Help:Image description page

Each uploaded file has one or two associated image description page. This term is also applied in the case of other file types, notably sound files, e.g. File:V1sound.ogg.

If a family of projects has a Commons project, typically the file is uploaded on Commons. The image description page there gives copyright info. Other info is put on the image description page of the appropriate project. For example, if the projects are distinguished by language, info in German is put on the image description page in the German project.

The image is linked to the local image description page, which, due to the contents of MediaWiki:Sharedupload, is linked to the one on Commons, where the image was uploaded.

To make a link to the image description page of a sound file, or of an image without including the actual image, use a link like: File:a_sound.ogg or File:an_image.jpg. In the case of an image, the leading colon prevents the image being embedded in the article, and instead makes an ordinary link. In the case of a sound, automatically playing the sound is not possible anyway.

The description page consists of four parts:
 * in the case of an image: the image itself
 * description of the image/sound
 * "Image history", see Help:page history
 * "Image links", a list of pages that link to the image/sound; however:
 * for an image in a template it lists only the template, not the pages in which the template occurs (for that see the backlinks of the template)
 * if an image in a template depends on a parameter with the whole image code or the URL of the image, or depends on or , it does neither show the final page nor the template. If only the caption is a parameter, the template is listed. Thus for File:Tst.png the "Image links" section lists Template:Timgc, but neither Help:Template nor Template:T or Template:T1,
 * it does not include the rare case of an uploaded HTML file linking to the image

The description part has also an edit history; it is labelled, somewhat confusingly, Image:xxx Revision history. It should not be confused with the Image history.

What follows refers to the description part, and is in particular about images. For sound, see also Sound help.

Useful things to include on an image description page
In the description part of the page you can put text. Initially the description part automatically contains the upload summary supplied by the user when uploading the first version (this text also shows up in the Image history section at the first upload line).

Description of the image
Eg: "Image of a goldfish in a small tank". This should not be alternate text (see alternate text for images), but rather a description. This is useful for users who do not have direct access to the image, and is a temporary substitute for a proper  tag.

You could also include the proportions of the image, in pixels.

Other versions
If other versions (especially a larger version) of the same image exists, link to them.


 *  [[Media:Goldfish-in-tank2.jpg|different camera angle]] (info) 
 *  [[Media:Goldfish-in-tank-textfree.jpg|textfree version]] (info) 

Textfree versions are useful for using across language versions.

Relevant links (internal and external)

 * See also: Flag of the United Kingdom
 * From BBS News photos of Israel and Palestine

You can also include other images on image description pages.

Caption
Alternatively, the whole text is just a suitable caption, while other information is put on the Talk page. When using the image, the caption can be inserted using (i.e., used as a template).

Example:



which produces:



Nonexisting image
Nonexisting images show no image history section, see e.g. File:Stop sign us.JPG.

The image description section may have content anyway, e.g. a redirect, text regarding a deleted image, or an enlarged image in the form of a line of code such as in File:Tst.png (large).