Commons:Guide to layout
Shortcuts: COM:GTL • COM:LAYOUT The Commons Guide to layout outlines some of the basics for laying out gallery pages, file description pages, and category pages. It is a summary of what these pages should generally look like. For complicated pages, you may wish to copy an existing page that appears to have the appropriate structure.
General considerations[edit]
There are some general considerations that should be taken into account when structuring a page on Commons. These guiding principles should allow you to make the right decision when you come across something not explicitly covered in the Guide to layout.
- Language neutrality: Keep in mind that Commons is a multilingual project, and that any text will likely need to be translated. Use a language-neutral alternative when possible, for example using an arrow instead of "Next".
- Ease of use: Commons is a project focused on content, nothing else. Galleries, file description pages, and categories are intended to make browsing and finding that content easier.
Gallery pages[edit]
Gallery pages on Commons are pages in the main namespace that feature a selection of images related to a particular subject.
Galleries are a complement to categories, as another way of displaying media. Galleries are useful as showcasing the best, most illustrative, informative and interesting images of a category. They allow files to be annotated with captions, shown at better sizes than the category default, organised in tables, etc. They are also useful for presenting material in a logical order, something categories have a limited ability to do. For example, compare Tennis to Category:Tennis. Information on gallery pages can be presented in a hierarchical manner, such as Pronunciation of Dutch municipality names and United States.
Galleries typically begin with short captions that briefly introduce the topic in many languages (these can be automatically generated using Commons Sum-it-up), followed by headed sections that typically use the <gallery> tag (see meta page for guidance). The files should be followed by interwiki links (also generated by Sum-it-up) and at least one category. Gallery pages must be in at least one category.
A good way to design a new gallery page is to adapt an existing one from a similar topic. Species (plants/animals) pages will necessarily be different to location (cities/countries) pages.
A special series of gallery pages are the Atlas pages, that can be found at Atlas.
See also:
File description pages[edit]
File description pages are the pages that accompany files uploaded to Commons. They include a summary of the file's content, and information on the file itself, including its author and licensing information.
{{Information}} or more specialized infobox templates like {{Artwork}}, {{Photograph}}, {{Book}}, {{Map}}, {{Art Photo}} etc. are generally used to format its content.
The usual headers for these pages are:
{{int:filedesc}}(Summary){{int:license-header}}(Licensing)- {{Original upload log}} (Original upload log)
- {{Assessment}} (Assessment)
These are optional.
MediaWiki adds the following section headers:
- File
- File history
- File links
- Metadata
Interwiki links[edit]
In-line Interwiki links –those which are preceded by a colon ( : )– for terms used in the description of a file are encouraged. On the other hand, file description pages must not have Interwiki links of the kind that appear in the left sidebar as they would link to non-existing pages.
- Example – good
… a composition by [[:en:Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska|Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska]] … 
[[:en:File:Georges Bizet - Rosabel Morrison - Carmen poster.png]]
[[:fr:File:Georges Bizet - Rosabel Morrison - Carmen poster.png]]
- Example – bad
… a composition by [[en:Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska|Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska]] … 
[[en:File:Georges Bizet - Rosabel Morrison - Carmen poster.png]]
[[fr:File:Georges Bizet - Rosabel Morrison - Carmen poster.png]]
Category pages[edit]
Category pages on Commons are pages in the Category namespace. They provide a brief summary of the content in the category, and allow users to find related categories. MediaWiki also automatically generates thumbnails of the files contained in the category.
Categories are useful as indiscriminately large "containers" of images on a topic.
See also: Categories on Commons.