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Help:Files

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Wikipedia data structure
Namespaces
Subject namespaces Talk namespaces
0 (Main/Article) Talk 1
2 User User talk 3
4 Wikipedia Wikipedia talk 5
6 File File talk 7
8 MediaWiki MediaWiki talk 9
10 Template Template talk 11
12 Help Help talk 13
14 Category Category talk 15
100 Portal Portal talk 101
118 Draft Draft talk 119
710 TimedText TimedText talk 711
828 Module Module talk 829
Former namespaces
108 Book Book talk 109
442 Course Course talk 443
444 Institution Institution talk 445
446 Education Program Education Program talk 447
2300 Gadget Gadget talk 2301
2302 Gadget definition Gadget definition talk 2303
2600 Topic 2601
Virtual namespaces
-1 Special
-2 Media
Current list (API call)
Further information:Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images

TheFile namespaceis anamespaceconsisting ofadministration pagesin which all of Wikipedia's media content resides. On Wikipedia, all media filenames begin with the prefixFile:,including data files forimages,video clips, or audio clips, including document length clips; or MIDI files (a small file of computer music instructions).

Searchfor files, or upload your own file. (SeeUploading filesbelow.) A search lists every file page containing all the search terms found on the file page. From the search box, enterFile:descriptive terms.For example, include the termsimage,video,ormidiin the query. Then, discovering thepage name,you caneditthewikitextof any page and insert that media. This is an easy way to significantly improve articles. (SeeUsing filesbelow.) For example, the page title "File:CI 2011 swim 04 jeh.theora.ogv" will appear in the search results forFile: swim video.

There are three semantic differences from the normalwikilinksyntax when working with afile page:

  • [[File:pagename]] willtranscludethe file, inserting the image, video, audio, or MIDI file into the rendered page in afile link.Afile linkis a transclusion from theFilenamespace, complete with transclusion parameters.
  • [[:File:pagename]], with the initial colon, will link the image, video, or audiofile page;
  • [[Media:pagename]] will render a link which can activate the image or audio or video of adata filedirectly, on its own page (separate from the rendered page or thefile page).

For backward compatibility with older pages thealiasImage:(now deprecated) is still available instead ofFile:in wikilinks or in the search box, but "image" will now refer to more types of data files than just images.

Uploading files

Further information:Wikipedia:Uploading imagesandc:Commons:First steps
A Wikimedia Foundation brochure in PDF form that introduces newcomers to Wikimedia Commons and how they can contribute to it

The first step in using an image or other media file is tochoose an upload server.Some files must useWikipedia's upload server.Many files can use the Wikimedia Commons upload serverwhich houses files atWikimedia Commons.(Commons does not allowfair use.If the image isnon-freeand meets thenon-free content criteriathen you must upload it to Wikipedia.) All files uploaded fromWikimedia Commonsaremirroredon toWikipediaand searchable from either one. (SeeSpecial:Filelist.)

The preferred formats

You may have to rename your file for Wikipedia: seeNaming filesbelow. Also, please bear in mind that theExifformat of many digital cameras, smartphones, and scanners may embed personal metadata, and that if your media files are handled by unknown persons,steganographycan embed hidden information in them.

High resolution images and animated.gif files may pose a problem for performance, but see the problem description in terms of bandwidth and reader's computing power atConsideration of image download size.For photographs in JPEG format, upload the best quality and highest resolution version available; these will be automatically scaled down to low-resolution thumbnails when needed.

Once the file is uploaded, please verify itsfile pageimage quality and description, considering how its key words help tag it for proper indexing in asearch result.If a file of the same name exists on both Wikipedia and Commons, the Wikipedia file will be displayed.

Files subject to any restrictions on how they may be used (except attribution orcopyleft), such as "for use on Wikipedia only" or "for non-commercial use only",are not free enoughand cannot be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia. In case an image isnon-free content,uselow-resolutionfiles so that the use is as minimal as possible.

Using files

For all the details on the fields of a file link, seeWikipedia:Extended image syntaxandModule:InfoboxImage.

Searchfor and find one of many existing image files, or upload your own file. Knowing the file'spage nameyou can thenedityour page and refer to that file to insert it into your wikitext. You willwikilinkthe page name, which will in turn include its file (of that name) in the page you edit. Take for exampleFile:Wikipedesketch.png.Use the followingall on one line(with no line breaks). Then the results will be as shown in the image to the right:

[[File:Wikipedesketch.png|thumb|alt=A cartoon centipede...detailed description.|The Wikipede edits ''[[Myriapoda]]''.]]
A cartoon centipede with 7 hands reads a book, lifts another, types on a laptop, and holds a bottle.
The Wikipede editsMyriapoda.

The above link contains "fields":

  1. the page name, "File:Wikipedesketch.png"
  2. "thumb", short forthumbnailand referring here to the reader's default size for images (SeeHelp:User preferencesto specify your own thumbnail sizes.)
  3. thealttext,such as might read "A cartoon centipede with seven hands reads a book, lifts another, types on a laptop, and holds a bottle".Alttext is intended for visually impaired readers or those with browsers or computers that do not display images. It should describe the gist of the picture's appearancein detail
  4. thecaption,as "The Wikipede editsMyriapoda."The caption is intended for viewers of the image and explains the meaning while using terms that refer directly to itemsas they appearin the image.

Text and captions need have little text in common. A reader of the article can click on the thumbnail, or on the small double-rectangle iconbelow it, to go to the correspondingfile page.

By default, the page layout will place the image to the right of the wikitext, one line below where you placed the link. Theextended image syntaxprovides many options to control how an image is displayed. You can make it "float" to the left, or center it, or place it without text flowing around it. You can force its size (to differ from the default set by the user), or even provide for the reader move around in a panorama. You can avoid image "stackups" in several ways, for example, by alternating left and right images, by aligning images, and if all else fails by forcing a break. You can create a gallery of images arranged into an array by usingtable syntax,(see{{Gallery}}), and by using agallery tag.(Gallery tags do not supportalttext,so they generate galleries that will not beaccessibleto readers who cannot see the images) Also, you can create plain pictures that do not have captions and can be mingled with text and other images; these can use more fine-grained techniques, including borders, vertical alignment with text, and control over links. You can also link to an image without displaying it.

For examples of all these techniques, seePicture tutorial.

Naming files

Main page:Wikipedia:File names

File names should be clear and descriptive, without being excessively long. While the image name doesn't matter much to the reader (they can reach thedescription pageby simply clicking on the image), it matters for editors. It is helpful to other contributors and for maintenance of the encyclopedia if images have descriptive or at least readable file names. For example,File:Skyline Frankfurt am Main.jpgis more manageable thanFile:14004096 200703230833355477800.jpg.

To avoid accidental overwriting of images or other media, generic filenames should not be used when uploading. For example, a picture of analbum covershould not be given the nameFile:Cover.jpg.Sooner or later someone else will try to do the same thing, and that could overwrite the old image. Then the new image will appear wherever the old one was seen before—an album article would then show the wrong album cover. A better name would beFile:Sabaton The Last Stand cover.jpg

Renaming files

Renaming a file page is different thanrenaming other kinds of pages.Thepage nameof afile pageis renamed by afile mover.A file mover is a user granted specialrights.Unless you have been granted file mover rights, you must make a request to rename the page.

The request to rename a page is made by adding the followingtemplateto the wikitext file page, anywhere on the page:

{{Rename media|new filename|reason for name change}}

This will add the file page toCategory:Wikipedia files requiring renaming,where a file mover will notice it.

The most common and accepted reasons a file mover will change a name are:

  • Uploaderrequest
  • Changing from ameaninglessto a descriptive title
  • Changing from amisleadingname to an accurate name
  • Correcting importanterrorsdenoting, for example the spelling of aproper noun,or a false historical date
  • Harmonizing file names witha set of related names
  • Disambiguatingfiles with very similar names
  • Removepejorative,offensiveorcrudelanguage

The bolded words are description enough for the reason for a name change.

Finding files

You can use theSpecial:Searchbox below to locate Files. SeeHelp:Searchingfor more information.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Files&oldid=1183357029"