[WikiEN-l] A Solution to the Image Problem

[Stan Shebs]

Mark Wagner wrote:

>Wikipedia's got a problem with images.  2000 of them are uploaded
>every day, and most of them have inadequate source information, an
>incorrect license tag, or an invalid fair-use claim.
>
>A quick and easy way to reduce the flood of images would be to remove
>the link to Special:Upload from the sidebar, and instead point the
>"upload file" link to [[Wikipedia:Image use policy]].  If users have
>to hunt around for a bit for the actual upload link (and hopefully
>read some of the page), they're less likely to upload every image they
>can find on Google Image Search.
>
Not to be too cynical about the abilities of some of our editors,
but I bet simply moving upload under Special pages will cut the
number of bad uploads in half. Or make the link appear only if you
set the "allow uploading" preference correctly.

Requiring as little as a week of WP experience will also cut down on
bad uploads. There are an amazing number of logins whose complete
list of contributions is the uploading of one or two copyright
violations, and maybe an attempt to actually edit an article, all
within the space of an hour.

Stan