Last modified: 2013-06-18 16:17:53 UTC
Hello! I have uploaded dozens of images to the English-language wikipedia, but would like to be able to use them on Ukrainian project as well. Turns out, I should've been uploading to Commons instead. This is surprisingly and unduly difficult and unintuitive -- apparently, the procedure currently involves reuploading each image to Commons from the beginning and then asking the admin to delete the language-specific pictures to save space. This begs for improvement: 1) Ideally, it should be possible for different language wikis to cross-reference each other's media similarly to how they can already cross-reference each other's articles. Something like [[Image:en:Flying-Antelope-Okavango.jpg]] makes sense. 2) Less ideally, all media with sufficiently permissive licenses should move from their respective language-specific wikipedias to commons once and automatically. 3) All new media uploaded to any of the projects under sufficiently permissive license should automatically end up in the Commons upon upload. 4) If the 2) above is not possible, each media-file's page should have a button/link allowing to move the file (and its derivatives such as thumbnails) to Commons directly. 3) should still apply even if 2) is not implemented. 1) is best, because it avoids the major shake ups as well as spares figuring out the different licences handled by different projects. I understand, that 2) would be a major one-time undertaking, but the benefits will be huge too. First, a large number of files are, no doubt, currently duplicated on several language-specific projects each. Second, barring 1), this is the only way to immediately make the files, that are already _legally_ available for wide use, also be _techincally_ available. Thanks for your time and consideration of this urgent enhancement request.
At the moment, I'm going to set this to be a software issue, because the code isn't there to support it. Later, it *does* become a Wikimedia issue, for the configuration.
Ping. Any ETAs? Thanks!
Actually, the points 3) and 4) can be implemented immediately, can't they? 3) All new media uploaded to any of the projects under sufficiently permissive license should automatically end up in the Commons upon upload. 4) Each media-file's page should have a button/link allowing to move the file (and its derivatives such as thumbnails) to Commons directly. The move mentioned in 4) can preserve all of the original text and history, plus the "Moved to Commons from foo.wikipedia.org by Bar on TIMESTAMP".
(In reply to comment #3) > Actually, the points 3) and 4) can be implemented immediately, can't they? Er, no, hence the reason this wasn't closed on sight as being already done/doable.
The most important issue in my opinion is that the file history is completely lost when a file is "moved" to the Commons by being reuploaded. This destroys all record of the original author and subsequent contributors, making it impossible, for example, to contact these people to see whether the file can be licensed under something other than the GFDL. It also destroys the primary evidence Wikipedia has to support its claim that the file is indeed freely licensed.
Workaround : http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/commonshelper.php Can do the upload fully automated (currently inactive due to some concerns) and/or be prefilled with parameters passed as URL
How about the work-around 1)? Can't this be implemented the easiest?
(In reply to comment #7) > How about the work-around 1)? Can't this be implemented the easiest? No, it can't.
see bug 6071 for some thoughts on implementation
*** Bug 7987 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Copy from Bug 7987 : It should be great to have a more convenient way to move image from a wikipedia to commons. I think it's a really big work and about License, so I just talk about this without hope to get this improvement soon :] I just want to say : "one day that will be need, there can be some ideas". =================== Proposition 1 ========================= In http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload , the field "source file", may be able to say: ＃ fr ＃ Image:Whale_3.png ＃ complete the other fields. then the french media file Image:Whale_3.png will be move to commons, and delete on wiki fr. =================== Proposition 2 ========================= Many Media files are clearly free of use, but on only one wikipedia such en.wikipedia.org. The problem is that the move to commons is nowadays too long. It should be great if administrator can have a button such "move to commons" when we are in front of Media Files. # The trusted admin "Marcel" find a media file '''free of use''' on his little wikipedia.fr # he clic on the button "move to commons", # the media file is move to commons, with the good history, showing as uploader on commons the former french wikipedia (not the trusted admin, which doesn't appear in the history of the file.) On the french page, the history of upload is : * 19:30, 5 November 2006 [[user:Micheletb]] (Talk) After the move, on the commons page, the history can be : * [Time], [Day MONTH YEAR] - [[:FR:user:Marcel]] (Talk) - uploaded from fr. * 19:30, 5 November 2006 [[:FR:user:Micheletb]] (Talk) - image d'un Elephant License issue : # Copying the text from fr to commons. Template are often the same. # choice in the list of license (same that in http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Upload)
Could upload-by-url be used for this if we could restrict the URL to only WMF domains? Presumably grabbing the text of the image description page can be done by querying Special:Export on the "other" wiki & use the upload-by-url code for the image itself. Might be a starting point at least.
*** Bug 14957 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 20512 ***
