Synchbot

Synchbot is a maintenance service that creates, edits, or deletes your user pages across Wikimedia wikis. To request changes to your user pages on all wikis, see How do I make a request?. For more info about the bot, see the FAQs.

Synchbot is run on the first weekend of each month. Next scheduled run: 4–5 June 2022.

Synchbot

Part of wikimedia-contrib
report a bug or suggestion

Requests

See previous requests.

Tol (redirect bot talk page to main talk page)

request done:

TolBot (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User talk:TolBot on every wiki
• and replace the text with
  #REDIRECT [[User talk:Tol]]

request_user = u'TolBot',
request_title = u'User talk:TolBot',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.save(u"""..."""),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = False,
skip_unregistered = True,
skip_wikis = [],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

Pages should only be edited or created on wikis where the bot has a local account. Thanks! Tol (talk | contribs) @ 18:07, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

@Tol: Are you fine with Synchbot skipping any wikis where your talk page doesn't exist, to avoid adding broken redirects? They'll be listed in the log in case you want to handle those separately. —Pathoschild 04:29, 08 May 2022 (UTC)

Done! That case didn't apply for any of the pages, so they all have the redirect now.

The following log shows what the bot did on each wiki. You can click the columns to sort the log.

summary:

time	wiki	logged action
02:56	meta.wikimedia.org	updated (was 3166 bytes).
02:56	af.wikipedia.org	updated (was 256 bytes).
02:56	az.wikipedia.org	created.
02:56	www.wikidata.org	updated (was 227 bytes).
02:56	el.wikipedia.org	created.
02:56	en.wikipedia.org	updated (was 227 bytes).
02:56	et.wikipedia.org	updated (was 229 bytes).
02:56	fr.wikipedia.org	updated (was 277 bytes).
02:57	id.wikipedia.org	created.
02:57	it.wikipedia.org	created.
02:57	nl.wikipedia.org	created.
02:57	pt.wikipedia.org	created.
02:57	simple.wikipedia.org	created.
02:57	uk.wikipedia.org	updated (was 250 bytes).

—Pathoschild 02:59, 09 May 2022 (UTC)

Thanks! Sorry for not replying; the ping didn't go through for some reason. Tol (talk | contribs) @ 14:26, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

Casualdejekyll

request on hold:

Casualdejekyll (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User talk:Casualdejekyll on every wiki (except on enwiki)
• and replace the text with
  #REDIRECT User:Casualdejekyll

request_user = u'Casualdejekyll',
request_title = u'User talk:Casualdejekyll',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.save(u"""#REDIRECT [[User:Casualdejekyll]]"""),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = False,
skip_unregistered = True,
skip_wikis = ['enwiki'],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

The idea behind this is to prevent people from leaving me talk page messages outside of metawiki and enwp - my global user page, which should show at the User:Casualdejekyll link on all wikis, requests people to leave messages on enwiki in all circumstances. Casualdejekyll (talk) 02:26, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

@Casualdejekyll: I don't think Synchbot can do that, since it'd probably break policies or conventions on some wikis. What if Synchbot places a fake redirect at the top of the page instead (like I do on my zh-wikisource talk page for example)? —Pathoschild 04:38, 08 May 2022 (UTC)

Conan Wolff (migrate to global user page)

request done:

Conan Wolff (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User:Conan Wolff on every wiki
• and delete the page.

request_user = u'Conan Wolff',
request_title = u'User:Conan Wolff',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.delete(),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = True,
skip_unregistered = False,
skip_wikis = [],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

Conan Wolff (talk) 17:12, 1 May 2022 (UTC)

Done! Deleted one user page.

The following log shows what the bot did on each wiki. You can click the columns to sort the log.

summary:

time	wiki	logged action
02:36	meta.wikimedia.org	skipped (cannot delete global user page).
02:37	en.wikipedia.org	deleted (was 814 bytes).

—Pathoschild 02:40, 09 May 2022 (UTC)

VRook (WMF) (migrate to global user page)

request done:

VRook (WMF) (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User:VRook (WMF) on every wiki
• and delete the page.

request_user = u'VRook (WMF)',
request_title = u'User:VRook (WMF)',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.delete(),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = True,
skip_unregistered = False,
skip_wikis = [],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

VRook (WMF) (talk) 09:23, 7 May 2022 (UTC)

Done! Deleted one user page.

The following log shows what the bot did on each wiki. You can click the columns to sort the log.

summary:

time	wiki	logged action
02:41	www.mediawiki.org	deleted (was 67 bytes).
02:41	meta.wikimedia.org	skipped (cannot delete global user page).

—Pathoschild 02:45, 09 May 2022 (UTC)

ToruMarx (migrate to global user page)

request queued:

ToruMarx (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User:ToruMarx on every wiki
• and delete the page.

request_user = u'ToruMarx',
request_title = u'User:ToruMarx',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.delete(),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = True,
skip_unregistered = False,
skip_wikis = [],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

ToruMarx (talk) 02:21, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

MxYamato (migrate to global user page)

request queued:

MxYamato (global account · recent activity · user pages)

• go to User:MxYamato on every wiki
• and delete the page.

request_user = u'MxYamato',
request_title = u'User:MxYamato',
request_action = lambda bot: bot.delete(),
skip_existing = False,
skip_new = True,
skip_unregistered = False,
skip_wikis = [],
only_wikis = [],
delete_summary = None,
edit_summary = None,

MxYamato (talk) 09:24, 21 May 2022 (UTC)

FAQs

How do I make a request?

Here's how to submit a Synchbot task. If you're not sure how to fill in the template, just choose one below and add a comment explaining what you want. There's no approval process; your request will be handled in the next batch! Make sure you watch this page in case of questions.

To migrate to your global user page (delete your local User pages):

1. Add this text at the bottom of the Requests section:

   ==={{subst:REVISIONUSER}} (migrate to global user page)===
   {{#invoke:synchbot|request
    |user          = {{subst:REVISIONUSER}}
    |action        = delete
    |title         = User:{{subst:REVISIONUSER}}
    |text          = 
    |skip wikis    =
    |skip existing = no
    |status        = <!-- don't change this line -->
   }}
   ~~~~

2. Optional: add a comment before ~~~~ or edit the template with any specifics (e.g. pages to skip).

To migrate to your global CSS and JavaScript pages (delete your local *.css and *.js pages):

1. Add this text at the bottom of the Requests section:

   ==={{subst:REVISIONUSER}} (migrate to global CSS/JS)===
   {{#invoke:synchbot|request
    |user          = {{subst:REVISIONUSER}}
    |action        = delete
    |title         = User:{{subst:REVISIONUSER}}/*.css, User:{{subst:REVISIONUSER}}/*.js
    |text          = 
    |skip wikis    = 
    |skip existing = no
    |status        = <!-- don't change this line -->
   }}
   Please delete all local CSS and JS pages. ~~~~

2. Optional: add a comment before ~~~~ or edit the template with any specifics (e.g. pages to skip).

For a custom request:

1. Add this text at the bottom of the Requests section:

   ==={{subst:REVISIONUSER}}===
   {{#invoke:synchbot|request
    |user          = {{subst:REVISIONUSER}}
    |action        = replace
    |title         = 
    |text          = 
    |skip wikis    = 
    |skip existing = yes
    |status        = <!-- don't change this line -->
   }}~~~~

2. Edit the template values:

   field	how to edit it
   user	The name of the user who owns the pages. The default is your current username.
   action	What you want the bot to do. This can be replace (overwrite pages with the new text), prepend (insert the new text at the top of the page), append (insert the new text at the bottom of the page), or delete (delete all pages).
   title	The title of the page you want edited on every wiki.
   text	The text you want placed on the edited pages. A few guidelines: Don't add categories or templates, because they probably don't exist on most wikis. Use interwiki links to link to a specific wiki (like [[m:Article]] for a page on Meta). Don't use interlanguage links (like [[en:Article]] instead of [[w:en:Article]]), unless you really want to link to a different wiki depending on the current project. For a user page, use something simple and informative. Most people provide a few sentences about themselves with a link to their main user page. Consider using your global user page instead.
   skip wikis	A list of wikis to skip (in addition to auto-skipped wikis). You can use a wildcard (like pt.* to skip all Portuguese wikis). The format doesn't really matter.
   skip existing	Whether to skip pages that already exist.

3. Watch this page in case I have questions. Otherwise it will be done soon! :)

How long will it take?

The 'next scheduled run' date at the top of the page shows when requests will be handled. All open requests are typically handled within one day of that date.

Which wikis are edited?

The bot edits almost all Wikimedia wikis in every language. It only skips private wikis, fishbowl wikis, and loginwiki.

Can the bot delete pages?

The bot can delete any of your user pages or subpages (except your main talk page). When deleting your user page, you must have a global user page and the bot will skip wikis where you have a block history. On arwiki and on commons, the bot will place the appropriate speedy-deletion template instead.

Can the bot do X?

The bot can create, edit, or delete pages (but protecting/renaming/etc are outside its remit). The bot is very flexible to support custom requests. For example, some custom requests in the past have involved checking for a specific text, page size, and even page history. For text changes the bot can prepend/append, replace the whole page, search & replace a regex pattern, etc. If you have a custom requirement, feel free to ask Pathoschild (the bot operator) whether it's possible.

What is Synchbot?

Synchbot is a bot which makes an automated change to a specific page title on all matching wikis. It's been run by Pathoschild since 2008. The bot uses the global deleter and global editinterface permissions, and runs under a web of permissions, exceptions, and special cases negotiated with local communities.

Historically this was used to support global user pages from 2008 to 2015 (now part of global user pages), global CSS/JS from 2008 to 2014 (now available via your global.css or your global.js), and crosswiki account creation from 2009 to 2011 (now part of unified login). Now it's mainly used to delete local pages that are no longer needed due to the new global user page features.

See also

• Global user pages
• Related tools:
  • Krinkle's Global SUL creates your account on all wikis
  • MassMessage sends notifications to a list of users
  • Multilingual Templates and Modules project
• Related discussions:
  • 2014-08: request for global editinterface
  • 2014-09: request for global deleter
  • 2015-02: community consensus for bulk deletion of user pages
  • 2015-08: renew global editinterface
  • 2015-08: renew global delete
  • 2016-08: renew global editinterface and global delete
  • 2017-12: renew global editinterface and global delete
  • 2019-03: renew global editinterface and global delete
  • 2020-03: renew global editinterface and global delete
  • 2022-04: renew global editinterface and global delete
• Synchbot campaigns:
  • 2014–2016 global script migration