Help:Shared images

A shared images repository allows a community to use images from another community without having to upload them locally. When enabled, you can insert images using the image name from the other community, and it will display as normal in articles.

How it works
Consider two communities: 'Alpha Wiki' and 'Gamma Wiki'.

Alpha Wiki contains lots of images about a topic, and Gamma Wiki wants to be able to use them without having to upload them all again. A common real-world example is communities in different languages: often the English community has the most content and images, and other languages may wish to use the same images.

With this feature enabled, Gamma Wiki can make use of Alpha Wiki's images the same way that you would use images that exist on Gamma Wiki.

For example, once enabled:
 * If File:Image.png exists on Alpha Wiki but not on Gamma Wiki, the Alpha Wiki version will be shown.
 * If File:Image.png exists on Alpha Wiki and Gamma Wiki, the Gamma Wiki version will be shown.
 * If File:Image.png only exists on Gamma Wiki, it will be shown.

Note:
 * Sharing goes only in one-direction - Gamma Wiki can use Alpha Wiki's images, but not the other way around.
 * Multiple communities can make use of Alpha Wiki's images.

How can I set this up?
First, make sure there is support for this feature among the destination's (Gamma) community, and talk to the source (Alpha) community.

Next, an admin from the destination community should contact Wikia Staff via Special:Contact/features to request this feature. Make sure to include the URL of both the source and destination communities.

Advanced notes

 * Editor tools on Gamma Wiki will not be able to search for images on Alpha Wiki.
 * Changes to images on Alpha Wiki will not be logged on Gamma Wiki, so you may need to keep in touch with the source community in case they make changes. For example, if images are moved on Alpha Wiki, image links may need to be updated on Gamma Wiki.
 * It is also possible to use Wikimedia Commons as a source for images - this is called 'InstantCommons', and can also be requested via Special:Contact/features.