[WikiEN-l] Upload by default to Commons?

[Rob Church]

[Cross-post to wikien-l, wikitech-l and mediawiki-l; apologies for duplication]

On 03/05/06, Steve Bennett <stevage at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>   The "Upload file" link in the left pane of monobook still takes you
> to the page for uploading an image to the English wikipedia. In most
> cases, it would be more helpful to be uploading the image to Commons
> (US fair use being the notable exception).
>
> Since I notice that certain other wikipedias at least make a commons
> upload link equally prominent, is it time we considered removing the
> upload-to-EN link entirely, or hiding it somewhere for those that
> really do want to upload fair use images? And instead, provide a link
> to upload to commons?

Allow me to recall a #mediawiki anecdote from about a week ago. A user
new to the software wanted to set up about three wikis using a fourth
as a mini version of our Commons (their own implementation); the
"usage" side had been established, but the user queried whether or not
uploads from all wikis could be diverted to the new.

Given that the "slave" wikis would all have access to the "master"
database (excuse the confusing mix of terminologies for those who are
placing this into 'SQL context), I considered it wouldn't be too
difficult.

Now for the relevant bit. It's been discussed before, a little, and I
touched upon it in a recent discussion sparked off from the newbie's
questions...but it could be feasible for us to replace our
Special:Upload pages with something a bit more intelligent. Making use
of the licencing dropdowns, we could, I think, redirect free images to
Commons in a seamless fashion (after checking existence and providing
a courteous note to the user, of course).

This has advantages and disadvantages. The user's upload experience is
simple, and the image can be used as before without trouble. On the
other hand, deliberate or accidental mis-selection of the licence
[cw]ould result in an influx of non-free materials arriving on the
Commons.

Nevertheless, I think the idea has potential, and it's something I
might be interested in helping to hack together in the future. I'll
throw it out here and see what people think. And since I'm at it, I'll
cross-post to mediawiki-l and wikitech-l, too.


Rob Church