Project:Image policy
 | This is not an official policy and may only be the view of one user. Discussion is encouraged. |
MediaWiki.org is a site about the MediaWiki software, and as such we only host images relating to that aim (see about this site for more info). Images that don't have direct relevance to MediaWiki, it's extensions and underlying architecture, or to the development process will be removed. If you wish to use images outside these criteria, please consider uploading them to Wikimedia Commons, a shared repository of free-license images, and you will have immediate access to them as if they had been uploaded here.
General
editAs this site is hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation we must follow their licensing policy, which requires that all images must be under a free-content license, unless explicitly allowed via an exemption policy.
In general, it's required that most images hosted on MediaWiki.org are released under a free-content license (GFDL, Creative Commons, etc.). However, in some situations it may be appropriate for non-free images to be uploaded for use within the site. In some cases, particularly regarding screenshots, it might also be ambiguous about the license status of the image. If you are in any doubt, then assume the image is non-free and is must therefore display a {{Non-free use rationale}}. Please refer to the fair use policy for details.
Screenshots
editIn general, to avoid issues when uploading screenshots you should follow these guidelines:
- Unless they are important to the point being illustrated, the image should be cropped to remove the user's desktop, web browser and any other applications or screen-elements that might otherwise be present.
- If the screenshot needs to include content from an existing website, use a free-content website (e.g., Wikipedia, or this website) as your example (unless there is an important reason to use a specific non-free-content website).
- Screenshots of MediaWiki UI elements in most cases are to be considered to be licenced under the GPL. The actual content of a MediaWiki site may be under different terms (such as the GFDL, however.) Mark them with {{MW-screenshot}} to sort them.
However, those are just guidelines. It is assumed that all on-topic screenshots may be used on this site.
Deleting images
edit- Consider contacting the user who uploaded the image, telling them of your concerns. You may be able to resolve the issue at this point.
- Review their user page to check if they've provided permission to all previously uploaded files under a specific license.
- If there is a "blanket" license provided, update the file description page with the appropriate copyright tag. Consider requesting on the user's talk page that they also apply the copyright tag in their future uploads.
- If the file is used in MediaWiki or extensions documentation, consider finding or uploading a replacement to prevent any problems with documentation on this and other wikis.
- Add a unused file notice to the file description page.
- The file will be deleted by an administrator after a waiting period of a couple of weeks.
- If the file is deleted, give proper notification to the uploader.
To actually delete an image after following the above procedure, you must be an administrator. To do so, go to the file description page and click the (del) or Delete this page links. Administrators can also restore deleted images.