Wikinews:Bot policy

This is a translation of the German page Wikinews:Bot-Richtlinie.

Permission to run a bot

Note that running a bot without request and permission will result in a block of the bot account!

There is no other active bot who is doing the same task.
It is described exactly what the bot does.
There is a user who is responsible for the bot and looks after it.
There is a separate user account for the bot.
- The actions and the course of action are described on the bot's user page.

The bot is supervised by its owner and does not run for a longer time period without supervision.
The bot never works without permission on project pages outside the article name space.
The bot fills in the summary texts with meaningful content (not with „XYZ-Bot was here!“)). Then it is easier for human users to supervise the bot.
If there are problems or complaints or if the owner wishes so, the permission of running a bot can be withdrawn.

Bot flags are only given to bots which do not make changes with regard to the informational content and fulfil always the same tasks (for example update/refresh pages). Bots placing interwiki links, do never get a bot flag.
- If there have not been any problems within seven (7) days of running the bot, the bot flag can be asked for at the corresponding project page. If in the poll a majority of users who are entitled to vote (at least three) vote for a bot flag, a bureaucrat will set the flag. If there are any problems or complaints or if the owner wishes so, the flag can be removed.