Forum:Image placeholder feature

Good morning!

We've launched a new feature today: image placeholders. The idea behind this project is to make it easier for users to help guide others when adding images, by both giving you the ability to predetermine the design and location of images, and to make it simpler for newer users to upload.

For example, you can add  to an article - this will show a box with that design containing an "Add Image" button. Clicking the button will bring up the image upload tool, with the settings pre-selected.

The feature is live on all English-language wikis, and even works from within the rich text editor. You can find out more on Help:Image placeholder!

We'd love your feedback! 12:14, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Monobook
The  button looks awful in Monobook. It's basically large blue text in Monobook. Also, do you need all that space around the button? --Michaeldsuarez (Talk) (Deeds) 15:10, 13 August 2009 (UTC)



--Michaeldsuarez (Talk) (Deeds) 15:15, 13 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, in Monobook, the caption appears above rather than below the  button. --Michaeldsuarez (Talk) (Deeds) 15:17, 13 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks - we'll get it fixed. Note, the placeholder is intentionally that size - it's supposed to represent the actual image size when inserted, so you know how it affects layout. It's resizable like a normal image. 20:51, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Templates
I did some tests, and i'm a bit disappointed that you can't use this in a template, without actually including the "Placeholder" part on the page which the template is used on. Is there some sort of workaround? What would be awesome is if there could be a tag or something, like, that when placed inside a template parameter ( = would appear on the page the template is used on as a placeholder image box thingy. Then, if you added an image on the page the button appears on, the template would automatically change from   to  .  17:15, 13 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Interesting that you bring this up - yep, currently we don't support placeholders transcluded via templates due to the code complexity of doing so (e.g. where does the image get added, what format does it use). However we totally recognise the usefulness of having placeholder support in templates, and are looking into ways of doing it. So, if you've more ideas about ways to do it (that make sense from a user perspective), let us have them. I'll keep a list. 20:57, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Image naming
On fr.guildwars, on many others wikis, we dont let users upload image by the name they choose for it. The templates on fr.guildwars make up the proper name of the image to be uploaded using the name of the page plus some other string and that give name like "Kilroy Stonekin - capture.jpg" or "Kilroy Stonekin - Map1.jpg" or "Cape of Invincibility - Icon.png", the part before the minus sing being generated by. So, the upload form should get the name we tell it and the user shouldn't be able to alter it we a name was supplied. I dont see any usefullness for this until this get implemented, if deemed as a good idea. It's not Wikia staff who would have to rename many images if we would used this as is. But it's a great new feature anyway. — TulipVorlax 08:28, 14 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Yeah, being able to specify the image name (and do fun stuff with PAGENAME and other magic words) is also something we want to look into. 12:52, 14 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Oh, ok. Thanks. — TulipVorlax 14:18, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Another languages
Will this feature available in another languages soon? --blogadmin vita 14:49, 17 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Short answer: yes. It's slightly delayed to ensure it all works correctly. 15:51, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

The placeholder can bleed under other page elements
Easily remedied with a

You can see an example of the problem as well as the above remedy at http://vsk.wikia.com/wiki/User:Najevi/sandbox5


 * I like the fact that the target image size can be specified and the placeholder box grows to that size.

My personal preference is to specify file names for wanted images so that those missing images are listed at Special:WantedFiles along with a count of the number of pages that are needing each image.

What I notice about using the File:Placeholder feature is that no entry is created at Special:WantedFiles. Instead, at File:Placeholder a list of pages referencing File:Placeholder is displayed. What this means is that for an image that you would expect to reuse at multiple pages there is no way for any visitor to realize that you plan to reuse the image in multiple places.

I'm not saying that File:Placeholder is a bad feature for the above reasons, just that it doesn't suit a situation where the one image is to be used at more than one article within a wiki. Maybe there is an evolved form that can cater to both needs. e.g. a suggested file name parameter or similar idea. --najevi 16:17, 18 August 2009 (UTC)