Commons:Village pump/Archive/2025/09

Crop tool

Is CropTool broken again? I can select my crop, but when I try to overwrite the original, I get "Upload failed! undefined". Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:52, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Andy, I tested Crop tool and have the same error. --Jarekt (talk) 04:04, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

I just used it to crop this file, so it's either working again, or only failing for some users. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 04:53, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

This section was archived on a request by: Working again for me, now. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 08:25, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Commons Gazette 2025-09

In August 2025, 1 sysop was elected; 2 sysops were removed. Currently, there are 178 sysops.

Election:

• User:Theklan was elected sysop (26/4/2) on 28 August.

Removal:

• User:Jean-Frédéric was removed on 12 August due to inactivity. He had served as sysop from 8 December 2009.
• User:JoKalliauer was removed on 6 August due to resignation. He had served as sysop from 17 June 2019.

We thank them for their service.

---

Edited by RoyZuo.

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Commons Gazette is a monthly newsletter of the latest important news about Wikimedia Commons, edited by volunteers. You can also help with editing!

--RoyZuo (talk) 08:45, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Watergate video copyright

Are videos such as this one produced by the federal government (and thus public domain)? The titlecard says "Org. from WETA" (this being a DC-area PBS station) but it gives no indication as to whether WETA owned the copyright or was merely the first broadcaster. Marnanel (talk) 15:12, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Marnanel: At 1:08:58 there is a spoken credit, appparently to NPACT (National Public Affairs Center for Television), which was at that time part of WETA, a PBS affiliate. So it would seem to me that WETA would be the likely copyright holder. The question would then be whether they did what was necessary in those days to secure copyright for a television broadcast. - Jmabel ! talk 01:20, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Category:Books from China by year

to move Books from China from, for example Category:1398 books into Category:1398 books from China I have to open each file, edit and save it. There are rather a lot of them. Is there any way of processing them in bulk? Rathfelder (talk) 10:29, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Rathfelder: Assuming I understand what your asking about, you can use Cat-A-Lot to do bulk file moves. It can be enabled in your preferences at the top of the "tools for categories" section. --Adamant1 (talk) 11:58, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Catalot does not do what I want. All these files are already in the appropriate year category, but to get them to move they have to be opened, edited and saved. Rathfelder (talk) 12:20, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Oh yeah. I see what your talking about now. I have zero idea what the problem is then. That's a weird issues. Probably it's caused by something in Template:Digitized Ancient Book in the National Library of China. Although heck if I know what. That's one of the problems with templates on here. It's darn near impossible to figure what how to fix problems with them when they go wrong. It looks like the creator of it, User:虹易 isn't really active anymore either. IMO the template should just be removed from the files and it should be deleted. It's totally pointless anyway. --Adamant1 (talk) 12:30, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Help:VisualFileChange.js might work if you know what string you want to replace, and if you know how to write that string in Regex. Nakonana (talk) 15:14, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

@Rathfelder, if you want to do null edits (saving without editing anything) in bulk, you can use VFC as menetioned above, select the files and then prepend/append {{subst:void}}. This should save a lot of time compared to doing it individually. Tvpuppy (talk) 15:18, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you. I dont need to change anything - they are are all - I think- marked as being in the category. Rathfelder (talk) 15:21, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

I forgot to say, as a test, I have just used VFC to do null edits on the files in Category:1398 books, so that’s why they are marked correctly. Tvpuppy (talk) 15:36, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Will null edits help? It looks like there's some template-like string in the license section which adds the general 1398 books category and prevents moving the files into a different category. I'd think that that string needs to be either deleted or replaced to move the files. Nakonana (talk) 15:22, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

I think it is a null edit. But how can I do a load at once? Rathfelder (talk) 15:27, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

You need to install Visual File Change. This will add a "Perform batch task" link to the tools menu on the category page. If you click that link, a window will open where you can choose the option "prepend any text" or "append any text", and there'll be a text box for the text you want to prepend/append, that's where you write {{Subst:void}}. And then select the files on which you want to perform that edit. Nakonana (talk) 15:34, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I will have a try. Rathfelder (talk) 18:04, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

VisualFileChange doesnt appear in my preferences under gadgets. Is it hidden somewhere?

and when I try Automatic: click here and follow the instructions. I just come back to the same Help:VisualFileChange.js page - I dont get any instructions Rathfelder (talk) 19:55, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

But Try it without installing does work! Rathfelder (talk) 21:11, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

If I remember correctly you might need to have a particular user status/group for it to appear in the gadgets list. You'll probably have to install it manually or use it without installing. Nakonana (talk) 15:42, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

I'm afraid I dont understand how to use Subst:void. Is there an explanation somewhere? Rathfelder (talk) 15:24, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

Explanations of what the templates do can be found on enwiki Wikipedia:Substitution and Template:Void. Nakonana (talk) 15:43, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

CropTool only possible of rotation by 90, 180 and 270° ?

I've noticed that it's no longer possible to rotate to any desired angle in the CropTool. Only 90, 180, and 270°. Has this been changed? Wouter (talk) 18:39, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@Wouterhagens: You are probably in "Lossless" mode rather than "Precise" mode. - Jmabel ! talk 02:37, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Thanks!! Wouter (talk) 08:03, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Close relative created files uploaded

I was searching for some railway related picture and found some pictures which were uploaded by Santosh4118 which were not their original work, it says Uploaded a work by Arjun Arvind (Brother) from WhatsApp with UploadWizard. Is this ok to upload files of someone else without vrts.––KEmel49(📝,📤) 16:46, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

No (unless they happen to be freely licenced, or inherited). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:02, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Creating a searchable list of my Commons uploads

I have uploaded hundreds of photos during the past 15 years. Sometimes I want to check on one. Scrolling through pages of them to find the right one is a pain. Other than selecting a page, copying and pasting into, say, Microsoft Word, is there a solution that allows, at least, searching of the file names? Cheers, Simon – SCHolar44 🇦🇺 💬 at 02:30, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

@SCHolar44: "Hundreds" should be pretty easy (says someone with about 70,000). You can easily create a user category, use Vfc or Cat-a-lot (once) on your uploads list to put them all in that category, and then use "incategory" in future searches to search within that category. - Jmabel ! talk 05:20, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Another option is to search for InsertFileNameOrSearchTermsHere "Author SCHolar44". It however only works for files of which you indicated you are the author (it basically looks up the Author field of the Information/Summary box). --HyperGaruda (talk) 06:09, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

only filenames:

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log/upload&user=SCHolar44&type=upload&limit=500
2. https://xtools.wmcloud.org/pages/commons.wikimedia.org/SCHolar44/6/noredirects/live

with thumbnails

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ListFiles?limit=500&user=SCHolar44&ilshowall=1
2. Commons:MyGallery.

RoyZuo (talk) 08:27, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

And if you want to get just full list of files to copy paste you can use Quarry: https://quarry.wmcloud.org/query/96868 . If you need a thumbnails from filelist you can create user page with

<gallery>
image1.jpg
image2.jpg
image3.jpg
...
</gallery>

It is manual work, but best i could figure out. --Zache (talk) 10:17, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Additionally, Commons:SPARQL query service is great for finding and organizing your images. For example, it's possible to make a list of the filenames of all your images to download and search with any editor. The queries I use the most are in User:Pere_prlpz#Consultes and those should be easy to adapt for anybody else.

The only drawback is that the photographer needs to be identified in the metadata, but there are some bots doing that and they work fine most of the time - sometimes they miss a few files. Pere prlpz (talk) 14:06, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Many thanks for your advice, Jmabel, HyperGaruda, RoyZuo, Zache and Pere prlpz! They are very interesting alternatives. Zache's gave me precisely what I needed and already it's saving me much time. Brilliant! :-) SCHolar44 (talk) 23:32, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

How to handle transitive image extractions?

It's a bit difficult to explain with words, so let me provide an example.

Suppose I want to have this portrait from the book File:Home life and reminiscences of Alexander Campbell (IA homelifereminisc00camp).pdf.

It comes from Page 9 of that PDF. Logically speaking, I would have to extract an image from that PDF first before cropping into the relevant parts.

My concern is, should I upload that extracted image to Commons before cropping (File:Page 9 of Home life and reminiscences of Alexander Campbell (IA homelifereminisc00camp).jpg) and if so, how should I handle using the Template:Extracted from and Template:Image extracted templates? Or does that overcomplicate things and I should just upload the cropped version?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnkinslow (talk • contribs) 06:12, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

You certainly can upload just the cropped image, but other people might find the uncropped version useful so if you upload it as well it makes things easier for others later. MKFI (talk) 06:33, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

If the uncropped image doesn't have additional value (such as this case), my usual method is to upload the uncropped version and then overwrite it with the cropped version. That way the uncropped version is available in the file history, but it doesn't have its own file page. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 06:38, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

+1 to Pi.1415926535. That is also my usual approach when I'm uploading modified version of a photo I took, as well. - Jmabel ! talk 17:19, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Check categories template

This doesnt seem to be working properly. If I change any other categories as well as clicking to check I get a message "You are editing a prior version of this page. If you save it, any changes made since this version will be removed." But that is not what happens. Rathfelder (talk) 09:57, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Have you by any chance edited the "captions" of the file before editing the categories? I always get the above message after editing the captions. Nakonana (talk) 10:35, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

Actually, any structural data. I always reload the page and then add the category. Ymblanter (talk) 16:19, 6 September 2025 (UTC)

No I'm just editting categories. Rathfelder (talk) 22:11, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Commons 21st anniversary

Commons is 21 years old, so some sweets for the Occasion! EugeneZelenko (talk) 15:56, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Happy birthday to Commons! Tvpuppy (talk) 21:36, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

A user or a bot is deleting a category for mexican food

I don't know if this behavior is correct. It's erasing the Category:Cuisine of Mexico category from many images. It seems to me that having that category, or the food category from a state in Mexico, helps people find that image. But I don't know if what it's doing is correct.

this is the record of changes:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/2806:2F0:9101:8232:2C72:EB:5C25:6C87

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Koffermejia (talk • contribs) 16:22, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

One of the reasons I hate dealing with IP edits: no edit summaries and no way to discuss edits that may or may not have a reasonable rationale.

If categories for specific foods are present, and those trace up the hierarchy to Category:Cuisine of Mexico, this may be fine. For example, File:Burrito Hermosillo.jpg => Category:Burritos => Category:Traditional food of Mexico => Category:Food of Mexico => Category:Cuisine of Mexico, so it's as reasonable to remove Category:Cuisine of Mexico from that file as it would be to remove Category:Food.

Someone might want to look at these and see if some are problematic, but on the basis of the above, I suspect they won't be. - Jmabel ! talk 17:09, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

These generally look like good changes - in some edits like Special:Diff/1082293476, the IP is replacing Category:Cuisine of Mexico with a more specific category; in others like Special:Diff/1082301758, they're removing the category when it's redundant. Omphalographer (talk) 23:49, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Is it necessary to have both these categories?

Is it necessary to have both Category:Portland, Dorset and Category:Isle of Portland? The former is said to be a civil parish, and the latter a tied island, but in practice it is hard to know which category to use for any given image. If we look at, say, Category:Isle of Wight, this combines "island, county and unitary authority area", i.e. both geographical and administrative, into one category. Should the same be done with Portland? ITookSomePhotos (talk) 16:46, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Combine them No useful difference. Rathfelder (talk) 22:10, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

"AjaxMassDelete"

Is there still such a thing as AjaxMassDelete distinct from VisualFileChange (VFC)? - Jmabel ! talk 01:01, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

I believe they are the same thing. Even the help page for VFC says "formerly sometimes known as AMD". DoctorWhoFan91 (talk) 15:21, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

@DoctorWhoFan91: You are quoting something I wrote, but I've been told I may be wrong. - Jmabel ! talk 16:59, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Oh, lol, sorry then. DoctorWhoFan91 (talk) 17:15, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Digging through the page history, it seems AjaxMassDelete was originally created as a mass-deletion version of AjaxQuickDelete. Eventually, Rillke (the creator) added more features to the gadget, and renamed it to “VisualFileChange” (see diff [1]). So, I think it’s accurate to say “VisualFileChange, formerly sometimes known as AjaxMassDelete”, as it is the creator who rename the gadget. Tvpuppy (talk) 22:03, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Wonderful, then it is as I thought. In that case, we probably want to remove the mention of "AjaxQuickDelete" separate from "VisualFileChange" on the "Gadgets" page of user-account Preferences. - Jmabel ! talk 04:26, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Good work all. -- Ooligan (talk) 04:33, 8 September 2025 (UTC)

Finally resolving this cfd

This cfd Commons:Categories_for_discussion/2024/01/Category:Setsumatsusha has been going for 20 months. I really want to try to resolve it. Immanuelle ❤️💚💙 (please tag me) 13:27, 9 September 2025 (UTC)