In Wikidata:Project_chat/Archive/2022/07#Deletion_without_discussion, we discussed the possibility of having a bot that notified users of deletions, and you said "The bot code itself would not be too difficult to write." I am increasingly convinced that the reason we see so many recreations of deleted items is that new users simply don't understand what is happening when we delete their items, or what the appropriate response should be. I have recently being trying to communicate better when I delete recreations, and it has apparently increased communication and understanding, albeit with mixed results. Have you had any further thoughts about creation of this bot?
Topic on User talk:MisterSynergy
I have most of the source code for such a bot ready, and the missing parts are not complicated as well. However, since I am backlogged with a couple of other bot jobs and short on time, so it does not have the highest priority at the moment.
Contrary to the discussion above, I think that one message per user and day is sufficient, and all notifications should be opt-in (as opposed to opt-out for deleted item creations as discussed earlier).
Another interesting finding during the preparation of the bot was that of the 1.94 million deleted data items, 54% (1.05M) have been created by only three users (GZWDer_(flood), Sk!dbot, Legobot), and 80% (1.55M) have been created by the top 36 users by number of deleted items.
I don't care much about the frequency of the messages, but I disagree about the opt-in. I think the primary beneficiaries of these messages will be the new users who don't know what they're doing.
I'm getting very tired of deleting the same items again and again, and I'm trying to put "instructions at the point of need" as Edward Tufte (Q1293908) would put it.
Interesting, I rarely see these re-appearing items. Our deletion routines seem to be quite different ;-)
As much as I am aware, we do not push bot messages to user talk pages here at Wikidata. Given what I receive as bot messages on other projects, I do like it this way and prefer to keep this opt-in for all scenarios since this is pretty much the default behavior in this project. We can and should of course advertise to opt-in for such a bot at several places.
The typical scenario is that a new user comes to Wikidata, and their goal is to create an item for a specific entity. They come back the next day and they can't find it. They scratch their head, wonder at the mysteries of the universe, and then they set about creating the item again from scratch.
Such a user is not going to be helped by an opt-in service.
I see. Should we maybe treat new and experienced user differently? New registered users users always receive these messages, and experienced users need to opt-in? We could maybe make a cut when "autoconfirmed" status is reached.
Another question is how to opt-in or -out. Manually edited lists tend to become a mess, and can also be exploited (users add or remove other users' usernames). I currently prefer the idea to opt-in or -out via some potentially empty .js page in user namespace, which can only be edited by the user itself (and interface admins). Any thoughts?
Maybe I'm old school, but I thought the tried and tested solution was hidden categories on the user page.
Which requires to have a user page. Some prefer to go with the "red link" deliberately.
I have indeed not decided yet how to go about this and look for ideas.
Anyways, I need to go to bed now and will be available probably tomorrow evening again. This bot has gained some more priority now.
Or user talk page, I guess.