%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%B0_%E0%A6%9A%27%E0%A7%B0%E0%A6%BE&action=history&uselang=en

> and a really minor weirdness: on this project the bot doesn't leave an edit summary (but the edit itself is ok) https://eu.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Txokoa&action=history&uselang=en

> another undetected duplicate https://hu.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikip%C3%A9dia:Kocsmafal_%28egy%C3%A9b%29&diff=10917154&oldid=10917139

> this list entry points to a redirect, but the target of the redirect should be working - dont know why the bot didnt post there https://ia.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Taverna

Possibly future investigations. --MZMcBride 13:40, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Village pumps

Local village pumps are often used for global communications, but it's quite boring to edit them manually. What about implementing a global message delivery for all sort of pages including VP? --Nemo 07:26, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

This should be fixed now. You can use {{target|page=arbitrary page title|site=foo.wikiproject.org}}. --MZMcBride 17:55, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Request subpage

Hi. :) I'm wondering if a request subpage for this system would be possible and have explained that and my reasoning for it at Wikimedia Forum#Global message delivery. Please provide feedback, if you have any. I think it may not be safe for staff to be driving this thing unless we are familiar with work of this sort, and my first experience with it yesterday was pretty terrifying! (It's not like you can easily "undo". :/) --Mdennis (WMF) 12:43, 22 October 2011 (UTC)

Minor nitpick...

A little funny actually, but something someone may want to look at. A message recently left on the English Wikipedia's Village Pump (en:Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)#Open Call for 2012 Wikimedia Fellowship Applicants included an apology that the message was in English, and an invitation to translate it. Nice feature for when a translation in a particular language isn't available, but it looks a bit silly in a posting on an English site.--Fyre2387 19:56, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, that's a bit silly. I'm not sure what the answer is to fixing that. I suppose the bot could be fed the input language code and modify the message based on that, but it's an awful lot of additional code complexity for something so minor. Modifying the message would work and would be much simpler. There are two routes, I suppose. One is to modify the message in such a way that you're not apologizing. Something like... "If this message is in a language other than what's commonly used on this wiki, please help by posting a translation of the message below." A better solution would be using some combination of {{CONTENTLANG}} and substitution magic. {{#ifeq:{{CONTENTLANG}}|en|<!-- no message -->|Apologies for posting in English...}} or something. --MZMcBride 05:17, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the hint about {{CONTENTLANG}} (I had been looking for that magic word); will try to do it like that next time. Regards, Tbayer (WMF) 07:39, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

distribution list for Wikisource

I've created Distribution list/Global message delivery/Wikisource for distributing messages to all Wikisource projects (I hope to have put it in the right place). Is it possible to include in the access list some sysops from Wikisource projects? for example Tpt may need it, since it has launched a tool for epub export that is available from all Wikisources, and he may need to tell about updates, etc. And many sysops, me included, are continuously developing new tools that may help a lot if they are shared with the other 'sources, sometimes they are announced on oldwikisource:Wikisource:Scriptorium which is the closest thing to a "central place of discussion", but few users actually look at it, so they miss the news (and complain!). Candalua 23:23, 11 January 2012 (UTC)

Makes sense. I have added Tpt to the access list in case he wants to use it, feel free to list other users' names in case they need it. Regards, Tbayer (WMF) 01:57, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

typo

"Report any problems on the labs beta wiki and we'll work to address them before they software is released to the production wikis." --Itu 03:48, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I have notified MarkAHershberger, who sent out that message. Regards, Tbayer (WMF) 13:49, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

MediaWiki 1.19 deployment message

Hi. I'm planning to use the global message delivery system tomorrow to give local communities a heads-up about the upcoming deployment of MediaWiki 1.19 to Wikimedia sites. The message is at mw:MediaWiki 1.19/Communications#Pre-deployment_heads-up message. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks. guillom 21:30, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Aren't we going to use the CentralNotice already? This doesn't seem the suitable tool on first thought. Nemo 21:35, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

No, CentralNotice will only be for the maintenance notice, i.e. when the deployment actually happens. My goal here is to let people know in advance, and CentralNotice didn't seem like the right way for that. I'm open to suggestions though. guillom 21:37, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Pasting such a message on village pumps seems too much. We could perhaps recycle the CentralNotice text to link to the blog with an earlier banner and restrict it to sysops or very active users. Ideally, you'd link to a mw.o translatable page so that translations can flow in smoothly if wanted. Nemo 21:39, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Nemo and I had a short IRC discussion about this, pasted below for transparency. guillom 21:50, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

<guillom> Nemo_bis, do you really think it's worth translating the full announcement?
<Nemo_bis> guillom, no
<Nemo_bis> but when you paste English text on VPs, usually someone translates them
<guillom> Ah.
<Nemo_bis> and this is a huge waste of time because then the translation then has to be replicated on several projects etc.
<Nemo_bis> having walls of English texts is hardly appreciated
<guillom> I see.
<guillom> Nemo_bis, so, you think it'd be better to globally post a small message, linking to the announcement on a mediawiki.org page that can be translated if people want to do it?
<Nemo_bis> yes
<Nemo_bis> or use a CN if possible
<guillom> I think you have a point, and I agree with you. Not sure if I'll use CN, but I'll use a shorter version in any case.

An update: the message is now on a dedicated page on mediawiki.org, and it can be translated with the Translate extension (I translated it to French to make sure everything was set up correctly for the other translators). I propose the following short message to be globally posted:

== MediaWiki 1.19 ==

(Apologies if this message isn't in your language.) The Wikimedia Foundation is planning to upgrade MediaWiki
(the software powering this wiki) to the latest version this month. You can help to test it before it is enabled,
to avoid disruption and breakage. More information is available [[:mw:MediaWiki 1.19/Deployment announcement|in
the full announcement]]. Thank you for your understanding.

[[:m:user:guillom|Guillaume Paumier]]

I want to let the wikis know as soon as possible about this, so we don't really have time to organize translations for this short message. I think an untranslated message is less obnoxious on a village pump than in a CentralNotice banner, so I'll probably use the global message delivery system for this later today. I hope this is ok. guillom 12:06, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

I'm ok with it, I hope you don't mind the hassle I added on you. :-) Nemo 12:08, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Not at all, I appreciate your comments and feedback! Without you I wouldn't have realized a short message linking to a longer announcement was better :) guillom 12:10, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Marking directionality of messages

FYI: <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=477067676#RTL_on_talk_pages>. --MZMcBride 20:42, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Further to-do

• Add a position parameter (support in target template, &section= support in edit code..., try not to break regexen)
• Put the code on GitHub somewhere

--MZMcBride (talk) 01:43, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Requesting Access

I would like to be listed on the Access page. I'm volunteer coordinator for WikiProject India. We have problems contacting our vast member list. For various reasons, other bots have not worked out as yet. I'd be glad if this bot can help. AshLin (talk) 06:01, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Where is the list maintained and how, and what messages would you send? Nemo 11:04, 11 March 2012 (UTC)