Commons:Galleries
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Shortcut: COM:GP, COM:G or COM:GALLERY
Galleries exist to present readers with a structured and meaningful collection of the media found here on Wikimedia Commons. Usually, they are created to give a sample or overview of all the media on a given topic.
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[edit] Galleries vs. categories
The biggest issue concerning galleries is their relationship with categories. Many times these two systems appear to be redundant with each other. This isn't (or shouldn't) be the case. They can co-exist. Galleries and categories may both accomplish the same goal—to help users find media—but in very different ways. Categories should contain all files related to the subject while galleries should contain a sample of files related to the subject. Ideally, galleries should contain the best of what we have. All files should be in at least one category, but not all files should be in a gallery.
[edit] The benefits of galleries
There are a couple things galleries enable users to do that categories don't. Most importantly, captions and information regarding each image can be added. Images in a gallery can be arranged in a way that isn't possible with categories. They also allow editors to exclude some of the poorer quality and redundant images that many times fill categories and make them less useful to users who simply are looking for an image, say, to illustrate a Wikipedia article. On the other hand, if the user is looking for a very specific image, browsing a category may suit their needs better.
[edit] The disadvantages of galleries
Adding new images to categories is quicker and easier than adding them to galleries. The user doesn't even have to leave the image's page in order to include it in a category. The right categories are more likely to already exist than the right gallery. Files can be added to non-existent categories but not to non-existent galleries. Categories group all related images together which aids in the creation of galleries, but this doesn't work as well the other way around if galleries only include the best images.
[edit] When to create a gallery
Not every subject should have its own gallery even if it has its own category. Likewise, not every subject should have its own category even if it has its own gallery. Galleries should not be created if they merely duplicate the purpose of a category. However, this does not mean they should be deleted or "merged". Categories will always be categories, but galleries can turn into something much more.
Commons does not have an equivalent to Wikipedia's "stub" articles. Our goal is not to simply have a gallery on every notable or noteworthy subject. They should be created with a specific purpose. A single image does not make for a very good gallery.
[edit] Naming conventions
- See also: Commons:Language policy
Unlike naming categories, where English is almost always used, galleries should be named in language most associated with the subject. This applies to people, places, art, culture, etc. For general subjects and ones not tied to any specific language, the name most likely to be searched for (usually English) should be used. An exception to this rule is the naming of galleries of organisms and subjects where Latin names are considered universal. These follow the same guidelines as categories and should share the same name. Another difference from categories is galleries should use the singular form (similar to Wikipedia articles).
[edit] Redirects
The good thing about galleries, compared to categories, is redirects work well. It is strongly recommended to create redirects from names in other languages, especially if a gallery's name is not English. Redirects from the plural form and other variations may also be useful.
Many times, users are tempted to redirect a mainspace page (i.e. the space reserved for galleries) to a category. Generally, cross-namespace redirects are to be avoided. Users looking for a gallery should not end up in a category and vice-versa. Yet occasionally, these types of redirects are preferable to dead ends or galleries with little or no content. These types of redirects should not be used simply to make a red link blue. Like on Wikipedia, red links are not evil. They just mean there's some work to do.
[edit] Content of galleries
[edit] Starting a gallery
When creating a new gallery, a few things should always be included:
- The gallery-tag, see m:Help:Images_and_other_uploaded_files#Gallery.
- A brief description of the subject
- Commons is not an encyclopedia. We are not here to educate readers through text. If they want to read more about a subject, there is another project that exists solely for that purpose.
- Commons is multilingual. The more translations of a gallery's description, the better. Keep this in mind when adding any text to a gallery. Imagine if 50+ translations of your description were added. Would it be too much? For most subjects a sentence or two is all that's needed.
- It's OK if you only know one language—others can add translations, but if you know more than one language, write the description in as many as you can.
- Interwiki links to Wikipedia articles
- Interwiki links are extremely useful for linking to Wikipedia articles. Use them.
- Again, since Commons is multilingual, a "see also" or "main article" link to Wikipedia is not ideal because they are language specific. Including "main article" links to all Wikipedias isn't ideal either as that takes up a lot of room and we have an established system already in place that deals with this quite nicely—interwiki links that show up in the sidebar.
- Media!
- Galleries without media are not galleries at all. They are considered out of the project scope and meet the criteria for speedy deletion.
- Featured Pictures (FP), Quality Images (QI) and Valued Images (VI) can be marked with
{{FP star}}, 
{{QI seal}} and 
{{VI-tiny}}
[edit] Other things to include
Depending on the subject, there are other things you may want to included in a gallery. This may be a navigation bar, a taxonomy box, links to sister projects besides Wikipedia, among other things specific to the topic.
Certain topics have their own WikiProject devoted specially to that area of Commons, such as Commons:WikiProject Tree of Life. They may have their own set of guidelines for galleries related to their field of interest.
