Help talk:Creation and usage of media files/Archive 3

Switching Audio File Formats
I have started a thread at the village pump regarding a proposed shift to MP3 or another more standard file format for audio on wikipedia. I hope all of you who read this will provide your input. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cool3 (talk • contribs) 02:27, 30 January 2007 (UTC).
 * I have replied to your comment on the village pump. --Gmaxwell 06:03, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Another format
I dont want a change in the format, I understand why ogg is used against mp3. Just asking if there any other format that I can use since idk why but WavePad is having problems to save my file.--ometzit&lt;col&gt; 04:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Powerpoint
How can I post powerpoint presentations to an enterprise Wiki?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.59.41.50 (talk • contribs) 00:00, 21 June 2007

Keyhole Markup Language
Being able to upload and then link to Keyhole Markup Language files could help geography related articles by adding interactivity. Is there any security reason why this is not allowed? Badgettrg 13:47, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Help
Is this the place where I can request help with finding and uploading a music sample for an article? I've never done this before so I don't know how to go about doing it.  BIGNOLE     (Contact me)  02:05, 30 October 2007 (UTC)


 * If you have a specific question, you can ask it either here or at Help desk. -- Pepve 13:16, 30 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Crap, I meant to come back here. I received help from Raul, and everything worked out.   BIGNOLE     (Contact me)  16:22, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Java Error
java.lang.NullPointerException at com.sun.deploy.net.proxy.DynamicProxyManager.reset(Unknown Source) at com.sun.deploy.net.proxy.DeployProxySelector.reset(Unknown Source) at sun.plugin.AppletViewer.initEnvironment(Unknown Source)

This is message of java error when i try listen music from wiki. WIN XP Prof. java ver. 1.6.0_03_b5 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.207.107.6 (talk) 21:57, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

What about Windows Media?
I recently noticed that nobody discussed the notion of uploading Windows Media files. As far as I know, WM is nowhere near as patented as MPEG/MP3 and almost as popular, even outside of Windows. Unless someone has a real problem with it (not being open source doesn't count, neither does opinion on the developer), it could be offered as an alternative to OGG. --208.138.31.76 (talk) 20:14, 27 November 2007 (UTC)


 * First a note: it seems to me that the exclusive use of OGG is a solid issue on Wikipedia, changing it would need a broad discussion on a higher platform. Now I don't want to keep you from trying that, but here are some reasons to keep things the way they are: Jimbo's words (noted as a decision here: Media), one format is clearer to users than two formats, WM isn't free (the Wikipedia kind of free), and probably more (but that doesn't come to mind). -- Pepve (talk) 21:01, 27 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Then don't drop OGG, even though Cortado is a slow-loading and buggy browser plugin. I'm just saying that strict adherence to open source can be detrimental. It's just that there is no future for open source. OGG is just plain obscure and barely notable. Would adding WM without dropping OGG work, or would WM overshadow OGG. I could accept exclusive use of OGG if Cortado was a better player.


 * It's not the format, but the player that is the problem. --208.138.31.76 (talk) 14:27, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I get that you don't like OGG. Wikipedia doesn't care. And if you think the player is bad, come up with a better solution, present it and convince people. -- Pepve (talk) 20:12, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Here are some solutions
 * Add support for WM while continuing support for OGG. WM codecs are royalty-free, if I remember correctly.
 * Do not add WM support, but instead fix Cortado, or contact the developers. Cortado needs fixing to be useful.
 * Anything I have not considered.
 * Also, consider not forcing a single audio or video format on users. If support for open source is more important than support for users, then consider using Explorer Destroyer. --208.138.31.76 (talk) 15:45, 29 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd say only option 2 is viable. What are you waiting for? -- Pepve 17:05, 2 December 2007 (UTC)


 * The source code. Or a bug report forum. I have not been able to find either. Maybe I have not looked hard enough. I will post later.


 * Wikimedia Commons policies can be confusing. Allowing multiple image file formats (most of which are heavily patented) but only one media format does not seem too logical. Is it easy to argue in favour of JPEG but not MPEG (both of which are considerably patented)?


 * Besides, I am the only one to even think of Windows Media. I just want other users to think about these and other file formats, namely AAC, MOV, and FLV (maybe not AAC) --208.138.31.76 (talk) 18:31, 12 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I may know a thing or two about Java programming, but I believe fixing Cortado may be beyond my ability. --208.138.31.76 (talk) 19:24, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Hmmm, Cortado has a website where the source can be downloaded. But either way, technical problems should probably be taken up with the Wikipedia developers, and policy issues should be discussed at a larger platform. Not here, because we're the only one here. -- Pepve (talk) 00:05, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Theora conversion
I made an animation of the orbits of some celestial objects that I would like to upload to Wikipedia. Is there an application for Macintosh (PPC) that can convert QuickTime files or animated GIFs or series of still pictures frames into OGG Theora video files? The ffmpeg2theora commandline program does not recognize my QuickTime movie. Jecowa (talk) 05:39, 30 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh, I think it's working now. Since the program is called "ffmpeg2theora," I resaved the animation as a QuickTime movie with the MPEG-4 codec. Then I tried converting the new QuickTime movie file in ffmpeg2theora, and now it seems to be working. Jecowa (talk) 06:04, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

ffmpeg2theora is adding 12 extra pixels vertically to the animation. The height is supposed to be 180 not 192. What's up with this? Jecowa (talk) 06:20, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

ffmpeg2theora loop
How do you loop video files in ffmpeg2theora? Every time I attempt to open the man file for ffmpeg2theora, the terminal just spits out jiberish and error messages. Jecowa (talk) 06:35, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Limit on media button width
I have my thumbnails set to default at 300px, and because MediaWiki reads the OGG files as images, all the media buttons are 300px when I'm logged in. I was wondering if there is a way to limit the width, or just set a standard width for all users. – Dream out loud (talk) 02:12, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

List of filenames is out of date
Surely this document should be updated? Carcharoth (talk) 19:16, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Current list is: "jpg, jpeg, png, gif, svg, and ogg"
 * Upload screen list is: "png, gif, jpg, jpeg, xcf, pdf, mid, ogg, svg, djvu."

For reference: png, gif, jpg/jpeg, xcf, pdf, mid, ogg, svg, djvu. Carcharoth (talk) 13:32, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Failing any response, I've updated the front page. Carcharoth (talk) 07:58, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Offering multiple video bit-rates
I've added a new section discussing ways to offer multiple bit-rates so that the reader can select one most appropriate for their network bandwidth. However I definitely am not claiming to have all the answers. (I'm signing every major point since this posting could become highly fragmented with comments.) DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Clearly explaining the options

 * How to express the width and height of different bit-rates?

Currently I'm just going off the original video's width and height, at one-quarter, one-half, three-quarters, and full size resolution. I'm not sure it's clear enough to just call this the "video size". Perhaps it should be referred to as the "frame size"? DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm not really sure if a "75%" frame size is really needed. Perhaps just 25%, 50%, and 100% is acceptable since it's sort of a "log scale" of sizes. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Target playback bit-rates

 * If a video is offered at different bit-rates, what should those target bit-rates be?

I would like to see video offered across a wide-ranging set of speeds, from 53k modem users, to the basic 256 kilobit "broadband" user, up to about 512 kilobit. The actual video bit-rate cannot be exactly this amount since it is variable throughout playback, and trying to hit the target exactly may result in going over the limit. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

So it would seem that that the target bit-rates should be approximately:
 * 40 kilobit for dialup users
 * 200 kilobit for 256k users
 * 450 kilobit for 512k users DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

The first one here appears to be impossible to achieve with ffmpeg2theora (Windows version) because it will not allow me to set the audio bit-rate to less than 32 kilobit, but allows the video rate to be all the way down to 1 kilobit. This is Just Stupid and I do not know if the limitation is technical or just because someone couldn't imagine anyone ever desiring an audio rate less than 32 kbit. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Audio at 32 kbit with ffmpeg2theora sounds so incredibly good, and in stereo even, that I think it would likely still sound fine at 16 kbit or even 8 kbit. All these washing machine videos use 32 kbit audio. I am going to try contacting the ffmpeg2theora authors to see why audio cannot be set lower. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Not making a mess
Generally the wikitable showing the playback options should be of a compact size so that it does not consume excessive screen real estate in an article, but it should also be readily obvious to the reader what the playback options are. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps text isn't so useful here? The wikitable could also be created using small uniformly styled icons for each video. DMahalko (talk) 11:21, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Ogg videos should use "ogv" extension instead of "ogg"
Xiph (the foundation developing Ogg codecs) has deprecated the use of ".ogg" for videos and recommends ".ogv", see MIME Types and File Extensions on the Xiph Wiki. This has also been ratified in an RFC.

So, all the newer videos on Commons should use the "ogv" extension. If no one objects, I will adjust this page (and others) and replace "ogg" with "ogv". — Robin Stocker (talk) 15:05, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Cleanup Image History Help
Would somebody with admin rights please help me clean up the older versions for the following images?



What I want is to delete older versions of the images pointed out above, leaving only the current one standing. Is this possible? Administrators have an option visible for each image in the history of the uploads, that allows them to delete older versions in the history record, that appears at the end of the page, containing the current image. Thank You. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fefogomez (talk • contribs) 18:06, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Audio player inline
Is it possible to use an audio player inline in the text? And if not: why not? It would be very useful for pronunciation links in the first line. --:Slomox:: &gt;&lt; 21:36, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

maximum file size
"The maximum size of an uploaded file is 20 megabytes" <-- Does this need to be updated? --JWSurf (talk) 14:59, 14 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, it does. I've just done that. Graham 87 07:14, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

MP3s. Again.
Decided to post this at the WP:Village pump. Come and help me bitch about the Ogg format. CharlesGillingham (talk) 13:03, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Firefox
Now that Firefox 3.5 supports both Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora natively, I'm going to add it to the list of audio and video "players". - Jredmond (talk) 19:14, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Facts
About this edit: Do unqualified statements like “X is better than Y” belong on Wikipedia-namespace how-to guides? —Frungi (talk) 02:19, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
 * If there are no objections, I’ll delete the statements in question. —Frungi (talk) 18:50, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The statement is accurate, which is why WP uses OGG. However, this edit shows the elimination of a now-incorrect usage of the WP:FACT shortcut, which is appropriate. At most, IMO, all that needs to be done is to add a source citation. David Spector 20:07, 10 February 2010 (UTC)

Suggestion of a new way for media donations
Suggestion (special wiki media donation project): a new highly efficient way for world public to donate images and video to wikipedia/wikimedia/commons etc.


 * There should be a link on every wiki family project page saying "DONATE AN IMAGE OR VIDEO". Anyone should be able to click on it and make/upload a media donation easily, SPECIALLY SELF CREATED WORK with the profusion of relatively cheap personal devices available now in the NEW AGE.
 * In the donation form there should be all related disclosures and Licenses that the donater can choose regarding donating a particular work.
 * There should be place where Donater has to fill all related information related to media being donated like location, subject, time, basic info about self, etc. and details if from other source.
 * People should be able to send copyrighted/unusable images to make suggestion of what we are missing and which we can put out on a list of required media, this list may be easily available to public view and/or circulated.
 * There should be an email address to where images/video/media can be emailed, clearly stating that the donater has read the various disclosures and licenses (on our website or our news release requesting media donations) and he is donating under which license. Once a media donation email is received to a special mail account: 1) once an email media donation is received from the donater and automatic (from wikipedia/media/commons etc.) email should go out to their address from our no-reply email address reminding them to read, in mail, provided disclousers and provide appropriate license and info for use again. Donater should be asked to email back the reply keeping the same address line explaining preference will be given to media donations which have been replied to, hence making them more usable earlier. 2) It should be available in an online archive for mining by users looking for images for articles they are working on and the public at large.
 * Replied email donations with disclosures read and licences provided and direct media donations by clicking on link should be at all times available to our users and world public at large and journalists etc. There should be a warning to them to make sure BY THEMSELVES that they check (what could be our mostly unsupervised database) out if the donation has been made properly and if donater has read disclosures and provided consent and chosen the license properly. Users should be provided a basic guideline on how to make sure if the image/media is good.
 * Proper donations should ask for keywords that should activate various tags for easy mining of donated database.
 * The whole online media donation/uploading process should be VERY SIMPLIFIED with users asked to click/select choices with one click only from various choices after reading all. Short Disclosers should be page wise only, advancable by clicking NEXT so that all get read. Licenses should be chosen by a simple click from a choice. Media Info should be requested by filling blank by blank advancable software, including location, subject, time, DATE, donator info etc.
 * This Media donation project should be centralized in commons with centralized email for donations. Project should be accessible from all wiki family projects from all their pages at all times by clicking.
 * There should be a special option/Tags setting alerts for media donations regarding HAPPENING EVENTS and that should make news where world journalists/News companies can find Important or Immediate topics to pursue and other agencies like Aid agencies etc. to find places and subjects to assist. A media related to citizen reporting a historical national monument in bad shape should have the potential to trigger positive action to conserve. Potentially database mining should be able to facilitate new discoveries and affirmative action in right direction and build a tremendous world resource to record history/historical period datewise over the decades.
 * Anyone mining the database should be able to setup warnings with a simple click about offending/sexually explicit/illegal images and special users with experience and extra powers should be able to either remove the image or make it invisible where in doubt.
 * Should an option be provided where users of this donated media like journalists/new companies can provide citation like: Donated media from wikicommons server by ..(name of original donator).
 * Donators should be able to choose their nonconflicting wiki User name, and make it a Tag, so that by clicking on name tag all images donated by the users can lineup in a online gallery for public and for donator to promote himself in other/outside professional media fields, if he chooses to provide link to this online portfolio.
 * There should be a clear warning that there is no monetary compensation by wikicommons for media donation of any kind, it is a DONATION.
 * Wikicommons software should be able to mine technical info of media if possible and provide the same online for researchers, sometimes it may include type of camera used, aperture, date, time of day and in the near future models, the GPS position/coordinates of where the media was made. If needed donator should be asked to give consent to publish this info.
 * Public/Users should be requested to make media for donation with no recognizable faces/adertising/brand names as that may trigger having to take permission from people etc. shown in media made or fuzzing their faces/advertising/brand names etc.

Please forward to concerned persons/department for brainstorming and fine tuning.

I got the above idea while creating the article on Karvi shrub which only flowers once in eight years before dying.

Thanks

mrigthrishna (talk) 22:06, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Pasting from wikipedia,.

Posted on wikimedia commons at

Posted on - Talk:Proposals for new projects; From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki - at:

Posted on wikimedia commons at Commons:Usability issues and ideas:

atulsnischal ( talk ) 22:14, 25 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Building a “media donation culture” and a “world media archive” from donated media – help enlisted from volunteers to “visually document the world” for an ongoing visual world historical record.

This is in continuation of my last post, posted at the following locations:, , , ,

Building a “media donation culture” and a “world media archive” from donated media – help enlisted from volunteers to “visually document the world” for an ongoing visual world historical record.


 * We need to strive for creating a “media donation culture” where donating pictures and documentary videos, shot on people’s personal devices is thought of as a worthwhile activity / community service and a scholarly voluntary work which goes a long way in visually documenting the world we live in, in present times. An ongoing visual historical record available free for present researchers/authors to supplement their work with and for future generations to come, to look back upon. Gradually we should hope this will catch on as modern popular culture/fad, will also empower citizens and assist them in making citizen reports. Hopefully a time will come when if someone is taking a vacation then he will remember and friends will remind them not to forget making some documentary pictures/video for donating about the places they will visit during vacation. All this can be done easily now as there is a profusion of cheaper and cheaper personal devices available now incorporating embedded Still & Video camera technology.
 * This is about Campaigning and Requesting for “100 percent Media Donation” for “documenting the world” in a “copyright free world archive” to serve in the future as a world historical visual documentation. This could be an “uploading + emailing project” by itself and donated pictures/video/media can be freely usable in all wikis and similar projects or commercial publications/productions etc.. Commercial entities could be encouraged to develop an informal “best practice” where they “donate funds” to upkeep this world archive, especially if they use anything from here and if they can afford it now or in future.
 * There should be a link (“Donate an Image or Video”) to upload and donate media on every wiki family project page including on every page of various wikipedias in different languages and it should be centralized in one place like wiki commons in a world media archive. As and when possible over the decades viewers should be able to see/read this archive in their own language through translation software etc.
 * All media donations to be uploaded/stored in “high resolution” to be more usable to future generations. Most searches in the archive should only display a decent low resolution image where the user should have the option to call for higher/highest resolution version.
 * There should be a centralized Email address for media donation, and where ever it is publicized it should give all disclosures that this is in regards to 100 percent media donation.
 * The above media donation link and email address should be well publicized in newspapers, magazines, and press releases and media requests; with all related disclosures that media sent will be treated as 100 percent donation and the act of uploading/emailing means that donator has read all disclosures which are provided and well publicized here and elsewhere.
 * It should be preferred that media donation should be made by “original media creators” by themselves mainly as someone under normal circumstances can not donate someone else’s property.
 * It should be made very clear in simple straight forward language at the very beginning before uploading donated files that one is making a 100 percent media donation, “100 percent Media Donation” means there will be no copyright, no royalties, no monetary compensation or any compensation in any kind paid in return for the media donation by the wiki family or any secondary users and the world public to the original media donator/creator. One’s donation can be used, reused, modified, broken up and made into anything else by anybody in the world and that too without having to give any sort of credit to the original media donator. There will be no legal requirement to give credit; and all these rules to apply world over. Though some sort of voluntary “best practice” should be encouraged to emerge where secondary users of the donated media, i.e. the world public including journalists, newspapers, magazines, books, businesses, government institutions the world over, who use donated media to supplement their work, could be encouraged to develop a popular culture of crediting the media to wiki’s media donation campaign/world archive and have a reference/courtesy credit to the original donator. Voluntary citation could sound like: Wiki common’s media donation server, original media donated by…. Commercial businesses/institutions who use donated media could be educated by a regular campaign that if affordable monetary donations can be made to wiki for help in maintaining wiki’s media archives. This donation can be made in any country and wiki could set up a local body in major countries so that tax break forms can be given in regards to monetary donations.

Now the question remains what absolutely free but worthwhile perceived benefit could a media donator receive in regards to donated media. Can a $5 per piece ad hoc acknowledgement tax break form be sent automatically to the media donators in regards to media donations, at the time I guess not. A popular culture should be created where the biggest perceived benefit that the donator should receive is the satisfaction of having participated in historically documenting the world in a particular time. The only other major satisfaction that they could receive is that they are able to click on a tag by their name/username and their lifelong contributions are lined up in an online gallery of the donated media. This gallery they can show proudly to everyone and in many cases receive some other benefits from elsewhere or use it as a scholarly portfolio while pursuing arts and related professions. Some sort of awards be given out to media donators who have done exceptional work.


 * Professionals might want to earn money from their media but after money is made they can donate what they didn’t use or plan to use, that which they think is not as good etc.. Instead of deleting images/video footage they can donate.
 * The whole idea is to attract the help of amateurs around the world who can now create media with the extremely cheap good quality profusion of computerized personal devices incorporating cameras/video etc. Who already earn a living doing some other work and who are not dependent on income through media making. Amateurs are casually making media and enjoying the process and the results but most of the results are enjoyed for immediate gratification only. Anywhere upto 95 percent or even more, of the media casually created usually gets deleted as it is of no perceived use to the creator in the long run over the remaining decades of their life. Any media creation takes lot of work and expenses but Casual media creation is perceived as no work and the process is enjoyed by casual media creators, it is perceived as totally free in the mind of the creator hence unfortunately majority of the casually created media is deleted, “This is the targeted media that we must campaign to save, the one that is being deleted”. All over the world the common man/world public should be educated from now on that they can donate this media before deleting it from their personal devices and they could be educated how to create usable documentary media for donation. Additionally there should be links to special “Tutorials” on how to create “usable” media for donation which can be used by secondary users (researchers, authors etc.) in various ways including research on what was captured and illustrating articles etc.. Usable media should avoid brand names, advertising and recognizable faces, specially of friends and family etc.. as then it may trigger having to take permission from people shown in the media for it to be usable now. Educational courses and institutions teaching Media creating; and personal device manufactures who incorporate media making functionality in their devices could one day carry these tutorials and educate public the world over that media can be donated to remain forever in a world archive. Like we see Warnings!!! in Cigarette Packs: If you smoke cigarettes you could get cancer; similar principal may one day be used by personal device manufacturers educating the buying public in the device manual and brochures that the media you create with this device can be donated to assist in documenting the world in present times so that it remains in a world archive for present and the future generations as a worthwhile historical media artifact documenting a particular location at a particular date and time from a particular angle etc. or documenting any other subject or human or animal behavior etc. All major networking sites around the world in local languages should carry links to these tutorials and media donation links in time with the development of media donation world culture.
 * A lot of seemingly repetitive media will be created around famous subjects/locations but this should not be discouraged as no 2 media/pictures are exactly the same, they are created in different time, days, weeks, decades etc. and from different angles and magnifications, subject focus etc. this continuous record will be invaluable to researchers in time centuries later and could also be packed off with future unmanned space explorers to educate aliens who may receive these capsules in the chance that they exist.

It looks like in the near future GPS will be embedded in all personal devices. And if GPS data along with date & time is mined from media donations then in the future special software could be developed that would make it possible to play-out/ lay-out the donated media in various requested sequences. For example Taj Mahal is a famous tourist site; maybe pictures are created here every second of the day. Lets say over a century later a researcher having mined GPS data available to him from pictures donated of Taj-Mahal, could request the computer software to lay out a sequence where pictures are laid out in a movie type flow encircling the Taj from 150 meters (using pictures taken at every foot in the circle identifiable by the GPS coordinates imbedded in the donated media), starting from the year 2000 and the circle completes 100 years later in the year 2100. In this requested computer output sequence, mined information from donated pictures of the Taj including time and date along with GPS coordinates available in that (as it is evident that most personal devices will soon have inbuilt GPS) would assist the computer in arranging the sequence in such a manner that the camera would travel from the front of the Taj, all the way around clockwise and come back to the front from the other side. The future computer software would make minor adjustments in magnifications for the Taj to appear the same size in all the pictures. If over time the historical site deteriorates, researchers can see how it took place over time requesting daily or weekly pictures to play-out in a movie, from a particular angel and particular distance etc.. Many more applications like this may be available with future software. In the example above about the Taj mahal, it could be seen every year, month, week, day, time of day etc. and from many different angles/magnifications etc. with the assistance of GPS coordinates. All this will be possible if data is mined from the donated media and properly electronically catalogued along with the image. And if donators are requested to fill in various detailed tags about each image that they donate through the designated upload link where they will also see various disclosures that they are indeed donating the media 100 percent and foregoing all their rights. “Emailed” donated images/media could be sent an auto-email-reply with a form to fill in creating all the various Tags that could apply to the donated picture/media and the auto-reply should contain the disclosure that the donator is indeed making 100 percent media donation and foregoing all rights.


 * Should inappropriate media be censored and deleted completely by administrators? Well, I think not. The media donated with brand names visible, copyrighted material, too many friends and family visible, sexually explicit material should be temporally removed from public’s view and should not be available to search in the present times. This material could be sent/dumped in an unsearchable database where it could lie for a few centuries and for a few generations to pass and after that when no one remembers who these people were the material could again be provided to public as a historical record from a previous time assisting researchers in human/historical studies and studies in human behaviors etc.. It may be noted here that even uploading unusable media requires effort and this effort may prove useful to researchers centuries later. The copyrighted material will be usable again then as copyright would have expired long time ago and in most cases the original work may have also been destroyed without a trace as most originals like books, paintings, newspapers etc. are made up of biodegradable material which perishes if it is not stored in museum like conditions.
 * There should be various TAGs that should be chosen and created in respect to each donated media so that they may assist the public at a later time to pull images/media from the archive. Various appropriate Tags should be created by original media donator who should be first provided with list of short Tags he could choose from that were created by others and were eventually standardized, additionally when he starts typing, to reduce effort, other types of tags may be suggested from the ones that were created by other users elsewhere. Some standard tags could be name/user name of donator, Subject/Location, magnification/seen from what distance, angle, Date, Time, context, normal view or description of “special event captured” (Like rioter throwing stones on police, people fighting, people shopping, building on fire, reading, praying, neglect, human rights violation etc.), atmosphere tags like, sunlit, sunshine, sunset, sunrise, raining, overcast/cloudy etc.. If news-making event is captured then NEWS-making Tag should be chosen and donator should be requested for little extra notes/comments why he thinks the media has captured news worthy event and be asked to describe the event in greater detail. The news-making tags could be patrolled by actual news companies etc. and could provide them/journalists/authors potential leads as to what stories that they can pursue now or at a later date in the pipeline; additionally news making tag could provide government agencies the opportunity to take positive corrective actions and for aid agencies to find people/projects to assist. Original donators should create tags and then on a later stage when the archive is being viewed by researchers and secondary users they should be also in a position to quickly add/create some more appropriate additional tags to assist future searchers. For example someone casually shoots a picture of an unknown butterfly sitting on an unknown flower, a zoologist/botanist viewing the picture in future could add butterfly name and flower name and scientific names etc. and create tags or/and notes/comments to go with the image. Some sort of “voluntary acknowledgement tags” could be created for secondary users who actually use the image in a wiki or outside publication, they can leave a tag/info/comment if they used the particular archived image and where, could leave a citation like detail of their article/publication, where the donated media was used by them. There should be tags to rate the donated image or video so that researching public can rate donated media on quality scale and could also leave additional educational comments in case they know more about the subject captured in the media which future researchers could follow up.

Computer software should supplement the above created/chosen tags with mined embedded technical information that is available embedded in today’s electronic media files, like camera used, aperture used, lens used, date and time of day; and very soon most personal media creating devises will have embedded GPS coordinates about where the media was made. All the above will help in Citizen reporting & Citizen documenting of the world in a particular, soon to be, historical time i.e. Citizen documenting of history, especially visual world history as it happens. There could be a Tutorial on how to make and use tags effectively, also showing how to view translated tags/event-description in a particular language. As an article is written or improved on a wiki or elsewhere, tags can help authors search for appropriate media/images/video etc. that can be used to supplement their work.

A Tag-search could give an output of a list of appropriate media that could by it-self be used as an online gallery; or best chosen images could be lined up in a gallery. Donators should be able to line up their lifelong media donations by clicking on the tag of their name, there should be a link here (and elsewhere too) to a “tutorial” on how to make their donated media more useful as searchable historical documents where donators could be taught how to go back in and improve each media piece already donated by them and already listed in the world archive; basically most possible improvements should relate around creating extra and much more effective tags for fairing better in searches and writing researched notes with references in the comment space under their listed archived media about what was captured in a particular picture/video donated by them, where, when and in what context etc.. (Once a media piece is donated and listed in the world archive, it should be possible to go in there and create more tags to supplements those already created for the piece, rate the piece on a quality scale, write comments about the piece in spaces provided. There should be tutorials to show how to do all this better)


 * As this is about building what will undoubtedly be a world archive, the scope is world wide and immense and lot of funding will be required to build and maintain such a resource. Lot of worldwide large scale funding drives will have to be organized targeting large donors annually. United Nations could be a good platform to request help from as this project is about the world as a whole. If someone provides funding from another country then we should set up a local office in that country so that tax-break forms can be issued to the donator so that they can get an income tax-break/incentive against donated funds which is valid in their particular country.
 * Huge Archive hence Limited & More Accurate Searches to Save Energy: As overtime a huge archive will come into existence it will take lot of electronic energy to make a search in the entire archive so some of the material could be deemed to be almost duplicate by volunteers and boxed together; and time periods could be boxed together etc. and when some one wants to search the archives first these boxes should show up and only if researchers want to search a particular box then only that box can be searched. In this way searches can be made more particular and electronic energy saved by making smaller/limited searches. Additionally media should be tagged properly and accurately along with research notes/comments on what was captured so that it can be located easily when needed. If required lot of un-usable or copyrighted or duplicate media could be boxed off in unsearchable boxes for the time being and could be made to surface again years, decades, centuries later when it is deemed to be usable again as copyright would have expired, persons shown are not living etc..
 * Digital Archival Storage Economy: It is hoped that this huge digital archive of high resolution images and video (as donators will be requested to upload in high resolution) will need smaller and smaller digital storage space as technology advances with time and most storage when not being searched will need no or little electrical energy; and very soon most electricity will be produced with cleaner technology hence building and searching this archive will be a relatively smaller drain on energy/world resources and wont be as harmful to the environment.
 * Archival Strategy: Strategically it might become necessary to have 2 or 3 copies of this world archive with only one that is connected for searches. All copies of the world archive should be located in the Free-World which is free from dictatorships and meddling by medieval religious institutions and regimes. Physical locations of all the copies of the world archives should be located in secret underground tunnels/caves away from earthquake zones where they will remain safe from bombings during future wars or/and purposely targeted sabotage. Obviously in the future when man does colonize other planets then copies could be located there in addition to the archives they will build about themselves.

Please forward this to concerned persons/departments for brain storming and fine tuning.

atulsnischal ( talk ) 02:59, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Also posted here in continuation of my previous post:, , , ,

atulsnischal ( talk ) 00:29, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Please do not TYPE YOUR HEADERS IN ALLCAPS or post the same large block of text into multiple Talk Pages. Put it all into one well-organised version, for example your personal Talk Page, erase the copies elsewhere, and replace them with mere pointers to that one.  Jim.henderson (talk) 16:51, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

iPhone recording to Wikipedia friendly format
I'm not computer type, so please forgive this presumably simple question. I recorded some bird song today I want to upload to the appropriate article. I used my iPhone's voice memo function (best I could manage in a hurry). The file is stored as a m4a file. How do I convert it to a Wikimedia friendly format? Sabine's Sunbird  talk  07:26, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * For Wikipedia we want ogg format (really ogg vorbis). I found Help:Converting video and maybe some of those methods with work for audio. You can try a google search for methods. Or you can email me the file and I will endeavour to convert it and send it back to you. If you want specific instructions on how to convert (ie you want to do it yourself) then let us know your operating system and browser (eg Windows and Firefox, Mac and Safari etc). I will stick by you until this file is uploaded, I really want to hear it now :-) --Commander Keane (talk) 08:12, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Link to image itself?
The article states that the format description should be used to get a link to File name.jpg. However, when such a link is clicked, the entire media frame is shown, including the file name and lots of text that describes the image. Is there any way to get a link to the jpg file itself, so that clicking the link shows only the image itself (displayed in the browser, not for download)? Or is that functionality not considered to be within WP guidelines? David Spector 19:58, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I think there isn't a native way to do it (and you should not be doing it in articles), but you can just link to the raw url. Eg for File:Frog.jpg the raw url is http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Frog.jpg (found by clicking the image on the description page) so a link can be like this.--Commander Keane (talk) 08:17, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * OP, you mean like this? description -84user (talk) 09:50, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Videos starter page
We now have a very initial draft of a Videos starter page. Help us make it better!--Pharos (talk) 12:21, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Ogx format does not play
Ogg was was very strange, but at least i could play it in winamp. But ogx does not play. Amongdrew1 (talk) 13:09, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

uploading DIA vector files.
How can i upload a vector image in DIA format? (without converting to svg) `a5b (talk) 04:28, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

WebM
Is .webm likely to be uploadable at some stage? Are there any add-ons or templates which could be used which download a format suitable for the client (html5 video)? - K (talk) 10:22, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: No consensus to move. No consensus after full listing, and a valid point made that it doesn't really affect the controversial redirect one way or the other. &mdash; Amakuru (talk) 09:55, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Creation and usage of media files → ? – The short cut WP:CUM has been an issue. There really is no reason for this page to be titled as such, so maybe this is the way to go. The page is in 2 categories (Category:Wikipedia how-to & Category:Wikipedia features), neither of which have any other similarly titled pages, i.e. this is not a page in a series of similarly titled pages. Additionally, neither of the words "creation" or "media" are used anywhere in the article other that then title. Instead of "creation", the word "upload" is utilized; instead of "media", "Images, audio and video" is utilized. I don't know what is the best title for this page, but maybe something similar to Uploading and usage of images, audio and video files which would produce a shortcut of WP:UUIAVF. Or Uploading and usage of media files which would produce a shortcut of WP:UUM or WP:UUMF. Rgrds. -- 64.85.215.198 (talk) 19:10, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment. Moving the page would not automatically mean the end of the redirect, that would have to be decided at a fresh RfD. That the redirect was logical and used for a previous title of the page, especially a recently moved page, would be arguments in favour of retaining it. The discussion may result in consensus to delete the redirect but this is not guaranteed. Thryduulf (talk) 19:24, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
 * However, if the redirect is retained strictly for archival purposes, then it would not be proper to use it in a current discussion, as when instructing a new user. The existence of the rdr is harmless; it is the usage that is in dispute. Ah, what do I know.... --64.85.215.198 (talk) 19:30, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The usage of the redirect is also independent of the location of the page - new users should be linked to the actual page title not a shortcut (for all pages) in almost all instances anyway, Thryduulf (talk) 19:38, 20 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Speedy Close This discussion does nothing to help the matter.  Konveyor   Belt  19:40, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

--92.98.66.220 (talk) 10:51, 14 February 2016 (UTC)sardar Khurram Ali Khan Dreshak --92.98.66.220 (talk) 10:51, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

What about wav and flac?
The above leaves out wav and flac, and later in the article mid is omitted. Is this an oversight? Please advise. If it is an oversight, I shall edit it. Cheers! 07:28, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

MP3 patent expiration
Note that most of the MP3 patents has expired by now. This is probably still not worth the effort unless there is a good reason to do so. - Yuhong (talk) 23:02, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

slow image load
Any advice for slow page loads? It's related to a template with svg images.

Example page: Shogi opening

Template: Template:Shogi diagram

Obviously, one can split the pages up into smaller pages as well as use less instances of the template. But, is there another technical solution (that someone like me wouldn't know)?

Thanks – ishwar  (speak)  23:31, 2 June 2016 (UTC)


 * My question is moot as now i've switched from using svg to using text, which is better anyway. – ishwar  (speak)  22:04, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Wikipedia talk:Media help which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 17:29, 10 January 2018 (UTC)

Visual Art
VISUAL Art is considered to be the master of all arts and its sub divisions are painting ,sculpture,and architecture. Iwanttoflylikeabird (talk) 09:33, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

linking a video with subtitle on
How to link a video with subtitle on for a particular language subtitle. ? This is very much required to link other language video so that the users who are not aware of availability of subtitles will also be benefitted -- Balaji  (Let's talk)  14:57, 7 December 2018 (UTC)

Subtitle formatting
There seems to be a recent bug with the subtitles. In the past they could be formatted to include boldface, italics, size increases, etc., but now it no longer works. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 08:39, 22 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Ticket created. – Illegitimate Barrister (talk • contribs), 03:10, 24 May 2019 (UTC)

PDF files
I have a PDF file of the old newspaper from 1980's (screenshots of the newspaper). How can I link them as a reference to the Wikipedia page? Can anyone explain me in detail? I have no clue. RossK 16:30, 30 May 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ross kramerov (talk • contribs)

Embedded video insist downloading rather than playback (on iOS mobile)
On iOS mobile device (Safari and Chrome), while playing Webm and ogv embedded in an Wikipedia article, it directs users to download the file rather than a simple playback (which is ridiculous for a >100Mb video). On Android (Chrome), while ogv works perfectly, Webm could only be played from the beginning, ignoring the time tag commands (Note: most users specify a starting time of the video so that it corresponds to relevant content to the article). The above issues does not happen on desktop computers. Is there a fix? -- love.wh  04:23, 19 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Try the same thing on testwiki:, especially the playback part. There is an different audio/video player there (video.js, instead of Kaltura here). There is an ogv file at testwiki:Equivalence_principle, for example.--Snaevar (talk) 17:31, 19 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Also, are you using the mobile app or the mobile website to access these? (If both, is it the same experience?) — xaosflux  Talk 17:38, 19 January 2021 (UTC)
 * For me, the sample Webm played from 41" and Ogv plays but from 0:00. Then I retried the Webm and it was at 0:00.  *scratches head*  Desktop site, Timeless skin, iPad Air, Safari, iOS12. Pelagic ( messages ) – (20:32 Sat 23, AEDT) 09:32, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

Ogg Vorbis replaces Opus
I think the article should be modified to direct contributors towards Opus instead of Vorbis following Xiph.org deprecation of the latter. – 2803:9800:94C0:89E3:4E1D:96FF:FE03:2050 (talk) 19:48, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

ogv is becoming outdated and harder to port to
I think wikipedia should revise the demand for ogv. The program cited no longer is supported for the Mac and Mac builds. The official website leads to a defunct project website which has none of it. The latest about the ogv format on google and people using it is 2016! Last forum discussion about it was 8 years ago! It's no longer an active project. This leaves users to use online file porting, which then triggers the abuse filter and some people won't take that step. This needs to severely be revised as it hinders the flow of wikipedia and using an outdated file format triggering an abuse filter is unproductive. Please reconsider. --KimYunmi (talk) 15:58, 22 May 2021 (UTC)


 * If you are suggesting that we allow MP4 uploads, the file format is patented and we consider it to be non-free (the goal of the Wikimedia movement is to produce free content). You can also use WebM as a video file format. There is c:Commons:Village_pump/Proposals/Archive/2019/11 and T258540 which proposes to allow uploading MP4 and have the server transcode the WebM file, than keep the MP4 file in an inaccessible private area. In regards to the problem in which your upload triggered an abuse filter, you encountered c:Special:AbuseFilter/153, which prevents some cross-wiki uploads, the solution is to just go to c:Special:UploadWizard and upload from there to Commons. Dylsss(talk contribs) 18:12, 22 May 2021 (UTC)


 * I'm asking to use a file format which is supported. The ones listed are no longer supported. Find an alternative. I did not mention a particular file format. I just said the file format listed is no longer supported. --KimYunmi (talk) 01:23, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

Display a specific page of a PDF or DJVU file?
Is there wiki syntax that permits, e.g., displaying page 61 of a PDF or DJVU file (like this one for instance) on a wiki page? -Pete Forsyth (talk) 05:13, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Maybe WP:EIS can help. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 05:39, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

"Wikipedia:Cum" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Wikipedia:Cum and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 September 12 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. &mdash; CrafterNova [ TALK ]  [ CONT ] 05:53, 12 September 2022 (UTC)