Commons:The Commons Log/2012
2012[edit]
The Commons Log[edit]
The Commons Log is launched as a light-weight replacement for the long-defunct Commons:Journal. It is described as
an ad hoc record of notable events on Wikimedia Commons. It may be updated by anyone, as rarely or as frequently as desired. The guideline for whether events are suitable for inclusion is (i) that events are of sitewide interest and (ii) that the events are reasonably significant in the context of Commons events in that year. The Log is intended to be archived only once per year.
There is no publication schedule or editor; whatever is logged, is logged. The Log is archived at the end of every calendar year. It is hoped that the Log will make it easier for users who don't visit Commons very often to keep up to date with major events, and also serve as a historical record of major events. Examples of expected log entries include election results (administrators and bureaucrats); substantial policy debates, especially if policy is changed as a result; significant technical changes; and content milestones.
12m files[edit]
12 January 2012 saw Commons reach the milestone of 12 million hosted files.
SOPA protest 18 January[edit]
On 18 January the English Wikipedia joined other websites in blacking out its website in protest against the proposed US laws SOPA and PIPA, which many fear might disrupt free expression and harm the Internet, and "threaten Wikimedia projects in all languages and countries". Following a community discussion advertised via a SiteNotice, Commons was one of many Wikimedia communities supporting the protest with an informational banner.
Featured Feeds extension enabled[edit]
February 2012: The FeaturedFeeds extension, which creates daily feeds (Atom or RSS) of our Picture of the day and Media of the day, is enabled and tailored for Wikimedia Commons (background, discussion)
URAA affirmed by US Supreme Court[edit]
On 18 January the Supreme Court of the United States, in Golan v. Holder, upheld the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). This decision potentially meant the deletion of thousands of files on Wikimedia Commons published outside the US between 1923 and 1977. Initial discussion was at Commons:Deletion requests/All files copyrighted in the US under the URAA. Many, but not all, the files were tagged {{Not-PD-US-URAA}}.
One of the follow-up discussions: (5 February 2012) Request for comment about a copyright review process for public domain images.
German stamps not in public domain ruling[edit]
A court decision in a case pursued by Wikimedia in Germany over the public domain status of some images (Commons:Loriot Signature Background) led to the clarification by the court in March 2012 that stamps are not considered "official works" and therefore not in the public domain in Germany on those grounds (they may be PD on other grounds). Commons:WikiProject Public Domain/German stamps review was launched to review the thousands of files affected.
Chunked uploads and size limit[edit]
May 2012: Deployment of the experimental Chunked uploads feature, intended to provide better reliability during the upload of large files using the Upload Wizard and raising the maximum file size of 500MB.
New stats for Wikimedia Commons[edit]
May 2012: New statistics for Wikimedia Commons are available, like upload stats and file types breakdown − see tables and Graphs. (background).
ZoomViewer[edit]
June 2012: The ZoomViewer gadget is enabled by default for all users (Proposal).
13m files[edit]
13 June 2012 saw Commons reach the milestone of 13 million hosted files.
Picture of the Year[edit]
June 2012: The Commons:Picture of the Year/2011 competition concludes. Winner was File:Lake Bondhus Norway 2862.jpg.
New upload tool: Up![edit]
July 2012: Release of Up!, a desktop application to upload files to Wikimedia Commons.
New upload tool: KIPI uploader[edit]
July 2012: Release of a new version of KIPI uploader, an extension to digiKam to upload files to Wikimedia Commons.
New upload tool: VicuñaUploader[edit]
September 2012: Release of VicuñaUploader, a desktop application to upload files to Wikimedia Commons.
Wiki Loves Monuments 2012[edit]
September 2012: Wiki Loves Monuments 2012 launches in 35 countries.
Mobile upload[edit]
September 2012: As part of Wiki Loves Monuments 2012, a mobile application developed by the Wikimedia Foundation allows upload to Wikimedia Commons.
Slideshow[edit]
September 2012: The Slideshow gadget is enabled by default for all users (Proposal).
14m files[edit]
23 September 2012 saw Commons reach the milestone of 14 million hosted files.
Featured picture criteria enforce licensing standards[edit]
October 2012 Following a public vote, the Featured Pictures criteria disallow pictures licensed only under the GFDL 1.2 license or combined GFDL 1.2 and NC(non-commercial)-only license.
Maximum size for thumbnails raised[edit]
October 2012 The maximum size for thumbnails is raised from 12.5 megapixels to 25 megapixels.
Timed Media Handler[edit]
November 2012: TimedMediaHandler is deployed on Wikimedia Commons, enabling a new HTML5 video player (with subtitle support), server-side transcoding, support of WebM format.
DMCA takedown notice conflicts with Commons FoP doctrine[edit]
November 2012: Following a DMCA takedown notice, the Wikimedia Foundation removes reproductions of sculptures still enjoying copyright protections on public display in Germany, arguing the lack of Freedom of Panorama for sculptures in the United-States, regardless of German law.
15m files[edit]
4 December 2012 : Milestone of 15 million hosted files.
Integrated Flickr upload tool[edit]
December 2012 A buit-in upload tool from Flickr is deployed on Wikimedia Commons, integrated into the UploadWizard. This follows the work of a Google Summer of a Code project (more information).
Import of Wikivoyage images[edit]
November 2012 As part of the adoption of meta:Wikivoyage, the images hosted there are imported to Wikimedia Commons. (source)