Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser

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AutoWikiBrowser 6.2.1.0

This is the discussion page for the AWB project. It is also the place to discuss using the AWB program itself (if you need help, or have a question about AWB, etc.). Where to make specific types of reports or requests is explained in the Before you post section below. Before asking questions, please read the Frequently asked questions below.

Before you post[edit]

Do you want to ... Please use
Report a bug or request a feature in AWB? Check reported tasks before filing a new task. You do not need to create another account there; just log in with your normal Wikimedia account. See this MediaWiki wiki page on how to report bugs and request features on Phabricator.
Report a bug details

Try to report bugs in the current version of the software. Update to the most recent version and check to make sure your bug has not been reported already on this page. See "How to Report Bugs Effectively" for advice on how to write bug reports.

Before posting anything related to non-Wikimedia Foundation wikis, verify that the site is running a recent version of MediaWiki with enabled Bot API. Older versions of MediaWiki or without the Bot API are not supported. Be sure to mention the exact URL of your wiki.

Request a feature details

Please use the feature request button to add new feature requests. This format allows the developers to keep track of feature requests. Take some time to search the archives, both on-wiki and on Phabricator to check whether a similar request was previously discussed.

Report an incorrectly fixed typo? Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/Typos
Request approval to use AWB? Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/AutoWikiBrowser
Ask a question about AWB or ask for help? This page

Frequently asked questions[edit]

Frequently asked questions
  • When I start it up I get one of the following errors:
    "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.", or
    "To run this application, you must first install one of the following versions of the .NET Framework..."
    This error means your computer does not have the .NET framework version 2 installed properly. You can choose from various versions for download here, or you can run Windows Update and select version 2 of the .Net framework from the "Optional Updates" section, if you want the choice made for you.
  • Does AWB run on Linux or Mac?
  • Does AWB work on other projects and languages?
    Many Wikimedia projects and languages are supported, see the "User and project preferences" option in the general menu. Other languages will be added on request, though at the moment the interface is always in English. You are also able to use AWB with third-party wikis: Options > Preferences > Site, you can change the wiki there. The wiki must support the Bot API required by AWB. This means that it should have latest HEAD version of MediaWiki or something close to that. The wmf-deployment branch is also recommended, as this is what is currently live on WMF sites.
  • Under Windows Vista (and newer), AWB is using wrong font size, which results in clipped text and lost buttons and options, (see example here). How to fix it?
    Tracked in Phabricator
    Task T103506
    • Solution #1: Go to "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display" and switch resizing of the fonts to 100%.
    • Solution #2: Right click on AutoWikiBrowser.exe --> Properties -> Compatibility (tab) --> enable the "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" option or for Windows 10, if available, select System (Enhanced).
  • AWB puts stubs after categories, though categories are always rendered the last by MediaWiki?
    According to WP:STUB#Categorizing stubs, by convention they are placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear last. If your wiki uses another order, please let us know here.
  • I don't like or use Internet Explorer; please use Firefox instead.
    AWB does not use Internet Explorer per se. It does, however, use the same web browser control (MSHTML) as Internet Explorer; the equivalent Firefox component does not provide the needed functionality.
  • How do I open the page in another browser if I can't use the one in AWB?
    Right click on the edit box in the bottom right side of your screen. Select "Open page in browser".
  • How do I edit a page that doesn't exist?
    Uncheck "Ignore non existing pages" in the "Skip articles" box.
  • How do I skip certain articles?
    Use the "Skip if contains" and "Skip if doesn't contain" on the "Skip" tab
  • Can't you leave up a "stable" version, so I don't have to download new versions?
    It is important to keep people up to date with the latest versions, because their use of the software doesn't just affect them, but the whole of Wikipedia. As any bugs that remain will be trivial, hopefully releases won't be too frequent.
  • How can I stop AWB clicking when it changes pages?
    This is a Windows sound theme setting. This page explains how to turn off the clicking sound.
    Alternatively, delete the following key from the Windows registry:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\Explorer\Navigating\.Current
  • AWB randomly crashes upon page load on my system, and I always use a browser other than Internet Explorer when using Wikipedia.
    You may have installed custom scripts incompatible with IE. Wrap the contents of your monobook.js into conditional:
               //Detect IE5.5+
               if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE")==-1)
               {
                   // Previous contents go here
                   ....
               }
  • I get Just In Time Debugger Messages when loading AWB/loading pages.
    In Internet Explorer, go to Tools → Options → Advanced. Make sure 'Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer)' and 'Disable Script Debugging (Other)' Are both checked. Press apply and close.
  • Why does AWB run very, very slowly if I try to make changes in the edit window on larger pages, especially pages with long lists or tables?
    If running on Windows, exit the Speech Recognition software that is built into some versions of Windows; don't just turn it 'Off', you must 'Exit' the software if you have started up Speech Recognition.
  • When I do a clean install of AutoWikiBrowser the application seems to find old setting data somewhere. I'd like to do a really clean install. Any ideas?
    Clean up your registry and remove the folder "C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser" (Windows XP) or "C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\" (Windows 7). Note that the application data folder may be hidden.
  • AWB prompts that there is a newer version but won't update
    Check the version number of your AWBUpdater.exe. The current version is 2.4.0.0. If you have an older version, you have to download the latest AWB version and make a clean install.
  • Which .NET Framework version do I have?
    You can find your .NET Framework version in Help → About box.
  • Where are the default settings stored?
    • Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\AutoWikiBrowser
    • Windows Vista onwards: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\AutoWikiBrowser\Default.xml
  • I cannot copy text from the diff window using the Control+C keyboard shortcut.
    You must have Microsoft.mshtml.dll available for AWB to use for this functionality to work. You can try downloading the file (there are a number of third-party websites offering DLL file downloads) and putting it in the same folder as AutoWikiBrowser.exe. This is reported not to work for all users, presumably due to .NET Framework problems.
  • Is there any way to set AWB to not use https? (GFW blocks 443 port)
    In preferences, set project to "custom". Set the left box to http. In the webpage box, type en.wikipedia.org/w/ (English Wikipedia) or zh.wikipedia.org/w/ (Chinese Wikipedia). Note that leaving off the /w/ will result in a "root element missing" error.
  • How do I login to AWB with accounts enabled with two-factor authentication?
    You should use a bot password. Despite the name, they aren't just for bots. See Wikipedia:Using AWB with 2FA.

Discussion[edit]

Hide and seek[edit]

AWB is playing hide-and-seek with me. It's done it before but previously, I won; this time AWB is winning. Basically, when I start it up, the software window opens up outside the visible screen area. I've always managed to "find it" and dragged it back onto the visible screen. Not this time. Any suggestions? I'm using Windows 10, a laptop and generally an external screen or two. Schwede66 22:50, 1 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The following Windows shortcuts are good for moving windows around a screen: WindowsKey+UpArrow to maximize, WindowsKey+RightArrow and WindowsKey+LeftArrow to move to the right/left half of a screen. Should work as long as the AWB window has the focus (for example, right when you open the application). Hope that helps. –Novem Linguae (talk) 23:27, 1 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. No, that didn't sort it; I suspect it's not designed for those Windows shortcuts to work. However, I've won the game. For the benefit of others, here's what I did. Open two instances of AWB. Right-clicking on the icon in the task bar opens a window with three options; choose "X Close window". That brings up a third AWB window where you are supposed to confirm that you really want to exit; this does show up on one of the screens. When you now right-click on the icon in the task bar it shows three preview windows (two instances of AWB proper and the "confirm to exit" window). Right-clicking into one of the AWB instances now gives you the option to maximise the window and there it appears. What a palaver! I wish it wouldn't do that. Schwede66 12:22, 2 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
There's another way that I used to use a lot under older Windows versions, but it requires some dexterity. Also I just figured that Windows 10 has an extra step compared with the old way. 1. Hover over the icon in the taskbar. 2. When the ghost window appears, slide onto it and RIGHT click. 3. In the popup menu, LEFT click on Move. The cursor will turn into a cross and wander somewhere random on the screen. 4. LEFT click and hold; you are now moving the window so swipe back and forward until it appears. David Brooks (talk) 15:46, 2 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
So, I have a monitor that will turn off completely when my computer sleeps (it's really a TV, but don't tell it that, you'd hurt its feelings). When I wake my computer, because that monitor is off, programs get trapped on that monitor. I don't know if this is your problem, but try ensuring that your monitors are turned on when your computer stops sleeping, and turn them off if they're not. Izno (talk) 13:59, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The other thing that might be happening is that its minimizing to tray. You check there normally, right? Izno (talk) 14:13, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

New feature in AWB replacing valid bold followed by "s" with 's template?[edit]

When I saw one of these AWB edits replacing a valid '''s with ''{{'s}}, I thought it was a one-off, but now I have found at least four of them by three different editors. If this is a new feature of AWB, please turn it off until it can avoid false positives. Thanks. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:12, 9 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Here's another edit that might help narrow down when this buggy feature was added. Note that the previous edit was also performed with AWB. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:15, 9 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Jonesey95: I have disabled one of the newest rules at WP:AWB/T. Smasongarrison (talk · contribs), could you have a look at this? -- John of Reading (talk) 17:28, 9 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. You can look in my recent contributions for about ten of these that I dealt with; I did not find any more with a basic search, but there may be some oddballs that didn't show up in my search. I linked to this talk page section in some of the edit summaries. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:42, 9 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Drat! I, I thought I had fully vetted that rule. I'll take a look. Sorry about that!! Smasongarrison (talk) 18:55, 9 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

How to force not skipping pages on auto-save[edit]

Is there a way to force AWB to not skip pages even if no changes were made? I have all options in "General skip options" toggled off, but when I use Auto-save and edit pages in a way that produces no changes, it will skip them anyways. Manually saving works, but when using auto-save, it will skip. There's a specific reason I need to do manual "null-edits" with the bot, so don't suggest clearing caches instead. V G5001 (talk) 17:11, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@V G5001: Hi. On which wiki are you using AWB? Maybe you could find your solution in AWB custom modules by experimenting a little with Skip = Not sure though. —usernamekiran (talk) 19:16, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Using it on wikia (fandom). Thanks, I’ll check those out. V G5001 (talk) 21:35, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If you are in that situation, there are usually many better ways to fix that problem - but if you really want to save "nothing" to a page just insert a subst in to something like {{void}}. — xaosflux Talk 19:39, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I will try this too, thanks. V G5001 (talk) 21:35, 18 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Video guide for basic AWB setup[edit]

When I recently installed AWB user @Itcouldbepossible: was kind enough to help me get set up, they recorded a brief video for me showing how to set up a configuration for typo fixes and general fixes, as well has how to navigate the display. While the existing manual contains good information, I think this video can be useful as a simple visual guide for a basic AWB set up, some people (including me) learn much quicker visually seeing how to do it rather than following steps through text. ICBP uploaded the video on commons here, could it perhaps be incorporated into the manual somehow? --TylerBurden (talk) 12:57, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

First of all I would like to thank Tyler for bringing this up. It feels great to help fellow editors in times of trouble. It was just great to here that my video helped him a lot. AWB is a really complex tool, and when handled incorrectly it can be disastrous. A video tutorial is vey helpful in this case. But I didn't imagine the video would be so useful to land up in the AWB manual written by so many experience users. It feels great to contribute to the project page. Stay well buddy. Yours, Itcouldbepossible Talk 12:47, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Looks like a nice video. Maybe caption it "How to apply genfixes to newly created pages". Maybe just boldly add it in a good spot in the manual. –Novem Linguae (talk) 15:20, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks a lotNovem. I didn't want to add it without a discussion, since I might not know but there might be issues in place. Placing it in the AWB manual directly without any prior discussion with experienced users would be a blunder. In the few days, I don't know what got into me, but I have done a quite few mistakes, and my talk page is boasting away with those issue related messages. I didn't want to go for a record, especially adding such a video to a page that is highly viewed by new comers with errors, could have been a troublesome thing for me. I don't think the administrators would be happy with it. So those were all the reasons behind starting a discussion. Thanks for your suggestion though. Regards, Itcouldbepossible Talk 12:47, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Seems useful, just add it. — xaosflux Talk 17:45, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks Xaosflux for your suggestion as well, but I didn't add it because of the already said reasons. Itcouldbepossible Talk 12:47, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Right on, just added it but feel free to move it around if need be. TylerBurden (talk) 01:58, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Itcouldbepossible: Nice video! Is there supposed to be any audio? I don't hear anything, even though I have the volume at 100%. Looks like it takes almost 30 seconds (1:25-1:55) to process the first article. I hope it doesn't usually take that long for you. Maybe you could crop out 20 seconds from the middle so new users watching the video won't think that's normal. I'm concerned that in your last two edits, you didn't scroll down to see all of the edits that AWB was suggesting before clicking "Save". Surely we'd want our editors to review everything, and make manual fixes for grammatical mistakes that AWB doesn't catch, before clicking "Save". Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 04:08, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Itcouldbepossible: Also, your edit to Omnia sunt communia looks to be an edit that had no noticeable effect on the rendered page. We would want new editors to follow WP:AWBRULES and skip such insignificant edits. GoingBatty (talk) 04:24, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Itcouldbepossible: Also also, the edit that added {{orphan}} should not have been marked as minor. We would want new AWB users to follow WP:MINOR and decide whether the "Minor edit" box should be selected before clicking "Save". GoingBatty (talk) 04:38, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
GoingBatty Oh it feels nice to here this. Actually, there is no audio. I had muted my microphone while recording to make the video clear and soundless. I didn't want to add my voice, because I don't think many would understand my 'Indian English', which is necessary since this video would be viewed by all people around the world. So I decided to keep quiet. Regarding the cropping, is there anything in-built in Wikipedia to do the same? Or should I set up a new project in Adobe Premiere Pro and do the needful? I can easily crop out the 20 seconds. And since the last two edits can be problematic for new users, I think it is best to cut the last part as well. The video can contain just one edit. What do you say? In the video, I saw that I had mis-clicked the "Regex Typo Fix" button instead of the checkbox and the webpage had opened up, but I closed it quickly. If it is ok for you then I can crop that one as well. Thanks and regards, Itcouldbepossible Talk 12:47, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Itcouldbepossible I agree with your proposed crops, but I don't know of anything in-built in Wikipedia to edit video files. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 12:52, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@GoingBatty Ok, I will do the same in due course. For the time, I am commenting out the video, after I upload a new version, I will uncomment the video from the AWB manual. Itcouldbepossible Talk 13:04, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The above demonstrates a bit of the "problem" with videos (they are hard for others to edit) and why for the most part we don't put them in articles - but for internal help pages like this they can be very useful - even if they can be "better" (which can encourage someone to make a better one!). — xaosflux Talk 13:26, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Xaosflux I would try and make the best. Itcouldbepossible Talk 13:28, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If it helps, I use the free software Kdenlive for video editing. –Novem Linguae (talk) 17:18, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Novem Linguae Thanks for the additional information. I always like to learn new things. But I like using Adobe Premiere Pro and I am quite adept in doing so. Its been many days since I have been using the software just to meet my video editing and rendering related curiosity. So its like that I have been using Adobe Premiere Pro and other softwares by Adobe. Itcouldbepossible Talk 12:59, 21 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I have finished making the Premiere Pro project fixing all the issues that had turned up. I rendered and exported the media file as well. But the fact is that my media file is in the .mp4 format. I used h.264 export settings to export the video in the highest quality, and that made the export as .mp4. When I am converting the file to .webm format, the video is again losing quality. Can anyone suggest me something? Why doesn't commons accept a .m4 format file? If I convert it to .webm, then file quality decreases. Is there any solution?Itcouldbepossible Talk 13:26, 21 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

AWB isn't working in my PC[edit]

I'm a Bureaucrat in the Dhar Mann Wiki (Fandom) and for experimental/general purposes, I'm creating a Bot, with the help of AWB. But when I tried setting the site or logging into my Bot Acct, the browser shows an error, telling that I should connect to the internet. I use a PC that runs Windows 11, and I slightly suspect that this has something to do with Internet Explorer's absence in the OS, or with IE's retirement. But I'm not sure, and I'd be really happy if I could use some help. 🤞 Paghalavan (talk) 16:07, 1 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Paghalavan Does the Fandom wiki require your bot to be listed on an equivalent of Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPageJSON in order for AWB to work there? GoingBatty (talk) 01:06, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure about that. How can I know about it? Paghalavan (talk) 04:08, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Paghalavan - Looks like you just created Dharmann_Wiki:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage. Hope that works out for you. GoingBatty (talk) 04:21, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
So am I supposed to convert it into JSON format? Paghalavan (talk) 04:43, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Paghalavan You might want to compare your page to a similar page on another Fandom wiki, such as this one. GoingBatty (talk) 05:13, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hi @GoingBatty! I tried what you said and AWB gives me the following error when I try:
API returned the following error: 'The "login" module requires a POST request.'
    • description**:
    • workaround**:
----
Exception: `ApiErrorException`
Message: `API returned the following error: 'The "login" module requires a POST request.'`
Call stack: 
   at WikiFunctions.API.ApiEdit.CheckForErrors(String xml, String action)
   at WikiFunctions.API.ApiEdit.Login(String username, String password, String domain)
   at WikiFunctions.Profiles.AWBProfilesForm.PerformLogin(String username, String password)
    • OS**: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0
    • version**: AutoWikiBrowser (6.2.1.0), WikiFunctions (6.2.1.0), revision 12528 (2021-07-08 14:01:49)
    • net**: 4.0.30319.42000
    • duplicate**:
    • site**: http://dharmann.fandom.com
Paghalavan (talk) 05:42, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hey @GoingBatty, finally got it working. Figured out it was configured to http:// and not https://. Thanks for helping all along👍 Paghalavan (talk) 05:49, 2 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Network access error[edit]

Hello, I use AWB to operate MalnadachBot. Everything was fine till yesterday when I am getting this message when I try to open AWB - 

Network access error

The underlying connection was closed:An unexpected error occurred on a receive.

It also shows this -

    • description**:
    • workaround**:
Exception:`NullReferenceException`
Message:`Object reference not set to an instance of an object.`
Call stack:
   at AutoWikiBrowser.MainForm.SetProject(String code, ProjectEnum project, String customProject, String protocol)
   at AutoWikiBrowser.MainForm.LoadPrefs(UserPrefs p)
   at AutoWikiBrowser.MainForm.LoadPrefs(String path)
    • OS**: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0
    • version**: AutoWikiBrowser (6.2.1.0), WikiFunctions (6.2.1.0), revision 12528 (2021-07-08 14:01:49)
    • net**: 4.0.30319.42000
    • duplicate**:
    • site**: https://en.wikipedia.org

I have restarted my PC, restarted my router, tried connecting from another network, deleted and clean installed AWB; none of these worked. Would appreciate any help with resolving this. Thanks. ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ (talk) 07:41, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know what changed, but opening AWB now, eveything is back to normal. ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ (talk) 10:38, 3 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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