Forum:How does bot software work?

Here are three pointers before you say how this works.

First of all, how does AWB and Pywikipedia work?

Second of all, does anyone know how to write bot codes or something?

Third of all, I don't want anyone to tell me "Get a bot flag first, then this", I know that part obviously, and don't point me to another forum post, this is very specific help!

Thanks!

-- Jeffwang16  (Talk)   (Contributions)   (Email me!)  18:28, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * All is bot program that automated task. It connect to the wiki the same way a normal user does. hence a bot flag mearly had's their edits by default on resent changes.
 * Pywikipedia is written in python. if you have the backup xml file it can save some server usage by doing it's content search on your machine and only connect to the wiki when it knows the page you want to change rather than load every page from the wiki it self looking for the change. knowing regex expression will help you make more useful searches. -- 19:23, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Firstly, AWB is a semi-automated editor for MediaWiki wikis, you can use it to perform repititive tasks at a much faster rate. It is written in C#. Pywikipediabot is a a collection of MediaWiki tools for bots, written in python. I've never tried using Pywikipediabot, but I've used AWB plenty of times. First thing is, you can use it without a bot flag (although it is best if you have one, as it unlocks features, such as full-auto mode, and it hides the edits from RC, meaning you can edit without disturbing the wiki at large).
 * Once you get the hang of it, AWB is easy to use, and you should have little trouble setting it up to do what you want, if you need help with that, please be specific in what exactly you want to do, and I can provide screenshots if necessary. -- Random Time  20:00, August 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm impressed, but do I have to install anything to let AWB work or something? -- Jeffwang16  (Talk)   (Contributions)   (Email me!)  20:46, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, you have to install AWB, I suppose -- Random Time  22:03, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Bots Need To Know Computer Language And Be 14 Years Or Older To Go On IRC, Install AWB —This unsigned comment is by Happy65 (talk • contribs) . Please sign your posts with !


 * What? Automated bots that follow and edit RecentChanges (like an anti-vandalism bot) normally follow RecentChanges through IRC, but there's no reason to need to do that for automated tasks that AWB uses. Also, there is no age limit for connecting to IRC (only 13 years of age for registering an account there, the same limit for all personal data-collection on the internet, including Wikia). -- Random Time  11:03, August 8, 2010 (UTC)

Help:Bots --Uberfuzzy 11:44, August 8, 2010 (UTC)