User:Jameslwoodward/Commons notes for administrators
Communication[edit]
It is expected that all Administrators will make their status clear to other users. Therefore, please either add the admin entry to your babelbox or add the {{User admin}} template to your userpage. Since Admins are encouraged to have a babelbox, that method is preferred.
DelReqHandler[edit]
DelReqHandler is a tool for Admins that you can enable at
- My Preferences > Gadgets > Tools for admins and special users
It takes care of the housekeeping when closing a Deletion Request
- In the case of a Delete:
- In the case of a Keep:
- Removes the {{Delete}} from the file
- Adds {{Kept}} to the file talk page
- Allows you to enter a comment on the file keep (by default this is a link to the DR)
- Allows you to enter a closing comment at the end of the DR (by default this is Kept: no valid reason for deletion and your sig).
- Adds {{Delh}} and {{Delf}} to the DR
In both cases, it shows you a preliminary look at the result. Because it uses the API, there are no page loads, so you can work just as fast as you can click on the links with one hand and hit 'Enter' to accept the default message with the other, allowing you to very rapidly work through the list in a mass delete. It does have some quirks, particularly when there are two sections in the DR, but you will rapidly learn these.
If there are many files in a DR (I don't know how many is "many" -- maybe ten), then "MASS Process" will show up in the first line. If you click on it, you will be given the choice of keeping or deleting all the files in the DR. This will include files added by commentators, so be careful to keep or delete them first. This is a very handy tool, but does not always work perfectly, so reload the page after using it and manually keep or delete any remaining files.
Examining a Deleted File without Undeleting It[edit]
As an Admin, you can, of course, restore a deleted file. You can also look at a deleted image or file without restoring it. This is often convenient when commenting on an Undeletion Request.
- Call up the file, so you are at "Editing File:Deleted.jpg"
- Click on the link "View or restore nn deleted edits?"
- You are now at "View and restore deleted pages"
- At the bottom are one or two lists, "Page history" and, only in the case of a media file, "File History".
- You can click on the time/date stamp on any revision in either to see the deleted material without restoring it. "Page history" shows only the text in the file. "File History" will show only the image or play the sound.
Quick Delete[edit]
Enabled at My preferences > Gadgets > Maintenance tools
The name is not really right, as it simply adds tags and does not actually delete. It does, however, dramatically speed up adding various tags:
- For Deletion Requests, it
- Prompts you for a reason
- Creates the Deletion Request page
- Adds it to the day's log
- Adds the template {{Delete}} to the file
- Notifies the uploaders
- For {{No source since}}, {{No permission since}}, and {{No license since}}
- Adds the template to the file with the date
- Notifies the uploaders.
Version Hiding[edit]
- See also: Commons:Revision deletion
If an earlier version of a file is a copyvio or otherwise a problem, an Admin can simply delete it by clicking on “delete” to the left of its thumbnail in the file history table on the file page. However, it's better, I think, to click on “change visibility” in the same box, and then check only “Hide file content” on the next page. This leaves the history intact for all to see (important for files first published on Commons), but hides the image from all but Admins.
Permanent Links[edit]
- See also: en:Help:Permanent link
When there is an extended discussion of an image's status, it is useful to permanently link that discussion to the image file so that it can at least inform, if not eliminate, further discussion of the image.
DelReqHandler (see above) does this automatically for Deletion Requests, by adding the {{Kept}} tag to the image's talk page. For discussions which take place elsewhere, since most of our discussion pages are archived, a permanent link to the last version of the discussion is useful:
The trick is to "View History" of the page in question and then click on the date link of the version you want. Then, in the Table of Contents, click on the section containing the discussion. Your browser's URL box will now show the complete URL of the section in the version specified.
This wiki markup:
See discussion of copyrightability of this image at [//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons_talk:Licensing&oldid=55654024#File:McDonald.27s_Golden_Arches.svg].
produces this result:
- See discussion of copyrightability of this image at [1].
![[1]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons_talk:Licensing&oldid=55654024#File:McDonald.27s_Golden_Arches.svg){kind=link}
To enable others to click the links in log entries the links need to be wiki links (not external links). That can be achieved by using [[Special:Permalink/<oldid>]]. E.g.: [[Special:Permalink/55654024#File:McDonald.27s_Golden_Arches.svg]] → Special:Permalink/55654024#File:McDonald.27s_Golden_Arches.svg
Merging Edit Histories[edit]
- See also: Commons:History merging and splitting
Occasionally it is helpful to merge the edit histories of two pages. An example might be a page that was deleted because it contained a copyrighted element, but also had a useful element, so a crop of the page could be kept. The history of the deleted file would be kept as part of the history of the cropped file. There is a step by step tutorial at MediaWiki#Procedure_to_merge_edit_histories.
Other Useful Templates and Text for Helping Newbies[edit]
Showing Wiki Markup[edit]
(available as User:Jameslwoodward/Commons markup notes)
When you want to show the wiki code for anything in line in a comment you can simply use the nowiki pair like this:
- <nowiki>{{own}}</nowiki> displays as {{own}}
To add a suitable markup wrap it in code tags like this:
<code><nowiki>{{own}}</nowiki></code>displays as{{own}}
You can access those snippets via the the “Edittools” of the enhanced editing toolbar (option “Enable the editing toolbar” in your preferences).
For the special case of showing a template, you can use the special template {{tl}} (that is "tee ell") like this:
- {{tl|own}} displays as {{Own}}
- {{tl|PD-self}} displays as {{PD-self}}
The second way of displaying a template has the advantage that it provides a link to the template. It has several near synonyms, but the one will do for most of us. Note that I have used the <big> markup in four places above for readability -- it is not part of nowiki or {{Tl}}.
Signature templates[edit]
- {{Unsigned2}} Easier to use than {{Unsigned}} because it takes its parameters in the same order as "View history".
- {{Unsigned3}} is the same as {{Unsigned2}}, but adds a paragraph on signing
- {{Sign2}} How to sign your posts.
Miscellaneous text templates[edit]
- {{Qs}} If you have questions, you may ask them at the Village Pump in any of 42 languages or on my talk page. I will also watch for questions here on your talk page for at least a week.
- {{Drfop}} In most countries, all paintings, sculpture, architecture, text, and other creative works have copyrights which last for 70 years after the death of the creator. An image of a work that is still under copyright is a derivative work, and infringes on the copyright so that we cannot usually keep the image on Commons. In some countries, there is a special exception to the copyright law which allows such images under certain circumstances. We call that exception freedom of panorama (FOP). Unfortunately there is no applicable FOP exception in this case.
- {{drfop|France}} In most countries, all paintings, sculpture, architecture, text, and other creative works have copyrights which last for 70 years after the death of the creator. An image of a work that is still under copyright is a derivative work, and infringes on the copyright so that we cannot usually keep the image on Commons. In some countries, there is a special exception to the copyright law which allows such images under certain circumstances. We call that exception freedom of panorama (FOP). Unfortunately there is no applicable FOP exception in France.
- {{DRpi}} Policy allows one or two personal images for user pages of active contributors, but "active" and "contributor" must come first. Commons is not Facebook.
- {{VRTrestore}} This image will be restored automatically, without further action by the uploader, if and when a free license is received, read, and approved at VRT. The current backlog at VRT is 3 days.
Fixing serious mistakes[edit]
If you save a page and see that you have made a serious mistake and want to undo it:
- Click on the "View History" tab at the top of the page
- Click on the time and date link of the last good version, the last one before your mistake.
- Click on "Edit". It will give you the warning: "You are editing a prior version of this page. If you save it, any changes made since this version will be removed."
- Since that is exactly what you want, simply write a short comment in the edit summary and click on "Save page"
(Note: This method is available to all users. Administrators and Rollbackers have additional, quicker, means of doing the same thing.)
VFC -- Visual File Change[edit]
Although most new admins will be familiar with VFC as a tool for mass nominations of DRs, it can also be used for deletions. This can be a time saver when closing a large DR that is all from the same person or category. Although DelReqHandler (see above) can delete a file with a click and an <enter>, VFC will do it faster when you get more than fifty or so because you can mark all of the category or user's files with one keystroke.
You can also use VFC to delete a long list of files in a DR that are not all in the same category or uploaded by the same user. Simply copy the list from the edit page and create a gallery page. You'll have to use a word processor to remove the brackets and colon. Then give VFC the gallery page name.
Occasionally useful pages and templates[edit]
- Special:ListFiles/Jameslwoodward -- VFC will also show all the files uploaded by a user in a more compact form.
- Special:Nuke/XYZ Deletes all or selected files from a list (with thumbnails) of all pages created by User:XYZ in the last month. VFC (see above) has made this more or less obsolete since it is not limited to a month and is much more versatile.
- {{Adminstats}} creates a page with an Administrator's statistics as a subpage of his or her User Page.