Talk:Main Page/Archive 1

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2004

Start – samui !

C'est tout vide... il fait froid ici... brrr... Aoineko *

For those who are curious, this was the first edit ever made to this page on September 7, 2004. It's by a French Wikipedia contributor (fr:Utilisateur:Aoineko) and translates roughly as: "It's all empty... it's cold here... brrr..." (referring to the emptiness of Commons and this page at that time). Deco 01:29, 20 January 2006 (UTC)
And that was the first edit made to the whole site, btw, just a few minutes earlier ;-) --:bdk: 23:52, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

International date format

Please, use the international date format: 2004-11-10 - the format you are using at the moment is ambiguous. --Keichwa 17:53, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

So the last day of 2004 is 2004-12-31 (just to be clear!) LoopZilla 07:10, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Migration

I'm not sure where to ask this — maybe I just missed the proper page — but how we will facilitate mass migration of compatible-license images from other Wikipedias? For example, I've created dozens of public domain images[1], but I don't really want to go to an effort to migrate them all, although other Wikipedias have already expressed interest in using them in the past. On en, at least, a large percentage of images are tagged with license information. Will there, perhaps, be a "MigrationBot"? Dcoetzee 07:46, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I definitely hope for a bot. A couple of bots are already working in this area. BTW, a good place to ask this question isn the Commons:Village pump -- Chris 73 07:57, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)
are these license images licensed? –– IP 15 November 2004
I suggest include a link to wikimedia commons when the user click in Upload file in Wikipedia, wiktionary and any other Wikimedia Project. --Mac 22 November 2004

Content

I have removed the small links below Places and Nature. They only represent a small amount the content in the categories and it is misleading. It implies that we don't have photos outside of Europe or Africa for example. Norman Rogers 14:14, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Uploading zip files

Somewhere (not here) I read that it is possible to upload several image files in a zip file. Now, I tried, and after an upload of about ten minutes, I get the message that zip is not a recommended format. And then nothing. Is it possible to streamline this procedure to avoid frustration? E.g., reject the upload early in the process? --wpopp 00:34, 21 Nov 2004 (UTC)

This is a service supported by two or three volunteers (who manually upload, we assume). The page Special:Upload only accepts a single image or sound file. Perhaps the wording should be changed? LoopZilla 07:14, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Why?

Why can't the pages to explain how to upload an image to an article be made shorter and simpler so a sane person can use them? These pages are a nightmare and I can't really understand them. Putting an available image on an article page seems a thing that's likely to be a common need, and desirable for the Wikipedia. Also why can't we use gif and bmp files? Anyone know? Thankyou. --IP 2 December 2004

Hmm, I don't think Commons:First steps is an especially complicated page.
bmp files are terribly large, don't use them. gif files had problems with patents and licensing, so that png files are used as their alternative. (I don't think there is some important reason not to use them today, but, well, there is no specific reason to use them instead of png, anyway.)
--Mormegil 09:53, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
bmp is totally unsuitable for web use PERIOD nearly all bmp files are uncompressed and even those that are compressed are only compressed with a simple rle system. gif had patent issues though theese are largely gone in the us now. The only reason to use gif over png is animations png is a newer and better compressed format than gif. Plugwash 15:52, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)
It's interesting that people still say that gifs can't be used because of patents. As it turns out, the relevent gif patents expired in 2003 or 2004 [2]. It is perfectly safe to allow gifs on Wiki. That said, I understand why gif leaves a bad taste in many people's mouth, since gif was encumbered by patents until a year ago. Samboy 01:45, 17 May 2005 (UTC)
OK, I stand corrected. IBM has a patent on gifs (LZW, actually) which they have never enforced that expires on August 11, 2006. Samboy 01:52, 17 May 2005 (UTC)
I think there should be a link on the main page for uploading an image. I think it should include a form where attributions and copyright notice can be added. Make it easy and put it on the main page.--Socrtwo 17:20, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Well, there is a link for uploading an image on each page, see your toolbox… --Mormegil 12:41, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I agree, this was rediculously hard to find where to upload... first, I downloaded that program-- but it doesn't work (and I'm computer savvy, I tried everything), then I tried the uploading method where you write a script in a text file-- but that way you have to send it to a 'helper' who uploads it? This was extremely confusing... I finally find the upload page after a wasted 45 minutes. Why is there so many useless things... just have an outright link -or- at least explanation on how/where to upload. Ughhhh. --Brian Howard 03:43, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Picture of the Day has a copyright-problem

Pictures from pixelquelle are not Public Domain. The licenz from pixelquelle ist very free, but forbids the copying in picturesdatabases like commons. On the german WP we have delete all pictures from pixelquelle because the copyrightproblem und now the pictures came back over commons :-(.
Because this, I have delete the picture. Can somebody please chose a other picture for the picture of the day? Thanx. --DaB. 14:22, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC) (Sorry for my bad english)

I have now manually insert the picture of yesterday. Can somebody check, if I make this right? --DaB. 14:40, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)
OK, I substituted another picture, and reverted the template. Photo of the Day should be displaying OK again. -- Infrogmation 03:05, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Mentioned in Business Week

Y'all may notice an uptick in traffic. [ http://www.robert.to/ I ] just got this week's [ http://www.businessweek.com/ BusinessWeek ] and noticed WikiNews featured prominantly on page 13. --IP 17 December 2004

Christmas wish

The Christmas wish is saved on Commons, spoken by Jimbo and Anthere. The it:page is the Italian wiktionary Christmas project. Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar GerardM 14:52, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Can we make it a little more subtle. I don't think this is the place to wish people a merry Christmas. Don't we now have to celebrate the other holidays equally? ed g2s • talk 23:13, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Your deleting the merry Xmas message on the ground it wasn't NPOV was both a bit silly and a bit rude Ed g2s. I never engaged a flame war and I'm not going to do that especially about Xmas and during Xmas. Caring for the neutraly of a simple 24 hours merry Xmas message is a conception of neutraly that I clearly find overdone. Blanking at midnight or so was not from a gentleman. villy 08:15, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
PS: you've been reverted on the English main page - I won't do it on the French page since you seem to have a particular knowledge of a French language conception of neutrality. Besides, I don't care for edit wars, as I said. villy 08:23, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Not that I don't wish you all a very Merry Christmas indeed, I just don't think this is the place to do it. Put it on a news page or something. Sticking a nasty green box on the front page is not the way to do it. What if someone who celebrated some obscure religion/cult wanted to inform everyone that a day is the day their messiah was born by placing a large neon box on the front page? It would be hypocritical of us to remove it. Although by policy NPOV is only for 'pedia articles, it makes sense to apply it to highly visible pages like this one. ed g2s • talk 22:59, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

I hit enter before writing the full changelog message so i'll explain why I did it here.

I think it's perfectly okey to have a message wishing everyone a merry christmas, as for NPOV: we're not wikipedia;) --Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 02:15, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)

2005

Protect main page

Recently the main page has become vandalized occasionally, and the number of incidents seem to be increasing. Would it be justified to protect the main page (similar to most Wiki's main pages) so only admins can edit them? Regular users can contribute or suggest changes on this talk page, or maybe a Main Page/Edit subpage, and admins copy the results to the main page on request? On the other hand, lots of non-admins make good contributions to the main page layout, and so far the vandalism seems to be manageable. Any suggestions? -- Chris 73 00:57, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I am not in favour of protecting the main page to edition completely. There are ways of doing it differently. For example, we could imagine slicing the main page into different templates that would be linked on the dicussion page and could be edited by anyone. A simple link to the talk page would say where the edits can be done. Passing vandals won't bother to click three times to go and edit the main page. Putting the admins in charge is just to bothersome (yes, I know, I am lazy). notafish }<';> 12:00, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC) PS. Main page on fr is not protected, and various debates have always led to a non protection of it.
If "vandals won't bother to click three times", it's amazing quite how many of them do.
James F. (talk) 12:21, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)
I don't think Commons will ever be as popular as Wikipedia, so I don't see any present need to lock it completely as has been done at en. The templates seem like a good idea for a while at least; when Commons gets enough traffic to attract intelligent vandals, there will be more administrators, making a locked main page slightly more feasible. — Dan | Talk 13:37, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Design

To my mind the MP would look less crowded and 'busy' if the blue borders were removed from the sections. Try it in a preview and see. My $0.02. DanRos 20:31, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism

In light of the recent vandalization, which was quite a shocker... I would like to suggest that the front page be locked to editing like on en. --205.206.139.41 03:53, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I also see no problem to move the content of Main Page to a special template editable for all who know how to do it and protect the main page itself. By my experience casual vandals have no idea how to vandalize templates. For example I did it for Main Page in Russian Maximaximax 05:37, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I am afraid that on Commons, there are not many casual vandals without an idea how this works. But, still, I'd give it a try. --Mormegil 11:11, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)
yeah they were definately crafty this time round. they did a god damn interwiki redirect (which is presumablly why it took a while to get reverted (i went from my watchlist to the diff page to the previous revision and then used the normal edit method to revert from there). Even stranger is its not listed as done by an anon but the user contributions page for the user who supposedly did it is EMPTY?! Plugwash 11:15, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Hmm, no problem here, I see the edit on Special:Contributions/Steven. --Mormegil 14:36, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Uploaded photos

I've just uploaded a large collection of Belgian trawlers to the Commons collection. Only I forgot to mention about which License I wanted. Can this be changed at once? All photos should be free under the GNU Free Documentation License. I just hope they wont get removed because they don't have a license.

--Frederic Logghe 18:18, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

There is not a generic tool that would be able to do that AFAIK. You could ask someone who operates a bot to use it for that sake. --Mormegil 12:59, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

File Types

I wish to upload (and download) here also SVG, VRML or even BLEND files. Could be this possible or better allowed here? --Popski 08:58, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

See en:Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#raster vs vector graphics for some background for the topic, it has also been discussed on Commons:Village_pump/Archive/2005/02#SVG. --Mormegil 08:49, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Thank you Mormegil! It looks that I will have to wait for this nice options... :)--Popski 11:25, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Now is finally possible to upload and download all kind of file formats here: http://www.ourmedia.org --Popski 09:52, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

UK flag

I noticed that someone put up a UK flag on the front page next to where it says welcome. Is this appropriate?--Groucho 14:24, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It was I, but it was taken down again. They have it on the Danish and Swedish page. If you surf the web and arrive at multi-language pages, the flag of the UK is nearly unanimously used for 'English'. But no big deal to me just thought it looked prettier and one could recognize which language front-page one was on, instantly. Twthmoses 00:51, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The english language doesn't really have a flag. Online it is typically represented by one of the following three flags.
  • The english flag (of england not specifically of the english language)
    The english flag (of england not specifically of the english language)
  • The british union jack (not a good choice imo)
    The british union jack (not a good choice imo)
  • The us flag
    The us flag
Imo since england is where english comes from we should use the english flag for the english language. Plugwash 10:59, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I don't really think any flag is necessary. If we're forced to use one, i'd advise the UK flag. --Groucho 01:43, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

i would prefer die UK-flag as well but maybe the solution could look like this: Deutsch .. only; how many english speaking country we have ;O) ...Sicherlich 21:52, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)
clever idea but animated gifs are really annoying. Plugwash 11:11, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Those blinking flags are really annoying. It would be better if they would fade slowly, but I beleve we should not use animations for flags at all - it's really distracting. -- Duesentrieb 13:26, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)
You know that using any flag is going to get into a quagmire of endless difficulties over which flag to use, it's not worth the trouble. -- Joolz 00:34, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Precisely. --Groucho 07:05, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I'd suggest a combination US/UK flag, Draw a diagonal line from the top right to bottom left of the flag, make the part above the line the US flag and the part below the UK flag. Dusso Janladde 08:48, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
This debate is long over. It has been decided in a vote not to use flags but either ISO-Code or the full native language name for higlighting languages. Arnomane 09:05, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

What about small flags side-by-side instead of animated together? silsor 00:16, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

NYPL Digital Library Images

There are a couple photos on New York Public Library (NYPL) website that I would like to upload to WP. On the botton of each page it says "The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. All rights reserved." (without even a copyright sign). And on their help/about page it says:

"the low-resolution web images available on the website are suitable for immediate printing or downloading to provide good-quality reference copies for a wide range of creative, research, and educational purposes."

So, what does it mean for us? Can we use their photos and under which license? --Rydel 17:42, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC)

All rights reserved. Best to see their policy page for the details. 24.167.193.105 01:33, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
No we can not use the images, see this page http://www.nypl.org/legal/index.cfm --Clawed 12:39, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The word copyright and/or the copyright symbol make copyright easier to enforce, but do not (currently in the U.S.) make a work copyrighted. This happens regardless. If they don't explicitly release rights to the images, they retain rights to the images. Dcoetzee 00:05, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

.doc and other text files

I have my chinese history course in a .doc file and I want share it here, I can't copy-past it immediatly in wikipédia because that become a .txt text, so I lose a part of my "presentation".

But when I put it here : < .doc is an invalid file > (or something like that)

Have any solution here ? If the wikicommunity have one software which can change my .doc in wiki-language I agree it too ~~

Please, if you have a solution : fr:Utilisateur:Yug 22 April 2005

This sounds like something which might be more appropriate at WikiSource or WikiBooks. --Fastfission 14:41, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hello (I come ask help)

I seen your File:254489 9016 hamentash 02.jpg, the background is white, If you can do the same for "my" File:Slingshot (weapon).JPG that should be great.

Anyway, can you tell me step by step how do this. I think this work (extract the exact thing of a picture) is really need for an encyclopedia. See you~ Yug talk 17:30, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hello Yug, the picture in question was not edited by me. But I can tell you a few ways to get rid of the background:
  1. When taking the picture, try to make sure that the background is uniform (minimal variation/patterns/texture) and preferably of a colour that is not found within the object itself. White is usually not a good choice, since there is very often some part of white within the object. Lightish blue is often a good colour to use as a background.
  2. Edit the picture in a paint programme (e.g., “Paint”, if you are running MS Windows): Use the “pipette” tool to select colours from the background, and then the “fill” tool to paste the colour into a field of a different colour. This process is simple, but tedious.
  3. When the background has all been changed to a uniform colour (e.g., bright blue), save the file and open it in a programme capable of image conversions — e.g., Irfanview. Now check what ID number the background colour you has. Save the image as a PNG or GIF file, selecting the option “transparent background” and specifying the colour ID number (e.g., “1” or “87”).
  4. An alternative (and better) way to do it if you have some more advanced software is to have the programme crop out the background and replace it with white. I don’t have such fancy software, so I cannot tell you whether this process can be entirely automatic or if you have to manually trace the edges.
Hope this is of help! :-) Olve 18:41, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)
The Gimp [3], a free (GPL) powerfull software for editing picture is able to do this. Try it out. 195.146.250.107 11:47, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Videos in Commons?

It is possible to upload videos to commons? I was thinking about rendering a few demonstrations to phsyical effects or so, but i didn't found any information about standards for videos, like the container format, codec, etc. that i should use. On the other hand, there are is no video content avaible on wikipeda, to use as an example. --80.140.216.113 10:47, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

the problem is thier is no video format that is really acceptable.
mpeg divx/xvid etc all have patent problems, ogg theora is very young and not at all well supported. do you have any better ideas? Plugwash 20:58, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I dunno about the patent issues of mpeg/divx, but isn't there also a jpeg patent? well iam living in europe, we dont have software patents (yet) :). Actually i think Matroska might be the ideal container format since OGG itself is just a quick hack to have a format that supports variable framerate.
So it is better to not create videos for the wikipedia rather than using a format that isnt support by many players? The VLC player can play Theora on windows. On free OS'es there are severa player that can handle theroa, too I think that this is enough to start using it. Otherwise there wont never be more players that support free formats if there isnt any demand--80.140.250.147 15:48, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
When you upload media files, is it converted to OGG? --JarlaxleArtemis June 2005
no. -- Duesentrieb 3 July 2005 17:55 (UTC)

please have a look at COM:VP#What_file_formats_should_be_allowed? -- Duesentrieb 3 July 2005 17:55 (UTC)

Visually and artistically impared!

I was looking at the Wikiproject list on Wikipedia and there appears to be nothing involving images, pictures, galleries or art. The word 'art', 'image', 'gallery' does not appear anywhere :P. People in the Wikipedia channel told me to try and look here to see if the Wikicommons users may have some ideas.

I have a vague idea of what I want to do but one thing I hope to do is have more visual lists (or 'galleries') included in our Wikis esp. Wikipeda. One good example is this gallery (or visual list) here. As a benefit of list galleries on here and Wikipedia we could quickly list and determine which images we lack that are in the public domain of artists / photographers.

Is there a place on Wikicommons that is discussing issues like these on here? --ShaunMacPherson 06:17, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Try Commons:Village pump for general projects discussions. --Mormegil 15:01, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Correction

After uploading a file, a page is displayed that says:

Please follow the link XXXXXX to the description page now and put the following information there:

  • Describe what it is about in a short sentence. (What does the image show?)
  • State the author and the date of creation. If you made it yourself, say so explicitely.
  • If you did not create the file yourself, state the source you got it from.
  • Add a copyright tag.
  • NEW: Add the image to one or more gallery pages and/or appropriate categories, so it can be found by others

...

Well, it's "explicitly", not "explicitely". I don't know where this is transcluded from. Chamaeleon June 28, 2005 18:51 (UTC)

Fixed it, thanks. — Richie 29 June 2005 09:14 (UTC)
My bad, I guess :/ -- Duesentrieb 5 July 2005 11:17 (UTC)

commercial link at top of this article?

In my old browser I can see a link to:

pillspilot.com

at the top of the main page. It was added by an anonymous user. Is it supposed to be there? Kim 5 July 2005 05:04 (UTC)

No, most definitely not! Thanks for pointing this out, I have removed it. Generally, feel free to remove any external link that is hidden by some css trickery, anywhere. Thanks again! -- Duesentrieb 5 July 2005 11:16 (UTC)

Page Blocked

After we increasingly get link spam and random crap on the main page, i'm going to block it for now. Feel free to unblock, but keep an eye on the page, please. -- Duesentrieb 7 July 2005 13:40 (UTC)

Content By Type Video

There is some video on commons in Ogg Theora. But there is not yet an special listing for it. I propose to include the type Video between images and sounds. --Walter 7 July 2005 22:29 (UTC)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload <- a bug???=

I want to upload files, but I can't. I just get text with HTML commands.-PedroPVZ 8 July 2005 00:00 (UTC)

Main page tweaks

This sentence on the front page makes no sense: "If you would like to participate actively in the project, read on below. To let other people upload photos or other files for you, you can use the Commons:File upload service or a special program." Surely this sentence should come after referring to how to upload something yourself normally. Shouldn't it have the sentence instead: "If you want to upload a large number of files, you can make it easier by using the free program Commonplace v1.1." Also, there should definitely be a link to the Commons:Featured_pictures on the front page somewhere (probably next to the image of the day) because this contains the best images - and you want to put your best foot forward to impress new potential contributors! --Komencanto 8 July 2005 16:02 (UTC)

Protection

Is the main page going to be permenantly protected from now on? -- Joolz 16:08, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism!?

Could an administrator please remove the "Ass Pus" image from the top of the main page? Thanks! Knowledge Seeker 06:36, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Never mind; it was added to the template. I reverted it. Knowledge Seeker 06:41, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I find it very offence the words Ass pus in the main page by other languages. Please remove this. Rasbak 06:38, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Based on the behavior of Polo Bluxo, that user is probably the same personn as Roberto at the Simple English Wikipedia, who was blocked for a large amount of vandalism, including pornography on the Main Page there. – Minh Nguyễn (talk, blog) 06:52, 21 July 2005 (UTC)
The image on the main page appears to have been vandalized in Wikipedia - the page linked to, and the image, are not in sync... the image linked to was previously vandalized with this same image, and I guess that one of the thumbnails,etc. "300px-" was not deleted. Can't figure out how to do this myself. ... actually, I wasn't able to delete teh bogus image, but I reverted to the original image, and it appears the right image has shown up again (maybe someone fixed it?). User:Tvleavitt 21 August 2005

Speedy corrections to Main Page?

One disadvantage of having a locked main page is that there doesn't seem to be any way for plebs like me to correct irritatingly misleading picture captions like the current "The Munich undergound station" (my emphases). The Munich Underground has something like 94 stations (not all of them underground), of which the one pictured is, of course, just a single example... Picapica 16:36, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

Hey there, you can actually edit that yourself through Commons:Picture_of_the_day, and specifically this template, Template:Potd/2005-07-24 (en), I've updated it, but it's not protected so you can too if you don't like my changes! ;) Regards, Joolz 17:33, 24 July 2005 (UTC)
Well, that was a speedy correction! Thanks for the tip, Joolz. ...and the new caption is fine. :) -- Picapica 17:41, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

Categories

I would like to someday be able to filter content obtained via Random File, it would be nice to only get photos for my desktop background and not those temperature maps... But that's just wishful thinking. ;) --IP 10 August 2005

Main page added in Interlingua

Hi, I've translated the main page into Interlingua at frontispicio. Mithridates 03:39, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

Oh wait, looks like I can edit the template itself. No worries. Mithridates 03:41, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

People must be allowed to use the photos as they like, including selling them for money.

I think the main page needs to be more blunt about media in the International Commons. I like this quote taken from User talk:Thuresson:
People must be allowed to use the photos as they like, including selling them for money.
This makes it really, really clear. -- Sitearm | Talk 12:47, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Please add Symbols to types

I'd like to propose adding category:Symbols to the list of types on the commons front page. It fits well with the other types, but is a separate and important resource. --agr 09:25, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

done -- Duesentrieb(?!) 11:06, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

featured pic/potd

Can a non-featured pic be on the picture of the day? Because the illustrated L seemed to be opposed by almost all editors here, but still ended up in the main page... -- WB 04:01, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Typo

Someone please change "Additionaly" to "Additionally". Arj 16:49, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

Done, and thanks for spotting it! -- Joolz 17:35, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

Newbie question

Just a simple question - I have often uploaded the front image from the featured article so that I can use it on our Wikipedia, but two of them have been deleted so far and I was told to not upload images with copyrights. Why is an image suitable for the featured article not suitable for the Commons? Is there just a lack of policing on the English Wiki? I'm quite confused. My user talk page has a few notifications of that if anyone is curious. Mithridates 20:58, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

The licensing policy of the commons is much more strict than on en, have a look at Commons:Licensing. Most importantly, images under the fair use clause are not allowed on the commons.
Oh, and please ask policy related question at the Commons:Village pump. Thanks! -- Duesentrieb(?!) 21:26, 8 October 2005 (UTC)
I see, thanks. I was exhausted last night and quickly scribbled off a question before going to bed. ^^ Mithridates 03:05, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Other questions

  • As I understand, there is no way to rename images once uploaded. Is this correct?
  • How can I nominate images for removal (f.e. because the name is wrong)?

Wdelaet 11:57, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

--Mormegil 19:36, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

Please delete my picture with bad name

I need to delete Image:Bunyoro before 1964.png, because it has bad name (the right is "...before 1965"). Thanks.--Kirk 01:32, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Usability or How to scare users away

There are a lot of images uploaded localy to wikimedia projects. If I see that I regulary ask them why they don't upload images to Commons. Most of them are confused because the Main Page says To let other people upload photos or other files for you, you can use the Commons:File upload service or the special program Commonplace. But does not meantion that it is possible to use the normal Upload, even when it is linked in the wikimedia toolbar as in every wikimedia based wiki. May be you should change the description on the main page. --Kingruedi 18:38, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree. It should say something which indicates that you can upload your own things as well. --Fastfission 06:34, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Still serving strucla

The November 13 photo of strucla has been on the main page for several days. It's getting a little stale. Has something gone wrong with the software that puts the photo on the main page? Fg2 05:09, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

As soon as I posted this, the correct photo appeared... Fg2 05:14, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Commonplace

Please change Commonplace to Commonist. It's better to have bugs with Windows then nothing. --Saperaud 12:18, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Featured Pictures not mentioned here

Would it not be an idea to include a link/mention of the Featured Pictures on the main page as well as having the picture of the day? Something like: "Check out our featured pictures, which we believe to be some of the best work on Commons." ? Cormaggio 14:03, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I think that's an excellent idea. I added: "If you are browsing Commons for the first time, you may want to start with our Featured pictures, which have been selected by the Commons community as being particularly valuable." to the introductory material. --Fastfission 22:43, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Source download

Is it possible to get the source for wikimedia commons itself? I can't find a downlaod link anywhere... --IP 21 December 2005

The Commons and all Wikimedia projects run on MediaWiki. User:dbenbenn 17:24, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

2006

Main page change

I made a small change to the main page. The primary paragraph about how to use commons initially read:

If you would like to participate actively in the project, read on below. To let other people upload photos or other files for you, you can use the Commons:File upload service.

I think this put the cart before the horse, and it doesn't really specify where to "read on below". Furthermore it explains more about the rare instance of having people upload files for others than it does for the far more common question about uploading files individually. I moved this information from the "Community" section, which I don't think was the most helpful place for it, and wikilinked the more important aspects:

If you would like to participate actively in the project, first read our first steps help file, which explains how to upload files and our basic licensing policy.

Hopefully that is fine with people. I also de-bolded the "File upload service" because I'm not sure it needs that much attention called to it above everything else. --Fastfission 22:37, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Featured media on the main page

I'd like to propose adding a "featured media" section to the main page, to spotlight some of the songs and video available on the commons. I count roughly 400 files from Category:Video and category:Music sound that could be used, so it could be done with the same rotating-day template that is used on the english Wikipedia for the anniversaries. It would also make these areas more visible, because up till now they have been ignored almost everywhere but on en (where Brian0918 and I do most of the heavy lifting). If no one objects, I'll impliment one. Raul654 09:59, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Ok, it took me many hours tonight, I got it working at User:Raul654/temp. I've schedule the entire year's worth pseudorandomy, and I started writing up english descriptions. The relavant pages are linked from my user page now. Now it just needs to be added to the main page along with the proper HTML to make it look nice. An archive might also be a good thing to cook up. Raul654 06:22, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Comments

So what does everyone think of the new feature? Raul654 21:10, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

I guess the audience is apathetic. Raul654 05:05, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

300,000 media files

Hey guys, congrats on 300,000 media files! I just happened to notice that you reached this number a few minutes ago and took a screenshot - should I upload that? ^_~ In any case, congratulations! -- Schnee 23:16, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Um, it's been stuck at 300,000 for at least 5 days ;) Raul654 23:50, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Commercial use?

Can I use images I find on Wikimedia Commons for commercial projects? --IP 19 January 2006

yes, as long as you follow the license terms (usually, it requires you to credit source and author, and maybe a few more things). Look at the individual description pages to learn about the exact license terms. Note that Commons:Village pump would have been a better place for this question. -- Duesentrieb(?!) 20:25, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  • One other note: some of the licenses are "viral" free licenses (GFDL, for example), meaning that you cannot use them unless you license your material under a similar copyright license. You will probably want to read the terms of the license (on the individual image description pages) before using them to make sure you understand them. --Fastfission 01:21, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Images by Text

Moved to Commons:Village pump.

Commons and hotlinking

Moved to Commons:Village pump.

New Main Page

 Oppose I strongly oppose the recent change of MP layout by Arnomane. The two yellowish and blueish basic colors look very silly in combination with our logo and are also too close to Wikipedia. I don't like the change at all, even if the general layout of the boxes, of course, is smarter than before. I also want to request that the POTD - as our main eye catcher on this page - will be put back at the top right, soon. And the last point of criticism is: Please remove the needless duplicate search box from the top, it's only waste of space. Consideration: Perhaps we could move the really too long list of other languages to another place, NOT right at the top - perhaps as a narrow column on the right? or at the bottom? or concentrate it to about 10 main languages and add a "more" link? - Tom 01:47, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Well please moderate a little bit your rantings and discuss this issue at Commons:Village Pump where I gave further details how the design principle is and why I did it. And blue and yellow are no childish colors. I don't use pink. The POTD can't be put on the right top as there is our language template which can't be moved (I would like to have a drop down box but is is technically impossible with current MediaWiki). Despite that english is a left to right language. So placing the content on the left does make sense (Thats' why the featured aricles in wikipedia main pages are at the left side). The right upper corner gets used for additional information in wikipedia articles like town boxes and such but never for the main content itself. With respect to your comment that it looks to much like Wikipedia: Why not? Wikipedia main pages get read by many people per day. Why not build upon that experience? So creating a content centered page for Commons and basing it on experience of others is a good thingTM. And by the way the old page was simply outdated. Arnomane 02:27, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Cool main page, before the redesign it was one of the worst main pages I have seen, this is a big improvement! Gerard Foley 17:22, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Redesign looks like good work, though it can still be improved. The more prominent search-box is good, but can we then find a way to suppress the searchbox in the sidebar for the main page? A __NOSEARCH__ pragma would be useful. +sj + 06:26, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Welcome text

It currently says "a database of xxx media files, that anyone can extend". I think the word "contribute" better describes what we do here on the commons, so I propose that we change it to:

a database of xxx media files, to which anyone can contribute

enochlau (talk) 02:23, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Hi thanks for your feedback. There were some other suggestions regarding the central sentence as well at Commons:Village Pump#new_Main_Page. As I am not a native English speaker I'd like if there are some native English speakers that can come together and look for a better one-liner if possible. Drop a note on Village Pump what the others think about it. Arnomane 08:37, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
I think "contribute" is better here and a lot clearer. Whether one "extends" a database by adding to it is a questionable and certainly not standard metaphor. --Fastfission 20:28, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

deletion request

The file Image:S01371彳.gif duplicates 說文解字_彳.gif and should be deleted (error in my namyng convention, sorry). --Micheletb 10 April 2006

Where are we supposed to post deletion requests ? I could'nt find any cue on the main page... But please forgive my limited IQ, the solution was probably obvious for anyone but me !

Have a look at Commons:Deletion requests. There you can enter your deletion request. Arnomane 18:38, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
but there nobody delete files - my deletion requests waiting now for over one week! Sven-steffen arndt 10:30, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
Maybe because there are so many deletion requests that we have a huge list working up? Deletion in Commons is not that easy as in one local project as ideally you want to unlink all usage in every project and of course Commons has a very large daily image upload and only very few active people maintain the whole stuff. Arnomane 22:34, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
What's the hurry?
However, in obvious cases you can use {{Speedydelete}}
Fred Chess 08:37, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Category Redundancy

The links to following Categories are found twice within Main page:

  • Nature
  • Images
  • Society
  • Sound
  • Science
  • Video

Once at Welcome Section, and the other within the Content Section. Is this ok? --Tarawneh 05:26, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Their purpose in the Welcome box is to catch the reader's attention by supplying a quick rundown of the most general categories, three by content, three by type. Then later, in the actual category scheme list, these general ones are expanded in detail. I don't see it as a problem that they are mentioned (and linked) twice. —UED77 05:36, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Error

Hi.

First I've to say that my english isn't perfect, so, if there is any mistake, i'm sorry

There is an error in the "Log In" link, on the up right corner: when I point it with the mouse, the link moves to the up left corner. If someone could fix that...

bye! --FrancoGG 21:07, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes we have noticed it too but I couldn't find up to now what's happening there... See Commons:Help desk#page_renders_weirdly_in_IE6. I haven't found the time up to now debugging our CSS styles (I suppose it is one of our CSS definitions making trouble). Arnomane 22:19, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

I ALSO CANNOT LOG IN. THE BUTTON DISAPPERS. WHAT IS THIS? 217.194.34.124 11:30, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

You are using Internet Explorer. See Commons:Help desk#page_renders_weirdly_in_IE6 for details. It's a wired IE-bug bug we sadly weren't able to workaround up to now. So please use any other browser but Internet Explorer. Arnomane 00:30, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

To log in, go directly to Special:Userlogin. pfctdayelise (translate?) 00:52, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Audio tour guide

Hello, I've got an interesting idea about using Wikipedia articles to create an audio tour guide for sightseeing. I think this will be a popular project. People read the articles, upload them as mp3 files and develop a little tour through major cities. Tourists can download this files on their handy or mp3-player and have an excellent audio tour around the city. A special feature can be short overview over the complete tour with different pictures of the sights.

So let me know what do you think about this idea? --IP 10 May 2006

I think it sounds better suited to http://wikitravel.org/ (note: not a Wikimedia project). pfctdayelise (translate?) 14:29, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
Yes, I know this page. But there are only articles and no audio files. --IP 11 May 2006
This sounds rather nice. There are at least two projects in wikipedia called "spoken Wikipedia" (see de:Wikipedia:WikiProjekt Gesprochene Wikipedia for a rather well done project in German and en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia for the english equivalent) and Podpedia (German). So it would be a nice thing if you can share your ideas with them. However the audiofiles have to be in Ogg-Vorbis. MP3 is a patended audio file format and is thus not allowed at Commons. In order to get more people on the topic please move this thread to Commons:Village Pump. Arnomane 16:58, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Uncalled For

The picture of the two insects (May 27, 2006) is uncalled for. I suspect that many children use Wikipedia and the main pages should keep that in mind when they choose what first to throw at a visitor.
A. Balet 02:09, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry sex is part of life. Better kids learn about sex in a reasonable manner or we have more teen pregnancies. I don't see how this picture can be worse than these silly hip hop girls shaking tits and ass on TV in the afternoon. Arnomane 09:45, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Children see two flies, only adults see sex in this picture. For an example, look at this drawing of nine dolphins. You see em? Kids do right away! -- Chris 73 11:29, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Arnomane: There is more than one strongly-held view of this subject. For example, teaching people about fixing cars--in itself--will encourage people to go and try to fix cars. The same is true for camping, hunting, or any other activity. Teenagers--and especially children--are not animals in rut. Parents should be the primary influence over their children's lives, not the on-line world. This should not have been on the main-page.
By the way, what does trashy-television have to do with setting standards of taste or morality?
Chris 73: That picture is pure agitprop and tasteless to boot. --A. Balet 01:28, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
What? You don't like dolphins ;) -- Chris 73 18:54, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Sorry but do you know what kids do? They send each other really tasteless porn and snuff movies via bluetooth from cell phone to cell phone when they meet somewhere (in school or a private meeting of friends or on street; if parents want to do their kids something good they shouldn't give them a superduper highly advanced cell phone). So you need to teach your kids some media expertise or you have lost as parents. And this very picture of two flies was really harmless. Maybe the kids would have giggled a little bit and so forth if they would have seen it but they wouldn't have been deranged (in contrast they are if they see these movies I mentioned). Arnomane 07:38, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Which kids? All kids? No, there are still some who value the innocence of children. A. Balet 23:23, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
Make sure you never ever take your children to the zoo. -- Duesentrieb(?!) 22:14, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
There is nothing wrong with the zoo, although parents may need to keep a sharp eye out for offensive people and beasts. Note the word: "parents." Internet sites that gratuitously throw offensive images at children are analagous the the pervert flashing at the zoo. THAT is what would prevent parents from taking their children to the zoo. A. Balet 22:49, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Actually, repressing sexuality is what creates perverts in the first place. Would you like a tour of our erotic art section, or a nice gallery of sex positions? Further reading: pornography policy of the english wikipedia
And yes, I also see limits - Image:Autofellation drawing 2.jpg should not be on the front page. -- Duesentrieb(?!) 23:02, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Just to put that into perspective, here is again the picture Image:Anthomyiidae sp. 1 (aka).jpg. It is only two flies, com'on! You are not serious. Longbow4u 00:02, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
On a slightly related note: [4]. -- Duesentrieb(?!) 23:10, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Let's make a gallery: aka's animal porn. pfctdayelise (translate?) 14:15, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I simply cannot believe I'm reading this, it's a joke right? Two flies mating is offensive? Most kids have probably seen them do it on their own arm (shakes head and goes off to tell the wife, she's just back from work and will appreciate a good laugh). Oh, the ethics of children watching insects copulate aside, I just have to add that I think that was a truly superb photograph! --Phil Wardle 08:49, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

this is hilarious. i suppose everything outside the house is sexuallly explicit in your book. oh god! what if the children see those braziers in the shop window! think of the children! -Guangxi the bastard, 1st of 2007.
--IP 1 January 2007

laceface claims that the photograph of the two flies redeems decent. it's in excellent detail. now i want to know why the mom got her jollies off while looking at this in fear that someday her own kids will do the same? please, sex sells, and there is no one with a t.v. that is going to hide from it, let alone have an ethernet connection. --Laceygene1987 13 October 2008

Gallery

How do I make a gallery on my user page? FellowWikipedian 17:16, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

I already found out. FellowWikipedian 18:00, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Languages

In the inner grey quadrilateral listing all the lingual Wikimedia commons, why are the languages separated from top and bottom? Please don't discriminate and portray the idea that some languages are better than others.

Please email me <redacted> also.

24.70.95.203 04:23, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

It's discrimination between the quality of the translation, not the language itself. If you are prepared to improve any translation so it is up to date with the English (or any top-level translation), then you can "raise" your language up too. Ideally all languages would be at the top. pfctdayelise (translate?) 05:13, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Main page

Nice design. Congratulations to the designers. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.226.185.110 (talk • contribs) at 02:40, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm glad you think so. Most of the credit goes to Arnomane :) If you have any suggestions and things we can improve upon, please let us know :) —UED77 03:47, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Wiki server error

I tried to click on the link "Category tree" under "Content" and I got the following error" --britcom 10:05, 4 August 2006 (UTC) 

Database Error: Can't connect to MySQL server on 'sql' (146) (sql)
 failed to connect to log database
 failed to log script start!

Database Error: Can't connect to MySQL server on 'sql' (146) (sql)
 failed to connect to WikiList database
 failed to connect to WikiList database

Backtrace:
    * GlobalFunctions.php line 659 calls wfBacktrace()
   * WikiSense.php line 158 calls wfDebugDieBacktrace()
   * WikiSense.php line 168 calls getWikiListDB()
   * WikiSense.php line 288 calls getWikiInfo()
   * WikiSelector.php line 101 calls getWikiInfoFromDomain()
   * CategoryTree.php line 286 calls WikiSelector::WikiSelector()
script start not logged! logging end anyway.

--Britcom 4 August 2006

These sorts of things happen occasionally. They are usually resolved very quickly. --Fastfission 19:46, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Black Slide Mantra

Chris, we found your photo of the inside stairs of the Black Slide Mantra and might use that one, too. We'll put the credit alongside the photo(s). Thanks, Diane, BSA

I guess that was a followup for a discussion on en:User talk:Chris 73. -- 08:39, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Red link

Media of the day sports a red link. 61.246.43.155 05:20, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

Isn't the main page protected from editing? 68.181.230.85 00:40, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but not all of its component parts (templates) are. --Fastfission 00:56, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

I Propose A Name Change To Wikicommons

Is there a wikicommons:proposals? 100110100 --IP 13 November 2006

featureless area near bottom left

The main page looks somewhat empty near the bottom left corner, under the "Media of the Day" section. Does anyone else think that something should be added there to fill the gap? The main page just doesn't seem very "complete" otherwise. --Ixfd64 01:29, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

If longer captions are written for the POTD and MOTD, the gap is not so large. pfctdayelise (说什么?) 07:34, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
Sorry, but I really can't see how longer captions in the other column would fill a space in the right column. Nousernamesleftcopper, not wood 21:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Suggestion of new Wiki Project

What about a WikiProtocols for scientific protocols. Most scientists (like myself) would love to have a place to exchange scientific protocols and to discuss their optmization and nuances. Although there are a few sites dedicated to this none of them have the power and influence of the Wiki foundation. 201.78.161.177 19:13, 18 November 2006 (UTC) waisberg

Try m:Proposals for new projects, this (Commons) is a media repository. --pfctdayelise (说什么?)07:36, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

en: Template:Motd-en/11-22 (en +/-)

For media of the day, I see a broken link to Template:Motd-en/11-22. --Midnightcomm 00:37, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

It is now fixed. --Midnightcomm 00:42, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

What license?

I have some images from a website who releases its photos for all non-commercial use, but on the condition of proper attribution. I tried to use the "Attribution" template, but then it says that it is released for all purposes with proper attribution. Which license template should I use for this? Baristarim 05:19, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

See Commons:Licensing. "The Wikimedia Commons only accepts free content, that is, images and other media files that can be used by anyone, for any purpose." Images with non-commercial use restrictions are not free to use, and images with such licenses will have to be deleted. Please go to Commons talk:Licensing for any further discussion. --Para 09:24, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Padre José Eugenio Hoyos Salcedo

Dejando Huella En El Mundo

Nació en Guadalajara de Buga el 2 de marzo de 1956. Hijo del educador Efraín J. Hoyos y la reconocida educadora Gilma Salcedo. Hermano del asesinado por las FARC, el ex – diputado del Valle del Cauca, Jairo Javier Hoyos Salcedo

Se ordeno sacerdote hace 25 años en la Catedral de San Pedro en Buga el primero de septiembre de 1984.

Licenciado en Filosofía y Teología de las Universidades Santo Tomas y Buenaventura de Bogotá, Doctorado en Teología con especialización en Sociología en el Catholic Theological Union de Chicago, Illinois. Fue profesor de Ética y Moral en los Colegios San Viator, Anglo Colombiano y Rochester en Bogota, se desempeñó pastoralmente en la Parroquia San Juan de Ávila en Bogotá, Vicario Parroquial de la Catedral de Santo Tomas Moro en Arlington, Virginia, San Antonio de Padua en Falls Church, Virginia y Párroco de la Sagrada Familia den Dale City, Virginia.

Actualmente es el Director del Apostolado Hispano de la Diócesis de Arlington a cargo de 35 parroquias con Ministerio Hispano.

Presidente y Fundador de la Organización benéfica Marcelino Pan y Vino Inc., MAPAVI (www.mapavi.org).

El Presidente George W. Busch lo nombro en sus dos periodos de gobierno como asesor presidencial ante la Casa Blanca en la calidad de Educación para los Hispanos Americanos.

Es miembro de la Coalición Nacional para la Defensa de los Inmigrantes, su trabajo para una reforma migratoria para 14 millones de indocumentados en los Estados Unidos es conocido a nivel internacional.

Director desde hace 15 años del programa radial Boletín Catolico 900AM filial de Telemundo, columnista semanal del Periódico Washington Hispanic en USA y El Diario de Hoyos de El Salvador.

Predicador internacional Catolico, autor de varios libros de motivaciones y espiritualidad. Ha sido nominado al Premio Príncipe de Asturias por el Congresista Tom Davis de Virginia y varios embajadores de la OEA y la Casa Blanca.

Segundo finalista al premio dejando una huela positiva en el exterior patrocinada por el Ministerio de Relaciones exteriores de Colombia, Redes Colombia y Colombia es Pasión con una votación del publico de 23.753 votos.

Fue condecorado por el entonce gobernador del Valle Carlos Holguin Sardi quien le otorgo la Medalla de Ciudades Confederadas del Valle en la semana de la Vallecaucanidad, además de otras condecoraciones como:

Medalla Alejandro Cabal Pombo como hijo ilustre de Buga.

Orden de Caballero por el senado de la Republica de Colombia.

Ilustre Vallecaucano otorgado por la Asamblea Departamental del Valle del Cauca.

Premio Presidencial al Merito Internacional por el Presidente de El Salvador, Lic. Antonio Elías Saca.

Premio de Las Américas concedido por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos en el Capitolio en Washington D.C.

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