Handle cases of multiple colons being used to escape wiki links
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	Redmin
	Feb 1 2026, 6:28 AM

Description

[[::File:test.png|Text]], [[:::File:test.png|Text]] etc. should be replaced with [[:File:test.png|Text]].
[[::User:Example Bot|Text]], [[:User:Example Bot|Text]] should be replaced with [[User:Example Bot|Text].
~~[[::iwprefix:Namespace:Page|Text]] should be replaced with [[:iw:Namespace:Page|Text]].~~ This is apparently unnecessary because [[:m:LOL]] and [[m:LOL]] are rendered in the same way.
Wikitext like [[::]] must be left alone.

Relevant docs: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Lint_errors/multi-colon-escape

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Related Changes in GitLab:

	Title	Reference	Author	Source Branch	Dest Branch
	Fix multi-colon-escape issues	toolforge-repos/redminbot!18	r4356th	multi-colon-escape	main

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Event Timeline

Redmin created this task.Feb 1 2026, 6:28 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptFeb 1 2026, 6:28 AM

Redmin triaged this task as Low priority.Feb 1 2026, 6:28 AM

I’ve read the docs and understand that file links with multiple leading colons (e.g., [[::File:test.png]], [[:::File:test.png]]) are now invalid and should be normalized to a single colon ([[:File:test.png]]).
how should i proceed should i use WPcleaner ?

Hi @Varma2005, thanks for your interest. This task is for adding the functionality (automatically replacing all instances of file links with multiple leading colons that the bot encounters) to https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/redminbot/-/blob/main/utils.py. If you would like to help me with it then that's the file you would have to edit. If you would rather make the fixes manually on Wikimedia wikis, then WPCleaner could be helpful.

Redmin renamed this task from Handle cases of multiple colons being used to escape file links to Handle cases of multiple colons being used to escape wiki links.Feb 5 2026, 10:36 AM

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Redmin updated the task description. (Show Details)Feb 7 2026, 6:34 AM

Redmin moved this task from Triage to Up Next on the Tool-redminbot board.

Redmin claimed this task.Mon, Feb 16, 5:14 PM

Redmin moved this task from Up Next to In Progress on the Tool-redminbot board.

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Redmin raised the priority of this task from Low to Medium.Mon, Feb 16, 5:18 PM

Redmin updated the task description. (Show Details)Mon, Feb 16, 5:32 PM

Redmin updated the task description. (Show Details)Fri, Feb 20, 9:09 AM

r4356th opened https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/redminbot/-/merge_requests/18

Fix multi-colon-escape issues

r4356th merged https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/redminbot/-/merge_requests/18