- Approving a trial
- Before granting a trial, consider whether the task could be controversial (e.g. most bots making non-maintenance edits to articles and most bots posting messages on user talk pages). If so, and the request does not already link to a discussion showing consensus in an appropriate forum (or silence after a reasonable waiting period), use
{{BOTREQ|advertise}} to request that that be done.
- When you are satisfied that enough time has passed for discussion and (if relevant) that any technical issues have been resolved, use
{{BotTrial}} to approve a trial run.
- AnomieBOT should then move the request from the 'open' section to the trial section, and also change the last parameter of
{{BRFA}} from 'Open' to 'Trial'.
- Approving/denying a request
- When you feel enough time has passed after the trial for discussion/analysis/improvements, and are ready to approve/deny the request (the procedure is the same for expired/withdrawn requests), add
{{subst:BT|STATUS|BOT_NAME_AND_TASK_NUMBER}} (where STATUS is Approved, Speedy, Denied, Withdrawn or Expired) to the top of the request page, replacing Category:Wikipedia bot requests for approval and the code surrounding it.
- Make any final comments along with a relevant status template (listed here), and add
{{subst:BB}} to the bottom of the page.
- Archival
- AnomieBOT will typically take care of the below; these instructions are retained for posterity and in case of any interruption in bot service. As a best practice, watchlist the relevant pages and keep an eye to ensure the bot does the needful.
- After closing the BRFA, you'll need to remove the BRFA template from whichever section it is in on the main requests page (tip: copy the template to the clipboard for use in the next step) and then archive it in the appropriate section:
- For approved requests where a bot flag is required: Click here, and add
{{BRFA|BOT_NAME|TASK_NUMBER (if needed)|Approved|~~~~~}} to the top of the list.
- For approved requests where the bot is already flagged: Click the above link and add
{{subst:BRFAA|BOT_NAME|TASK_NUMBER (if needed)|Flagged|~~~~~}}.
- For approved requests where the bot is going to run unflagged: Click the above link and add
{{subst:BRFAA|BOT_NAME|TASK_NUMBER (if needed)|Unflagged|~~~~~}}.
- For denied requests: Click here and add
{{BRFA|BOT_NAME|TASK_NUMBER (if needed)|Denied|~~~~~}} to the top of the list.
- For expired/withdrawn requests: Click here and add
{{BRFA|BOT_NAME|TASK_NUMBER (if needed)|Withdrawn/Expired|~~~~~}} to the top of the list.
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