Wikipedia talk:Wikimedia Commons

Why commons
This article tells us what commons is doesn't mention *why* one would upload to commons - what are the arguments against uploading directly to WP, other than the "available to other languages"? Does there exist other reasons? Should diagrams that are only in english be uploaded? I'm sure I have more questions, but I can't think of them at the moment User A1 (talk) 22:05, 6 December 2007 (UTC)


 * See Moving images to the Commons --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 16:45, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
 * In Commons the uploaded image can have more information, including meta data & copyright/creative commons data. Chongkian (talk) 04:08, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Image help
Hi. I'd like to use an image from Italian Wikipedia here [] on English wikipedia. How do I do this?E2a2j (talk) 15:45, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * You need to move the image to Wikimedia Commons first, then only you can use it in English Wikipedia. Chongkian (talk) 04:09, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

technical explanation
Where can I get a technical explanation for how can insert an image that may be local to WP or may be shared in Commons? How does it know where to pull it from? What's the mechanism there? ⇔ ChristTrekker 05:14, 13 November 2008 (UTC)

Mayflower Is Not Accessible
The Mayflower search engine referenced in this article is not accessible due to an expired account on toolserver.org. Tystnaden (talk) 08:12, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Is anyone going to get around to this? I am looking almost two months later, and it is still not up. Alharaka (talk) 19:30, 31 July 2010 (UTC)


 * The mentions of Mayflower were deleted in Special:Diff/394295226 on 2 November 2010. —⁠andrybak (talk) 08:58, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Removing a Commons file from a Wikipedia category
File:Nat-gall-lond-tr-sq2.jpg was transferred from enwiki to Commons in 2013, but it's still in enwiki's Category:National Gallery, London, even though there's no way to edit the file on enwiki that I can see. Could somebody please remove it from the category? Ham II (talk) 11:04, 20 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Very late reply, but it is in the category because it has a local description which includes Category:National Gallery, London. On Vector, there is an "edit local description" button directly to the left of the "view history" button. You should then be able to remove the category. However, I am not certain that the file should be removed from said category, given that it is a picture of the National Gallery and per WP:FILECAT files do not necessarily have to be in a categories separate from articles. HouseBlastertalk 00:36, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Usage of template commonscat
does a massive deletion od commonscat templates with edit summaries like this: (for page History of Poland (1945–1989)): Removing Commons category link that does not match this article (commons:Category:Polish People's Republic) (Commons category belongs at Polish_People's_Republic)

But this makes no sense. I need illustrations for History of Poland (1945–1989) and since there is no such cat in commons, the only way is to link it to Polish_People's_Republic.

I explained this ro Mike Peek in my edit summary, but they insist "this has already been discussed before" If this was siacussed before, it must be included in edit summary, so I can see this discussion. May be it was reasonabe, but maybe "cosensus can change".

So, what and where are the rules for the use of template:commonscat? his in not discussed in the template talk page.Lembit Staan (talk) 21:34, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * It's been discussed before at Template talk:Commons category and my talk page. In particular, see Template:Commons_category. The simple solution here is to create a new Commons category for this topic, if you want to link to it, rather than linking to the wrong Commons category that belongs in another article. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:37, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Thgis is not a "simple solution". I cannot spoend time recategorizing hundreds of pictures. It will take WEEKS. Also You didnt provide neither the links to discussuon, not even keywords to search archives. Lembit Staan (talk) 21:42, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * You have yet to explain why you think the commons category relates to this article. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:43, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * .A already exoplained 2 times: Because in this commonscat is necessary for illustrations for my article. (these two wikiarticles are 90% overlap in time frame) You cannot do massive changes based on obscure discussions and then revert my revert without any basis in policies and guidelines.  Lembit Staan (talk) 21:46, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * You can illustrate an article without including a link to Commons if you want - although I think it's good to link to Commons, it should be specific for the topic. I can help set up a new category if you want, and using tools like Cat-a-lot, it shouldn't take long to populate it. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:50, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Instead of removing (or in addition to removing) you should be placing a warning in talk pages, with instructions, so that "page watchers" can handle it. I stil fail to see the rationale for such strict match. Lembit Staan (talk) 21:55, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * The template has a parmeter allowing different category, and I am using it. If this illegal, you have to remove the parameter. Lembit Staan (talk) 21:55, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * The template already displays a warning when you preview it. There are only around 10k usages of it that are problematic - I guess we are getting to the point where we could post talk page messages for those. For context, it's part of a general synchronisation of Commons links from here with links to enwp from Commons, via the Infobox that is now displayed there. I would love to see the local parameter removed at some point - but it's chicken-and-egg, it will probably only happen once the existing links are cleaned up. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 22:00, 18 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I've just checked there is no such sync e.g., in plwiki. I am wondering how they will handle this. Lembit Staan (talk) 22:19, 18 September 2021 (UTC)