In September there will be a "Transfer to Commons" drive at Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Commons/Drive Sep 2011! I will be both participating and reviewing transfers. You can ask questions about the drive here.
This guide is a condensed and streamlined version of Wikipedia:Moving files to the Commons. It is strongly encouraged that you read that document in its entirety before you begin making transfers, as it contains the full instructions, a ton of good advice, and links to tools that have been created to make transferring easier.
Before you decide to participate, it's important to have a basic understanding of copyright law and how we apply it on Wikipedia and the Commons. You should know how to tell if something is in the public domain in the U.S. and in its country of origin, and you should know how to spot a copyright violation. You'll also need an account on Commons and you really should have a TUSC account. (They're free and easy to set up.) Got all that? Great! Then you're ready to begin.
The obvious place to look is in Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons. There are thousands upon thousands to choose from there. If we happen to run out, there is a second, even larger list at Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons (bot-assessed). Finally, there are other good spots to find files to transfer listed here.
Just because a file is tagged as being eligible for transfer to Commons does not necessarily mean it should actually be moved. You are responsible for checking the file yourself and deciding what to do with it.
{{
Move to Commons}}
tag and replace it with a {{
Do not move to Commons}}
tag.If it's ready to go to Commons, go on to Step 3.
When you transfer a file to Commons in the way described in Step 3, the file will still have a few problems that need manual cleanup. You should check over the file and file description page in its entirety. Keep in mind the following:
{{
Information}}
template, in addition to whatever information was already there. This can be confusing. You may want to move the transfer information outside the {{
Information}}
template. While it is by no means required, the Commons template
Template:English Wikipedia to Commons Transfer Documentation has been created specifically for this purpose.You'll want to keep track of successful moves by listing them
in the logs so you can get credit for them. Under your name, list the name of the file, and put the {{
Moved to commons}}
template beside it. Reviewers will check your work to see if you did everything right, and may leave you comments at the log page itself. If you've read over the main instructions at
Wikipedia:Moving files to the Commons and followed this guide, you should have no problems.
Congratulations on a job well done!
I will be reviewing other participants' moves. You should probably only review moves if you're an admin on Wikipedia, as you may need to see deleted contributions. You also should probably be an expert in transferring files to commons, or in the file namespace in general; If you think you meet those requirements, you can sign up at Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Commons/Drive Sep 2011#Reviewing too. To review, I'll examine each file move and mark it a "correct" or "incorrect". The factors I'll be looking at are:
If the answer to all these are "yes", then the check will show a successful move. If not, I'll let the participant know how such moves can be corrected; uncorrected problems will count against the participant. Those people with a large number of correct moves will receive awards, as listed here.
In September there will be a "Transfer to Commons" drive at Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Commons/Drive Sep 2011! I will be both participating and reviewing transfers. You can ask questions about the drive here.
This guide is a condensed and streamlined version of Wikipedia:Moving files to the Commons. It is strongly encouraged that you read that document in its entirety before you begin making transfers, as it contains the full instructions, a ton of good advice, and links to tools that have been created to make transferring easier.
Before you decide to participate, it's important to have a basic understanding of copyright law and how we apply it on Wikipedia and the Commons. You should know how to tell if something is in the public domain in the U.S. and in its country of origin, and you should know how to spot a copyright violation. You'll also need an account on Commons and you really should have a TUSC account. (They're free and easy to set up.) Got all that? Great! Then you're ready to begin.
The obvious place to look is in Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons. There are thousands upon thousands to choose from there. If we happen to run out, there is a second, even larger list at Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons (bot-assessed). Finally, there are other good spots to find files to transfer listed here.
Just because a file is tagged as being eligible for transfer to Commons does not necessarily mean it should actually be moved. You are responsible for checking the file yourself and deciding what to do with it.
{{
Move to Commons}}
tag and replace it with a {{
Do not move to Commons}}
tag.If it's ready to go to Commons, go on to Step 3.
When you transfer a file to Commons in the way described in Step 3, the file will still have a few problems that need manual cleanup. You should check over the file and file description page in its entirety. Keep in mind the following:
{{
Information}}
template, in addition to whatever information was already there. This can be confusing. You may want to move the transfer information outside the {{
Information}}
template. While it is by no means required, the Commons template
Template:English Wikipedia to Commons Transfer Documentation has been created specifically for this purpose.You'll want to keep track of successful moves by listing them
in the logs so you can get credit for them. Under your name, list the name of the file, and put the {{
Moved to commons}}
template beside it. Reviewers will check your work to see if you did everything right, and may leave you comments at the log page itself. If you've read over the main instructions at
Wikipedia:Moving files to the Commons and followed this guide, you should have no problems.
Congratulations on a job well done!
I will be reviewing other participants' moves. You should probably only review moves if you're an admin on Wikipedia, as you may need to see deleted contributions. You also should probably be an expert in transferring files to commons, or in the file namespace in general; If you think you meet those requirements, you can sign up at Wikipedia:WikiProject Images and Media/Commons/Drive Sep 2011#Reviewing too. To review, I'll examine each file move and mark it a "correct" or "incorrect". The factors I'll be looking at are:
If the answer to all these are "yes", then the check will show a successful move. If not, I'll let the participant know how such moves can be corrected; uncorrected problems will count against the participant. Those people with a large number of correct moves will receive awards, as listed here.