Commons:When to create a gallery
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This page is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Commons contributors.It is not a Commons policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page.
Generally, the time to make a gallery is when it will have an advantage over a category. Usually that means one or more of the following:
- It is a major topic, e.g. Art, Countries, Culture, Economics, Environment, History, Nature, People, Places, Politics, Science, Technology, etc.
- A subset of the pictures really stand out, and there is a reason for a page that will let those be singled out.
- The pictures (or a subset) need captions to make sense.
- The pictures deserve to be organized in some manner that doesn't quite merit subcategories.
- The pictures make more sense in a particular order (e.g. pages of a book in order, or illustrations of a work, in order).
- A category has so many subcategories that the pictures a typical user would really most expect to see for that category are scattered among a large number of categories.
In general, ask yourself if the gallery can bring something to the material that a category cannot. Seattle and the Orient, William Lyon Mackenzie King visual chronology, Kölner Dom and New York City are good examples.