User:Wwwwolf/Image page instructions

I'm a writer. I know coming up with new text is simple. Editing text in Wikipedia can always be done very much without any trouble. All you need to do is to come up with words on how to express your ideas. (In other words, not copy and paste stuff from somewhere else.) In Wikipedia, there's a few more additional challenges: Stay neutral and dry, and say where you heard this stuff from. And, of course, not describe some boring stuff no one cares of, but that's another issue.

Everyone agrees that coming up with text is simple, and adding that text to Wikipedia couldn't be simpler.

But when you start adding images... oh boy, this is hard.

There's two things that the newbies should be aware of: Technical weirdnesses and legal weirdnesses.

Misconceptions

 * You don't change the image page when you upload a file with the same name. The stuff you write to the image description box in that upload page ends up to the image file history. (The user interface is confusing to me, and I'm supposedly an IT professional who eats regular expressions for breakfast!)
 * Uploading the exact same image with different file name won't help either, especially if you pick the same license. You can edit the old file's description page afterwards, so uploading a new version with a different title is pointless.

How it really works (yes, it's really this simple)
What does "Image" really mean in Wikipedia? There's really two entirely separate concepts:


 * 1) The Image Page. You can change this by hitting the Edit link, just like you could change any other wiki page.
 * 2) The File. You can change this by uploading a new version of the file with exact same name.

The funny thing is, histories of these things are kept separate.

Legal weirdness: The Licensing Nightmare
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