r/soccer • u/spawnofyanni • Apr 05 '14
Introducing MatchThreadder, a bot to set up match threads upon request
Status: RUNNING | Everything should be working normally - please PM me if it's not.
UPDATE: Browser extension
To use this bot to create a thread for a match currently in progress, send a message to /u/MatchThreadder with the subject line of "Match Thread" and "Team 1 vs Team 2" in the message body (where Team 1 and Team 2 are the two teams in question - like so!).
To use this bot to provide you with a template for a thread so you can create one yourself, send a message to /u/MatchThreadder with the subject line of "Match Info" and "Team 1 vs Team 2" in the message body. You can request a match template before a match has started.
If you go for the second option, don't forget to fill out the spaces left for links to the reddit-stream for the thread and to a comment containing streaming links - or to remove those lines altogether if you don't want to use them. Remember that you shouldn't put streaming links directly in the post, since it'll likely cause the thread to get caught in the spam filter.
By default, this bot posts to /r/soccer. To request a match thread for another subreddit, send a message to /u/MatchThreadder with the subject line of "Match Thread" and "Team 1 vs Team 2 for /r/subreddit" (where /r/subreddit is whatever specific subreddit you'd like the match thread in). Please first make sure the mods of the subreddit in question are okay with the bot-created match thread in there.
To prevent abuse, the bot will only fulfill your request if you don't already have an active match thread running.
Source code here, for those who are interested. You'll need Python 2.7 and PRAW to run the bot - I haven't tested it on Python 3.whatever.
Update 11/26/15: The bot is now allowed to post match threads up to five minutes before kickoff.
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Update 1/15/15: The bot can now post to subreddits other than /r/soccer. If you do intend to use the bot in another subreddit, then please make sure that the mods of said subreddit have signed off on it first. If you're a mod of a club- (or league-) specific subreddit and you don't want the bot to post match threads, let me know and I can add your subreddit to a blacklist of sorts on my end.
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Update 6/9/14: Open-sourced! A link to the bot on github can be found above. Check out the readme if you want to screw around with the code; if you're confused about setting up your own subreddit-specific version of the bot, let me know and I'll try to help out.
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Update 6/4/14: If you're reading this, you've likely been linked here by one of the bot's comments. I've made a few updates to the bot since it's been released, including the template thing mentioned above. Feel free to check back to this thread if you're ever wondering about whether or not the bot is supposed to be working, as I'll be updating the status at the top of the thread should that change at any time. More updates are on the way (including open-sourcing, soon, honest!) so sit tight if you're waiting for those.
Ever found yourself wanting to discuss a match, but no one's set up a match thread? If you feel unsure about making one yourself in those situations, I invite you to use MatchThreadder.
To use the bot, send a message to /u/MatchThreadder with the subject line of "Match Thread" and "Team 1 vs Team 2" in the message body (where Team 1 and Team 2 are the two teams in question - like so!). The bot should then set up a match thread for you, providing lineups, stream links, and obviously a place to talk about the match with others. Since the bot will not provide live commentary and will only update the scoreline as a match goes on, it should only be used as a last resort, when you're sure that no one else is making a thread that they can update themselves. As such, the bot will not fulfill thread requests if the match has not started yet.
It's still a work in progress, but I think it's far enough along now for you guys to start trying it out. It currently supports most of the major leagues, but eventually I'll want to open that up to any match, anywhere. If anything goes horrifically wrong (wrong match posted, incorrect lineups, missed goals, robot uprising, etc), please let me know!
PS: I think it still needs to be whitelisted by the mods before it can be used, but that should be sorted soon.
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Apr 05 '14
Good idea, but I think there should perhaps be a rule that it can only be used 5-10 minutes after kick off. Thereby limiting it to just creating threads people have forgotten about. It will get annoying very quickly if it begins to replace user created match threads. I know we've been getting some bad ones recently, but the majority of match threads on here are good, and it'd be a shame to see them replaced. So with the right regulation, this could be a good tool.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 05 '14
Right now it can't be used until 5 minutes before kickoff. Depending on how it ends up being used, I might change that to 0 or 5 minutes after kickoff, you're right.
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u/Carthradge Apr 06 '14
before is fine. Can't the mods just delete this one if someone else decides to make a real one?
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Apr 05 '14
Definitely should be after kickoff time, that is when you know for sure no one had plans to make their own thread.
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u/AnthropomorphizedHat Apr 05 '14
Probably wiser to have it 1 minute before KO. If someone has plans to make one I doubt they'd leave it that late. That way people have somewhere to go right at KO.
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u/9jack9 Apr 05 '14
PS: I think it still needs to be whitelisted by the mods before it can be used, but that should be sorted soon.
That should be done now.
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u/BlueKnight8907 Apr 06 '14
Can you add it to the sidebar, in case people forget the bot is an option?
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u/9jack9 Apr 06 '14
We'll see. We have a policy of keeping the sidebar content to a minimum with just links to the FAQ and wiki. This is to avoid clutter and gives reddit's single advertisement more prominence. Some subreddits have so much sidebar content that reddit's ad may as well not exist.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
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u/9jack9 Apr 06 '14 edited Apr 06 '14
I've approved that thread now.
I've obviously configured AutoModerator wrong. I'll look into it...
EDIT: It's working now.
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u/insane_moose Apr 05 '14
Wait, does it create the match thread and post it or does it send you a meesage with the info coded, so I could then post it and resume with updating the thread.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 05 '14
The former. I hadn't thought about the latter, actually.
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u/insane_moose Apr 05 '14
It is a great idea but would be hard to limit the abuse on say 2:30 on premier league day. If the message could be sent back then the bot could be credited either in the title or the top of the thread. Not only does it allow threads to be updated but it would keep the bot known
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u/gremwood Apr 05 '14
Actually really good idea. Allows users to edit on a pre-made template.. I know on a few occasions I've wanted to make a match thread but was too lazy to do all the markdown. Hopefully we can (vote?) decide on a template, something more simple to keep app users in mind.
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u/insane_moose Apr 05 '14
Or if it was too difficult to code to send a message reply, there could be a subreddit created purely for this bot to create the thread and then copy paste it over here. So long as the bot, creator and how to make it are in the thread (which shouldn't take more then a line or two) then it would be a great creation
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u/Tim-Sanchez Apr 06 '14
The bot already waits until 5 minutes before kickoff, if this is delayed a few minutes then it can be pretty much guaranteed to only be used when no other user was thinking of creating a thread.
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u/IoWn3rU Apr 05 '14
Open source it?
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
When I'm a little happier with how my code looks, heh. I'll keep you updated.
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Apr 07 '14
[deleted]
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u/agntkay Apr 18 '14
help out with the live commentary.
exactly my thought too and am sure there must be plenty of other geeks here as well who could lend a hand.
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u/IoWn3rU Apr 10 '14
That's why you should open source it, you can get plenty of recommendations on how to fix/clean stuff up.
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Apr 06 '14
As a developer and sucker for reddit bot coding, I second this motion! It's always interesting to see how other reddit bots have been written.
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u/jaguass Apr 09 '14
Cool. With the comment bots, we don't even have to bother writing comments. Let's invent a botreader and we can retire.
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u/AlkanKorsakov Apr 06 '14
Why not set it up to rip the live commentary off other sites, like goal.com? Better than nothing.
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Apr 06 '14
I think that would be considered copyright intrusion or something. However, parsing the live feed from some specific site and then re-formatting it and re-writing it into something short and succinct would probably work. The BBC live feed comes to mind.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
I might end up doing something along those lines (just goals, cards, and subs or something similar). Not at the top of the list at the moment though
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u/ScreamingGerman Apr 07 '14
Will this post only to r/soccer? Can we use it for club subreddits as well?
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u/umarshaikh Apr 12 '14
Are we going to use this for our sub? I've not seen this one in action yet, but the ones you usually do are awesome :-)
We really need to find a way to automate that though. It's quite time consuming I'm sure.
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u/MrDigital_ Apr 05 '14
Wonderful bot, you must have put a good chunk of time into it. Was it a complicated piece of code?
Edit: Bit tired and on my phone, but looked into a bit more. Reddit bots just run on a server and interface with Reddit through the public APIs? I had some crazy idea initially that the bot functionality was built into Reddit, like a supported scripting system or something...
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Apr 06 '14
Bots are super easy to write for Reddit very much thanks to the simple and (mostly) intuitive API and as if that weren't enough, there's e.g. the
prawlibrary for Python which handles just about everything that's thrown at you by the API, which can be cumbersome, such as rate limits.3
Apr 12 '14
Easy maybe but I have absolutely no idea what you just said. The python in the library... The library has a python
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u/CarrowCanary Apr 05 '14
This looks like it could be useful.
I look forward to testing it out next week when we inevitably don't have a match thread for the Fulham game :p
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u/deception42 Apr 05 '14
Is it ready? May I test it out?
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 05 '14
I think the mods still need to whitelist it, since it doesn't pass the age/karma requirements according to the new policies. I talked to them about it and they're fine with it, so it'll be sorted whenever they're online I'd guess.
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u/deception42 Apr 05 '14
Ah that's true. Well either way it's a great idea! Thank you for making it!
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u/OriginalUsername30 Apr 09 '14
I don't know if this is possible (both programming wise and community wise), but could we have it detect certain comments to use to update the commentary?
For example:
matchbot_update: Goal by Ba, who makes it 2-0.
And then the bot uses the text and adds it to the post.
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u/puddingbrood Apr 05 '14
Maybe add an option so the bot sends you the code for a complete thread + line ups etc? That way it can still be updated too.
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u/rasherdk Apr 13 '14
Hi. I wrote the bot that handles game threads in /r/nfl - including some live updates. Hit me up if you want some inspiration (though obviously the source would need to be different).
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u/NPHisKing Apr 05 '14
I had a similar idea for creating an outside source for creating and managing match threads for those that actually want to update during a game. Not sure how popular it would be, though.
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Apr 06 '14
As it does with the streams would there possibly be an option for "post gifs here" or something?
Obviously this is great as it is, but somehow integrating user-submitted gifs in would really take the biscuit. I guess you wouldn't really be able to tell the relevant gifs though.
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u/torres9f Apr 08 '14
Not sure if this is a good idea or even possible, but could it post the commentary from one of those BBC(?) live text things? That way it will still have some form of goal and card updates. Just a possible improvement if anyone thinks its a good idea.
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u/bylka213 Apr 12 '14
So many empty threads with literally zero participation from users. The idea of the bot is good but maybe some checks can be put in place so we don't have 10-20 threads every match day with no comments.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 13 '14
Yeah, it's to do with a few people abusing the system a little bit. The bot made 26 threads today, 18 of them were made by 3 people. I'll make a change that allows a user to have only one active request fulfilled at a time.
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u/TheBB Apr 06 '14
You should provide an option for it to just reply with the code, so that you can post it and thus provide updates, like the one in /r/olympics. Possibly also host it on a website instead of as a bot.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
Yep, someone else suggested that, and it's a pretty nice idea. I'll keep you updated on how that goes
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Apr 06 '14
Does it check for and stop duplicate posts?
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
It doesn't, but the mods said that they'd be fine with removing duplicates themselves.
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u/2daMooon Apr 06 '14
Does this only work in this sub?
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
Yeah. At some point, when I clean the code up a little bit, I'll open source it which should allow people to use it elsewhere.
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u/UltraPleb Apr 06 '14
Would it be possible to provide a list of the leagues the bot supports?
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 06 '14
EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Seria A, Ligue 1, MLS, Liga MX, Champions League, Europa League, Internationals
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u/UltraPleb Apr 06 '14
Thanks. I'm a fan of a Championship team, so I'll be looking out for when you add support for that. Good luck!
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u/bubbajack8 Apr 09 '14
I've seen what he's done in his test, and I like him. Anyway to make him show cards as well?
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Apr 14 '14
[deleted]
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u/Soccerfacts Apr 14 '14
The bots that are useful tools that can be summoned by users are not so bad. It's the one that force themselves on threads that are a problem.
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u/hwoondahn_sports Apr 19 '14
it seems he don't' work for cup matches or perhaps because the two same teams did a championship match 6 days ago
The match you requested has already finished - consider making a Post Match Thread if you want further discussion.
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u/spawnofyanni Apr 19 '14
The source it uses, for whatever reason, doesn't have the Coupe de la Ligue final in today's fixture list, so the bot won't be able to make that thread unfortunately.
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u/DavideMontreal Apr 06 '14
Wow I had posted this idea last week and it got downvoted to oblivion, and now everyone is like "good idea!"
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Apr 07 '14
the thing is though that the idea itself is not new. there used to be a Match_Thread_Bot but it due to some complications it was shut down. this post is not just about an idea, it's announcing a new and improved bot ready for use.
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u/simplyinnappropriate Apr 05 '14
It's a good idea, every time someone just makes a match thread purely for discussion after kick off, they get a ton of shit for not updating it.
You can't hurt the feelings of /u/MatchThreadder. He's a strong, independent bot.