Commons:Bots/Requests

Shortcut: COM:BRFA

Bot help and list Requests to operate a bot Requests for work to be done by a bot Requests for batch uploads

If you want to run a bot on Commons, you must get permission first. To do so, file a request following the instructions below.

Please read Commons:Bots before making a request for bot permission.

I	Create a user account (while logged in to your normal account) and user page for the bot On the bot's userpage, add {{Bot}}, which automatically adds the page to Category:Commons bots. Then add the following information to the bot's userpage (all this is mandatory): Operator: Who the creator/operator is and how they can best be contacted Tasks: Details of the bot's task or tasks Operation: Whether the bot is manually assisted or runs automatically When: When it operates (continuously, intermittently, or at specified intervals) Maximum edit rate: The bot's maximum edit rate (eg edits per minute) Language: The language and/or program that it is running
II	Write your program code. When you put a request at this page, you are expected to be ready for testing. If you are unsure and want to know if your intended bot job will be accepted, please seek community feedback at a suitable venue, e.g. Commons:Village pump.
III	Create your bot request: Replace "YourBotName" with your bot's username in the box below and click the button. Complete the questions on the resulting page and save it. Remember that your bot will be allowed to operate only for those tasks that you have specified in your request. Add your bot request to the list here: Edit the following request list, adding the following text to the top of the appropriate section (replacing "YourBotName" with your bot's name): {{Commons:Bots/Requests/YourBotName}}
IV	Test run Please make a small test run (5–20 edits) to allow other users to review your bot's tasks. (Please do not put your bot in automatic mode until the request is approved!)
V	Waiting for approval. You now need to wait for community approval. A bureaucrat will close the request and will also grant a bot flag, where necessary. Closed requests are moved to Commons:Bots/Archive.

Requests made on this page are automatically transcluded in Commons:Requests and votes for wider comment.

Before making a bot request, please read the new version of the Commons:Bots page. Read Commons:Bots#Information on bots and make sure you have added the required details to the bot's page. A good example can be found here.

When complete, pages listed here should be archived to Commons:Bots/Archive.

Any user may comment on the merits of the request to run a bot. Please give reasons, as that makes it easier for the closing bureaucrat. Read Commons:Bots before commenting.

Operator: Ameisenigel (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Improving categorization within Category:Boston Evening Transcript as requested at Commons:Bots/Work requests#Boston Evening Transcript

Automatic or manually assisted: automatic

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): one time run

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 6 edits per minute

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Bot already has bot flag

Programming language(s): Python

Ameisenigel (talk) 15:31, 31 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Please make test run. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:48, 1 April 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: Andrybak (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: replace {{Cc-by-3.0-us}} with {{Cc-by-2.0-fr}} in all pages of this search (15915 pages as of 20:53, 25 March 2026 (UTC)) per discussion at Commons:Village pump/Copyright/Archive/2026/03#Ukrainian pronunciation audio files. See also User:AndrybakBot/Tasks/Fixing license template for Ukrainian pronunciation audio files.

Automatic or manually assisted: semi-automatic editing using VisualFileChange (aka VFC)

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): one time run

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): whatever rate-limiting is builtin in VisualFileChange

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Yes

Programming language(s): CirrusSearch search queries and regular expressions

Test run: 20 edits

—⁠andrybak (talk) 20:53, 25 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Originally, I planned to use JWB for these edits, but turns out that JWB cannot handle pages with "Structured data"; plus, there are too many pages for JWB (at least in my experience of using it on enwiki). It is also too many edits for a regular account – using a bot account seems logical for this. Getting wider consensus wouldn't hurt too.

Per User:Jmabel, VFC is a good fit for this (Special:Diff/1175097428). I've tried VFC for the first time in these 3 edits. Its mode "Action: custom replace" seems intuitive enough. —⁠andrybak (talk) 20:53, 25 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

VFC might be a bit slow for doing nearly 16,000 pages, though. That's about 5 or 6 times the largest thing I've done with it, and that was tedious. A true bot might be better. - Jmabel ! talk 21:32, 25 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think that - Doing 1 replacements should be edit comments because it does not add anything to task description. EugeneZelenko (talk) 12:13, 26 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

"Doing 1 replacements" is the part of edit summary that is automatically generated by VFC. —⁠andrybak (talk) 12:12, 28 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: Krd (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: I would like to split the approved task Commons:Bots/Requests/Krdbot 2 of archiving deletion request (e.g. Special:Diff/1183868616, Special:Diff/1183868580) to a different account name. The code is already running under User:Krdbot and only the account name will change.

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Continuous

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): maxlag

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Y

Krd 04:04, 21 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Looks OK for me. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 14:44, 21 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to also request the template editor role for this bot, to be able to purge Commons:Deletion requests after archiving to show the new numbers. --Krd 06:28, 27 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

It'll be good idea to also purge each request page - sometimes some files are shown there as still existing after deletion. EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:26, 27 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: Jean-Frédéric (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Updating pages which use {{Property dashboard}}

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Weekly and on-demand (via the “Manual update” link)

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute):

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Happy either way. It’s been running for 7 years without BotFlag on Wikidata with no issues. I’m currently hitting Captcha though, so I guess I’d need some kind of flagging (autoconfirmed or smth?) to pass that by.

Programming language(s): Python/Pywikibot

Jean-Fred (talk) 20:20, 17 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

• What will it do?  Oppose because there's not info what it will do. --Prototyperspective (talk) 22:24, 17 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  Sorry, I had thought toolforge:integraality was enough of a basic introduction ; I should have linked directly to d:Wikidata:Tools/inteGraality.

  As mentioned above, users may use the {{Property dashboard}} template to configure the to select a subset of Structured Data on Commons elements (for example, all pictures by a given user etc.), slice it along a dimension (by date of publication, by camera used, etc.) and what elements should these items have (properties, labels, descriptions).

  The tool then run SPARQL queries (via QLever) to write the table.

  See as example User:Jean-Frédéric/Integraality/T294893.

  Let me know if you need more details. Jean-Fred (talk) 07:06, 18 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  The details I think are needed are what the bot would do like for what the tool would be used via the bot. Prototyperspective (talk) 14:58, 18 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  It’s a tool quite similar to User:ListeriaBot: users use {{Property dashboard}} (and end) templates, and the bot’s only task is to write between these two templates on pages that use these templates.

  I cannot anticipate what users may want to use it for. There are over a thousand uses on Wikidata − from lighthouses per country to red pandas per residence, video games per platform to music albums by year, politicians per parliamentary term to cameras per manufacturer. I can imagine SDoC usecases like all images depicting a particular subjects, all images from a particular Flickr stream, all uploads of a user… Jean-Fred (talk) 16:12, 18 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  Thanks for explaining. I was looking for concrete examples so that category sufficiently addressed my questions so that I'll strike my vote. I guess here it would use tables where media files are shown in it. Prototyperspective (talk) 16:21, 18 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: P170 (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Creating the usual categories above 'Photographs by location by date', i. e. 'Month Year Location X photographs', 'Month Year in Location X', 'Year Location X photographs', 'Year in Location X', 'Month Year Superior Location XY photographs', ... by filling it with the intended templates (such as {{Location X photomonthyear|Year|Month}}).

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic, overseeable batches (probably one type of category, one location and every remaining date per batch)

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): intermittently

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 10 edits/minute

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): as you wish

Programming language(s): pywikibot

P170 (talk) 18:54, 26 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

In the test edits I see a lot of subcategories with one or two files only, and a lot of redlinks. Please elaborate why this makes any sense. --Krd 08:04, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Fundamentally, the category tree in this scope is intended to be structured this way. Therefore, I would like to create the corresponding categories accordingly. By using a bot, I don't have to do it by hand, which saves a lot of time that I can use to upload new photos, for example. As described, the red links are intended to gradually turn blue—that is indeed the goal. P170 (talk) 15:05, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I think will be good idea to explore/improve Structural Data capabilities for this purpose instead of categories, so date/coordinates queries could be run for different precision. --EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:08, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I am talking about the status quo and would like to simplify my and other people's work using a bot. If we handle this via structured data at some point, that is fine with me, but that is a future consideration and not the focus of this conversation. P170 (talk) 17:25, 27 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

In my opinion the bot request can make sense and make work easier. The categories for photos by location and time period are very well established and often used. I wouldn't completely question or reject the bot request just because the same thing could be handled via structured data in the future. Greets -- Triple C 85 ^{| User talk |} 19:08, 9 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please provide any evidence that this is useful and/or doing so is community consensus, if you like for the example: Category:Landkreis Trier-Saarburg photographs taken on 1946-06-13 as it stands today. Krd 08:59, 14 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: Delpha (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Uploading a systematic series of SVG locator maps for all Moroccan communes. A more detailed explanation is given on the bot's userpage.

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic, supervised

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Currently daily, but in the future more rarely.

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 5

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Y

Programming language(s): Pywikibot

Delpha (talk) 00:50, 10 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Please fix the bot request page. --Krd 14:52, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I did so. I also launched a small test run of 15 files. DelphiBOT (talk) 15:06, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Templates have to have 2 braces {{...}} when used. --Achim55 (talk) 16:29, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please use your User:Delpha account for your personal edits. Leave the User:DelphiBOT account exclusively for the bot's edits. --Achim55 (talk) 16:32, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

OpenStreetMap license is {{CC-BY-SA-2.0}}. What about Natural Earth? EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:33, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

→{{Natural Earth}} --Achim55 (talk) 16:54, 16 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I found the error. There were initially two braces in my code but I realized that there should be four braces in f string so the description include section title with two braces. I also added the two source templates for {{OpenStreetMap}} and {{Natural Earth}} in the section License. DelphiBOT (talk) 10:02, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I launched a new limited test with 3+1 uploads this morning. I managed to change the structure of the file title in order to make it look more natural and self-explanatory. I am waiting for your feedbacks DelphiBOT (talk) 10:57, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I think {{CC-BY-SA-2.0}} (from OpenStreetMap tag) should be used. EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:18, 18 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please confirm that you are not doing manual editing with the bot account, as already asked above. --Krd 15:21, 23 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I am aware of the relevant policy and can confirm that two separate accounts are being used: Delpha is my personal account for manual and individual edits, while DelphiBOT is a dedicated bot account used exclusively for automated uploads.

With the exception of the confusion in the discussion above, all contributions made by DelphiBOT have been fully automated. DelphiBOT (talk) 09:19, 3 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

You are still discussing with the DelphiBOT account. Please elaborate. Krd 06:03, 6 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: GinnyTheCat (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Transforming creator (P170) statements using some values to their appropriate Wikidata entry if one exists. A more detailed explanation is given on the bot's userpage.

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic, supervised

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): Currently daily, but in the future more rarely.

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 10

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Y

Programming language(s): Rust

ginnyTheCat (talk) 00:50, 10 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

I'm currently unable to start the test run since the bots edits get blocked due to AbuseFilter 265 since the bot account is not autoconfirmed. What is the recommended solution for this case? ginnyTheCat (talk) 01:23, 10 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Now confirmed. Krd 07:22, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot! I concluded the test run now. ginnyTheCat (talk) 14:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Do such photographers meet Wikidata notability requirements? EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:25, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good question. The items already exist, the bot doesn't create them, but using them does make it more difficult to delete them in the future due to being in use, I agree. The list of photographers I currently have, I think, all meet the criteria by being people known for other things, being professional photographers, or even having newspaper articles written about them.

Also I'm not sure if It fulfils a structural need, for example: it is needed to make statements made in other items more useful. applies to SDoC as well or only statements directly on Wikidata, since otherwise it would cover this use case as well I think. ginnyTheCat (talk) 18:51, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

What about a compromise (for now)? If you have a list of photographers which already have their own Wikidata item and clearly fulfil Wikidata notability requirements (e.g. because the Wikidata entry contains several solid and reliable sitelinks as well as references to respected external sources), the bot could transform the creator (P170) statements using some values to their appropriate Wikidata entry. Presumably, hardly anyone would object to that; the P170 entries for their images would become clearer, and the work on the bot would not have been in vain. Later, in a broader discussion, possibly with Wikidata experts, it could be clarified whether the P170 statements of some lesser-known photographers should also be converted, and under what conditions. – Aristeas (talk) 10:21, 2 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds good. ginnyTheCat (talk) 16:13, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please advide the exact criteria you implemented and please make another test run. Krd 06:23, 13 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: Tausheef Hassan (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought:
1. Under Template:EdictGov-Bangladesh/Gazette, Bangladeshi government gazettes are explicitly covered by a copyright exemption, as they are official publications of the Government of Bangladesh.
I have compiled a dataset of 2,695 weekly and 56,751 extraordinary gazettes, available here and here, spanning from 1968 to the present. The bot’s task will be to upload these PDFs to Commons. Once the backlog is cleared, the bot will upload new gazettes weekly.
Educational value:

• They provide authoritative, verifiable sources for the exact dates on which ordinances, acts, rules, and statutory orders are issued or enforced.
• They serve as primary evidence for establishing the creation, dissolution, or restructuring of government institutions, statutory bodies, and public organizations, supporting legal and historical accuracy.
• The gazettes contain official notifications, appointments, regulations, and policy decisions that can be used to verify and support factual statements in Wikipedia articles.
• As state-published primary sources, they are frequently cited in legal research, academic studies, journalism, and court proceedings, reinforcing their reliability and educational significance.
• Uploading these documents to Wikimedia Commons will significantly improve public access to primary legal and administrative sources, supporting education, research, and transparency. The DPP website frequently experiences downtime, and its search function is unreliable.
  
  
  
  

2. In 2018, the Bangladeshi government attempted to implement a National Open Education Resource Policy draft under which educational resources would have been distributed under a Creative Commons license. As part of this initiative, Bangladesh Open University—the 8th largest university in the world by enrollment Bangladesh Open University has made 377 courses publicly available. These courses range from high school to master’s level and are entirely in Bengali.

All courses are licensed under Creative Commons 4.0 International License. License data can be found here. Each course has 10 to 15 pdfs each. Bot's task be to upload these files under proper category.
Currently these courses are currently not searched by search engines and stored in ip server http://103.103.100.12:8080/jspui/ . I have personally used it's content in high school scattered across various locations. This will consolidate these files in one place and greatly help Bengali students and fulfil Wikimedia common's goal of free inclusive education for all regardless of language.

I have previously wrote all source code and managed 60k uploads of User:PID-Bangladesh-UploadBot. It's images is being used very very widely in wikimedia projects as well as by independent journalists. I have also made Pypan tool which has uploaded 57,256 files, 0.04% of all files on Wikimedia Commons. I am planning on using the same method for uploading.

Trial run:

Test edits

02:09, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +610  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 1st week of December 2025 - Part VIII (Private advertisements).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:09, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +610  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 3rd week of November 2025 - Part VIII (Private advertisements).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:09, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +1,007  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 3rd week of November 2025 - Part VI (Supreme Court and Public Service notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:09, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +605  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 3rd week of November 2025 - Part III (Defence notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +934  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 3rd week of November 2025 - Part II (Government appointments).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +1,006  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 3rd week of November 2025 - Part I (Statutory notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +610  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 4th week of November 2025 - Part VIII (Private advertisements).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +1,007  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 4th week of November 2025 - Part VI (Supreme Court and Public Service notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +607  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 4th week of November 2025 - Part III (Defence notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +934  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 4th week of November 2025 - Part II (Government appointments).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0 02:08, 18 January 2026 diff hist  +1,006  N File:Bangladesh Weekly Gazette, 4th week of November 2025 - Part I (Statutory notifications).pdf Pypan 0.2.1a0

(The bot account is recently created and under Special:AbuseFilter/281 new users cannot upload PDF files. So autopatrol or confirmed rights will be appreciated)

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): One time for backlog, Once a week after backlog

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 12

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): Yes

Programming language(s): Python with pywikibot

Tausheef Hassan (talk) 21:11, 17 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Tausheef Hassan: Would you mind explaining how you chose the bot's name? I'm a little concerned that it's so similar to my user name. Thanks. -- Auntof6 (talk) 23:12, 4 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Auntof6: My full legal name is Tausheef Hassan Auntu. Most people know me by my nickname "Auntu" (অন্তু) Tausheef Hassan (talk) 04:49, 5 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Tausheef Hassan: OK, thanks. I didn't think you would misuse it, just that it might be confusing. :) -- Auntof6 (talk) 04:56, 5 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Auntof6: I understand your concern, I can apply to change the username if you want. Tausheef Hassan (talk) 05:08, 5 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Tausheef Hassan: Not on my account. If people get confused, it can be explained. -- Auntof6 (talk) 05:39, 5 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Does it really make sense to use monthly categories for weekly publications? --EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:46, 18 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@EugeneZelenko: I have not finalized the categorization structure yet. The files are auto-categorized by Module:Bangladesh Gazette, and the existing categories are only a proof of concept. I plan to finalize the categorization with discussion with the community. For now, I have changed the weekly gazettes to be categorized on a yearly basis. Tausheef Hassan (talk) 16:13, 18 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please make new test run. EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:15, 18 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@EugeneZelenko: Categorization is not performed during the upload process. Running a new test will produce results identical to previous runs. Categorization is handled entirely by the module, and any changes made to the module will affect the categorization of both existing and future files. The current test run files are now categorised yearly without any edits to the files. Tausheef Hassan (talk) 16:30, 18 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

But such categories could be definitely added during uploading. EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:15, 19 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@EugeneZelenko: Yes, technically that could be done, but I do not think it should be.

These categories follow a recurring and consistent structure across a very large number of files. Per COM:T (“recurring messages to pages consistently”), I think, such recurring structures should be implemented via templates or modules

License templates already place files into their primary license categories in Commons. The module I am using only groups files into appropriate subcategories under the parent license category. From my experience with large-scale uploads, any recurring text or categorization logic should be handled by templates or modules. This approach avoids human error and prevents the need for tens of thousands of mass edits later. Main reason of this approach is to fix error without mass editing. I have personally encountered this problem in past uploads.

Module-based categorization provides centralized control over both existing and future files and allows flexible recategorization, refinement, or restructuring if new file types are introduced or if community consensus changes. Automatic categorization can still be overridden manually on individual files when needed.

Based on my experience with large batch uploads, recurring categorization structures should be implemented via templates or modules rather than during the upload process. This keeps bot runs deterministic and avoids embedding provisional or potentially disputed categorization decisions directly into file pages.Tausheef Hassan (talk) 04:27, 20 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@EugeneZelenko: @Krd: I would love to start uploading soon. Tausheef Hassan (talk) 02:43, 26 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Under current community consensus in Commons:Deletion requests/Template:EdictGov-Bangladesh, I will only be uploading government files published before 2023-09-18. Tausheef Hassan (talk) 19:11, 14 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The above mentioned test edits are now nominated for deletion. Please elaborate. Krd 15:17, 23 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Krd:

Bangladesh transitioned from a UK-style copyright framework to a US-style fair use system with the enactment of the Copyright Act, 2023. Prior to this, from 2000 to 2023, copyright was governed by the Copyright Act, 2000, and earlier, from 1962 to 2000, by the Copyright Ordinance, 1962. Importantly, none of these laws operate retroactively.

Initially, I relied on COM:Bangladesh and {{EdictGov-Bangladesh}} at face value. However, after the deletion proposal at Commons:Deletion requests/Template:EdictGov-Bangladesh was raised, I conducted a detailed review of both current and historical Bangladeshi copyright law. Based on that review, it is clear that COM:Bangladesh and Bangladeshi license templates are outdated and do not accurately reflect the legal framework. I have updated {{EdictGov-Bangladesh}} after the discussion.

From my understanding, works published before 2023-09-18 fall within the scope of {{EdictGov-Bangladesh}}, and therefore can be reused under that exemption. The legal reasoning and supporting analysis are outlined in the deletion request discussion.

For the trial run, my bot uploaded a small set of recent files from the dataset. Since these files were published after 2023, they do not fall under the exemption and therefore lack the necessary permission. This was an error in selection for testing purposes. However, the dataset still contains approximately 55,000 files published before 2023 that do meet the criteria and can be uploaded.

In parallel, I am working on a comprehensive update of COM:Bangladesh to reflect the current and historical legal framework. My review so far suggests that:

• Buildings and physical structures are not protected by copyright in Bangladesh (i.e., they are not copyrightable subject matter).
• The term of copyright under the 1962 Ordinance was 50 years, and the 2000 Act did not introduce a retroactive term extension for works already governed by the earlier law.

I am currently preparing a detailed proposal for the Village Pump to formalize these interpretations and update Commons guidance accordingly.

For the purposes of this bot request, I will follow the current community consensus at Commons:Deletion requests/Template:EdictGov-Bangladesh, which indicates that government works published before 2023-09-18 are acceptable for upload. The bot will therefore be restricted to uploading only those files that clearly meet this criterion. - Tausheef Hassan Auntu (talk) 12:40, 24 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

New Trial run: @Krd:

Tausheef Hassan Auntu ✉Talk? 15:23, 26 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please summarize why these files are in project scope of Wikimedia Commons. --Krd 09:03, 14 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Krd: According to COM:SCOPE, these 60,000+ pre-2023 government gazettes fall within the project scope for allowable PDF formats. As the highest level of official state publications, they are essential texts for Bengali Wikisource. This directly aligns with the policy that "A PDF or DjVu file of a published and peer-reviewed work would be in scope on Wikisource and is therefore also in scope on Commons." Additionally, these gazettes have served as the state's official public record since 1968. Because of their immense historical and administrative significance, they perfectly fit the criterion that "The file is a scan of a document of historic or other external significance, e.g. scans of existing copyright-free or licensed books, reports, newspapers, etc." Hosting these files ensures that "The file is usable as a fixed, verifiable source document, e.g. for Wikisource or Wikibooks." These documents can provide reliable and permanent sources for Wikipedia articles and primary texts for Bengali Wikisource. ≈  MS Sakib  📩 ·📝 17:45, 14 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Krd: is there any problem with the bot request? Tausheef Hassan Auntu ✉Talk? 08:16, 31 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Operator: DaxServer (talk · contributions · Statistics · Recent activity · block log · User rights log · uploads · Global account information) (assign permissions)

Bot's tasks for which permission is being sought: Commons:Batch uploading/IZW-Medienarchiv

Automatic or manually assisted: Automatic

Edit type (e.g. Continuous, daily, one time run): one-time run

Maximum edit rate (e.g. edits per minute): 45

Bot flag requested: (Y/N): N

Programming language(s): OpenRefine

-- DaxServer (talk) 09:57, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

• Test run: https://editgroups-commons.toolforge.org/b/OR/34a22116a4c/ (OpenRefine does not expose configuration settings to limit maximum number of edits per minute and is why I've put 45 edits) -- DaxServer (talk) 09:57, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  Please use use all lowercase letters for license. Is there project to refine categories by humans? EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:04, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

  Perhaps @Rosenzweig, can you answer about the category refinement?

  License noted. -- DaxServer (talk) 08:34, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not aware of a specific project to refine the categories. I'll try to sort the uploaded files into specific place categories though (if that is not already the case) and let others know in the discussion forums that the files were uploaded, so interested users can work with them. A thorough categorisation will likely take years, as with other batch uploads. --Rosenzweig τ 11:32, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

My point it to avoid such backlogs. Is it possible to notify relevant WikiProjects' participants if media collections are themed? EugeneZelenko (talk) 16:35, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure there is a WikiProject specifically for waterways or transport here at Wikimedia Commons. There is the German-speaking community which is notified easily enough by letting them know at the Commons:Forum and at de.wp. @OhneEisen: You have commented at Commons:Batch uploading/IZW-Medienarchiv and are somewhat active in the subject of transportation. Can you think of additional ways to notify interested people? --Rosenzweig τ 21:30, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

In the AI ages, is there no way to at least generate rough categorization? --Krd 07:38, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Are there any test uploads for this batch? --Krd 07:38, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Only a few, see [1], File:Altes Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow-Havel-Oder-Wasserstraße 1933-05-30 HB16020.jpg, File:Schiffshebewerk Rothensee-Mittellandkanal nach der Generalreparatur 1981 HB07353.jpg. They have rudimentary geographical categories. --Rosenzweig τ 08:46, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

File:Altes Schiffshebewerk Niederfinow-Havel-Oder-Wasserstraße 1933-05-30 HB16020.jpg: Who is by which reason the copyright holder, and why is it under cc-by-sa-4.0? Krd 10:38, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

The copyright section at [2] says in the copyright section "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License". They don't explicitly say why they can license the photos that way, but I think the assumption is that the photos were created by photographers working for those public agencies (see Beschreibung der Pools linked on the left of the main page). With some of the images from the Rhein-Museum that might not be the case though. --Rosenzweig τ 12:46, 12 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

So we have a different license used for the upload that at the source. If we do such batch upload, shouldn't we clarify? I hesitate because they request cc-by but don't mention any author or attribution, and I'd assume that they could be mistaken about copyright. Krd 05:13, 13 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hm, you're right, the Commons uploads actually have a more restrictive license (BY-SA) than the source has (just BY without SA). That should be fixed for any future uploads. @DaxServer: Is that a mistake on our (Wikimedia Commons) side (not blaming anyone here ...), or did they change the license at some point? They do offer "Zitiervorschlag für die korrekte Namensnennung: Quelle: Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau" in the Nutzungsbedingen, so that would be the attribution I guess? About them being mistaken about copyright: That might be the case for some of the museum photos from external sources I think, but the majority (taken by their own photographers) should be ok. --Rosenzweig τ 11:11, 21 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Hey.. let me get back to you in a couple of days. -- DaxServer (talk) 17:37, 25 March 2026 (UTC)[reply]