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About this tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to upload media to the public, crowdsourced platform Wikimedia Commons.

This tutorial lives online at https://github.com/ctschroeder/tutorials/blob/master/wikimedia-commons-tutorial.md

This tutorial is licensed CC-BY-NC 4.0

This tutorial was created by Caroline T. Schroeder, PhD, for a course in Cultural Heritage Data Fall 2020 at the University of Oklahoma.

What you will need

  • your own photographs of a historical or cultural heritage object/place (see below)
  • good internet
  • a Wikimedia or Wikipedia account (see below)

Select or Take Photographs of a Cultural Heritage Object/Place or Historical Object/Place

If you have existing photographs of one or more cultural heritage objects/places or historical objects/places

  1. Identify several photographs — choose 5-10. I'd like you to upload three, and you may weed a few out after the following steps.

  2. Search Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons for the subject(s) of your photographs.

  • Does an entry exist in Wikipedia?
  • Do photographs of your site/object already exist in the Commons?
  • If there are photographs, are they the same as yours?
  1. Go back through your photographs and select three that you think will add to public knowlege in some way -- maybe better quality, different angles, or a different moment in time -- than the images currently in WMC or WP.

If you don't have existing photographs but you'd like to do this assignment

  1. Pick a cultural heritage object or site near you to photograph. It could be a statue, a historical building. It could be nature -- remember back in the beginning of the semester we discussed natural heritage? You could pick a natural heritage site if nothing else works. You may want to Google public art, historical buildings, historical events, etc. near you if you can't think of something.

  2. Search Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons for the thing(s) you want to photograph

  • Does an entry exist in Wikipedia?
  • Do photographs of your site/object already exist in the Commons?
  • If there are photographs, how can you photograph the object/site in a way that contributes something new to knowledge about the object/site --maybe better quality pictures, different angles, or a different moment in time.
  1. Go out and take your pictures -- then select at least three that will add to public knowledge.

Upload Your Images to Wikimedia

  1. Create a Wikimedia Account by going to https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Main+Page

Note: If you already have a Wikipedia Account, you can use your Wikipedia login

Follow the instructions to create and verify your account.

  1. On the left menu under “Participate” click on “Upload File”
  • Read through the “learn” section
  • Upload your file(s) (or share from Flickr if you have a Flickr account)
  • Follow the path Wikimedia provides for uploading
  • Under “Release Rights” click on “Use a different license” to review ALL your options about the rights you will give people to use your photos
    • Select your license
  • Follow the wizard to Describe the photo
  • Follow the wizard to Add data: in the search window under your image, search for articles in Wikipedia about the things depicted in your image (so, a photograph of the Eiffel Tower would search and select for Eiffel Tower and maybe Paris)
  • Publish the data
  1. Copy the URLs for each photo so you can put them in your Lab report

Add your media to relevant Wikipedia Pages

  1. Go to Wikipedia and search for the article(s) your object(s)/site(s)

  2. Check to be sure you're logged in to Wikipedia; look in the upper right -- you should see a menu with your username and items such as "Talk", "Sandbox", etc. The last one will say "Log out" if you're logged in. If you see "Login" instead, then click "Login" and login using your Wikimedia username and password.

  3. Be sure you're still on your site's/object's page. Below that top menu, you should see a second menu that's really a set of tabs labeled Read, Edit, View History. Click on Edit

  4. Select the Visual Editor if you've never edited a Wiki before. Wikipedia uses a markup language called "Markdown". It uses very simple syntax or instructions to format text.

  5. Add your image(s)

  • Below those tabs, you'll see yet another menu to format text and do other things. Click on "Insert" and select "Images and Media".
  • Wikipedia should then give you a pop up window with the image(s) of your object(s)/site(s) that you just added to Wikimedia Commons
  • Pick the image(s) you want to add
  • Follow the wizard to give it a caption
  • Save your changes

  1. Check out the page with your image! Copy or bookmark the article URL so you can include it in your Lab report.

  2. Click the little star in the menu on the upper right to follow this page; you will get alerts about changes, etc., to the page now.

  3. When you next come back to Wikipedia and login, you will see alerts and notices on the top menu (the bell and the file tray icons). Click on those to see info about your Wikipedia and Wikimedia involvement.

Don't be discouraged if your work is ever edited or questioned by another Wikipedia editor. That happens sometimes.

Write and submit your report

  1. Write up a report about what you've done. It should include:
  • information about the site(s)/object(s) you photographed
  • when you photographed them
  • why you chose these photographs and the site(s)/object(s)
  • links to each media item (photograph) in Wikimedia Commons
  • links to your Wikipedia pages with your photographs
  • a description of your experience, why you did what you did, and what you learned

  1. Post your report to your personal blog/website or to the private class blog.

  2. Turn in your report by posting the URL to the Canvas Assignment.

  3. For reference you can see my example photograph and the WP entry where I added the photograph