Wikipedia:File mover
| This page contains information about thefile moverright, relevantpolicy and guidelineconsiderations concerning the use of the file mover privilege, and details concerning the use of the file mover tool on the English Wikipedia. Changes made to it should reflectconsensus. |
 | This page in a nutshell: |
Thefile moveruser rightallows usersexperiencedin working with files to rename them, subject to policy, with the ease thatautoconfirmedusers enjoy when renaming Wikipedia articles.
Any administrator can grant this right at their discretion totrusted userswho regularly work with media files and have demonstratedfamiliaritywith Wikipedia's policies and guidelines surrounding renaming this type of media. There is no set requirement but users should bewell-versedin Wikipedia's image and media policies (specifically the renaming guidelines given in this document), have experience with images, and how the rename process works. Experience with the equivalent tool atCommonsand other relevant experience with media files may be taken into account.
The user right isnotnormally given to brand-new editors, regardless of the number of files uploaded.
If you wish to request File mover rights for yourself or another user, please seeWikipedia:Requests for permissions/File mover.Administrators do not need to request or add this user right for themselves or other administrators; it is automatically granted as part of the administrator tools package.
There are currently386file mover users, which makes the total number of users with this permission 1,234 (the rest are administrators).
How it works
editFiles uploaded to Wikipedia can be renamed only by administrators,file movers,and Wikimediastewards.If you belong to any of the user groups above, and therefore have the 'movefile' right, just use the "move" tab as you would normally on a regular page.
If you're not a file mover, you can place{{rename media}}on the image description page, which will put the page intoCategory:Wikipedia files requiring renaming.A file mover will perform the move, if it conforms to the guidelines described below. File movers should follow the instructions on the template.
File movers cannot move a file if precisely the same file name exists on Commons. Administrators, however, can do so, because they have the 'reupload-shared' right.
Commons files
editFiles uploaded to Commonscannotbe renamed by Wikipedia administrators or filemovers. To request the rename of a file at Commons, follow the instructions atCommons:File renaming.
File redirects
editAs when a page is moved, a redirect is left when moving files. In most cases the file redirect should remain, except if the original name falls under one of therevision deletion criteria(purely disruptive, grossly insulting, privacy breaching, etc.) or shadows a file on Commons.
What files should be renamed?
editWikipedia:File namesdescribes how files should be named. In general, Wikipedia aims to provide stable file names as these may be being used by tools outside of Wikipedia. Currently there are nine widely undisputed uses for rename requests:
| No. | Aim | Examples (old name) | Examples (new name) | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uploaderrequested | WP:FNC#1 | ||
| 2 | Change from completelymeaninglessnames into suitable names, according to what the image displays |
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WP:FNC#2 |
| 3 | Correctmisleadingnames into accurate ones |
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WP:FNC#3 |
| 4 | Changegeneric bio-namesinto binomial scientific names |
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WP:FNC#4 |
| 5 | Correcterrorsin file names (e.g. wrongproper nounsor false historical dates) |
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WP:FNC#5 |
| 6 | Harmonizefile names of aset of images(so that only one part of all names differs)to ease their usage in templates(e.g. diagram symbols, scans of pages of a book, maps) |
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WP:FNC#6 |
| 7 | Disambiguatefiles with overly similar names. The software allows for multiple different files to have the same name, but with different capitalization (see ninja example) or different expressions of the same filetype extension (see bunny example). However, these are not ideal situations. |
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WP:FNC#7 |
| 8 | Removepejorative,offensiveorcrudelanguage that would not be appropriate in the file description |
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WP:FNC#8 |
| 9 | Renamefiles that shadow a Commons file or redirect[1] |
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WP:FNC#9 |
After moving the file, pleasereplace all usesof the old file link with the new one.
If a file name on English Wikipedia conflicts with a file name at Commons, please check theFile usage on other wikisbefore deciding which should be renamed. Renaming a file at Commons might affect a lot of projects instead of just one.
If the file was moved perWP:FNC#9,after all of the links have been updated, please place{{db-redircom}}on the leftover redirect (file movers), or delete the leftover redirect using the summary generated by{{db-redircom}}(administrators). Please seespeedy deletion criterion R4for more information.
Additional naming conventions and exceptions from the above list might be discussed for specific projects.
What files should not be renamed?
editAs a matter of principle, it is best to leave all files with generally valid names at their locations, even ifslightlybetter names may exist. So, for example:
- File:TowerBridge'09.jpgshouldnotbe renamed toFile:Tower_Bridge_2009.jpgonly because the latter looksa bitbetter.
- File:Thiswouldbebetterwithspaces.jpgshouldnotbe renamed toFile:This would be better with spaces.jpg.
However, situations that could cause confusion are to be avoided.
See also
edit- {{File mover topicon}},atop icontemplate to indicate you have file mover permission. Adds a category to page automatically.
- {{User wikipedia/Filemover}},auserboxtemplate to indicate you have file mover permission.
- {{User file mover since}},a userbox template to indicate having file mover permission with period of time.
- {{FilemoverTalkpageNotice}},a handy template that alerts you when files need to be renamed.
- Category:Wikipedia files requiring renaming,for file renaming requests awaiting action.
- Category:Incomplete file renaming requests,for file renaming requests without a specified target.
- Category:Wikipedia files that shadow a file on Wikimedia Commons.
- Transferring over filemover tool,March 8, 2011 decision to creating a new usergroup for File mover.
Notes
edit- ^An image on Commons cannot be used here if a locally uploaded image has the same filename, and theCommons guidelinesstrongly discourage renaming a Commons image for this reason alone.