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User:OgreBot/Commons instructions

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What

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As of December 2010, there is a very large backlog at Category:Wikipedia files with a different name on Wikimedia Commons. I (User:Magog the Ogre) created a bot to deal with the problem. There are several steps that an administrator must take before deleting an image on en.wikipedia:

  • 1) Verify the image on commons is a) the same image (or higher resolution) and b) same file type.
  • 2) Verify attribution is properly given.
  • 3) Verify the image is in fact eligible for commons.
  • 4) Verify that there isn't an image superseding the commons image (e.g., en:File:Example.jpg exists, which means we can't access.commons:File:Example.jpg).
  • 5) Delink all instances of the image on en.wp.

Why

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The community has decided a bot cannot do steps 2 or 3; it just requires too much human review. However, steps 4 and 5 can take more time than either 2 or 3. As such, I've written a bot script that:

  • Does step 4
  • Does step 5
  • Does step 1b (trivial)

Instructions

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All you have to do is
  • Be an administrator.
  • Make sure the commons name parameter is correct on the {{Now Commons}} template.
  • Tag the image with {{User:OgreBot/approved}} (if there is any interest in this bot, I will create a script to considerably quicken up the process - or I might create one anyway).
  • Wait for the bot to perform the delinkage and mark the image deletion.
A few things to note before beginning
  • If you're not an administrator, and add this template, the bot will not perform the delinkage. Message me if it's a big deal for you.
  • Beware of images with Non-ASCII characters; BotMultichillT had a bug where it misreported the filename (e.g., File:Žaliakalnio.jpg instead of File:Žaliakalnio.jpg [1]). If OgreBot can't find the image in the {{Now Commons}} template, it will look for an identical image on commons on its own.
  • I'll be doing some rescaled images manually, but don't worry about it, just tag the images as you see them.
  • The bot doesn't run all the time; it only runs when I start it up, so it might take a few days before the image is marked ready for deletion.
  • This bot is only meant to run for images with a different name on commons than on English.

How much times do you expect to save clearing out the backlog this way?

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It depends on which of the categories. Most of the images in Category:Wikipedia files with a different name on Wikimedia Commons as of unknown date are already delinked; most of the images on the dated categories are not. I expect about 10% of the former, and 50-70% of the latter. I've noticed quite a large difference when I alone have been the one using the bot.

Where do I go to report a bug or if I have a question?

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To my talk page, of course!