The Wikimedia Commons is a large image and media repository which hosts openly licensed files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation which hosts Wikipedia and a number of sister projects, for example Wikibooks, Wikiversity, and Wikiquote.
The InstantCommons feature of the MediaWiki software
MediaWiki is the free and open source wiki software which powers both Wikipedia and WikiEducator. It has a powerful feature called the InstantCommons.
The InstantCommons enables files from the Wikimedia Commons repository to be used in any MediaWiki instance where this feature is enabled. WikiEducator has enabled the InstantCommons feature, so we can use images from the Wikimedia Commons without the need to upload the file locally. This saves time, because the image metadata and licensing information is uploaded automatically when referencing a Wikimedia Commons file.
In short, using the identical filename of the image from the Wikimedia Commons on WikiEducator will automatically insert the image on WikiEducator with all the relevant licensing information without the need to upload the image or edit the metadata.
Example using puppy image from the Wikimedia Commons.
The following puppy image is hosted on the Wikimedia Commons at this URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Small_crossbreed_puppy.jpg
- Based on the URL of the source image above, we can see the filename is as follows: Small_crossbreed_puppy.jpg
- Inserting the standard wiki markup for images on WikiEducator, re-using the identical file name, will insert the image in WikiEducator. The following syntax was used to insert the image:
[[image:Small_crossbreed_puppy.jpg|450px|center]]
- Click on the image above to view the metadata of this file. Note that it correctly references the source from the WikiMedia Commons, as well as all the attribution information and licensing without the need to re-type this on WikiEducator
- This feature will not work if a pre-existing file of the same name was previously uploaded on WikiEducator. In this case, you will need to download the file from the Wikimedia Commons and then upload it on WikiEducator using a different file name
Purpose: Practise using the InstantCommons feature to insert an image from the Wikimedia Commons
- Visit the Wikimedia Commons site and search for an image you might use in your course materials using the search text field
- When you have located an image you would like to use on WikiEducator, copy the file name (Note: this is case sensitive)
- Go to the practice area for images on your Sandbox page.
- Insert the wiki markup for an image using the identical Wikimedia Commons file name, for example:
[[image:Name_of_wikimedia_commons_file.jpg|center|400px]]
- Save the page to view the image
- Click on the image to visit the metadata page, and read through the attribution information that was populated automatically by the InstantCommons
