It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.
Robotic editing is the manual performance of the same or similar edit to multiple, perhaps numerous pages. It is not technically robotic, but is done humanhandedly when needed. It can be monotonous with little or no thought about what is being done after a while.
When is robotic editing necessary?
Some examples of when robotic editing is necessary are:
When linking other articles to a new or already existing page
When adding a new category to a page
When adding a new template, such as a
navbox, to every page it lists
Here are some things you should know if ever you edit robotically:
Remember what you are doing: If you get too carried away, you may unintentionally mess up, thereby necessitating many more similar edits.
Use the edit summary to let others know what you just did. You can make it very simple if you want to edit efficiently, such as "+cat" or "+nav."
If marking the edits as "minor," be sure that these edits meet
Wikipedia's minor edit guidelines. Otherwise, do not mark them as minor.
You may be considered a bot, and may be subject to
the bot policy on bot-like editing. Make sure your edits have consensus, and that their purpose is well-explained in the edit summaries.
Show appreciation
Robotic editing is challenging not in the information that is provided. In most cases, the information in a robotic edit is quite simple. But it sure can wear one down.
In the event that another editor performed a series of robotic edits that you had planned on, it is strongly recommended that you
award a barnstar to that editor. The Working Man's Barnstar is appropriate for these situations.
{{subst:The Working Man's Barnstar|message ~~~~|gender}}