Commons:Why create an account?
To join the Commons community and upload files, you'll need an account.
Registering doesn't just allow you to upload files and give you better tools for making edits; an account facilitates working with other volunteers.
Creating an account is fast, easy, and completely free of charge. You don't need to be registered to contribute, but registering and using an account on Wikimedia Commons to contribute provides many benefits, listed below.
List of benefits
[edit]- Upload files and enable the world to make use of these files, for example by adding them to Wikipedia articles.
- Use custom preferences to change the look and behavior of Wikimedia Commons and how it works for you.
- In the preferences, and in some cases using scripts, you can also enable many helpful tools.
- Use your unified login to work on Wikimedia's other projects, such as Wiktionary and Wikipedia. You don't need to register again on Wikipedia and you don't need to register here if you already have an account on Wikipedia.
- Choose your own username, which will be reserved just for you on Wikimedia Commons and all other Wikimedia projects like Wikipedia.
- Create your own user page to share information about yourself.
- Communicate with other editors via your own user talk page. You can also enable other users to email you.
- Get automatic notifications that alert you when someone has {{Ping}}ed you, or wikilinked your username in a message or edit summary or reverted one of your changes.
- Edit protected pages: Once you have had an account for 4 days, you can edit semi-protected pages, which display a gray lock
on the top-right corner of the article. IP address users and non-confirmed users cannot edit pages with this protection level. And once you have had an account for 30 days, and have made more than 500 edits, you can: edit extended protected pages, which display a blue lock 
.
Username and privacy
[edit]When you create an account, you can pick a user name provided it is available and unique. Edits you make while logged in will be associated to the username of your account instead of your IP address. You will have your own permanent user page where you can write a bit about yourself or list other valuable information.
You will also have a permanent user talk page that you can use to communicate with other users. You will be notified whenever someone writes a message on your talk page. If you choose to provide an email address with your account, other users will be able to contact you by e-mail if you choose. This feature is anonymous; the user who emails you will not know your email address unless you respond to them using your email address.
You are less identifiable logged in than you are as an unregistered editor, owing to the hiding of your IP address (so long as you avoid disclosing identifiable information on your user page). You might want to consider privacy and the possibility of offline harassment when deciding what to say on your user page.
Reputation, communication, and more successful edits
[edit]
See also: en:Wikipedia:Incentives. Having an account gives you a fixed Wikimedia Commons identity that other users will recognize. While we welcome contributions from unregistered editors, logging in under a user name lets you build trust and respect through a history of good edits, and makes it easier for veteran users to assume good faith, communicate and collaborate. Having a good name (or a pseudonym to protect your identity) promotes more responsible editing, and more civil discourse.
Sometimes new or unregistered users are prevented from editing pages that are common targets of vandalism. Also, bots can mistake even good-faith IP address edits for vandalism. For these reasons, edits under a user name tend to be more successful.
Having an account is a must for many processes in Wikimedia Commons, such as various voting procedures. As your reputation builds, it is possible to earn privileges such as rollback, sysop/administrator, and others. It is not possible for an unregistered editor to be granted these privileges.
Your user name may also receive recognition for good work which is largely limited to occasional 'Thank you' notifications for uploads or edits as well as getting your media featured on the Main page in the form of "Media of the Day" or "Picture of the Day. There also are several challenges you can participate in such as the Wiki Science Competition or photography campaigns.
User preferences
[edit]As a registered user, you can customize the way pages are displayed by altering your preferences. There, in the Appearance tab, you can change the following display settings:
- Under Skin: various options as to the appearance of the website
- Under Files: how large image thumbnails should be
There also are various editing preferences and gadgets you can enable. You can change the number of days and changes that appear on your watchlist that shows changes to files you have edited or watchlisted with the blue star at the top right of a file page.
Blocked?
[edit]Shared IP addresses such as school and enterprise networks or proxy servers are frequently blocked for vandalism which, unfortunately, may also affect innocent editors on the same network. However, registered users in good standing can request existing blocks on their IP address be modified to affect only unregistered editors so that they can continue contributing to Wikipedia. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, we suggest you do one of the following:
- Try again after the block on your IP address expires. Go to my contributions and follow the Block log link at the top of that page to find the length of the block. If no block appears go to Special:BlockList and copy the IP address which appears at the top of Special:MyPage into the box next to "IP address for username:".
- Request an account by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Request an account.
- If your IP address is globally blocked, request an account by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Request an account and request global IP block exemption.
See the Blocking policy for details.
See also
[edit]- Commons:First steps/Account
- Wikipedia:Why create an account?
- Commons:Why Wikimedia Commons is useful
To create an account, click on the "Create an account now" link and fill out the required fields. This will be logged, and your account will be created.