Help:AutoWikiBrowser

This tutorial will lead you through the process of creating a bot using AutoWikiBrowser program.

Step 1: Create your bot account
Note: If you already have a bot account, skip this step

Your bot must use a separate account (for more info check this article). You will probably also wish to create new email for it.
 * 1) Make sure your username defines you as a bot
 * 2) On the user page of this account; post info about the bots owner and all the needed details (mentioned here). To make it simple you can use this template: Template:Bot (just copy it on your wiki).
 * 3) Contact Wikia staff and request a bot flag for this account. It is important, as otherwise you will likely spam your wiki stats.

Step 2: Get the program
Download AutoWikiBrowser on your computer. The scheme of the bot's functioning is:


 * 1) Launch AutoWikiBrowser
 * 2) Log in to the bot account using AutoWikiBrowser
 * 3) Specify what the bot is to do

Step 3: Learn how to use the program
In this example we will set up our bot and then use it to replace a short phrase on many pages of our wiki.

Choosing wiki

 * 1) Launch AutoWikiBrowser.
 * 2) Go to Options-> Preferences-> Site
 * 3) From the drop-down list chose "wikia" and then type the URL of your wiki. In example it is "pl.fandubbing".
 * 4) When you are done, save changes with OK button.

Your program will freeze for few seconds. After this on the bottom bar you will see that program is synchronized with the given wiki:

Logging in
As the wiki is already chosen it is time to log on our previously created bot account. In this example the bot is called "fandubbing.wikia" after the wiki name it serves for. Your bottom bar will now show that you are fully logged in: Now the bot is set and ready to work!
 * Go to File-> Log in/Profiles...
 * Enter your previously created bot account name and password.
 * Accept by pressing "Login" button.

Choosing edit options
The example wikia theme is fandubbing (dubbing made by fans), so in this example we will use the bot to replace all badly entered artist names.

TIP: To make list of all pages in the main namespace, in the "Make List" panel chose "Special Page" as source. When you press "Make List" additional window should appear. Chose "All Pages", select namespace "Main:" and press OK.
 * 1) Make a list of pages to edit. In example we chose all pages from category "Teksty"
 * 2) Chose the edition options from the middle panel. In this example in "Find and Replace" section we used "Normal Settings" and entered the searched phrase and its replacement.

TIP: Untick all settings you are not sure of! To learn more about what all of those do, see this page.

Starting the edits
When you are ready to begin go to the "Start" tab from the middle section.. The program will start searching through the previously listed pages. When it finds the phrase it searches for, it will apply all previously defined changes and show them in the center window.
 * 1) Enter the default edit summary. It will be shown as summary of each edit.
 * 2) Press Start!

In case you are not satisfied with the changes you can edit the page using the edit box on the right.

When you are done press "Save" to save changes. Otherwise press "Skip" to leave the page unchanged.

TIP: In "Skip Options" tab check the option "Skip if no changes are made". Now program will auto skip pages on which nothing was changed.

Fully automatic bot
The example above shows semiautomatic editing. It is quite fast and safe, as you can control each change being made. However, if you wish you can go to "Bots" tab and check "Auto save" option.

AutoWikiBrowser will now save each change automatically, without any confirmation. Use this option with care, running a few semiautomatic edits before turning auto save on to test if the bot is functioning properly is a must.