[Commons-l] Suggestion for improvement

[Platonides]

Timwi wrote:
> A friend of mine ran into a series of really annoying/frustrating 
> problems today which ended up greatly discouraging him from contributing.
> 
> This is meant to be constructive criticism, please make of it what you will.
> 
> He downloaded an image file from Wikipedia without realising that it was 
> actually hosted on Commons. This is perfectly reasonable because 
> Wikipedia explicitly tries to cover up the distinction for normal users.
> 
> He then tried to upload his improved version of the image.
> 
> Problem #1: He couldn't because it was hosted on Commons. The error 
> message suggested to use a different filename.
> 
>    Short-term solution: The message should have mentioned that he can
>    replace the image on Commons.
> 
>    Long-term solution: Replacing the image should be transparent. He
>    should not have to care where it is hosted, it should just be replaced
>    wherever it is.
> 
> Problem #2: He didn't have an account on Commons.
> 
>    Solution: Fix the single sign-on for good. No more single-site
>    accounts.

Now, that's a nice structured message. A pity i see it after the more 
cryptic ones on wikitech :)
However, thetre's little to do at commons for your friend.
#1 Short-term is a message to be changed on the wikipedias or mediawiki 
localisation.

#1 Long-term is a feature request for the devs, but i see it unlikely, 
as the shared repository might not be a wiki, you may not have 
credentials, etc.
Not that images on commons showed on local projects don't show the link 
"Upload a new version of this file".


> Problem #3 (and this is the main reason I'm posting this): Commons 
> didn't let him replace the image because his account was "too new".
> 
> This is completely unacceptable. I am not convinced that this detracts 
> absolutely any vandals or other malicious users, and it only serves to 
> prevent honest/legitimate contributions. This restriction results in a 
> net loss, not gain, of useful contribution to Commons.
> 
> Thanks for listening!
> Timwi

New users often want to *upload new files*, not modify current images. 
They are also often the most clueless, so not letting them change 
existing images until autoconfirmed is a good idea.
Specially because that avoids vandals creating new accounts on commons 
and replacing with penis images the ones on article X.

Moreover, the configuration on all WMF sites -not just commons- is to 
only allow reuploading images to autoconfirmed users (unless you were 
the original uploader).