User:MiszaBot/Archive HowTo
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|
There are 3 bots that perform archiving of pages for different namespaces:
- Talk: namespace - MiszaBot I (talk • contribs)
- Wikipedia: and Wikipedia talk: namespaces - MiszaBot II (talk • contribs)
- User talk: namespace - MiszaBot III (talk • contribs)
| NOTE: Before requesting automatic archiving on an article's talk page, please establish a consensus that archiving is really needed there. |
[edit] How to set up archiving?
Put the following template on the page that you want automatically archived:
{{User:MiszaBot/config
|algo = old(...)
|archive = Name of archive page
[other parameters - read below]
}}
Well, maybe not exactly that (read about required options below), but that's how it's done. By the way, the template has no content and is sysop-protected, so don't worry about visual appeareance. :)
[edit] Quick examples
To get the hang of it - configuration may not be intuitive, but it's flexible and gives potentially vast possibilities.
[edit] Example 1 - static archive
{{User:MiszaBot/config
|algo = old(7d)
|archive = User talk:Example/Archives
}}
This setup archives threads from User talk:Example to User talk:Example/Archive after they are 7 days old (counting from newest timestamp). The archive will grow indefinitely. Probably not a very useful config (unless for sending threads to a periodically cleaned trash bin), but it's easiest, so I'm mentioning it first.
[edit] Example 2 - incremental archives
{{User:MiszaBot/config
|algo = old(48h)
|archive = User talk:Example/Archive %(counter)d
|counter = 3
|maxarchivesize = 250K
}}
This tells the bot to archive threads from User talk:Example to User talk:Example/Archive 3 (more about variables below) until it fills up to 250 kilobytes, whereupon the bot will move to 4 (updating the counter when saving page). Remember to specify the maximum size of an archive, or it will behave pretty much like in the first example.
[edit] Example 3 - date-based archives
{{User:MiszaBot/config
|algo = old(5d)
|archive = User talk:Example/Archives/%(year)d/%(monthname)s
}}
In this configuration, threads older than 5 days will land in archives depending on their date (that is newest timestamp). You can read about other variables below.
[edit] Parameters explained
| parameter | meaning |
|---|---|
| archive | Name of the page to which archived threads will be put. Supports variables. |
| algo | Algorithm that instructs the bot how to decide whether to archive a thread or not. Complex formulas (including regex matching) will be available in the future, but so far it must be of the form old(...) where ... specifies the maximum age of a thread (in hours or days: 24h, 72h, 5d, 21d etc.) |
| counter | The current value of the counter. If the %(counter)d variable is not used, it is ignored. Bot will update this parameter as necessary. |
| maxarchivesize | Specifies the maximum archive size before incrementing the counter. Ignored if counter is not used. |
| key | Secret key that (if valid) allows archives to not be subpages of the page being archived. To obtain such a key, ask me and have a good reason for that. :-) |
[edit] Variables
| variable... | ...expands to... |
|---|---|
| %(counter)d | the current value of the counter |
| %(year)d | year of the thread being archived |
| %(month)d | month (as a number 1-12) of the thread being archived |
| %(monthname)s | English name of the month above |
| %(monthnameshort)s | first three letters of the name above |
Those python-savvy people will immediately recognize these variables are filled at runtime with the % operator and should know how to adjust the format. A few points of interest to others:
