Help:Contributing/richMediaContent

Files on this wiki are classic wiki pages in the File: namespace, not Wikibase entities. The media workflow has two steps: upload the file, then embed it in a page.

Uploading a file

You must be logged in — anonymous visitors are read-only. Open Special:Upload, or use the "Upload file" link in the toolbox on the left.

The form asks for three things:

• Source file — the file on your computer. This wiki accepts png, gif, jpg, jpeg and webp.
• Destination filename — the name the file will have here, for example Example.png. Choose a descriptive, unique name.
• Summary — what the file shows and where it comes from.

The size limit is 1 GiB. The form warns for files larger than 50 MB — the warning does not block the upload.

After uploading, the file lives at a page called File:Name.ext. The page shows the image and its description. To replace a file, use "Upload a new version of this file" on the file page — the history keeps every version.

Files larger than roughly 100 MB are slow to upload in one request. Use chunked uploads through the API instead: see the official API:Upload documentation.

Embedding a file

Replace Example.png in the examples with your file's name.

You type	What it does
[[File:Example.png]]	Renders the image at full size, inline.
[[File:Example.png|thumb|Caption text]]	A thumbnail floating right, with a caption. The most common choice on content pages.
[[File:Example.png|300px]]	Fixes the width to 300 pixels; the height keeps the proportions.
[[File:Example.png|thumb|left|Caption text]]	Thumbnail floating left. Use left, right, center or none.
[[File:Example.png|alt=Alternative text]]	Sets the alt text, read by screen readers and shown when the image cannot load.
[[File:Example.png|link=Main Page]]	Clicking the image opens Main Page instead of the file page.
[[:File:Example.png]]	A text link to the file page — the leading colon prevents embedding.
[[Media:Example.png]]	A direct link to the file itself; the reader downloads it instead of seeing it embedded.

Options are separated by pipes, in any order. Any parameter that is not an option becomes the caption. A red link means the file does not exist — check the spelling or upload the file first.

Add categories at the bottom of the file page, just like on any page.

Files and entities

A file is not an entity and has no Q number. To connect a file to an item, add a statement on the item with a property of datatype Url and put the file page URL as the value, for example https://wikibase.ronzz.org/wiki/File:Example.png. The statement workflow is the usual one: Items and properties.

See also

• Help:Images (official) — the complete image syntax reference
• Help:Linking to files (official) — linking and download behavior
• API:Upload (official) — uploads, including chunked uploads
• Help:Contributing — the contributor hub