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This help desk is a forum for questions and help on:

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Anyone, from newbie to experienced, can ask a question here. Questions will be replied to here as well. Any answers you receive are not legal advice and the responder cannot be held liable for them.

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Adult Content

Hi, there is adult content on the commons website. With the UK Safety Act in force now, shouldn’t this require age verification technology to access? 77.103.169.213 07:58, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

See for example [1]. My understanding is that the classification hasn't actually happened yet. If it does, WMF is likely to challenge it in court, and if that fails, UK may be restricted from WP to some extent. Time will tell, the classification may not happen. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:55, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Some discussion on this at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#WMF_loses_legal_challenge_to_UK_Online_Safety_Act_(OSA)_at_High_Court Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:10, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Come to think of it, perhaps Commons doesn't have enough visitors to fall under the same legislation? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Unhappily , there are not only the British legislation that bring to us this kind of questions.

I think for example to French legislation. As a Wikimedian and a French citizen , I think also to French legislation.

I think to others countries as well such Australia as a Wikimedian.

Never forget that legislations in the world can change. In the next years and decades , I think that legislations will certainly be more draconian. What to do for Commons and others projects containing these images ? Anatole-berthe (talk) 09:02, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

As a British Wikimedian myself, if anything, i wouldn't really bother with the Online Safety Act. It probably won't ever reach Wikimedia, as they'd probably fight back against the act. Itsamesnaz (talk) 19:00, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Itsamesnaz , why do you think that Wikimedia will win the case ? Anatole-berthe (talk) 23:13, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Anatole-berthe coming back on my new account [i speak in lowercase now] idk why i even said that and yes, i am against the act. Thatoneraynerd (talk) 13:46, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

OK Anatole-berthe (talk) 22:52, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Videogame logo

I was trying to add Pokémon Duel logo to Spanish Wikipedia but I don't know how to proceed with the Copyright and all of this things, what I have to do here? MaestroDash (talk) 10:00, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

@MaestroDash please first check whether the logo is too simple to be protected by copyright; see Commons:Threshold of originality#Logos and flags. RoyZuo (talk) 06:17, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Image from news with credited use

I am trying to upload a image by the kansas reflector, on there site it says you must credit the author and if you publish online you must include the link to the story. Is this aloud to be posted on commons for my article? and how so if yes.

Full policy

You must give Kansas Reflector credit, including https://kansasreflector.com and author. If you publish online, include the links from the story, and a link to Kansas Reflector. Stories may be edited for in-house style or to shorten. More substantial changes should be noted as additional and conducted by your publication. You can publish our graphics and any photos that are credited to Kansas Reflector with the stories with which they originally appeared. For any other uses, you must seek permission from us at info@kansasreflector.com. If you share the story on social media, please mention @KansasReflector on Twitter and kansasreflector on Facebook. Don’t sell the story. Don’t sell ads against the story. Feel free, however, to publish it on a page with ads you’ve already sold. Content should not be published behind a paywall; please reach out to the editor-in-chief if you have questions about your particular paywall system.

There are no other free use images of what i want to use so i just want to know if there is a way i can use this sorry im very new and i have tried to look into it more but im not sure how to upload and i want to be safe and check. Gavin Gamble (talk) 04:49, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

@Gavin Gamble Unfortunately, this boils down to "We can't have this on Commons." They also state "Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.", compare that to Commons:Licensing#Well-known_licenses. For one of their pics (if it's actually their's, for example the pic at [2] is clearly marked that it's not) to be allowed here, you have to get them to mark it with one of the licenses Commons do accept.

In summary, copyright rules are a pain in the ass. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:38, 24 August 2025 (UTC)

You can email the address (info@kansasreflector.com) to ask if they'll release the image under a free license like CC-BY-SA 4.0, which includes a mandatory crediting clause. Aaron Liu (talk) 03:07, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

FYI, that is the "CONTACT US" address on their about page. My suggestion, more consistent with their CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, is CC BY 4.0. You may read about (and point them to) why we don't accept NC and ND licenses by themselves at COM:LJ.   — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 16:07, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

I think ND points towards restricting derivative works more, like SA does. Aaron Liu (talk) 14:45, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

I cannot publish new photos

Hello

I have tried now three times to publish with Microsoft Edge the photos I uploaded by Upload Wizard, and then I tried to change the browser and tried once more with Firefox. Still couldn't publish them. Is there some common problem, or is there something wrong with my laptop? Canarian (talk) 14:39, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

When you upload the pictures, can you please give the error that comes along if it doesn't upload an image? Alternatively you can also use the Commons Mobile App to upload the same too. Contributor2020^{Talk to me here!} 15:01, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

It does not say anything about error. I can upload them normally and fill the information (description, date, categories etc) in normally, but when I click "publish", it does not do anything. Canarian (talk) 15:06, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

You may need to scroll back up the page and look for error messages (usually shown in red). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:22, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

There are no error messages, it's just like clicking "publish" just doesn't do a thing. This has never happened before, as I have saved many photos during years. I have started to wonder whether there's something wrong with my laptop then. I should try with another computer when I have a chance. Canarian (talk) 17:01, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

Or restart the one you're currently using; or the browser it's using; or simply log out and back in again; in reverse order. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:57, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

I logged out, shut the browser, restarted the laptop, logged back in and the situation is still the same. Canarian (talk) 08:10, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

At this point you may be better asking at COM:VPT. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:01, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

Ok, thank you. When I tried with another laptop, there was still the same problem, but when I chose "return to the old way of saving photos", I finally managed to publish! It's just slower because there I have to upload all the photos one by one. Canarian (talk) 18:39, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Now after using the old form for many photos, also Upload Wizard started to work again! So I think it should be good now. Canarian (talk) 19:27, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

View pictures

I can't seem to bring up any pictures Southgamble (talk) 16:07, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

@Southgamble: meaning you cannot see any images anywhere on this site? If so...

1. Do you have the same problem on other sites?
2. What device are you using? (PC, some sort of phone, etc.; the more you can describe it the better)
3. What OS are you using?
4. What browser are you using?

Jmabel ! talk 18:10, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

It is my cell and is an android. It is the only app that I am having this issue. Above all the descriptions is blank. If I click on it it will bring up the word description but no pic. If I hit download then I can view it afterwards Southgamble (talk) 00:20, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@HNordeen (WMF), ARamadan-WMF, and JTanner (WMF): , is there anywhere Southgamble can usefully report this? - Jmabel ! talk 05:40, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Upload wizard website upload

How do you upload from a non‐Flickr website in the Upload Wizard? I know you can do so in the standard upload form, so what about the default uploading tool? Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 02:27, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Anohthterwikipedian: You have to download to your own device, then upload to Commons. - Jmabel ! talk 05:44, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

So how come I can upload directly from a website using Special:Upload, but not Special:UploadWizard?

Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 05:52, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Good question. Maybe try asking at Commons:Village pump/Technical. -- Asclepias (talk) 13:48, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Anohthterwikipedian: If the website is reliable, and provide only free or public domain images, then it can be added to a white list. Then files can be uploaded directly with Special:Upload. Yann (talk) 17:11, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

My own page creation

How i can create my own page,how i become eligible 27.60.11.22 08:10, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

You have to use an account: Commons:First steps/Account. Read Commons:Welcome and observe Commons:What Commons is not. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 12:33, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Photo added to Commons deleted by bot

Hello, I am fairly new at modifying Wikipedia pages, and my first attempt at adding a photo (by adding it to Commons) resulted in the photo being automatically deleted. I believe I did not give appropriate answers on the form that was presented to me when adding the photo to Commons. The Wikipedia page in question is for Michael S. Glaser: Michael was a friend and neighbor of mine, and he died this past January. The photo I uploaded was titled Michael S. Glaser cropped.jpg. This was a cropped version of the photo on Michael's personal website: https://michaelsglaser.com/ There is no copyright of any kind on that website, and regardless of that, I have permission from Michael's surviving family (who now manage that website along with the rest of Michael's estate) to include a version of the photo from that page in his Wikipedia page. So what do I need to do to properly get that photo back into Commons and included in Michael's Wikipedia page? Specific instructions on how to fill out the permissions form would be appreciated. Thanks, Tom Caulkins

p.s. Will I be notified in some way when there is a reply to my question, or do i need to keep checking back here? Neptune919 (talk) 11:08, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Neptune919: You didn't provide a license, and the author is wrong. This is not a selfie, so not taken by Michael Glaser. Who is the photographer? Yann (talk) 17:08, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

I have asked Michael’s family as to who the photographer was, and also suggested they could alternatively provide a different photo with a known photographer. In either case I presume a written release from copyright is required from the photographer. Is there a form or template for that release? Can you point me to that along with instructions on how that release is to be transmitted to the Commons and where and when in the process of uploading the photo that occurs? Thanks for your help! Neptune919 (talk) 09:18, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Neptune919: COM:VRT includes forms and a form generator; I also recommend at least a quick pass through Commons:Uploading works by a third party for the broader context here. - Jmabel ! talk 16:12, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Thanks. I’ve identified the photographer and read through the material and looked at the email generator. Two further questions: the file I uploaded is a cropped version of the photo as it was on Michael’s website. Does this have implications for the photographer’s release? Also, I read (I believe in the email generator) that for a photo from a website the person granting the release must have a relationship with the website (https://michaelsglaser.com/). The photographer is the soon-to-be husband of Michael Glaser’s daughter. Is that sufficient? Thanks. Neptune919 (talk) 18:25, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Neptune919: I can't say what is and isn't sufficient for VRT; I'm not on the team. If they have doubts, they'll reply by email, and expect a reply in return. I believe that if you are cc'd on the original email, they will keep you in the loop, but I don't even know that for certain. It's a deliberately somewhat opaque process to preserve confidentiality for correspondents. - Jmabel ! talk 18:05, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

There is no copyright of any kind on that website: simply not true. For virtually any U.S. content created since March 1, 1989, anything copyrightable is copyrighted by default. The only exception I can think of is that the federal government and a few of the state and local governments have laws placing all work done by their employees (though usually not contractors) as part of their job into the public domain. Other than that, if a site says nothing about copyright, that means all rights are reserved. - 18:45, 29 August 2025 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmabel (talk • contribs)

This media may be deleted

Hello. I received a notification that a license confirmation is required. The photo is from a family archive, taken in the 1990s, and it’s no longer possible to know exactly by whom. I would like to clarify—will a letter from an official email address be sufficient, or is something else needed? Leafrake (talk) 12:05, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Leafrake: Hi, Permission can be done online by the copyright holder, or on paper, then scanned, and send by you to permissions-commonswikimedia.org. Yann (talk) 17:06, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

The not knowing exactly by whom could be a problem. If that is because the person is no longer alive, though, and you know who the current heir would be, that would suffice. - Jmabel ! talk 18:49, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Declared Not A Real User?

I don't understand why my contributions have been eliminated. I am a real user, not a bot. MrNaturalX (talk) 16:26, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@MrNaturalX: Hi, You have no deleted contributions. Do you have another account? Or do you mean on some Wikipedia project? Yann (talk) 17:03, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Apologies. The post and observation was made in error. I appreciate your response.

Thank you. MrNaturalX (talk) 17:18, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Translation: I am not a sock, and I want you to stop asking questions that may imply I am a sock. 75.99.166.226 16:53, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Hi

I want to edit page Sintest ahmad (talk) 16:59, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Sintest ahmad: Why do you want to delete User:احمد الكهيلي? Is this account also yours? If yes, please use only one account. Thanks, Yann (talk) 17:16, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

@Sintest ahmad: It seems you are not at ease writing in English. Please write in your mother tongue. There are certainly other people who know it, and can help you. Please use Commons:Sandbox for more testing. Thanks, Yann (talk) 17:45, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Update Image on Wikipedia Page

Hello,

I am trying to upload a more recent image of Emily Chang (journalist) on the wikipedia page. I uploaded the image to use into Wikimedia Commons. What is the correct way to upload an image in the infobox template? Rhinson3 (talk) 21:31, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Convenience link: Emily Chang (journalist)

@Rhinson3: Replace the name of the current image in the infobox with the name of the new image. Certainly do not delete the entire Infobox and replace it with the image. - Jmabel ! talk 21:54, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

use of images on commercial app, compliance

Hi, I am planning to use images from Wikicommons in an app I'm creating, it should be available to purchase on app stores next year. There is an app plus an accompanying website, both sharing the same name. On the website, the photographer, image source and licence information are provided underneath all images I'm using, for example: photo © WikiCommonsUser "Photo" is the link to the source and the copyright sign is the link to the license page.

For info, the images I'm using have not been changed by me, only resized to fit a 16:9 ratio I'm using for the images, which I've stated on the website.

In the app, the same images are used but the links above are not, mainly for styling reasons but also because I'd rather not have users leaving the app to open the links. In the app, under a legal section, I state: "The car images were obtained from Wikimedia Commons. The photographer, source and license information can be found on our website: www.my_page.com"

The main screen of the app contains the web address so that users can check the license information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BerlinWilmer (talk • contribs) 09:01, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

So my question is, are the steps I've taken to be compliant acceptable?

Please let me know if there is any further you might need to help me.

Thanks in advance,

BerilWilmer BerlinWilmer (talk) 08:55, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

The intent is good, but the website, as described, will lack the license name which is mostly mandatory. Insert it after the licensor's name: photo © WikiCommonsUser CC-by-XY and make the CC thing the license link (assuming that you're using Creative-Commons-licensed stuff).

About the app: that's also not the best design. The intent of being license compliant is evident, but not the actual realisation IANAL. I see another option: start with watermarking the images with "licensor + license name" in a small but still legible font, that will fulfill the part of referencing the author. Then, do the same thing as already existing apps! If you check the licensing information on any Android smartphone (or in the handbook of a set-top box, a TV stick, a car...), you'll see that it is stated that the device makes use of software under the LGPL, MIT license, Apache licenses, GPL - there are always several known copyleft licenses named. This is due to them incorporating software libraries like the en:FFMPEG and others.

In your app, you could make a window with licensing information, where you state: "Imagery in this app is used under Creative Commons licenses and was sourced from Wikimedia Commons. The conditions of LICENSE A can be found at LINK A, of LICENSE B at LINK B (etc.)" Each "LICENSE #" is the name of one actually used Creative Commons offering: CC-By-SA 3.0, CC-By 4.0, etc. You get the gist? That way, you have all the parts needed for a valid CC-By-XY license in your app. The images themselves carry the licensor and the actual license name, the deeds and the explanation are grouped together on a customary information window. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 09:20, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Thank you, that's really helpful. Will come back to you with follow up questions, no doubt.

Ragards 2001:9E8:1448:3900:D6A2:DE6C:F3AF:2DC4 10:07, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Hello again, a quick follow up.

I have updated the website and app. On the website, under each image, I have this text:

photo © Wiki_User / CC BY 2.0

"photo" links to the wikimedia commons source and "CC BY 2.0" links to the license page.

In the app, I am adding legible watermarks to each image (not clickable):

© Wiki_User / CC BY 2.0

And this is in the legal section of the app:

Imagery in this app is used under Creative Commons licenses and sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

Some images have been adjusted to fit a 16:9 ratio

The photographer and license type is shown on each image. The link to the source and licenses are available on our website:

www.my_site.com

The licenses and their conditions:

CC BY 2.0 [link]

CC BY 2.0 DE [link]

CC BY 2.5 [link]

CC BY 3.0 [link]

CC BY 4.0 [link]

CC BY-SA 2.0 [link]

CC BY-SA 2.0 DE [link]

CC BY-SA 2.0 FR [link]

CC BY-SA 2.5 [link]

CC BY-SA 3.0 [link]

CC BY-SA 4.0 [link]

Free Art License 1.3 [link]

How do you think it is now with respect to full compliance?

Again, thank you for your time and help. BerlinWilmer (talk) 10:59, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

May we assume "Wiki_User" here is a placeholder for the requested attribution, not a literal string? For example, if you were to use File:Canalul Mila 35 - 09 - Egretta garzetta (cropped).jpg it would be "Joe Mabel", correct? - Jmabel ! talk 18:10, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for the reply.

To clarify, on the website the info underneath the images are clickable, except for the name of the person who uploaded the image to wikimedia i.e photo © username / CC BY-SA 4.0 --> the word photo is the link to the source image and the license name is the link to the license info page.

On the app, each image has a watermark showing the username of the person who uploaded the image and the license name, neither are clickable though, being just a watermark. And as mentioned before, the app has a legal section with clickable links to all of the relevant license pages.

I hope that helps! BerlinWilmer (talk) 19:55, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@BerlinWilmer: sounds entirely reasonablee to me. - Jmabel ! talk 22:58, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Can I upload an photo I took myself of a piece of public art?

For example, this picture taken in Vancouver is ok, because it's 3D

I would like to upload an photo I took of a street cabinet that has artwork on it, which was commissioned by a canadian municipality and appears to be intended for public consumption (given that it is on the street). I do not think the artwork in question is over 150 years old, it is recent. My intention of uploading this is to use it as a `wikimedia_commons` tag for openstreetmap, so that the node is made more useful by having a photo of the artwork. Is this an acceptable upload? Malle Yeno (talk) 14:48, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Malle Yeno: You're saying that this object is situated in Canada, if I understood you correctly. Please read the guideline COM:Canada, specifically COM:FOP Canada, for such questions. The technical term for such a situation and question (artwork in public, photographs allowed or not?) is "en:freedom of panorama". If your street cabinet is painted, like a mural, then it's not permissible for Commons per Canadian law. A photograph would infringe upon the artist's copyrights. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 15:42, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the in depth response! You have understood the situation correctly: this is an object in canada so those resources you linked are relevant (and thank you for linking them!)

The situation is indeed that it is painted, so it appears freedom of panorama is not applicable. Since I do not know that it is public domain and I am unable to easily determine who the copyright holder is, I will elect not to upload. The node is tagged as artwork on the map, so I do not think it subtracts from the local map significantly if such upload does not take place. Malle Yeno (talk) 18:18, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Hi, Who is the copyright owner of the artwork? When was it painted? Yann (talk) 10:52, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Hello. I will need to investigate more deeply to determine the copyright holder. I initially assumed the City of Regina was the holder as it is part of their public arts collection. However, reviewing their policy for the civic arts collection, they don't actually mandate a sublicensable copyright, just the right to exhibit the work. I do not know the age but it is certainly not old enough to qualify for public domain status.

I will elect not to upload as there does not appear to be enough evidence to show that it would be allowable to do so and it is not vital to the local map that such upload take place. Malle Yeno (talk) 18:16, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Profile picture

What is the process for uploading my photo to Wikipedia's page? Mykhailo Martyniouk (talk) 19:20, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Mykhailo Martyniouk Like 2021 Alberta Senate nominee election? Start with Wikipedia:A picture of you. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 19:52, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Mykhailo Martyniouk: please be aware that Commons is not a social network or a forum where a profile picture is needed or useful! See Commons:Project scope#User pages for details. Your question doesn't tell us which purpose your photo shall serve. Any upload has to conform to the project scope, otherwise, it is liable to deletion. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 23:18, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Best place/mechanism to mass report likely copyright issues?

Hi,

As per the title really, I've been looking into a user's uploads after a possible suspected copyright issue (derivative of copyrighted work) was highlighted in a discussion at the English Wikipedia. I have since found what I believe to be at least half a dozen further instances of essentially tracing or using a copyrighted image as a reference for drawings they claim to hold the copyright for that they've uploaded here which would therefore breach the copyright of the original works which I've individually nominated for deletion. As a result I suspect all of their works are tainted by this (and I merely haven't found the exact image/footage copied from), so wish to know the best place to deal with this rather than manually report each one in turn.

Regards, Rambling Rambler (talk) 22:50, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Hello @Rambling Rambler, if you suspect all of their uploads have copyright issues, then I think the best way to do this is with a mass DR, see Commons:Deletion requests/Mass deletion request. Thanks. Tvpuppy (talk) 23:11, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Refer to Commons:Deletion requests/Mass deletion request for this endeavour. Please prepare the most detailed reasoning that is possible! You may have to use the VisualFileChange tool for that. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 23:11, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

@Tvpuppy @Grand-Duc thanks for the information. Given several of them already have individual nominations I've separated out those with specific evidence and those suspected, rather than refile the evidence of every single one again. I don't know if that's enough or not but don't want to spend too much time Commons:Deletion requests/Drawn Portraits Uploaded by JoeBugMan Rambling Rambler (talk) 00:18, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Nymphaea tetragona Georgi images - mass deleting redirects

Hello,
due to the mass uploading of mislabelled images from one user, the search for images of Nymphaea tetragona Georgi has been made absolutely impossible on Wikimedia Commons.
Any person not familiar with this plant will see all these false images and will get a false impression of what this species looks like.
There are very few images of the true species available on Wikimedia Commons, and more than 90% of the search results display plants that are not Nymphaea tetragona Georgi. This is not good, because I believe this impacts the educational use of Wikimedia Commons in this specific case.
A while ago I already got some help with mass renaming the files, but redirects were left in place, and these files still pollute the search results, obscuring the actual subject of the search.
Is there anything that can be done about this issue?
Greetings, Conan Wolff (talk) 09:15, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@Conan Wolff: Without you even mentioning what user, or linking to any of the problematic files, you are making anyone who wants to comment re-do your research. Please, spell it out if you actually want help here. - Jmabel ! talk 20:37, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Hello @Jmabel, thank you for your reply.
I'm not expecting anyone to redo any research.

Simply doing a search for "Nymphaea tetragona" on Wikimedia Commons is enough to see the problem, as the search results are almost entirely wrong.

For instance, on the 7th of April 2023 the user User:Dinkun Chen uploaded 46 photographs of water lilies that he wrongly labelled as Nymphaea tetragona, for example the files File:Nymphaea sp. or hybrid (70).jpg or File:Nymphaea sp. or hybrid (75).jpg. These files represent about 30% of the search results, so it's not a problem specific to this user, and other users made the same mistake.

You had kindly helped me in January 2024 to mass rename the files, however the files were renamed with redirects left in place, so they still show up in the search.

I would like to know how the redirects can be deleted for the files that were already renamed.

Greetings, Conan Wolff (talk) 19:29, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I don't think there is a quick way to mass-delete redirects (or mass-tag them for deletion), though someone else might know one. Any individual inappropriate redirect can be tagged with {{SD|G2}} and will be deleted subsequently by an admin. Or if some admin wants to take this on, they can skip the tagging step.

I'd love to know a way to do this without it being that tedious, though. - Jmabel ! talk 20:33, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Request by Yvelaine Armstrong

How do I upload a page from my iPad Yvelaine Armstrong (talk) 09:50, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@Yvelaine Armstrong: Hi, What do you want to upload exactly? Did you read COM:SCOPE? Did you use Special:UploadWizard? Yann (talk) 10:44, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

I want to upload my idea , but I have a lot to learn . A n image plus an article of explanation . 2A00:23CC:E108:D01:58A1:BCF4:A51D:4DCC 06:40, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Yvelaine Armstrong: you triggered an automated filter that prevents new users from uploading PDF files. While I don't know what the PDF is about please note that you can't create a Wikipedia page by uploading a PDF. MKFI (talk) 06:37, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

What file ending shall I use 2A00:23CC:E108:D01:58A1:BCF4:A51D:4DCC 06:41, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Yvelaine Armstrong: Wikipedia articles are created using Wikipedia text editor. There is no automatic conversion from any other existing file. You will need to re-create your article, but before you do that please consider the following:

• Creating a new article can be difficult; you should familiarize yourself with Wikipedia editing first.
• Your article topic must be about something that already exists and on which others have written about; new or original research is not allowed. And you must cite sources.
• You can upload the image separately (as JPG/PNG/SVG) but only if it is your own work (you held the camera in your hands or created a drawing using a graphic editor etc.) Taking an image from the web is (mostly) not allowed. MKFI (talk) 07:11, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

La photo n'est pas téléversée

Bonjour, J'ai téléversé une photo de l'église de Saint-Colomban et celle-ci n'apparait pas dans la liste des "églises de la Loire-Atlantique". Je ne comprends pas pourquoi. J'ai suivi toutes les étapes : File:Église de Saint-Colomban en Loire-Atlantique.jpg merci de votre aide Candie Soler (talk) 10:37, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@Candie Soler: Bonjour, Votre image apparait dans Category:Église Saint-Colomban de Saint-Colomban, qui par ailleurs devrait être renommée Category:Church Saint-Colomban of Saint-Colomban. Cordialement, Yann (talk) 10:46, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@Candie Soler: Bonjour, Si vous voulez parler de l'article de Wikipédia intitulé "Liste des églises de la Loire-Atlantique", il suffirait qu'un utilisateur de Wikipédia, vous ou quelqu'un d'autre, insère le nom du fichier dans cet article de Wikipédia. Les fichiers enregistrés sur Commons ne s'insèrent pas d'eux-mêmes dans des articles de Wikipédia. Vous pouvez regarder comment l'article de Wikipédia est structuré et insérer le nom du fichier, Église de Saint-Colomban en Loire-Atlantique.jpg, sur la ligne du paramètre "image=" dans la partie prévue pour cette église. Si vous avez besoin d'aide supplémentaire sur Wikipédia, vous pouvez utiliser la page Wikipédia:Forum des nouveaux. -- Asclepias (talk) 16:56, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Logo de un medio de comunicación

Buenos días,

Querría enlazar en wikipedia el logo de un medio de comunicación español (Motor16). Obviamente, no es de mi autoría pero sí está disponible libre de derechos en las redes para la difusión del mismo. ¿cómo podría hacerlo? Gracias

Good morning,

I would like to link to the logo of a Spanish media outlet (Motor16) on Wikipedia. Obviously, it's not my work, but it is available royalty-free on social media for distribution. How could I do this? Thank you. JorgeVBis (talk) 12:04, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@JorgeVBis Is it the logo I see at the top of https://www.motor16.com/? If so, you can upload it here on Commons, for an example, see the licensing section at File:Ncyc logo.jpg. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 16:12, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Muchas gracias! JorgeVBis (talk) 08:56, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

sand boc

how do i locate my sand box to begin writing articles? ProfZacchaeus (talk) 14:20, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@ProfZacchaeus Assuming this is about English Wikipedia, if you go to User talk:ProfZacchaeus, you should find a link to (creating) it in the "Personal settings" drop-down on the top right. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 15:18, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Free unfree licenses

Everything on Wikimedia Commons is free. For my understanding, this means that a creative work is distributable, modifiable, and sellable. It doesn’t matter what license(s) I use, as long as they allow those three things. Now, to license under CC BY‐NC is to restrict saleability, meaning that it is considered non‐free. To license under CC BY‐ND is to restrict modifiability, meaning that it is also considered non‐free. However, if you multilicense under both of these, from my understanding, the licensed work would become free again. How? Well, when a work is licensed this way, you may sell it under the CC BY‐ND license, and modify it under the CC BY‐NC license. Those derivatives can also be sold, as there is no ShareAlike clause forcing them to have the same license. So, if I’m correct, why is there no multilicense template for that on Commons? Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 22:48, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

@Anohthterwikipedian: A CC BY-NC work doesn't lose its NC component just because you modified it. ShareAlike is a mechanism to ensure that free works stay free. The absence of ShareAlike just means that your derivative work can carry the same or a more restrictive license (or a lack of license entirely). But you can't strip away restrictions like the NC condition. Any use of the original or its derivatives must still comply with it. From the CC FAQ, "if you want to use a remix for commercial purposes, you cannot incorporate material released under one of the NonCommercial licenses." ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 23:13, 31 August 2025 (UTC)

Thank you!

Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 01:16, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Map icon bug

A few hours ago I created a data map showcasing earthquakes in Afghanistan (Data:Earthquakes in Afghanistan 1900-.map). I found no issues with the map on the data proper and it works perfectly there. However, when I put the template on the "List of earthquakes in Afghanistan" article on Wikipedia, it's just a blank map without any of the icons I added to indicate the featured earthquakes. When I did the same thing for earthquakes in other countries (Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.) it works just fine, though. Using the inspect tool, I found "jQuery.Deferred exception: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'data') TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'data')" in the article's javascript. Quake1234 (talk) 08:34, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Fixed. Apparently it was due to the inclusion of the "Data:" prefix in w:Template:Maplink. (The exception was unrelated.) — Alien  3
3 3 08:42, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Create a new Template:TOO-UK (United Kingdom)

Hi,any admin or a user please create a new Template:TOO-UK (United Kingdom),the user:Yayan550 (Commons:Deletion requests/Files in Category:Doctor Who (1963) logos) requested says:I think we need to create TOO-United Kingdom tag as Commons template to emphasize it. (google translator) AbchyZa22 (talk) 11:00, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@AbchyZa22, I have created it, see {{TOO-UK}}. Feel free to add any changes to the text shown in the template. Thanks. Tvpuppy (talk) 02:23, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Image filename correction

I just uploaded File:Charles Bierbauer.jpg to replace the current low-rez image on Mr. Bierbauer's wiki page with a cleaner shot provided by his family. It would appear that assigning a filename of "Charles Bierbauer.jpg" was the same name as the prior image. I would like the description that appears on the page to remain Charles Bierbauer, but change the filename itself to something unique, like "Charles Bierbauer portrait.jpg" but I do not see how to do that. Could somebody give me a hand? Thanks!! Turransky2399 (talk) 17:37, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

There's a help page; COM:File renaming and a template: {{Rename}}. But I can take charge of the rename, as I am a filemover. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 17:52, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

you are my hero!! Thank you Turransky2399 (talk) 17:55, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

You're welcome @Turransky2399, see File:Charles Bierbauer portrait.jpg. But there's a bit of formalities remaining to take care of: please provide the licensing agreement to the COM:VRT, following the procedure described at Commons:Volunteer Response Team#Licensing images: when do I contact VRT?. We need evidence that the licensor (whoever of the family is the actual partner for that) agreed to the CC-By-SA 4.0. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 17:59, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

will do. I have the linked page open and will follow the directions. I so appreciate you taking the time to help me out. Turransky2399 (talk) 18:02, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Turransky2399: Assuming this is not the only time you will upload a media file that you did not create yourself, you should probably at least skim Commons:Uploading works by a third party. It may save you a lot of grief. - Jmabel ! talk 04:57, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Minor edit request for an image

Could anyone add white background to File:Wildfires in Turkey by year.svg? I am unable to do because I don't have autopatrolled rights. Just change the first line to below, adding 'style="background-color: white;"'.

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="925" height="750" style="background-color: white;">

Karacehennem (talk) 20:35, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Looks like doesn't work. I tried this when uploading File:Wildfires in Turkey by year tr.svg but didn't work. We should try another method. Karacehennem (talk) 20:46, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Image upload query

Is someone about to double check if a screenshot of an image of a historic house (sourced from an ebook on internet archive) is able to be uploaded to wiki commons without breaching any copyright?

The article it would be uploaded to is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennings_Park

Image info below (ChatGPT has created)

Gennings Park, Kent – 1923 plate (anonymous)

• Purpose: Historical plate for the article on Gennings Park (Kent). Shows the house as it appeared in the late 19th/early 20th century .
• Source: Internet Archive item ID: lifeofrighthonsi01spenuoft — plate on p. 209. (Direct item link is fine: https://archive.org/details/lifeofrighthonsi01spenuoft)
• Publication: John A. Spender, The Life of the Right Hon. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, G.C.B., Vol. 1 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923).
• Credit line: “Unknown photographer; published by Hodder & Stoughton (1923)”.
• Licensing (please apply on Commons):

 - {{PD-UK-unknown}} — no photographer is named in the plate caption or list of illustrations; first published 1923 (>70y). 
 - {{PD-US-expired}} — published in 1923, public domain in the United States.

• Suggested filename: Gennings_Park_Kent_Campbell-Bannerman_1923_plate.jpg
• Notes: Happy to provide exact plate caption text if needed.

Amateur History Luke 24 (talk) 23:40, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Amateur History Luke 24: Sounds like that should be fine. - Jmabel ! talk 04:59, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

House pictured without consent

Hello Commons.

I was looking online and found my house uploaded here. I don't feel comfortable with my house being on the internet. This is not a deletion request. Is there any way any of you could, like, crop it out? Thanks in advance. JLima10 (talk) 01:46, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@JLima10: You don't say what country you are in, but in most countries if your house is visible from a public place, people have a right to photograph it and publish those photographs. (The only common exception is in a country like France that does not provide Freedom of Panorama for architecture; in those countries, if the house is still copyrighted, then even the owner can't legally publish such photos, just the architect!)

That said: I'm an admin here. Feel free to email me the URL of the file page (so as to avoid the Streisand effect of linking it here); if there is more than one building in the photo, please be clear about what you'd want suppressed; and I'll see if it looks like something we can reasonably do as a courtesy. - Jmabel ! talk 05:04, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Czeka na akceptację

pl:Zamek w Niemodlinie

Proszę o przejrzenie i akceptację Zamku w Niemodlinie. A.stanczykowska (talk) 09:21, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@A.stanczykowska: Again, questions about the Polish Wikipedia need to be asked on the Polish Wikipedia. This is Wikimedia Commons, one of several hundred sister projects.

za pośrednictwem Tłumacza Google: Ponownie, pytania o polską Wikipedię należy zadawać na polskiej Wikipedii. To Wikimedia Commons, jeden z kilkuset projektów siostrzanych.- Jmabel ! talk 23:02, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

इनाम क्या मिलेगा

जितने के बाद इनाम क्या मिलेगा मौर्या444 (talk) 09:55, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

इनाम क्या मिलेगा मौर्या444 (talk) 09:57, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@मौर्या444: after winning what?

गूगल अनुवाद के माध्यम से: जीतने के बाद क्या? - Jmabel ! talk 23:06, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@Jmabel I think he means the Wiki Loves Monuments thing going on in September. DoctorWhoFan91 (talk) 06:24, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

@मौर्या444, आप क्या जीतने की बात कर रहे हैं? आपकी बात समझ नहीं आ रही। कृपया पूरी बात समझाएँ। _signed, Aafi ^(talk) 07:42, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Daniele Pieroni foto.jpg

Goodmoring Commons, I'm writing to you regarding the photograph in question, which I recently uploaded. I received a message warning that the photo might be a possible copyright infringement. Since I uploaded the photo for the Wikipedia profile on the author, which I wrote for the recently deceased poet's estate, I'd like to understand why this might be a violation. Furthermore, we own the original print of this image, so I was wondering if perhaps scanning the photographic print directly would avoid the need for copyright tags. Thank you in advance for your time. Alessarlo (talk) 10:49, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

• @Alessarlo: who is "we"? You and who else?
• Owning a physical copy of a photo is not the same as owning the copyright. You will probably want to read Commons:Uploading works by a third party, then come back with any questions that you find are not answered there. - Jmabel ! talk 23:12, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Issue in uploading, may be due to a bad connection

Hello,

I'd like to add a UNS image to our collection. It's source is https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/80-G-50000/80-G-50221.html , but the TIFF won't upload, neither by using the classical form nor with the upload wizard. Maybe my internet connection is too buggy ATM. Could someone take over, please?

I suggest the filename Aftermath battle of the Komandorski Islands - turret 3 guns of USS Salt Lake City (CA-25).tiff and here's the Info template I would have used:

{{Information
|Description={{en|1={{w|8-inch/55-caliber gun|8"/55 guns|en}} of turret #3, {{w|USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)|USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)|en}}, showing heat scale on the tubes from extensive firing during the action, taken after the {{w|Battle of the Komandorski Islands|battle of the Komandorski Islands|en}} at Dutch Harbor, 30 March 1943. Note snow flakes falling.}}
|Source=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/80-G-50000/80-G-50221.html
|Date=1943-03-30
|Author=US Navy
|Permission=
|other_versions=
}}

[[Category:USS Salt Lake City (CA-25)]]
[[Category:Battle of the Komandorski Islands - US forces]]

Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 14:02, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Resolved

I think that this question was replied to adequately based on the supplied information. If you have anything to add or a follow-up question please feel free to replace this box with your comment. This section will be archived after two days. Was temporary, I think. I succeeded. Grand-Duc (talk) 16:14, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Best scan resolution?

Sometimes I scan images from books and postcards etc., but I'm never quite sure what resolution to scan in. My current monitor has a highest resolution of 1920 x 1080, which is pretty average by modern standards, so an image that might look huge on my monitor might look quite small on somebody else's. Is there a preferred resolution for Commons? Gatoclass (talk) 14:10, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Use the highest quality that your scanner is able to produce please. Your monitor is irrelevant for deciding the resolution (think about people viewing our imagery on modern smartphones, for instance, their screens easily have a resolution beyond 2k or even 4k). Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 14:17, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Oh golly no, that would be highly impractical, the scans would take forever and the files would be huge. Perhaps then I will upload at the highest resolution that results in a reasonable file size (I don't want to be uploading everything by chunked upload, for one thing).

But honestly, almost every file I see on Wikipedia is much smaller than even a moderate-sized scan from my scanner. It does kind of make me reluctant to go for much bigger scans. Gatoclass (talk) 14:27, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Typically for scanning a book or postcard 300 dpi is appropriate.

1920 x 1080 would be considered quite a somewhat low resolution, slightly below the bare minimum for featured pictures. - Jmabel ! talk 23:23, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

• As Jmabel implied, the resolution will depend on what you want to scan. A book, magazine, or postcard (basically, anything with halftoning) will have diminishing returns at higher resolutions. 300 ppi will be enough for most uses in that regard. If you have access to old photographs, however, 600 ppi could potentially be useful; for example, the extra resolution allows us to see the individual buttons on the cheongsam in File:Lies Noor, c 1956, three-quarter portrait, (Djakartawood, Semarang).jpg. High-quality printed materials (art books etc.) might be worth doing at 600 ppi too, as they use smaller dots for their halftoning. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 23:35, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Well, I am already scanning most of my images at somewhere between 300 and 600 dpi, so it sounds as if I've got it about right. Thanks guys for your input! BTW, after starting this thread, I already decided it's past time that I upgraded my monitor to a 4k, so that should help me get up to speed - thanks once again :) Gatoclass (talk) 08:07, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Donation to Wikimedia

Monthly 5.50 is being taken out of my checking account for wikimedia, but it is supposed to be for Wikipedia, not Wikimedia. I need to change this. Have no idea how this happened.

I will block the donation. ivey mccray, <redacted> 2600:382:6021:526D:2BAD:4DFA:22DE:A7E3 14:37, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Hi, You can't make a donation to Wikipedia, as there is no organization called like that. Your donation goes to the Wikimedia Foundation, which is the organization which supports Wikipedia. Anyway, it is your right to stop it anytime. Also please do not publish your email online, for your own security. Regards, Yann (talk) 14:45, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

This is the page you need to change or cancel your donation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ww2censor (talk • contribs) 21:17, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

მარიკა გერგედავა

გვერდი მარიკა გერგედავა პულმნოლოგი წაშლილია ვიკიპიდიიდან , გთხოვთ დამეხმაროთ აღდგენაში მარიკა გერგედავა (talk) 18:29, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@მარიკა გერგედავა, if this happened on the Georgian-language Wikipedia, you have to discuss it there. If it happened on some other language Wikipedia, you have to discuss it there. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 20:32, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

When to remove deletion template

I nominated File:IAFHELICOPTER in Sathram Airstrip.jpg for deletion after the uploader removed the speedy deletion tag. In the deletion discussion, the uploader then said they were the copyright holder. I suggested they follow the release steps. It has been a few days & the uploader removed the deletion template. I restored it because it doesn't look like the VRT has updated the copyright status on the image. While I've tagged files with speedy deletion before, this is the first time I've nominated a file for a deletion discussion so I just want to verify that the discussion stays open (with the template on the file page) until the copyright status is confirmed. Sariel Xilo (talk) 19:58, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@Sariel Xilo Yes, you are correct. As mentioned on the template itself, the DR template should stay on the file page until the DR is closed. Tvpuppy (talk) 20:30, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Which licensing template is?

I'm so nervous uploading files right now, but my uploaded screenshots are removed like Cliff Edward webm., Bernband.jpg, Fistful of Frags jpg., Half-Life 2 demo jpg, and also The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall screenshot too is requested for speedy deletion. But most peoples when uploading files didn't get copyright violation well because they are skilled in noticing copyright policies on wikimedia commons, but what licensing template should i use? CC-BY-4.0 or Non free rationale images? most are in a public domain. Kuyalanz (talk) 13:27, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Kuyalanz, you seem to operate on a misunderstanding. You have to become aware of some fundamentals that aren't apparently known to you. You can't make a copyright violation undone or non-existent by some license choice, so it's not about a template you can or can't use.

• Imagery and data available on websites is (in nearly all cases - exceptions apply, but you have to be knowledgeable about intellectual property rights to spot those) unfit to get copied to Commons. Don't go around and grab images, videos or texts from other sites to upload here, that'll get you blocked.
• Licenses are a usage authorisation that you can grant, but only when you're owning the intellectual property rights to do so. A picture of a flower or zoo animal that was taken by YOURSELF with your own camera is fine, a picture of an advertisement billboard or a modern sculpture that you took yourself in the US isn't.
• The concept of public domain is a legal term that has a distinct definition, your use of it above doesn't conform to it. Screenshots from video games aren't in the public domain, for instance (unless you're speaking about something like en:Pong, which is IANAL too simple for a copyright protection).
• We have several help pages: COM:Licensing, COM:Copyright rules by subject matter (and its subpages!!), COM:Copyright rules by territory (and the subpages available through the navigation box!!) that are a must-read if you want to learn important knowledge on how to contribute to Commons. Furthermore non-free content is not allowed here.
  • Sure, you can get along without this knowledge, but then you're restricted in uploading pictures of nature, without people, that you took yourself. Everything else entails imperatively the appropriation of some more knowledge, available on those pages linked above.

Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 14:16, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Adding to what Grand-Duc said, take File:Daggerfall2.png as an example. Read the Licensing section carefully. It's not PD, not CC-BY-4.0, and it's not on Commons, it's uploaded locally on English Wikipedia, which does accepted a very limited use of non-free stuff. Commons accepts no non-free stuff. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:22, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

I would also recommend reading Commons:Uploading works by a third party which is intended as an overall introduction to the subject of uploading works that are not entirely your own creations. - Jmabel ! talk 18:52, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Guitar Solo Page Help

Hi, my name is Garrett. I am a professional guitar player. I do not know anything about editing Wikipedia, but I went to the page on guitar solos and I found the example provided to be rather lackluster. It contains several technical errors (poor rhythmic sense, out-of-tune bends, etc.) and is unaccompanied. This may give people the false impression that a "guitar solo" (as used by the average musician and listener) must be unaccompanied. Because the rock guitar solo is, as acknowledged by the article, the most obvious use case for the overall term "guitar solo" (and I happen to be alright at rock guitar) I have made a 40 second guitar solo with full instrumental backing that I believe would much better exemplify the typical guitar solo. Sorry I'm saying guitar solo so much. Anyways, when I tried to upload it, it was flagged as "unconstructive". I have been informed that I don't have the necessary permissions to personally upload the MP3 and update the page, so I was wondering if maybe I could just send it to someone here and they could upload it for me? I will do anything to improve this article, as guitar solos are extremely important to me and the current example is just really, really rough. If you would like to hear the file in question, I could put it on youtube or something so you can listen to it. I made the file entirely by myself and did not use any copyrighted materials. I do not need to be credited or anything, and I am perfectly okay with people doing whatever they want with the file; I just want to make that page better. Leechfoot (talk) 18:50, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

I'm sorry you're experiencing these difficulties, and thank you or offering to contribute.

I'm happy to help you get it uploaded.

Can you say where it was flagged as "unconstructive", please? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:10, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Sounds like an abuse filter message. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 19:18, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I think you are correct, it appears they were referring to this abuse filter message, Mediawiki:Abusefilter-disallowed. Tvpuppy (talk) 19:20, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

@Leechfoot: This should be welcome content, as long as you can license it appropriately. And it is entirely OK to require attribution, the overwhelming number of uploaders of our own work do so.

You didn't mention which uploading tool you are using. Were you trying a cross-wiki upload from one of the Wikipedias, or were you using Commons:UploadWizard here on Commons? The latter is generally less restrictive on the content it allows, so if that is not what you were using it might be a better choice to get past the immediate technical issue. In the worst case, you can upload to YouTube or some comparable site, with an indication of the license you are offering, and someone with a higher level of rights on Commons can transfer the file here on your behalf, citing that as a source.

One thing I would recommend after upload: in the "permission" section of the {{Information}} template on the resulting file page, it would help if you would add an explicit statement that you hold all of the relevant copyrights—composition, performance, recording—and that the license you are offering covers this all. - Jmabel ! talk 19:30, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, I tried using the uploadwizard and it keeps giving me that same abuse filter message- I don't even get to the part where I specify release rights, the message happens immediately when I try to upload. How could I find someone with a higher level of rights? I already have it on google drive so I could just share it with someone that way. Leechfoot (talk) 21:34, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

It’s because you have to be Autopatrolled in order to upload a MP3 file. If you want to upload an audio file, you have to first convert it into an allowed audio file, e.g. .ogg or .oga. Use Video2commons for this.

Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 23:29, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

jpg used with permission

I uploaded a jpg grabbed from a video. The video is owned by a non-profit organization. The president of the organization has given me written permission to use this jpg for the Wikipedia edit. The only request is to ID the source of the jpg. How do I communicate this information and upload the email from the president and CEO? 3MCsubm1tt3r (talk) 03:42, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

@3MCsubm1tt3r I recommend the blue button at Commons:Volunteer_Response_Team#Declaration_of_consent_for_all_enquiries. More info at Commons:Uploading works by a third party. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:27, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

W

I want to add a picture on Wikipedia page Al-Shafi'iyuun (talk) 07:40, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

@Al-Shafi'iyuun See Help:Pictures. Details matter enormously. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:19, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

update a photo

how can i update a photo on our wikipedia ? 83.48.55.169 08:28, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

More details, please. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:20, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Uploading edit of file.

I've been trying for approximately the past 10 minutes to upload an edit of "File:Simplified Languages of Europe map.svg" to include Manx, Cornish, Silesian, and Kashubian - however when I upload with a PNG, There's an error that it has to be SVG, When I upload with SVG, A link appears so long it takes 3 minutes to scroll manually, and takes you to an error page. TruthfulSpeech (talk) 17:31, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

convenience link: File:Simplified Languages of Europe map.svg. - Jmabel ! talk 18:14, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

You can't overwrite an SVG with a PNG. Period.

As for what's going wrong when you try to upload an SVG, that's harder to say. Just to make sure: are you using the "Upload a new version of this file" link to upload, or are you doing it some other way?

Also, on a substantive level: I am not at all sure I would call Manx, Cornish, Silesian, or Kashubian among the "main languages of Europe," which is what the description there says is the purpose of the file. Admittedly, there are already several there that push those limits (Gagauz, Meglenitic). I'm honestly not sure why any of these should be considered more "main" than Asturian or even Aranese, which I believe has more speakers than Manx. - Jmabel ! talk 18:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I'm trying to upload using the link to upload, also, although that's what the file says, it still uses minority languages such as Crimean Tatar or Belarusian, and some indigenous in Russia, which most of which are even less spoken in the percentage of the population. TruthfulSpeech (talk) 18:05, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Also quick extra, The "main languages" while counting minor languages in the east was most likely an excuse in case some languages were missing, which would make the most sense in counting languages even smaller than 500,000 speakers, or languages that are barely recognised.

Also. TruthfulSpeech (talk) 18:07, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Also, Maltese has less speakers than Silesian, so if that's counted as "main" when a lot of the people, if not most, speak Italian, then languages with more than 300,000 should all be counted, as that's a lot of people after all. TruthfulSpeech (talk) 18:08, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

infobox image self-transformed to image-name.jpg text

After a new photo was correctly displayed in nfobox, a few hours later the image disappeared and was replaced by image-name.jpg text. How to get the image to reapper in infobox? Wiki888y (talk) 03:49, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

@Wiki888y: Please, when you ask questions like this, be a lot more specific. There are hundreds of thousands of Infoboxes in Wikimedia projects. I can see from your editing history that this is probably about en:Robert I. Misbin which is on the English-language Wikipedia, not here on Wikimedia Commons. It didn't change itself; it looks like Bruce1ee made a mistaken edit after yours, trying to clean up. (You didn't do it the best way; his fix was worse; I'll fix it properly after responding to you here.)

However, there is a bigger problem if you don't want that image deleted. We can't just take your word for it that the subject of the photo designated his photo as CC-zero. You have to have him send an email as described at COM:VRT, and you'll need to mark the file page to show that permission is pending, which is also explained on that VRT page. If that doesn't happen, the file will almost certainly be deleted. - Jmabel ! talk 05:14, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Also, if you want to improve that WP-article, go through it and remove all "Dr." from the article text. Just "In 1995, Misbin joined" is the local style. Noting also that you said the date is "August 15, 2025" but meta-data says "29 November 2022". Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 05:24, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, I slipped up there. I didn't see that {{Infobox}} was used, where my fix didn't work, instead of {{Infobox person}}, where my fix would have worked. Thank you Gråbergs Gråa Sång for fixing it. —Bruce1ee^talk 06:58, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Help with Wikimedia VRTS release generator step 2

I want to include a photograph of my grandfather who died in 1917 into a wikipedia article. The photograph was taken by a family member. Who is the owner of copyright?

Gernot Haraldson, welcome! According to Commons, "Usually the copyright for a given work belongs to the author of the work for their lifetime, and then passes as part of their estate to a specific individual or entity either designated explicitly as heir to their intellectual property or inheriting that as part of the residuum of their estate." However, is it possible that this photo is now in the public domain? See COM:PD. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:47, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your help! The author of the work was my grandfather who died in 1917, my grandmother was his sole heir. My grandmother allowed many authors, publishers and newspapers to print this photograph.She died in 1965. Her inheritance was distributed among her descendants according to her will. Among other things I received the original photograph of my grandfather. I took the original photograph, which is my property, with my camera, reouched it on my PC in png format and want to upload it now to make it available as my work in the public domain. I assume this photograph was already in the public domain during my grandmother's lifetime? Thank you for your reply! Gernot Gernot Haraldson (talk) 05:43, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

@Gernot Haraldson: I don't understand: you said first that it is a photo of your grandfather by "a family member". Now you say "The author of the work was my grandfather…". This makes no sense to me.

Also: what country, which will have bearing on the copyright. Also, any estimate of when the photo was taken (ditto)? - Jmabel ! talk 19:09, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Sorry for the confusion I caused due to my lack of English language and as a layman in copyright matters. Probably I should have said "the owner of the work". My question refers to a photograph showing the portrait of my grandfather. This photograph was taken in Vienna, Austria, in the year 1917, few weeks before he passed away. His widow, my grandmother, distributed this photograph free of charge to newspapers, authors of articles referring to her late husband and to publishers of encyclopedias over the course of her life. So I assume this photograph was already in the public domain when she died in 1965. In 2015 I made with my camera a photograph of the original photograph, which I own now, and created with my PC a digital .jpg file, removed from the digital image some scratches in the paper and some spots in the background visible in the the original photograph. My question is: Is this photograph my own work or my work based on a work which is already in the public domain? I want to upload this work for free use into Commons database. Thank you for your help! Gernot Gernot Haraldson (talk) 19:17, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Gernot Haraldson: Unless I am misunderstanding something, it is impossible for a 1917 work from Austria that originally merited copyright to have lost copyright in that country by 1965. You just say you assume this, but I cannot guess on what basis. Do you have some particular legal theory as to why it would have, or should I lay out the way the copyright situation looks to me?

As to your most recent question: in no sense (or at least none pertaining to copyright law]) is this your "own work". A faithful two-dimensional copy of a two-dimensional work never creates a new copyright. Historically, a few countries have had a "sweat of the brow" rule to grant some rights on things where it was very difficult to create a copy, but most of those countries (notably the UK) have been moving away from that, Austria wasn't one of them, and nothing about a typical photocopying with minor retouching would ever have reached that threshold. - Jmabel ! talk 21:36, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you so much that you spent your time answering my questions! I just wanted to make sure that I do not violate anybodies copyright and/or endanger anybody else! I summarize what I have learned thanks to you: If the taking of the photograph in 1917 in itself did NOT create a work protected by copyright acording to Austrian k.u.k. monarchy laws, than the photograph is already in the public domain. If there were or still exist any copyright protections in favour of my grandfather or of other persons , then either I, as an legal hair, am the owner and can release the retouched original to wikimedia commons, or the copyright expired anyhow meanwhile. If I undestood you correctly, NO third party who maybe reworked the original photograph, based on a copy of the original published in the many books and articles so far, can claim any copyrights and sue me or other people, after I have released the retouched original to public use in wikimedia commons. Best regards and many thanks! Gernot Gernot Haraldson (talk) 09:34, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Annullo foto

Come cancellare una foto inserita erroneamente, ho inviato email per annullare,ma ancora esistente.. Come posso fare..? Grazie mille Stella aboaf (talk) 14:20, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

@Stella aboaf On a page like File:Guidonia Montecelio - Chiesa di San Remigio - 2025-09-03 22-26-11 001.jpg, there is a drop-down menu top-ish right, Tools/Strumenti. In that menu, there is link to nominate something for deletion. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:54, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

But I see you have several recent uploads. Normally, for anything uploaded in the last 7 days, we allow a lot of grace for someone to change their mind. See Template:My bad upload. - Jmabel ! talk 17:23, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

So i'm trying to upload a screenshot of the Rayman 4 proto menu to use in an article.

How am i meant to figure out if all parts of it are under free license? Another thing i'd like help with is trying to decide if the software is free or not Since Commons only allows screenshots of free and open-source stuff. [The decision is tough for me because the source code, editor, and proto became free and open-source to use when the R4 leak happened, if i'm correct.[ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Itsamesnaz (talk • contribs) 18:55, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Repost of my last topic.

So, as i said last time, i'm trying to upload a screenshot of the Rayman 4 prototype menu to use in my R4 proto article. I'm trying to figure out if the software itself is free and open-source, so this will be able to be uploaded. It's a tough decision, since Jade [R4 Engine] and the R4 source code got leaked and became free and open-source a while back. Itsamesnaz (talk) 19:05, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

need some help with this...

so im back on a new acc. can anyone help me with figuring out if the screenshot of the rayman 4 proto menu i'm planning to use over on WP is going to count as free and open source please? Thatoneraynerd (talk) 13:49, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

As long as a software itself is not distributed under a free and open-source (FOSS) license, assume that screenshots aren't allowed here, on Commons. There is a potential loophole when a GUI is too simple to get above a relevant threshold of originality (TOO), but I would advise you to not dabble into that and try to ascertain whether something is below the TOO, too much knowledge seems to be lacking. For instance, a leak is never a legitimate release under any FOSS license, as it happens against the will of the actual rights holder (you thought otherwise). Even an actual release of source code does not necessarily place that code or the software in the FOSS domain, en:Enemy Engaged: RAH-66 Comanche vs. KA-52 Hokum is an example, Microsoft publishing the code of old DOS and Word versions another. But neither are FOSS.

You may potentially be able to use a GUI screenshot on the EN-WP itself, refer to en:Wikipedia:Non-free content for guidance. But an upload on Commons is most certainly not possible. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 14:11, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Overwriting an upload from a bot

I uploaded pictures to the German Wikipedia years ago. Now I realized that a File Upload Bot uploaded my pictures here without my knowledge. Now I want my account to be linked under User at these pictures and that my pictures are listet in my "Uploads by" listing. A simple reupload and overwriting isn't possible, because the pictures weren't altered. So my question, is the claim to my own works reason enough to authorize an overwriting? Or is there a different way to claim my own work? --Dozor (talk) 20:48, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

@Dozor: We can't change the "Uploaded by" but if you are in any way mis-credited (that is if something about how this is done could result in misattribution) that can be remedied by an explicit attribution. Also, a user category might be in order. You don't link any files, so I can't see any examples to make more concrete suggestions. Would you please link one? Thanks. - Jmabel ! talk 23:19, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

I guess the user means files like this file. They're credited all right, but they want to be the uploader too. -- Asclepias (talk) 00:30, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

I don't think there is any appropriate way to do that, but given that there is a search that will find these (is it just the handful of files that match the search insource:"[[User:Dozor|Dozor]]", or are there others?> it would be easy to add a user category to all of them, and/or for Dozor to add them all to their watchlist. - Jmabel ! talk 03:05, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

But they are not, on Wikimedia Commons, the uploader. To say otherwise would be to falsify records.

At File:Turm des Schlosses Freidegg.jpg#Original upload log, however, the fact that they were the uploaded on de.Wikipedia is recorded for posterity.

It seems as though everything is already as it should be. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:04, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

I think that they would like the files imported before FileImporter existed (2018?) to behave like the files imported since then with FileImporter, i.e. make the file look as if the original uploader to the other website was the uploader to Commons and include the file in their upload log and in their ListFiles, as if they were the uploader to Commons. -- Asclepias (talk) 21:43, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I get that, but as far as I know, the only way to do that would be to delete the files, then re-upload leaving the old history hidden, not something we normally do and, in my view, a lousy precedent. I probably have over 100 files in a similar state, myself; I don't really understand the sense in which this is a problem.

Also, again: it looks to me like we are talking about less than a dozen files. - Jmabel ! talk 06:06, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Correct an error after uploading

I made an typing error in the title of a photograph which i detected after uploading. How to correct this? Gernot Haraldson (talk) 06:25, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Hello and welcome @Gernot Haraldson, I noticed you already successfully request a rename for your upload, but just in case you still needed help, please see Commons:File renaming on how to rename a file. One way to do this is to select "Tools → Move" near the top right of the image page you want to rename, then fill in the provided form, then another user with file mover rights will perform the move shortly afterwards. Thanks. Tvpuppy (talk) 14:26, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

question re legal action concerning license compliance

Hi, in the theoretical event of being sued due to non-compliance when using Wikimedia Commons images, would Wikimedia itself become involved in arbitration? Or would it solely be a matter between the complainant, defendant and their lawyers?

Kindest regards

ps please note this hasn't happened, I'm just curious as to how things work here! BerlinWilmer (talk) 12:25, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Wikimedia is only a hosting provider and won't be involved in such matters. Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 12:40, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Unless of course it was one of the handful of images (e.g. a Wikimedia logo) on which Wikimedia owns rights. - Jmabel ! talk 19:16, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Licensed Photograph

Hi I've paid and downloaded a licensed picture from Alamy. Can I use this on a wikipedia page? Rizrozz (talk) 12:36, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Nope. Alamy and other stock image agencies don't allow the sublicensing or the granting of a free license which are needed for Wikimedia sites. Single exception: paying for a high resolution image that is actually in the public domain due to age or origin (Alamy, Getty, etc. may distribute images from war correspondents who actually got killed in the WWII for instance, those are mostly PD-Old, and also images from e.g. the US Coast Guard, also PD). Regards, Grand-Duc (talk) 12:39, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Thanks very much! Rizrozz (talk) 12:43, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

how to change date on a registered photo

When I registered the photo, put the wrong date. How can I change that? Wiki888y (talk) 03:48, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Wiki888y: Not sure what you mean be "registered". "Uploaded", or something else? Your only file on Commons is File:Dr, Bib Nusbu.jpg, the date has already been corrected based on the EXIF data. (If the date were not correct, then you could edit that exactly the same way you edit this page.)

Again, though as has been discussed before: what we most need on this photo is to get overt permission from the copyright-holder, presumably Dr. Nisbu since it appears to be a selfie. They need to go through the process outlined at COM:VRT. Otherwise the file will be deleted. - Jmabel ! talk 06:11, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

To create article with the name Getnet Abebe difficult for me,help me?

Getnet Abebe

Ethiopian young journalist and Activist for Africa.

Cut & paste of article?

Getnet Abebe is the Ethiopian young journalist and he want equality and fighting NWO,[1][2] for freedom[[1] (https://www.dw.com/am/%E1%8B%B0%E1%8 8%98%E1%8B%88%E1%8B%9D-%E1%8A%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%A8%E1%8D%88%E1%88%8 8%E1%8A%95-4%E1%8A%9B-%E1%8B%88%E1%88%AB%E1%89%BD%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%9 0%E1%8B%8D-%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8B%9D-%E1%88%8B%E1%88%8E-% E1%88%9D%E1%8B%B5%E1%88%AD-%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B3-%E1%88%A0%E 1%88%AB%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%9E%E1%89%BD/a-71350056) ". Alamrew (2017-05-12 E.C ] .[3][4] Getnet Abebe wish freedom for all [[2] (https://dzen.ru/a/Z_9-FOT0VVfbaDHA The (2017-10-11)/ Profile/22078) ] .[5] 1. ^ "Getnet Abebe bio at Human right voice DW (https://www.dw.com/am/%E1%8B%B0%E1%8 8%98%E1%8B%88%E1%8B%9D-%E1%8A%A8%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%A8%E1%8D%88%E1%88%8 8%E1%8A%95-4%E1%8A%9B-%E1%8B%88%E1%88%AB%E1%89%BD%E1%8A%95-%E1%8A%9 0%E1%8B%8D-%E1%8B%A8%E1%88%98%E1%8A%95%E1%8B%9D-%E1%88%8B%E1%88%8E-% E1%88%9D%E1%8B%B5%E1%88%AD-%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B3-%E1%88%A0%E 1%88%AB%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%9E%E1%89%BD/a-71350056) ". Alamrew (2017-05-12 E.C). በ2017-05-12 E.C የተወሰደ. 2. ^ https://dzen.ru/a/Z_9-FOT0VVfbaDHA The (2017-10-11). " on 2017-13-02. በ2013-01-20 የተወሰደ. 3. ^ " Getnet Abebe profile: getnetabebe' (https://www.flickr.com/photos/realtoractioncenter/9979280083". getnetabebe (September 28, 2013 E.C). Archived from the original (https://www.flickr.com/photos/realtoractioncenter/9979280083) on 2013-10-03. በ2017-13-02 E.C የተወሰደ. 4. ^ "getnetabebe profile ( https://jurfzscjxdguyyhs.quora.com/getnetabebe) ". getnetabebe. Archived from the original (https://jurfzscjxdguyyhs.quora.com/getnetabebe on 2013-10-02. በ2017-13-02 E.C የተወሰደ. 5. ^ Getnet Abebe. "Getnet Abebe (https://am.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getnet_Abebe. Archived from the original (https://am.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getnet_Abebe) on 2013-10-02. on 2025-10-02 የተወሰደ. External links Getnet Abebe. "Getnet Abebe (https://am.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getnet_Abebe. Archived from the original (https://am.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getnet_Abebe) on 2013-10-02. on 2025-10-02 የተወሰደ. Category:Living people Category:Social media journalists Category:Journalists Category:Politics Category:Russia Category:Ethiopia Category:Africa [[::Category:New World Order]] Category:Human rights in Ethiopia Category:21st-century activist Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

-- Abebe78 (talk) 08:06, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Your question seems to be about the Wikipedia article at am:Getnet Abebe.

This page is on Wikimedia Commons, a separate but related project, and we cannot help with Wikipedia issues here. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:26, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Änderung des Namens einer Kategorie

Hello. Could someone please change the name of Category:Willy-Sachs-Stadion to the new name Sachs-Stadion (since 2021). Unfortunately, I can't do that. Of course, the category links in all files in the category would have to be changed accordingly beforehand so that the files don't disappear into oblivion. Many thanks in advance and best regards. --Foxy5 (talk) 09:48, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Foxy5: are you asking for Category:Willy-Sachs-Stadion to be moved to Category:Sachs-Stadion or to Category:Sachs-Stadion (since 2021)? I would guess the former, but the way you wrote this is quite unclear. - Jmabel ! talk 16:45, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

To Category:Sachs-Stadion. --Foxy5 (talk) 19:41, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Foxy5: I will do this for you; I still don't understand what would have prevented you from using {{Move}} on the category page, though. - Jmabel ! talk 21:40, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Can I add a picture of the logo of a New York Times game

(Don’t respond)Thetigerdante (talk) 12:42, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

"Don’t respond"—OK. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:21, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

AI-brain goes kablooeyzzitz Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 14:56, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Help with categories of locations

Hi all. Help please. I've started this category here: Category:National Eisteddfod of Wales by location, and used a pipe to list the town / village / city - on around 40 Eisteddfods (Welsh festivals), so that the English name of the location appears. For example, the first one, [[Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru Aberdâr 1861|Aberdare]] should appear as 'Aberdare' (the English name of the town Aberdâr), all alphabetically listed. Many thanks. Llywelyn2000 (talk) 18:21, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Llywelyn2000: The above doesn't make sense. There is no page Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru Aberdâr 1861, so the example you give is just a link to nothing. But I also don't see that source text anywhere on the category page you link above.

Could you please link to where you have done something that doesn't work the way you expect, so I don't have to sort through all your edits trying to find it? Thanks. - Jmabel ! talk 21:46, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

I guess the user believed that the sort key would be shown instead of the name of the category. In the example, they expected Category:Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru Aberdâr 1861 to be shown as "Aberdare" in Category:National Eisteddfod of Wales by location. -- Asclepias (talk) 23:22, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@Llywelyn2000: Hi. What you added there is a sort key. It serves to change the order in which a category is listed in the parent category. It does not change the name displayed for the category. If the names of the categories are in Welsh, the logical thing would be to leave them sorted by the Welsh names. Which in this case probably does not require sort keys because the names of the categories all begin with the same three words and diverge only with the names of the locations. Using sort keys in English for categories in Welsh would be confusing. -- Asclepias (talk) 23:22, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Thanks indeed! I'll remove the pipe if the name that follows is different. I thought, maybe having the locations listed with their English name would be useful. Cheers! Llywelyn2000 (talk) 06:59, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

@Llywelyn2000: Sorry, I gave partly wrong advice about not using sort keys. That would place the names in correct order, but without the letter separators, as they would all be under the letter E for Eisteddfod. Also, that could be impractical for category names with y and yr. So, yes, sort keys are useful for all those categories, consistent with the Welsh location names in the categories. Another possible solution might be to rename the categories to add the English names and then a sorting order in English would be understandable. -- Asclepias (talk) 09:35, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Edit my username name

Is it possible to put a space between my user name so it reads SELECTOR 44? SELECTOR44 (talk) 20:47, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Hello and welcome @SELECTOR44, please see m:Changing username on how to change your username. Thanks. Tvpuppy (talk) 21:31, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Do you want to change your actual username or just how it appears when signing, because if it’s the latter, then it’s as simple as setting a different signature in the Preferences page.

Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 21:42, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Easy, but also really confusing when there is a slight difference between the signature and the actual account name. - Jmabel ! talk 21:48, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Free depiction

Let’s assume I make a non‐free pixel art game. I then release a trailer for the game on Youtube and license the video under the CC SA‐1.0 license. The trailer includes every single variation of every single sprite for a certain character in game. Does this mean that that character is under a free license, or just that every single official depiction of them is? Also, what does it even mean for something to have a free depiction? As in, if a non‐free character has a free depiction, what can and can’t I do with it? Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 22:16, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Is this a hypothetical, or has this actually happened? This is a page for help in using Commons. - Jmabel ! talk 04:30, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Oh, then disregard my first question. But still though, what does it mean when something has a free depiction, and what can or can’t I do with it?

Anohthterwikipedian (talk) 05:48, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Not able to get an image that I used to routinely download

I teach a class in which the introductory notebook illustrates deep learning by accessing an image from wikimedia (with urllib.request.urlretrieve) and classifying it by a trained model. After 6 semesters of doing the same, today I got 'HTTPError: HTTP Error 403: Forbidden'

Have you changed something? Kokaljfilipovic (talk) 03:51, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Kokaljfilipovic: Hard to say since that's a technical issue that most of us probably don't have much visibility into. But as a first step, I'd make sure you're following wmf:Policy:Wikimedia_Foundation_User-Agent_Policy in your requests and are providing a detailed, non-generic user agent (in case you aren't already). Even if your scripts were successfully pulling images before, my guess is that there are periodic changes on Wikimedia's side to prevent excessive use, especially in this era of AI-scrapers hammering the site. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:03, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Voice of America videos

Wanted to license some screenshots from this VOA video (specifically from 1:31 to 1:43) under a public domain tag, but i'm not sure if it applies. Usually in VOA articles, images which were created by staff are tagged appropriately, but it doesn't seem so clear in videos uploaded to Youtube. Some clarification would be appreciated. Hsnkn (talk) 05:42, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Well, "All text, audio and video material produced exclusively by the Voice of America is in the public domain." I see no indication in that video that that segment isn't, as in bought in from elsewhere, so I'd go with it. It's possible I'm not seeing something obvious, but if nobody points it out now, screenshots can always be deleted later if necessary. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:47, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

I'll go for it, thank you! Hsnkn (talk) 13:35, 8 September 2025 (UTC)