User:Herbythyme/Some common(s) thoughts

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Text-x-generic with pencil.svg This page is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Commons contributors.
It is not a Commons policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page.

I've made a few edits, wielded the mop a bit & uploaded some stuff. I guess I know more about Commons than I did 18 months ago. This is as much about clarifying my thoughts & focussing them as anything else so they are worth exactly what you - the reader - paid for them.

Firstly (& before any "rules") any media needs to be within our project scope. Mostly that is fairly obvious but I find I delete more material that is out of scope these days. The usual porn/excessive genitalia is fairly straightforward. However .pdf files in foreign languages can be far more of a challenge - bear in mind there is a great collection of people who speak other languages here - ask someone else if there is doubt. As someone with some knowledge of spam (links or just people who use Foundation sites to promote any other site any way they can) there seems to be an increase of "promotional" graphics these days.

Then the "Rules"

Contents

[edit] The three rules of Commons

  1. Is the media correctly licensed?
  2. See rule 1
  3. See rule 2

Ok - that is the easy stuff over - so

[edit] Findable

Any media we have must be easily findable by people who want to view/use it. This takes us into the dreaded Galleries v. Categories debate.

  1. Galleries. If I go to a museum or art gallery I do not expect to see everything (indeed I do not want to). I want to see a good sample of what is available. A Gallery - to me - needs to be well thought out, properly described with some good media relating to the topic of the gallery & that alone. As a showcase of what we have it should have some real work put into & should not remain static in my mind - more media arrives, if it is good then it should go in the gallery but maybe something else should come out.
  2. Categories. This is the "card index" to allow people to find all related media. The higher the level of category, the less actual media & more sub categories there should be. Higher level categories tend to be used a a dumping ground by those people who do not know the subject matter well (no criticism there - there is plenty I know little about). Those with more knowledge can come along & make categorisation more precise. When adding categories attention must be paid to the "usual" structure. That does not mean it is right or wrong - what it does mean is that if you have found a river in a country in South America then finding a river in a country in Europe should be a similar process/structure.

I do not like to see over categorisation. A picture of '68 white Ford van on Sunset Boulevard does not need to be in [[Category:1968]] [[Category:White]] [[Category:Ford]] [[Category:Van]] [[Category:Sunset]] [[Category:Boulevard]] (not forgetting [[Category:Sunset Boulevard]]) etc etc. However these will always be judgement calls.

I fully accept that this view is solely mine & depends on the media that is being dealt with - there are no hard & fast rules. This is a place to work collaboratively.

The next challenge (particularly for us linguistically impaired users!) is that is needs to be

[edit] Findable in other languages

This is important for a wiki that is & serves multi lingual communities. Galleries & media need translations into other languages. In this I have just one tip - I keep seeing that Commons is set up to "serve" Wikipedia (!!). I'll avoid the argument but it is possible to turn that on its head - go figure if you want to (with care).

More easily for us non linguists is to look at placing language links on Commons. Go search another language wiki for your favourite aspect of Commons - you will then be able to place an interwiki link on the page or category which will help people. It really is a case of getting the language code & copy & pasting whatever it is called in that language.

Maybe more fun however is to search another language wiki for an aspect of Commons you are familiar with. If you find the page (or category) you can then have a go at getting variations of {{Commons cat}} and/or {{Commons}} (en wp templates) templates to work (they are wikis, they are not all the same!). This will allow easy access from the foreign language wiki to the relevant media available on Commons - a big plus.

[edit] Other things to do

Looking at new pages (& not just galleries) is a great way to see some of the wonderful media that is available. It also means that you get an early opportunity to help out those who do not understand Commons & point them in the right direction. It is also a good way of watching for disruption early on & warning people so that they understand & take more care in the future.

[edit] Some closing thoughts

On Commons deleting things are a way of life for active admins. It is not something I enjoy but it is necessary. I try to get my edit count above my deletion count but have failed so far. If you are an admin who "can't find anything to do" please hand the tools back - they are just that - tools for active people to use & Commons is never short of work.

Remember in the end Commons is about media & being a resource for it. It is not about votes/politics/rules/rambling discussion etc etc - we are here to help make a great store of media better & easier to use & access.

I have been very grateful to a number people on here (some sadly no longer active) who were patient with me when I had much to learn. I still have plenty to learn (if you don't have you are missing the point) & I am grateful to the people who work together in such a pleasant co-operative fashion - it makes it good to be here.

Thanks for your patience.

[edit] See also

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