Wikipedia talk:AutoEd

"VERY easy to install" - yeah, right

After a lot of experimentation to try to get the thing to work, it appears to me that it doesn't work at all when User:Ohconfucius/dashes.js is installed. No mention of this on the page though. Am I wrong? Nurg (talk) 23:06, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

This is because Ohconfucius/dashes is an AutoEd module that loads AutoEd by itself if AutoEd is not installed. It's easy to install if you don't have such wizardry; if you do, it's a bit harder, but not too hard.

A full guide is at Wikipedia:AutoEd/Customization but for just the task at hand:

1. Go to the code of the preset you want to base off of (in this case, Wikipedia:AutoEd/complete.js). We'll call it File 1.
2. Go to the module you'd like to mix in (in this case, User:Ohconfucius/dashes.js). We'll call it File 2. Find the name of the AutoEd module function, which should be prefixed with function autoEd (in this case, autoEdDashes).
3. In File 1, at the bottom of autoEdFunctions(), right before saving (so usually the second-to-last line), transform the text with the function name you found (in this case, add above line 39 the line txt = autoEdDashes(txt);).
4. Make sure you import File 2 somewhere before autoEdFunctions() in File 1.
5. Add the result to your common.js.

For reference, here's my customization, which is the Complete preset + Dashes + User:Aaron Liu/AutowIll.js and a small snippet to make AutoEd not do anything if it doesn't give you any changes:

var AutoEd_baseurl = 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?action=raw&ctype=text/javascript&title=Wikipedia:AutoEd/';

//Import individual modules for use
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'unicodify.js'); // autoEdUnicodify() converts HTML entities to WikiText
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'isbn.js'); // autoEdISBN() fixes ISBN syntax so that WikiMagic can work
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'whitespace.js'); // autoEdWhitespace() cleans up whitespace
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'wikilinks.js'); // autoEdWikilinks() simplifies and shortens wikilinks where appropriate
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'htmltowikitext.js'); // autoEdHTMLtoWikitext() converts HTML to wikitext
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'headlines.js'); // autoEdHeadlines() fixes common headline errors and renames some headers
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'unicodecontrolchars.js'); // autoEdUnicodeControlChars() converts HTML to wikitext
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'unicodehex.js'); // autoEdUnicodeHex() converts hex encoded characters to unicode
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'templates.js'); // autoEdTemplates() cleans up templates
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'tablestowikitext.js'); // autoEdTablestoWikitext() replaces HTML tables with wikitables
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'extrabreaks.js'); // autoEdExtraBreaks() removes extra BR tags
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'links.js'); // autoEdLinks() cleans up common link errors
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'fullwidth.js');
mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'curlyfixer.js');
importScript('User:Ohconfucius/dashes.js'); // Backlink: [[User:Ohconfucius/dashes.js]]
importScript('User:Aaron Liu/AutowIll.js'); // Backlink: [[User:Aaron Liu/AutowIll.js]]
//importScript('User:Aaron Liu/AliasPam.js'); // Backlink: [[User:Aaron Liu/AliasPam.js]]
//importScript('User:Aaron Liu/NoPiper.js'); // Backlink: [[User:Aaron Liu/NoPiper.js]]

function autoEdFunctions() { //Activates individual modules when "auto ed" tab is clicked
    var $textbox = $( '#wpTextbox1' );
    var txt = $textbox.textSelection('getContents');
    txt = autoEdUnicodify(txt);
    txt = autoEdISBN(txt);
    txt = autoEdWhitespace(txt);
    txt = autoEdUnicodeHex(txt);
    txt = autoEdWikilinks(txt);
    txt = autoEdHTMLtoWikitext(txt);
    txt = autoEdHeadlines(txt);
    txt = autoEdUnicodeControlChars(txt);
    txt = autoEdTemplates(txt);
    txt = autoEdTablestoWikitext(txt);
    txt = autoEdExtraBreaks(txt);
    txt = autoEdLinks(txt);
    txt = autoEdDashes(txt);
    txt = autoEdFullwidth(txt);
    txt = autoEdCurlyFixer(txt);
    txt = autoEdwIll(txt);
    if(txt===$textbox.textSelection('getContents')){ autoEdTag = ""; mw.notify("No changes required!"); }
    else $textbox.textSelection('setContents', txt);
}

In solidarity, Aaron Liu (talk) 00:21, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. I have endeavoured to follow the instructions. "auto ed" now appears on the menu. And the 'dashes' function works. I'm trying to verify whether any of the other functions work. It looks to me that this section of a random article, Bitter in the Mouth#Linda Hammerick, contains curly quotation marks, but AutoEd is not changing them. Am I misunderstanding something, or do I maybe not have the script set up right? Thanks. Nurg (talk) 02:07, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

My apologies. You very accurately followed my instructions, but it's been a long time since I've customized it, so I forgot that you need to mw.loader.load(AutoEd_baseurl + 'core.js'); //Imports the "framework" script needed to make this function before you load any script that checks whether AutoEd is loaded any replaces your autoEdFunctions with its own. So you would move Line 57 anywhere before Line 33. In solidarity, Aaron Liu (talk) 02:47, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

Purpose

When using auto ed I don't see any changes. Also, the documentation is vague about the purpose of AutoEd. What is it for? Thanks! Robloxguest3 (talk) 20:41, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

You don't see the changes in Special:Diff/1356282062? The most noticeable one is MOS:Ellipsis compliance.

AutoEd just runs any modules you tell it to run. What it does depends on what modules/module preset you use. Wikipedia:AutoEd#Presets describes each of them and the table below tells you which modules are bundled into which presets. In solidarity, Aaron Liu (talk) 02:18, 27 May 2026 (UTC)