[Wikimediaindia-l] [Uploads to Commons] Geocoding and Multilingual descriptions

[Srikanth Ramakrishnan]

Heya all,
Yesterday, at the 32nd Bangalore Meetup, Shubhashish, Ralph, Aniruddh and I
had a talk, and I decided to send this mail across.
Not all people know about geocoding images, or adding multilingual
descriptions. I thought I would give a brief introduction to these two
concepts.
Please NOTE : All examples used below are images uploaded by me.

*1> Multilingual Descriptions:*
While uploading a file, it is best recommended, to add a brief description.
By default, the language setting is English. However you cann add as many as
you want, and in the order of your preference. I use Hindi first, and then
English. EG:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Central-Silk-Board-Flyover.jpg
I suggest adding descriptions in your local language and/or mother tongue
apart from English. It is irrelevant whether the language in which you type
has any connection the the picture. I have uploaded pictures of Tamil Nadu
with Hindi descriptions.
You can type in Indian languages using http://www.Quillpad.in or
http://www.google.com/transliterate/
Alternatively, you can use
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keymanweb/Keymanweb on Wikipedia itself.

*2> Geocoding images*
Geocoding is a relatively easy process.
You can use http://tools.freeside.sk/geolocator/geolocator.html to generate
geolocation tags.
The process is simple, open Google Maps/Wikimapia/Open Street Maps, locate
the place in question, and copy the link, in Wikimapia, from the address
bar, Google maps, click on link, copy the first link, in OSM, click on
permalink, copy from address bar and paste it in the box on the link given
above.
Click on Apply, it'll show the location in the map. Zoom in and give final
adjustments, if any to the location and copy the tags below. I suggest
{{location}} over {{coord}} as the latter is being depreciated. Among the
two {{location}} tags, I use the longer one.
Add the location tags to the additional info box while uploading.

Note:
i] For some images, getting a location is easy. Eg: In
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RCC-Magic-Box-Hosur-Road.jpg it was
easy as the picture's location is an important junction on a major road.
Locating it on the maps was an easy task.
ii] For some pictures, it wasn't so easy, like
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NH-209-Dimbam_Ghat.jpg I didn't know
where to place the exact marker, so I chose a hairpin bend from the map that
seemed most likely or close to the one I photographed. [ *For those who have
GPS enabled devices with you: Try saving the location, or like I discovered
later on, tweet out the something with locations enabled and favourite that
tweet for easy access later on.* ]

I bookmarked, the Commons Upload Form, GeoLocator, and the Indic Text tool
on my browser bookmarks toolbar so it can be opened as and when I take a
photograph.

If anybody has any problems or issues with the above matter, please let me
know. I'll be happy to help you out in any event you haven't understood what
I mentioned.

Regards,
Srikanth Ramakrishnan
User:Rsrikanth05
@rsrikanth05

-- 
Regards,
ME.
Wear a Lungi, Support the Movement
 My infrastructure invasion... plus other images
too.. on Wikimedia Commons. http://bit.ly/d50SIq
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