Wikipedia:Twinkle/doc

Be advised that you take full responsibility for any action performed using Twinkle. You must understand Wikipedia policies and use this tool within these policies, or risk losing access to the tool or being blocked.

If Twinkle is installed, then you will be presented with new tabs or links for the page you are on.

Installing Twinkle is easy. Read the "quick info" section for easy instructions. Before you use Twinkle, you should read this page to learn about its tools. You can change the page's settings.

Note: Do not forget that you have responsibility for any change, even bad changes, performed with Twinkle. Please understand Wikipedia policies, and remember the policies before you make a change using Twinkle, or else you may be blocked from making changes.

Many sandboxes exist that can be used to practice the behavior of Twinkle.

• To practice page marking, please use the article sandbox.
• To practice user-page marking (warning, welcome, and talkback), please use the user warnings sandbox.

Please do not use these pages to practice speedy deletion, nominate for deletion, or request page protection, because these will make actual changes and tell Wikipedia administrators. Please do not unlink backlinks in the sandboxes because this deletes links to the sandboxes.

Twinkle installation may not succeed for many reasons:

• You need to have an account on Wikipedia, and your Wikipedia account needs to be autoconfirmed (it must be 4 days old or more and have at 10 or more changes), to use Twinkle.
• You need to use a web browser that works with Twinkle. Twinkle does not work with Internet Explorer version 8 or less. It will not work with Internet Explorer on Windows XP, and you need to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9 or later if you use Windows Vista or later.
• If you have an old Opera, Safari, or Firefox, turn on the JavaScript Standard Library gadget in your settings → Gadgets → Library and compatibility gadgets.
• After installation, you may have to clean your browser cache. If you need help, you can read this page.
• If you used a manual installation, Twinkle needs to be installed in your skin's .js file (not .css).
• If you changed skins and are not using Twinkle for Gadgets, check that your current skin's script file is using Twinkle.

If you have checked all of these and you still can not use Twinkle, or if you see other problems, check the discussion page and, if needed, add the issue there. If you do, please add this information:

1. What behaviour do you see?
2. What behavior do you want to see?
3. How can you cause the wrong behavior? Say exactly what you are doing and seeing.
4. Have you tried cleaning your browser cache?
5. What is your Web Browser? If you're not sure, check this http://www.whatsmybrowser.org/. Please also add information on the web browser version and operating system version
6. Add JavaScript errors that your web browser has. Open the JavaScript console or error console, and copy the error messages. Where do you find your JavaScript console? It depends on your browser:
   • Internet Explorer: Press F12 on your keyboard, then reload the Wikipedia page. JavaScript errors are displayed on the "Console" part of the F12 tools.
   • Firefox: Menu → Tools → Error console (or Firefox Button → Web Developer → Error Console). Please click "Errors" at the top to hide a large number of messages that are not useful.
   • Opera: Menu → Page → Developer Tools → Error Console.
   • Chrome: Page menu → Developer → JavaScript Console (Or Ctrl + Shift + J on your keyboard).
   • Safari: Page menu → Develop → Show Error Console (Or Ctrl + Alt + C (PC) or Shift + Command + J (Mac) on your keyboard). You may have to turn it on in Preferences → Advanced.

You should look at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html for help on how to report problems well, which helps make the problem much easier to fix.

Before, you could install Twinkle modules on their own. This type of installation does not work anymore. You should install Twinkle as shown at Wikipedia:Twinkle#Installation.

Twinkle is made of many "modules", and every module has a type of task. Many modules can be used with the tabs at the top of the page (If you are using the Monobook skin), or in the "TW" drop-down menu next to the search box (If you are using the Vector skin).

QD is short for quick deletion. If you think a page has parts of the reasons for quick deletion, you can use this Twinkle module to easily tag it for deletion.

Click on the QD tab. You see a list of reasons (see picture of screen), which are different for each namespace. When you choose a reason and then click the "Submit query" button, the page will be tagged with QD (for example, clicking "G2: Test page" tags the page with {{qd}}).

• If you check the Notify if possible box, and your Twinkle settings are set correctly, Wikipedia will let the author know that their page has a warning on it. If author does not have a talk page, they will be welcomed, using the {{firstarticle}} template. You should not un-check the "notify" box.
• If you check the "Tag with multiple criteria" box, the buttons which only allow 1 reason will become check boxes, and you can choose up to 3 reasons (see picture of screen). These reasons will be sorted into {{qd-multiple}}.
• In Twinkle settings, you can turn on the QD userspace log. This feature writes a log in your userspace of all pages you request to QD. Because pages that are deleted do not appear in your contributions, using this feature lets non-admins check their deletion tags and see how many pages were deleted by them. It is helpful for checking declined quick deletions and learning from them, so they can help you to make your tags better.
• Checking a page with QD will add the page to your watchlist. You can stop this in your Twinkle settings. If you are using QD on a page from Special:NewPages and you are a patroller, Twinkle will check the page as patrolled by itself. You can also disable this in your Twinkle settings.

• Twinkle can let you add QD-templates very fast to articles. Remember, you are responsible for changes using Twinkle, even bad changes, so make sure you only tag an article if it needs it. Also, please do not bite new accounts.
• Twinkle does not change page makers when tagging with certain reasons (for example, G6 and G8). This is to stop messages if they are not needed, or if it will not work correctly (for example, CSD G5 - banned user). You can turn on messages for these criteria in your Twinkle preferences, if you especially want them: but note that warning templates for some criteria do not actually exist.

Admins can delete pages using Twinkle. The deletion reason can be changed before they delete the page.

RfD, short for Requests for deletion, is 1 week discussion where all accounts can talk about what should be done to a page (for example, deletion). You may use this if you are not sure if deletion is OK.

If you use the RfD tool, many things happen: the page is tagged with a deletion message; the deletion talk page is created; the talk page is added to the once-a-day list of deleted articles and the page author is messaged (if you wanted it to).

Click on the RfD tab.

• If the Notify if possible is checked, Twinkle will give the user who created the page a message using the warning template {{RFDNote}}.

You need to have a reason why the page should be deleted. You can use wiki formatting in your reason.

RfD pages can be added to your watchlist if you choose this option in your Twinkle settings. Usually, no pages are added to your watchlist when using Twinkle's RfD module. For more information, check the settings panel.

No userspace log feature is in RfD, because deletion talk pages are kept in the project page.

Twinkle could stop during RfD processing. No one currently knows why this happens, but it is thought to be an issue with Wikipedia servers. If Twinkle stopped adding RfD, please be patient. You may need to wait more than 20 seconds sometimes.

Twinkle does not have a tool to help admins delete AFD debates. If you are looking for one, you should see this.

This choice shows you the changes between the current page and the old page.

This choice deletes backlinks. Backlinks are links from other pages to a page. Unlinking them deletes links to the page. This is needed after speedy deletion to stop links to a page on a non-notable, vandalism, or other bad topic from being created again. It also stops a bunch of redlinks from showing up in pages when you delete another page. You may or may not want to unlink backlinks.

The tag tab will tag the article or redirect with the template(s) of your choice.

All templates that are checked will be added to the page. Templates that support it will have the date options set to the current month and year. If the "Group into {{Multiple issues}} if possible" box is checked, Twinkle will put templates in a {{Multiple issues}} template, if there are 4 or more. All other templates are then added to the page as normal. If there are 3 or less templates that are supported by the {{Multiple issues}} template, the setting is not used, and all templates are added to the page normally.

One templates in the list, {{notability}}, allow you to choose from a list of subcategories. Selecting a subcategory is not required for the primary template, but it has more specific type of the template on the page.

The stub tab will tag the page with one more stub template of your choice. See also the Simple Stub Project.

Note: There is an issue that adds the stub template even after the page metadata. The issue is known about and will be fixed.

ARV is short for Advance Reporting and Vetting (a backronym). When on any user namespace page, or on Special:Contributions/USER, click this button to report them to administrators:

• Vandalism - Reports the user to Vandalism in progress; use this when the user has vandalized after a final warning has been issued. If you have just reverted the user's vandalism and the user talk page has opened, the fields about the vandalized article (title, revision IDs) should be automatically filled in. Check the appropriate boxes that apply to the user.
  • Vandalism after final warning given - should be checked for most reports
  • Vandalism after recent release of block
  • Evidently vandalism-only account - for username accounts only, with no constructive edits
  • Account is evidently a spambot or a compromised account
  • Account is a promotion only account

On user talk pages, the warn tab allows you to leave one of a variety of warning messages on a user's talk page. To use, first click the warn tab. A window will appear with the following options:

• Two drop-down menus with the warning level and warning type (see list of warnings)
• The article name to reference for the warning (this is often automatically populated if you are warning on a user talk page that was opened as the result of a Twinkle rollback)
• Any additional comments that you wish to be included in the warning message.

Clicking Submit will post the chosen warning to the user's talk page and then refresh the page in your browser.

The tb tab will allow you to easily leave a variety of user message templates on other users' talk pages. It supports most of the options that you would have available as if you were leaving the template by hand.

The following templates are supported:

• {{talkback}}
• {{you've got mail}}
• {{wb}}

More can be added per request on Wikipedia talk:Twinkle.

The wel tab will welcome the user with a selected template.

If an article is specified in the input field, and the template supports an article link, Twinkle will automatically link the template to the article you specified. All templates that support this are marked with an asterisk ("*"). In the case of normal welcome templates, the article would be one that the user contributed positively to. In the case of problem user welcome templates, the article would be one that the user vandalized or did not contribute positively to. This input field is automatically populated if the vanarticle URL parameter is found, which is populated by Twinkle after doing a rollback.

Twinkle is capable of supporting a custom list of templates that displays below the standard set of Welcome templates. If you have installed Twinkle, you can add a list of templates that you would like to be added to the Welcome dialogue by changing the "Custom welcome templates to use" option in your Twinkle preferences. Any templates added to this list, when selected, will simply be placed on the user's talk page with no heading, no arguments, and will be followed by your signature.

The shared IP tab will tag the IP as a shared IP address.

Following templates are supported:

• {{SharedIP}}
• {{SchoolIP}}
• {{SharedIPCORP}}
• {{ISP}}

When viewing a diff between revisions of a page, Twinkle will place four new links above the previous revision and the new revision:

1. restore this version - Reverts all edits to that version (allows edit summary).
2. rollback (AGF) - Labels the original edit as AGF in edit summary (allows edit summary). (preview)
3. rollback - Performs rollback, then asks for input for edit summary.
4. rollback (VANDAL) - Labels rollback as vandalism in edit summary, and opens vandal's talk page (does NOT allow edit summary).

Note that the 3 rollback links will only show up on the current revision. If you are viewing a diff between 2 old revisions of a page, only the "restore this version" links will show.

A welcome link will also appear next to a user in a diff view if the user's talk page is empty. Depending on your preferences, this link will automatically welcome the user with the template specified in the "Template to use when welcoming automatically" preference, or open the user's talk page with Twinkle's welcome dialogue already visible (by default). This feature is available when viewing any diff across all namespaces.

As well as having access to more features in some of the main modules, administrators also have some modules to themselves:

Batch deletion

Similar to batch image deletion, but for normal pages instead. There are two modules because the processes are not identical. This one is good for closing huge mass AfDs or TfDs.

Batch undeletion

Similar to batch deletion, but undeletes instead. Only works on user subpages, so you have to create a list of pages (or transclude one) in your userspace.

Batch protection

Similar to batch deletion, but protects the pages instead. It's used often as an emergency option against heavy multiple-page vandalism.

Traverse

It wades through a category of images, and for each image it displays it, the page, the history, the file history, the file usage, and allows you to delete it.

The easiest way to configure Twinkle is by using the preferences panel, located at Wikipedia:Twinkle/Preferences. There is a wide variety of options available.

The Twinkle preferences panel works by saving a JSON object to Special:MyPage/twinkleoptions.js, which is then read by Twinkle every time you load a page. (That might sound like a performance hit, but your browser will normally cache your personal options page, so it doesn't have to be downloaded every time.)

If the preferences panel goes wrong, or you want to set up some of the advanced preferences described below, you can manually edit Special:MyPage/twinkleoptions.js. Its format is as follows (non-JavaScript-savvy users beware):

window.Twinkle.prefs = {
  "twinkle": {
    // Place all preferences here, except for Shared IP, Tag, Welcome, and Talkback preferences
    // For example:
    revertMaxRevisions: 13,
    summaryAd: " BTW, I use [[WT:TW|Twinkle]].",
    proddeleteChunks: 20
  },
  "friendly": {
    // Place preferences for Shared IP, Tag, Welcome, and Talkback in here
    // For example:
    watchTaggedPages: true,
    talkbackHeading: "Talkback just for you..."
  }
};

These parameters are handy to tweak if your browser or network connection is struggling to perform operations without encountering database locks or network timeouts. They are not shown in the preferences panel, and must be modified by manually editing Special:MyPage/twinkleoptions.js.

Regular users can take advantage of the following parameter:

revertMaxRevisions

Defines the maximum number of revisions to query when looking for a clean revision to roll back to. The server limit is 50. Default is 50.

Administrators can use other parameters to fine-tune batch operations, etc.

batchdeleteChunks

Defines how many pages should be processed at a time when performing batch deletions. The server limit is 50. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 50.

batchDeleteMinCutOff

Defines how many current pages should be left in the process of being deleted before a new batch is allowed to be initialized. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 5.

batchMax

Defines how many pages should be processed at most by any batch function. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 5000.

batchProtectChunks

Defines how many pages should be processed at a time when performing batch protections. The server limit is 50. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 50.

batchProtectMinCutOff

Defines how many current pages should be left in the process of being protected before a new batch is allowed to be initialized. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 5.

batchundeleteChunks

Defines how many pages should be processed at a time when performing batch undeletions. The server limit is 50. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 50.

batchUndeleteMinCutOff

Defines how many current pages should be left in the process of being undeleted before a new batch is allowed to be initialized. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 5.

deliChunks

Defines the number of images that will be processed at a time when doing a batch deletion. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 500.

deliMax

Defines the maximum number of images that will be processed when doing a batch deletion. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 5000.

proddeleteChunks

Defines how many pages should be processed at a time when performing batch prod deletions. The server limit is 50. It is recommended that you not change this configuration parameter. Default is 50.

The default location of the Twinkle menu items in the Vector skin is in a drop-down menu; in all other skins they are displayed on the top row of tabs. If you like, you can change the location and layout of those items on your page by manually setting some options in your twinkleoptions.js:

"portletArea"
"portletId"
"portletName"
"portletType"
"portletNext"

For example, if you want to move the items to the toolbox menu on the left-hand side of the screen, add the line "portletId": "p-tb", to your Twinkle preferences, like so:

window.Twinkle.prefs = {
  "twinkle": {
    // ...
    "portletId": "p-tb",
    // ...
  },
  // ...
};

If you want to display the items as tabs as in the old monobook skin, add the line "portletId": "p-views", to your Twinkle preferences, like so:

window.Twinkle.prefs = {
  "twinkle": {
    // ...
    "portletId": "p-views",
    // ...
  },
  // ...
};

portletId is the ID of the portlet you'd like the menus to appear in. In these case, 'p-tb' indicates the toolbar, while 'p-views' indicates the menu bar. For a full list see the catalogue of CSS classes).

Alternatively, you can create a new menu just for the Twinkle items. In that case, add

window.Twinkle.prefs = {
  "twinkle": {
    // ...
    "portletArea": "column-one",
    "portletId"  : "p-twinkle",
    "portletName": "Twinkle",
    "portletNext": "p-search",
    // ...
  },
  // ...
};

The portletId parameter now refers to the specific Twinkle tool set, 'p-twinkle'. portletArea indicates where the menu should appear (the value 'column-one' is the sidebar for Monobook; for Vector it is 'panel' and for Modern it is 'mw_portlets'; Other options include 'left-navigation' and 'right-navigation' in Vector and 'mw_contentwrapper' in Modern, which will appear on a new level above the other tabs). Change portletNext to dictate which ID the new Twinkle menu should precede; in this case 'p-search' means it will come before the search box. Change the portletName parameter to change the name displayed named along with the new menu, if applicable - in this case, "Twinkle".

Ask for support at the Twinkle talk page if you're unsure what to change.