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| URL | commons.wikimedia.org |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of site | Media repository |
| Registration | Optional (required for uploading images) |
| Owner | Wikimedia Foundation |
| Created by | Wikimedia Community |
| Launched | September 7, 2004 |
The Wikimedia Commons (also called "Wikicommons", "the Commons" or just "Commons") is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. Like Wikipedia, it is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. It provides a common resource repository to all the various Wikimedia sister projects in any language.
The files uploaded to the Commons repository can be used like locally uploaded files on all other projects on the Wikimedia servers in all languages, including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikisource and Wikinews, or downloaded for offsite use, as all of the content is either in the public domain or released under free licenses such as the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mulberry Meadows
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Embedding Commons' media in Wikipedia articles
Main article: Commons:Commons:First steps/Reuse section Embedding Commons' media in Wikimedia projects
An appropriate media file for use in a Wikipedia article may be available on the Commons and found by using the search engine Mayflower (see Looking for media files on Commons for more on searching Wikicommons).
In general, to embed a Wikimedia Commons media file in Wikipedia, just include it in the same way as if it were to be stored locally.
To include an image in a page, use for example a link in the form (standard usage shown):
[[Image:file.jpg|thumb|descriptive text]]
To include a sound you can choose between two possibilities if the start-Audio-end template is present in your local wiki (otherwise you can use the first method):
[[Media:file.ogg|descriptive text]]
{{Audio|Filename-without-namespace|descriptive text}}
Further details can be found at the media help page in Meta-wiki, at Wikipedia image markup page, Wikipedia picture tutorial, and at Wikipedia:Purge.
Example of a gallery
If you would like to display a gallery of photos, you can follow this example code to produce one:
<gallery> Image:Aztec_Sun_Stone_Replica_cropped.jpg Image:AugustineLateran.jpg Image:TolleLege.jpg|You can also include a caption, if you like. Image:TitianStJohn.jpg </gallery>
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 You can also include a caption, if you like. |
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Categorization
Please do not categorize Commons files on Wikipedia but rather help commons by categorizing them there.
How to move an image from Wikipedia to Wikimedia Commons
See Wikipedia:Moving images to the Commons and Why move images to the commons?
Differences between Wikipedia and Commons
- Commons does not allow non-free or fair use images. See commons:Commons:Licensing.
- On Wikipedia, an image can be nominated for deletion if it does not (attempt to) illustrate an article. Commons is less concerned about an image's "usefulness" as there are so many projects that the images are available to. See commons:Commons:Scope.
- On Wikipedia, it is important that an image is placed in an article. On the image description page, the section "File links" shows which pages are using the image. On Commons, this section only shows which pages within Commons an image is used on (to find out which wikimedia projects a commons image is being used in, use the Check-usage tool). Because of this, it is important that images are placed in categories and/or on gallery pages, so as to avoid becoming orphans. The general consensus of the Commons community is that all images should be categorised, and that galleries are a secondary consideration. To find suitable categories easily, try using the CommonSense tool.
- Commons is a multilingual project. Try to avoid assuming that everyone speaks the same language(s) as you, and as well. Put Userboxes on your User page to indicate what languages you are able to speak, and your level of proficiency. See commons:Commons:Babel.
- Given the smaller size of the Commons there are only few main forums of discourse. commons:COM:VP acts as the Village pump. commons:COM:HD is the Help desk for technical inquiries. Administrators can be contacted on the commons:Commons:Administrators' noticeboard.
- Commons employs a more restrictive interpretation of international copyright law than Wikipedia. Images must be free in both the country of origin and the United States in order to be free enough for Commons.
Article-to-article linking between Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons
The most relevant sections are Guidelines and Wikimedia Commons.
Wikipedia:Sister projects lists templates that are designed to provide article-to-article linking between Wikipedia and its Wikimedia sister projects. It also provides links to pages concerning moving articles between projects.