Commons:Structured data/Modeling

Structured Commons

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Modeling

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Data modeling with SDC, extensive guidelines available at: Visual artworks • Author • Copyright • Date • Depiction • Source • Add and discuss other data modeling guidelines

	Work in progress
	You can help! Data modeling is a community effort. Improve the guidelines, provide (additional) examples, or propose other data models for community discussion. Visit the talk page to discuss this process in general.

This page contains an overview of how to model information (metadata) about files on Wikimedia Commons in Structured Data.

The basics: structured data for every Commons file

The following structured data is relevant for every file on Wikimedia Commons. This structured data roughly corresponds with the information stored in the Information template, a general usage infobox template to describe files in wikitext.

Structured data to add	Brief instructions	In-depth instructions info about the data model in structured data
File caption(s) (multilingual)	A (short) textual description of the file, in at least one language. Plain text; no Wiki markup or hyperlinks.	Data modeling guidelines: File captions
Date	Usually the date when the file was created; typically using a inception (P571) statement.	Data modeling guidelines: Date
Source of the file	Information about where the file was taken from. Is it the uploader's own work, was it uploaded from an external website,...? Typically using a source of file (P7482) statement.	Data modeling guidelines: Source of the file
Creator	Who created the file? Typically described with a creator (P170) statement.	Data modeling guidelines: Creator of the file
Copyright status and license ('Permission' in the Information template)	Is the file still under copyright, or is it public domain? If still under copyright, which license(s) applies/apply? Using copyright status (P6216) and copyright license (P275).	Data modeling guidelines: Copyright and licenses

If the above structured data is added to a file, the file's wikitext description can be simplified as follows:

File (click to explore how it is described)	Wikitext	Main structured data
	== {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information}} == {{int:license-header}} == {{self|cc-by-sa-4.0}} [[Category:Energica Ego]]	File caption: Energica Ego at Fully Charged Europe 2022. (English) Date: inception (P571) 7 July 2022 Source of the file: source of file (P7482) original creation by uploader (Q66458942) Creator of the file: creator (P170) Jan Ainali (Q23899609) / object has role (P3831) photographer (Q33231) Copyright and licenses: copyright status (P6216) copyrighted (Q50423863) and copyright license (P275) Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (Q18199165)

Own work upload directly to Commons

To describe a simple {{Own}} work upload directly uploaded by the author or {{Self}}-licensed by the uploader:

1. File caption: one or more short description(s) of the file + language
2. Date: inception (P571), see Commons:Structured data/Modeling/Date
3. Source of the file: source of file (P7482) → original creation by uploader (Q66458942)
4. Creator of the file: creator (P170) → "some value" to indicate the creator doesn't have a Wikidata item. Qualified with:
   • object has role (P3831) → photographer (Q33231) to indicate we're talking about the photographer here, if it is a picture and not a video or audio file
   • author name string (P2093) → "<some name>" to indicate what name should be shown. Usually a username or a real name
   • Wikimedia username (P4174) → "<some username>" to indicate the contributing user
   • URL (P2699) → "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:<some username>" to link back to the user page of the contributing user, if it exists
5. Copyright and licenses: copyright license (P275) and copyright status (P6216), see Commons:Structured data/Modeling/Copyright

Upload from a platform like Panoramio, Geograph or Flickr

To describe an upload directly uploaded from a platform: (Preferably all uploads were done by a tool or bot, for consistency)

1. File caption: one or more short description(s) of the file + language
2. Date: inception (P571), see Commons:Structured data/Modeling/Date
3. Source of the file: source of file (P7482) → file available on the internet (Q74228490) to indicate the source
   • operator (P137) → e.g. Panoramio (Q239516) to indicate the platform
   • described at URL (P973) → "<some url>" to indicate the location
4. Creator of the file: creator (P170) → "some value" to indicate the creator doesn't have a Wikidata item. Qualified with:
   • object has role (P3831) → photographer (Q33231) to indicate we're talking about the photographer here, if it is a picture and not a video or audio file
   • Flickr user ID (P3267) → "<flickr/... user number>" to indicate the Flickr user identifier (number), if applicable
   • author name string (P2093) → "<some name>" to indicate what name should be shown. Usually a username or a real name on the platform
   • URL (P2699) → "<some url>" to indicate the URL of the page where the file is located
5. Copyright and licenses: copyright license (P275) and copyright status (P6216), see Commons:Structured data/Modeling/Copyright

How to model more specific types of files

• Visual artworks - work has a Wikidata item Work in progress

• Works without a Wikidata item Work in progress

• Maps Work in progress

• Illustrations Work in progress

• Conference talks Work in progress

How to model specific types of metadata

Here, we look at specific types of metadata for a file:

• Depiction and Digital representation of and Main subject Work in progress

• Date Work in progress

• Author and Creator Work in progress

• Source Work in progress

• Copyright and Licensing Work in progress

• Metadata Work in progress

• Location Work in progress

• Participants and Sponsors Work in progress

• Quality Work in progress

• Significant Event Work in progress

• Image captured with Work in progress

• File derivatives Work in progress

Large-scale uploads with own data modeling

In some cases, large-scale content contributions / file uploads on Wikimedia Commons use more specific data models. Feel free to list these below!

It is highly recommended that all file metadata also complies with the general, basic data modeling recommendations listed above. This will make sure that all data on Wikimedia Commons can be uniformly searched and queried across the entire platform.

Uploads from Digital Public Library of America

Please see: Commons:Digital Public Library of America/Modeling

Bots

Some bots automatically populate SDC data based on metadata in Commons templates.

• BotMultichill adds properties for various IDs.
• BotMultichillT populates date, coordinates, camera, source, copyright and author.
• SchlurcherBot adds various types of SDC to files per the modelling described here.
• JarektBot adds Wikimedia VRTS ticket number (P6305) and digital representation of (P6243) using QuickStatements.
• AliciaFagervingWMSE-bot uploads creator (P170), inception (P571), coordinates of the point of view (P1259), depicts (P180), and participant in (P1344) to Wiki Loves Monuments files from Sweden, Israel, and Poland.
• METbot adds The Met object ID (P3634) and collection (P195) to the Metropolitan Museum of Art files.
• GeographBot uploads different SDC information to Geograph Britain and Ireland files.
• DPLA bot added structured data claims to DPLA items
• XRayBot adds/updates coordinates of depicted place (P9149) - but only to XRay's own photographs

General remarks

• What should be the general order of statements in the structured data statements tab? The community can indicate and change this order at MediaWiki:Wikibase-SortedProperties. (See the equivalent page on Wikidata)