Hi there,
Tomorrow is the next Global GLAM Call, 26 May at 13:30 UTC.
This month we will have an update about a Commons Upload tool that was
re-discovered at the NWE Hackathon, an update about the Open Heritage
Statement from Creative Commons, and then also a tutorial for submitting a
request for Translation Admin privileges; + plenty of time for other
updates from you and anyone else in the community.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Global_GLAM_call_2026-05-26
Please remember to register in advance to receive the zoom link in the
registration.
See you online!
All the best,
Connor
(appologies for cross posting on various GLAM, Culture and Heritage related
mailing lists)
Forwarding info that people on additional lists may want to explore.
Pine🌲
On Sat, May 16, 2026 at 10:23 AM Bodhisattwa via Wikimedia-l <
wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi Dev,
>
> Thanks for working on the tool and making life easier for many
> contributors. Uploading video on Wikimedia Commons has always been a real
> pain for people. I just have uploaded a 250 MB original file smoothly
> without any issue using your tool. Will try with bigger files.
>
> Regards,
> Bodhisattwa
>
> On Sat, May 16, 2026, 9:31 PM Nethi Sai Kiran via Wikimedia-l <
> wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>
>> Hello Dev,
>>
>> Congratulations, the coolest tool ever found to upload videos to Commons.
>> I hope this will positively influence the volume of video contributions on
>> Wikimedia in the coming days.
>>
>> I just uploaded a video of 50+ MB, and it was done in 2-3 mins. Really
>> appreciate your work on this.
>>
>> Thanks for making it.
>>
>> Best,
>> Sai
>>
>> On Sat, 16 May 2026 at 19:04, Subhashish via Wikimedia-l <
>> wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>
>>> This is really cool tool, Dev. Thank you for making this. Just uploaded
>>> a short video of a train arriving and the tool was faster than the train!
>>>
>>> Subhashish
>>>
>>> On Sat, 16 May, 2026, 6:53 pm Dev Jadiya via Wikimedia-l, <
>>> wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi James,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully, legal resolves the MP4 situation
>>>> soon.
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> Dev Jadiya
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, May 16, 2026 at 6:41 PM James Heilman <jmh649(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hey Dev
>>>>>
>>>>> Excellent work. Hopefully we will be able to upload MP4s via the
>>>>> Upload Wizard soon. I think we are just waiting on legal.
>>>>>
>>>>> James
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, May 16, 2026 at 3:02 PM Dev Jadiya via Wikimedia-l
>>>>> <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Hi all,
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I'd like to share a Toolforge tool I've built for uploading
>>>>> > device-recorded videos to Wikimedia Commons: clip2commons.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > https://clip2commons.toolforge.org/
>>>>> >
>>>>> > It encodes locally in the browser using the WebCodecs API and uploads
>>>>> > via the official MediaWiki API.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > WHY ANOTHER TOOL
>>>>> >
>>>>> > This is intended to complement, not replace, video2commons.
>>>>> > video2commons handles URL imports (YouTube, archive.org, etc.) and
>>>>> > remains the right tool for that workflow.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > clip2commons covers a different case: a video file already on the
>>>>> > user's device that needs to reach Commons. For that case, the
>>>>> > existing options are:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > - video2commons (file upload mode): the file goes to a Toolforge
>>>>> > encoder pool that is shared and currently overstretched
>>>>> > (Community Wishlist W447, W392, W443, W512, W523, W536 are open
>>>>> > about v2c stability or capability gaps).
>>>>> > - UploadWizard: accepts files up to 5 GB chunked, but does not
>>>>> > convert formats. iPhone .mov and many Android .mp4 files fail
>>>>> > TimedMediaHandler post-upload or upload as patent-encumbered
>>>>> > formats.
>>>>> > - Manual ffmpeg + UploadWizard: works for those who can do it,
>>>>> > but is outside what most uploaders are willing or able to manage.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > clip2commons does the WebM/VP9 conversion in the browser via
>>>>> > WebCodecs, then uploads chunk-by-chunk to commons.wikimedia.org.
>>>>> > There is no shared queue, no server-side encoder pool, and no
>>>>> > infrastructure that needs maintenance to keep the tool running.
>>>>> > The only resource constraint is the user's own device.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > VALIDATION
>>>>> >
>>>>> > End-to-end test, 1-2 Mbps connection, 683 MB 1080x1920 portrait
>>>>> > (Original) file (6 min 13 s):
>>>>> >
>>>>> > - In-browser encode: 15 min 20 s
>>>>> > - Total wall-clock (encode + upload combined): ~16 minutes
>>>>> > - Final file: 163 MB, VP9/Opus, 1080x1920
>>>>> > - Result on Commons:
>>>>> >
>>>>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_Script_Publisher_Presentation_…
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > PROVENANCE / LICENSING UI
>>>>> >
>>>>> > The "Release rights" step mirrors UploadWizard's question tree
>>>>> > exactly: same root choice (own work vs. someone else), same
>>>>> > sub-questions for "contains the work of others" and "not protected
>>>>> > by copyright law", same hard blocks for "I don't know" and
>>>>> > "copyright-protected", same VRT-pending workflow for permission
>>>>> > uploads, same set of accepted CC license templates per branch.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > This was deliberate. Files uploaded through clip2commons should be
>>>>> > indistinguishable in policy terms from files uploaded through
>>>>> > UploadWizard or video2commons. The wikitext output uses the
>>>>> > standard {{Information}} + {{self}} / bare-license-template
>>>>> > structure with [[Category:Uploaded with clip2commons]].
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > BROWSER SUPPORT
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Verified working (full encode + upload):
>>>>> > - Google Chrome (desktop and mobile)
>>>>> > - Microsoft Edge (desktop only)
>>>>> > - Brave
>>>>> > - DuckDuckGo browser
>>>>> > - Samsung Internet
>>>>> > - Dolphin
>>>>> > - Bing browser
>>>>> > - Opera Mini (already-WebM/VP9 files only)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Limited mode (already-WebM/VP9 files; cannot re-encode):
>>>>> > - Firefox (desktop and mobile)
>>>>> > - Safari (encoder support coming in 26.1)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Not currently supported:
>>>>> > - Microsoft Edge on Android (WebCodecs implementation incompatible)
>>>>> > - Opera (decoder errors at encode start)
>>>>> > - Yandex
>>>>> > - Tor Browser (WebCodecs disabled as fingerprinting protection)
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Browsers in the "limited mode" or "not supported" lists show a
>>>>> > clear banner up front instead of letting the user start a doomed
>>>>> > upload. video2commons remains the recommended fallback for those
>>>>> > browsers.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > KNOWN LIMITS
>>>>> >
>>>>> > - No URL imports. video2commons remains the right tool for that.
>>>>> > - Hard cap: 1 GB / 1 hour input file. Larger files risk OOM during
>>>>> > in-browser encode on memory-limited devices.
>>>>> > - Encode time depends on the device. Modern hardware encodes at
>>>>> > roughly 0.2x to 1x video duration; older devices can be slower.
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> > FEEDBACK WELCOME
>>>>> >
>>>>> > This is beta. Bug reports, policy / wikitext / copy review, and
>>>>> > testing on devices and connections I do not have are all welcome.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > - GitLab issues:
>>>>> > https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/clip2commons (MIT)
>>>>> > - My talk page:
>>>>> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Dev_Jadiya
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Thanks,
>>>>> > Dev Jadiya
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>>> > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
>>>>> guidelines at:
>>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
>>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
>>>>> > Public archives at
>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…
>>>>> > To unsubscribe send an email to
>>>>> wikimedia-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> James Heilman
>>>>> MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
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Hello everyone,
We would love to get your feedback on a tool we have been working on:
https://wise.wmcloud.org/
This is a search tool for images and videos on wikimedia. Currently is
searching only on media of the day (approximately 5000 videos). It searches
only the visual content of the file (not on metadata, filename, or
structured data). It also does face detection and recognition.
Please give it a go. Here's some examples:
*Semantic example queries:*
"man at a train station"
"एक व्यक्ति रेलवे स्टेशन पर" (Hindi)
"horse in an airplane"
"విమానంలో గుర్రం" (Telugu)
"man with a flower"
"pirate with a pistol"
*Face search (select "Faces"):*
Click the green "Image" button and paste an image URL
Example inputs:
* https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Charlie_Chaplin.jpg
*
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Neil_Armstrong_pose.jpg
[warning: some videos are ogv videos and your brownser may not play them,
so watch them on Commons, i.e., after clicking the search result, scroll
down to the media metadata table, and follow the link to commons]
*Key features include:*
* Semantic search using natural language to find relevant images on Commons
from the visual content only (not the structured data or description, only
the image itself)
* Face search: upload or paste a face image, and the tool will try to
identify and locate that person across images and videos, including
timestamps where they appear
* Audio search: search within audio files to find relevant segments
* Multilingual search: supports queries in multiple languages
We are actively improving the tool and would really appreciate any
feedback, suggestions, or ideas from the community. Here's some more
immediate future plans:
* Search on all wikimedia images (instead of only videos / media of the day)
* Show similar images when uploading an image to suggest filenames,
categories, and other relevant metadata
More technical details and a place to share feedback at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wise
Phabricator: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T424092
Announcement on Village pump:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump#Introducing_WISE%3A…
Regards,
Gopa Vasanth <https://gopavasanth.github.io/>
Twitter <https://twitter.com/gopavasanth1999> | LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopa-vasanth/> | GitHub
<https://github.com/gopavasanth> | Gerrit
<https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/q/gopavasanth>
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
Hello everyone,
Following up on the WISE <https://wise.wmcloud.org/> tool's announcement,
we wanted to briefly explain why we are seeking community interest and
support.
At the moment, WISE indexes only “Media of the Day” (~5,000 videos).
Expanding this to cover the full Wikimedia Commons collection (millions of
images) requires significant computational resources, especially
large-scale GPU processing, along with storage and ongoing maintenance.
Before moving in that direction, we want to understand:
- Is this tool useful for the community?
- Should we invest effort and resources to scale it further?
- Are there any concerns we should address first?
If you find WISE useful or promising, you can support or share feedback
here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wise#Community_interest_and_supp…
You can:
- Add your support or comments on the page
- Share use cases or ideas
- Raise any concerns or suggestions
Your input will help guide whether and how we expand WISE further. Thanks
again for your time and feedback.
Wise Tool: https://wise.wmcloud.org/
Regards,
Gopa Vasanth
On Sun, May 3, 2026 at 2:09 AM Vasanth Gopa <gopavasanth1999(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> We would love to get your feedback on a tool we have been working on:
> https://wise.wmcloud.org/
>
> This is a search tool for images and videos on wikimedia. Currently is
> searching only on media of the day (approximately 5000 videos). It searches
> only the visual content of the file (not on metadata, filename, or
> structured data). It also does face detection and recognition.
>
> Please give it a go. Here's some examples:
>
> *Semantic example queries:*
> "man at a train station"
> "एक व्यक्ति रेलवे स्टेशन पर" (Hindi)
> "horse in an airplane"
> "విమానంలో గుర్రం" (Telugu)
> "man with a flower"
> "pirate with a pistol"
>
> *Face search (select "Faces"):*
>
> Click the green "Image" button and paste an image URL
>
> Example inputs:
> * https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Charlie_Chaplin.jpg
> *
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Neil_Armstrong_pose.jpg
>
> [warning: some videos are ogv videos and your brownser may not play them,
> so watch them on Commons, i.e., after clicking the search result, scroll
> down to the media metadata table, and follow the link to commons]
>
> *Key features include:*
>
> * Semantic search using natural language to find relevant images on
> Commons from the visual content only (not the structured data or
> description, only the image itself)
> * Face search: upload or paste a face image, and the tool will try to
> identify and locate that person across images and videos, including
> timestamps where they appear
> * Audio search: search within audio files to find relevant segments
> * Multilingual search: supports queries in multiple languages
>
> We are actively improving the tool and would really appreciate any
> feedback, suggestions, or ideas from the community. Here's some more
> immediate future plans:
>
> * Search on all wikimedia images (instead of only videos / media of the
> day)
> * Show similar images when uploading an image to suggest filenames,
> categories, and other relevant metadata
>
> More technical details and a place to share feedback at
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wise
> * Phabricator: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T424092
> * Announcement on Village pump:
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump#Introducing_WISE%3A…
> Regards,
>
> Gopa Vasanth <https://gopavasanth.github.io/>
> Twitter <https://twitter.com/gopavasanth1999> | LinkedIn
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopa-vasanth/> | GitHub
> <https://github.com/gopavasanth> | Gerrit
> <https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/q/gopavasanth>
>
> “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
>
>
--
Regards,
Gopa Vasanth <https://gopavasanth.github.io/>
Twitter <https://twitter.com/gopavasanth1999> | LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopa-vasanth/> | GitHub
<https://github.com/gopavasanth> | Gerrit
<https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/q/gopavasanth>
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
Hi everyone,
I am so pleased to finally announce the winners for this year's Picture of
the Year contest! We had some truly incredible finalists to choose from,
but the community has spoken.
Here are your top three winning images:
🥇 First Place: Damage in the Gaza Strip
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Damage_in_Gaza_Strip_during_the_Oct…
🥈 Second Place: Baby cape fur seal sleeping at Cape Cross
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:014_Baby_cape_fur_seal_sleeping_at_…
🥉 Third Place: Gigantic jet photographed from the International Space
Station
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gigantic_jet_photographed_by_Nichol…
You can view the full results and see where all your favorite images placed
here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Picture_of_the_Year/2025/Results…
I also want to highlight what an incredible turnout we had. In the second
round, we saw a massive jump in both the number of users voting and the
total votes cast. We had exactly 13,979 votes cast by 3,509 users! To put
that in perspective, last year we had 7,403 votes from 2,837 users. It is
amazing to see that level of growth and community engagement.
Thank you to everyone who voted, helped organize, and generally made the
contest such a huge success this year.
Regards,
User:ZI Jony
POTY Commitee
Hello,
Over the last few months the Global GLAM Calls
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_GLAM_calls> have grown
significantly! This month in April there were more than 100 registrations,
and 50 attendees on the call. This is incredible!
All this is thanks to your contribution, curiosity, and continued
engagement with culture, heritage, and Wikimedia projects.
In case you missed the call the recording is already available
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Global_GLAM_call_2026-04-28> on
Commons. The topics, presenters, and documents, are also neatly organized
in Metabase <https://metabase.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Item:Q43731> for easy
search and reference.
But now’s the time to build out the agendas for the coming months. Do you
have a topic you’d like to present on or have a request for? Send it to the
organizers via the request form
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_GLAM_Calls/Topic_Requests> on
Meta-wiki.
In 2026 there’s special focus on topics from the Strategic Pillars (Small
GLAMs, Minority Languages, Robust Technical Infrastructure, and Community
(mental) Health, and GLAM Recognition) but all kinds of presentations and
discussions are welcome.
Registration for the May call
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Global_GLAM_call_2026-05-26> is
already open, though the agenda is not 100% ready. See you online!
All the best,
Connor
