Help:File description pages

Each uploaded image has an associated image description page which gives information about the source, licensing and technical details of the image. (This page also exists for sound, video and other non-image files, and so might be called a file description page.)

What are the parts of the page?

The description page consists of four parts:

1. the image itself, or a link to a non-image file
   • The description page shows either the full-size image, or a reduced-size version with a link to the full version labeled "Download high resolution version (..x.., .. KB)".
2. a description of the image/sound, which you can add or edit by editing the image page
3. "Image history" or "File history": see page history
4. "Image links" or "File links": a list of pages that embed the image, or of pages linking to the file
   • it does not list links to the image description page
   • for an image in a template, it lists only the template, not the pages in which the template occurs (for that see "What links here" of the template).

How do I link to an image page without displaying the image?

To make a link to the image description page of an image without including the actual image, use a leading colon in the link, like: [[:Image:a_sound.ogg]] or [[:Image:an_image.jpg]]. The colon prevents the image being embedded in the article, and instead makes an ordinary internal link.

You can also use "Media:" instead of "Image:", as in [[:Media:a_sound.ogg]].

How do I edit the page?

The image page has its own edit history, which is in general the edit history of the editable contents of the page; it is labeled, somewhat confusingly, "Image:xxx Revision history". It should not be confused with the Image history.

The preview of the edit page of an image page only shows the editable part, not the image itself, the image history or the image links.

The image file itself cannot be edited through the wiki: revising an image file requires a new upload.

What information should be placed on the page?

In the description part of the page you can put text. Initially the description automatically contains the upload summary supplied by the user when uploading the first version (this text also shows up in the Image history section at the first upload line).

Description of the image

Eg: "Image of a goldfish in a small tank". This is useful for users who do not have direct access to the image, and is a temporary substitute for a proper longdesc tag.

You could also include the proportions of the image, in pixels.

Author and source information

Always provide as much information as you can about the creator of the image, and where you got the image (i.e., a website, scanned from a book, took a photo yourself).

Even if the image is public domain or is under a license that doesn't require attribution, please provide source information anyway to make verification easy. Remember that your wiki might be around for ten, twenty, or a hundred years, and later readers or editors may have different needs for verifying the source of an image.

Licensing information

Please include an image copyright tag, either by typing the correct template (such as {{GFDL}} by hand, or choosing from a license selector dropdown, if available on your wiki.

If applicable, provide a link to documentation of the licensing terms (i.e. a "Terms of use" or "About" page for the website where you got the image).

Other versions

If other versions (especially a larger version) of the same image exists, link to them. For example:

• [[Media:Goldfish-in-tank-large.jpg|larger version]] ([[:Image:Goldfish-in-tank-large.jpg|info]])
• [[Media:Goldfish-in-tank2.jpg|different camera angle]] ([[:Image:Goldfish-in-tank2.jpg|info]])
• [[Media:Goldfish-in-tank-textfree.jpg|textfree version]] ([[:Image:Goldfish-in-tank-textfree.jpg|info]])

Textfree versions may be useful for using across language versions.

Can I categorize images?

By adding a category tag on the image page, images can be in the same category as other pages, but are treated separately: on the category page they are not included in the count of articles in the category, and they are displayed in a separate section, with a thumbnail and the name for each; see category page.

A category can either mix articles and images about a subject, or you can create separate image categories. An image category is typically a subcategory of the general category about the same subject, and a subcategory of a wider image category.

For categorizing a new image, the image page does not even have to be edited: the category tag can simply be put in the upload summary.

Can images be protected?

Protection of an image page automatically also protects of the image itself: i.e. a new image under the name of the existing image can only be uploaded by a sysop.

See also

• Meta Help:Image page, on which this was based