User:RussBot

This user account is a bot operated by R'n'B (talk). It is used to make repetitive automated or semi-automated edits that would be extremely tedious to do manually, in accordance with the bot policy. The bot is approved and currently active – the relevant request for approval can be seen here. Administrators: if this bot is malfunctioning or causing harm, please block it.

This is the user account for a bot.

Pursuant to the policies enumerated at WP:BOTS, the following information is provided for the edification of the Wikipedia community:

• Describe the bot's purpose, language it uses, what program(s) it uses (pywikipedia framework, etc)

The bot uses Python and the pywikipedia bot framework. It currently has five areas of operation, as follows:

1. I use it to bypass links to disambiguation pages. Edits made for this purpose are identified as "Robot-assisted", because the bot only identifies links that may need to be bypassed and presents a menu of options to the human operator (me). No link is changed unless the human operator selects it manually, so please do not leave messages on my Talk page suggesting that the bot has run amok because you don't agree with a particular link change. You may disagree with my judgment, which is all part of the process of achieving consensus, but at least realize that it is an issue of judgment and not an error in programming a bot. (Yes, I do occasionally hit the wrong key and foul up a link, but I try to be diligent about correcting those quickly.)
2. I use it to fix double redirects. This process requires less human judgment; typically, if page [[Foo]] is a redirect to [[Bar]] and [[Bar]] is a redirect to [[Baz]], the bot can automatically bypass this and point [[Foo]] directly to [[Baz]]. However, there are exceptions, usually when one or the other of the redirects includes a redirect template. In these cases, human intervention is needed to decide how to resolve the redirect. Therefore, this aspect of the bot runs only under manual supervision.
3. I use it to update the lists of disambiguation pages on Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages maintenance and Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links/problems.
4. I use it to move pages from redirected categories into the correct target category. Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RussBot As part of this task, (a) any double-redirected categories that are detected will automatically be fixed, and (b) any new hard-redirected categories will be converted into soft redirects.
5. I use it to fix incorrect talk page redirects. Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RussBot 2. This task runs periodically after a new database dump becomes available. This task is obsolete and no longer used.
6. I use it to add Template:R to disambiguation page to redirects that qualify for it. Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RussBot 3.
7. I use it to fix intentional links to disambiguation pages in hatnotes. Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RussBot 4.
8. I use it to create redirect pages for use as intentional links to disambiguation pages. Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RussBot 5.

• Describe whether it is manually assisted or automatically scheduled to run

All bot operations except (1) are capable of running without manual assistance, but most of them are not scheduled to run automatically (that is, I start them manually as needed). The disambiguation page maintenance script (3) and category redirect maintenance script (4) are automatically scheduled.

• The period, if any, we should expect it to run

The manually assisted functions are run whenever it is convenient for me. The disambiguation maintenance script runs once per week, usually early Sunday morning (U.S. time). The category redirect script runs daily, in the early morning (U.S.) hours. Tasks (6), (7), and (8) currently are running approximately once per month, depending on how much of a backlog develops.

• Describe who the maintainer is

User:R'n'B

• Add the bot's user page to Category:Wikipedia bots

Done; see below.

If you have any issues with my operations, please contact my operator.