Help:Managing files

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If file uploads are enabled, you can upload certain types of files to the wiki. This is particularly useful for uploading images which you want to place on a page, but you can also upload other types of files. To enable this feature, you may need to configure file uploads.

Upload a file

Prepare the file on your computer in its final format. Make sure the file is exactly as you want it.
In the sidebar, under "tools", click "Upload file".
Click "Browse" next to the "Source filename:” to locate the file on your computer. (The "browse" button may have a different label depending on your web browser).
Change the "Destination filename:" to something descriptive, if necessary.
Fill in the "Summary", if necessary.
Click the "Upload file" button.

If it is a large file, you may need to wait several seconds for the upload to complete.

File description page

Each file gets its very own “file description page” on the wiki. The page name will be File : followed by the destination filename you provided. You can edit this page to provide more information about the file. For example, many public wiki projects are quite sensitive to copyright issues, and so you should explain on the description page where you got the file from, and what its copyright status is. Any other useful descriptive notes could also be added there.

Viewing the file description page shows:

Displayed image - The uploaded image or file is displayed here. Just below the image, the image resolution size is specified, an option to view the image as a full preview is also available.
Content - The wikitext of the image page itself is rendered here, between the image and the file history.
File history - This includes the date and time the image was uploaded. When a new version of the image is uploaded, you can view the history of the previous image.
File usage - This outlines the pages in the wiki where the image was referenced.
Global file usage - On Wikimedia Commons (or other wikis using the GlobalUsage extension), there is a separate section for usage of the image on other wikis.
Metadata - This outlines any metadata displayed in the image. Metadata is normally added from the device where the image originated from.

Shared description pages

If the image comes from another wiki, then the content of the local description page is concatenated with the description page on the shared wiki, with an additional message announcing the file is shared. This is MediaWiki:Sharedupload, and appears on this wiki as:

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. The description on its description page there is copied below.

Any categories the image page on the source wiki is in are ignored, and any links it has still point to the source wiki rather than the wiki the image is rendered on.

Editing a description page

When you edit a description page, you're editing the page's content, not the image itself. The edit history tracks changes to the page's content (text, descriptions), not the image file. Image history records updates to the image itself, like new uploads, and it is displayed in the "File history" section of the page.

When previewing edits, the preview shows only text changes, not the image, its history, or links.

To change an image, go to the "File history" section and upload a new file. You can't modify the image through the edit page.

Categorizing images

If an image page is added to a category, the image is added to the category normally. Images appear in categories in their own section, complete with thumbnails and names, and they don't count toward the total number of pages in that category. This setup makes it easier to view and manage images independently of articles, without cluttering the main category. To categorize a new image, you don't need to edit the page—just add the category tag in the upload summary, and it will automatically be included in the correct category.

Protection

When protecting a file description page, there is a separate option to protect the page against uploads. If an image is used on a page with cascading protection enabled, the protection applies to both editing the page content and to uploading new versions.

Using the file

After you've uploaded a new file, it doesn't automatically appear on any page -- not even the page you were on when you clicked on the "Upload file" link. You must decide on which pages of the wiki you want it to appear.

You can embed pictures and other images in a page. For instance, you may have uploaded a person's picture and want that picture to appear alongside the text on a page about that person. For information on how to embed an image, see Help:Images .

Some files may be of a type that cannot be embedded in a page (for example, a spreadsheet -- assuming the wiki allows such file types to be uploaded at all). Or the file may be an image that is so large it's only useful on its own page (for example a detailed map). Or you may simply be wanting to refer the readers to where they can download or replace the file. In each of these cases you don't want to embed the file in another page; you just want the page to have a link to the file description page (or to the file itself). For information on how to link to a file, see Help:Linking to files .

List of files in the wiki

There are a number of special pages to help you view and manage files which have been uploaded. Go to "Special pages" (in the tools on the left) and then see...

Gallery of new files - If you just uploaded one, you will see it here.
File list - Shows all of the files.
Unused files - Helps you track down files which might not be needed.

See Help:Special pages for details of the other information available here.