Wikimedia Commons

The Wikimedia Commons (also called "Wikicommons", "the Commons" or just "Commons") is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. Like Wikipedia, it is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. It provides a common resource repository to all the various Wikimedia sister projects in any language.

The files uploaded to the Commons repository can be used like locally uploaded files on other MediaWiki based wikis, including WikiQueer, Wikibooks, Wikisource and Wikinews, or downloaded for offsite use, as all of the content is either in the public domain or released under licenses such as the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and GNU Free Documentation License.

What is the Commons?

 * Main article: Welcome

Wikimedia Commons is a media repository that is created and maintained by volunteers. Its name, "Wikimedia Commons," is derived from that of the umbrella project "Wikimedia," which manages all Wikimedia projects, and from the plural noun "commons," as its contents are shared across all Wikimedia projects. It provides a central repository for freely licensed photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts that are useful for any Wikimedia project.

For a tutorial on contributing to Wikimedia Commons, see Contributing your own work.

Embedding Commons' media in WikiQueer articles

 * Main article: Commons:Commons:First steps/Reuse section Embedding Commons' media in MediaWiki based projects

To embed a Wikimedia Commons image or video file in WikiQueer, just include it in the same way as if it were to be stored locally.

To include an image in a page, use for example a link in the form (standard usage shown):

See WQ:ALT and WQ:CAPTION for what should go into alt text and caption, respectively.

Further details can be found at Help:Visual file markup.

To include a sound you can choose between two possibilities if the Audio template is present in your local wiki (otherwise you can use the first method): [[Media:file.ogg|descriptive text]]

Further details can be found at Help:Sound file markup.

Example of a gallery
If you would like to display a gallery of photos, you can follow this example code

Categorization
Please do not categorize Commons files on WikiQueer but rather help commons by categorizing them there.

How to move an image from WikiQueer to Wikimedia Commons
See WikiQueer:Moving images to the Commons and Why move images to the commons?

Differences between WikiQueer and Commons

 * Commons does not allow non-free or fair use images. See commons:Commons:Licensing.


 * On WikiQueer, an image can be nominated for deletion if it does not (attempt to) illustrate an article. Commons is less concerned about an image's "usefulness" as there are so many projects that the images are available to. See commons:Commons:Scope.
 * On WikiQueer, it is important that an image is placed in an article. On the image description page, the section "File links" shows which pages are using the image. On Commons, this section only shows which pages within Commons an image is used on. Because of this, it is important that images are placed in categories and/or on gallery pages, so as to avoid becoming orphans. The general consensus of the Commons community is that all images should be categorised, and that galleries are a secondary consideration. To find suitable categories easily, try using the CommonSense tool.


 * Commons is a multilingual project. Try to avoid assuming that everyone speaks the same language(s) as you, and as well. Put Userboxes on your User page to indicate what languages you are able to speak, and your level of proficiency. See commons:Commons:Babel.


 * Given the size of the community there, there are only few main forums of discourse on Commons. commons:COM:VP acts as the Village pump. commons:COM:HD is the Help desk for technical inquiries. Administrators can be contacted on the commons:Commons:Administrators' noticeboard.


 * Commons employs a more restrictive interpretation of international copyright law than WikiQueer. Images must be free in both the country of origin and the United States in order to be free enough for Commons.

Article-to-article linking between WikiQueer and Wikimedia Commons
Partner projects lists templates that are designed to provide article-to-article linking between WikiQueer and its partner projects. It also provides links to pages concerning moving articles between projects.