Wikimedia Commons: Difference between revisions

|backupurl        = https://dumps.Wikimedia.org/commonswiki/

'''Wikimedia Commons – ''the free media repository''''' is a major part or 'Project' of the {{tag|Wikimedia Foundation}} (WMF).  More commonly known as merely '''Commons''', it is a [[wiki]] of an online depository {{tag|database}} of over 44 million freely usable educational {{tag|media}} files to which anyone can contribute.  The files, which include {{tag|images}}, {{tag|video}}s, and {{tag|audio}}; are primarily for use by the various Wikimedia projects, such as [[:Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]].  And whilst the [[English Wikipedia]] will accept '[[wp:Fair use|fair use]]' images, the Wikimedia Commons will not; all must be completely free to use (either {{tag|public domain}}, or an unrestricted {{tag|copyleft}} license).  Other individual [[:Category:Wiki Language|language]] editions of Wikipedia have their own differing standards for fair use — e.g. [[Español Wikipedia]] will not allow fair use media.

All textual content on the wiki was initially released under the terms of the {{tag|Wiki GNU Free Documentation License|GNU Free Documentation License}} (GNU FDL, or more commonly GFDL).  An additional license was subsequently added; the {{tag|Wiki Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike|Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license}} (CC-BY-SA 3.0).[https://Commons.Wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:General_disclaimer]  As of 31 January 2018, the total file size on hard disc for all files is a whopping 138.96 TB![https://Commons.Wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MediaStatistics]

The [[mw:InstantCommons|InstantCommons]] extension for [[MediaWiki.org|MediaWiki]] will allow non-Wikimedia Foundation sites to use Commons media on their own wiki.

|pages= 47,957,859 <!--uploaded files - https://Commons.Wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ListFiles-->

}}(Page count as of: 2018-07-17<br>wikiFactor as of: 2015-10-18)<!--YYYY-MM-DD; manually add/amend date when stats are verified and/or updated-->

*[https://Stats.Wikimedia.org/wikispecial/EN/TablesWikipediaCOMMONS.htm Wikimedia Commons Statistics tables] — stats.Wikimedia.org at [[Wikimedia Statistics]]

*[https://Stats.wikimedia.org/wikispecial/EN/ChartsWikipediaCOMMONS.htm Wikimedia Commons Statistics charts] — stats.Wikimedia.org at Wikimedia Statistics

**[https://Stats.Wikimedia.org/v2/#/commons.wikimedia.org Wikimedia Commons Statistics v2] — Wikistats 2.0, stats.Wikimedia.org at Wikimedia Statistics

*[https://Tools.WMFLabs.org/pageviews/?project=commons.wikimedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&range=latest-20&pages=Main_Page Wikimedia Commons Pageviews Analysis] — tools.WMFLabs.org at [[Wikimedia Labs]]

*[https://play.Google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.free.nrw.commons Wikimedia Commons Android app] — on Google Play

The exact boundaries of the mission of the Wikimedia Commons have not been clearly defined.  It is generally agreed that the Commons should host images that will be useful in other Wikimedia projects; such as Wikipedia, [[:Category:Wikivoyage|Wikivoyage]], etc.  Less clear is whether it should serve as a repository for images that are likely to only be useful outside Wikimedia.  For example, a photograph of a girl holding a flower might be useful as a {{w|stock photography|stock image}} in corporate promotional brochures, but if there is no Wikipedia article that requires that image (as could be the case if Wikipedia already has a suitable image to illustrate its articles on flowers, or if the image is unsuitable for Wikipedia), then it is an open question whether the Commons should host that image.  These matters are decided on a case-by-case basis, with little consistency, and are heavily influenced by whether Commons [[user]]s like the media in question (e.g. whether they think they are aesthetically pleasing).

Sometimes, debates arise as to whether users are adding content for the benefit of the Commons, or for their own promotional purposes.  E.g., a user may say "These are some images I took, posted to my website, and am sharing with the Commons", and others may object that the true agenda is to promote the website by listing its URL in the image attribution page.  Frequently, users have uploaded images of their genitals, and been accused of {{w|exhibitionism}}; this has occurred so often that the Commons community has announced that no more images of genitals are needed or welcomed, unless there is a specific request, e.g. if a new genital-relevant article is created on Wikipedia that needs an illustration.

[[Category:FoundedIn2004]]<!--https://Commons.Wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:AncientPages-->