Commons:Alternative outlets
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This page in a nutshell: There are other places for potentially useful or valuable content which is not appropriate for Commons. |
Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to all. It acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation.
The project has a particular scope, and there are certain things that Wikimedia Commons is not. This page provides some alternative outlets for material which does not belong on Commons.
Background[edit]
When content (text, pages, images, etc.) is deleted, "Commons:What Commons is not" or Commons:Project scope (COM:SCOPE) are commonly cited as explanation, and rightly so. Unfortunately, this is not particularly helpful or calming to the person(s) who put in time and effort to create the material. They often see it as their hard work being casually tossed away. The phrase "try another wiki" is also sometimes used, for similar intent.
In an effort to foster a spirit of WikiLove, this page provides some referrals to alternative outlets which do allow content that Commons does not. Sometimes material is submitted that is perfectly useful, but simply outside of the scope of Commons. Just because the content does not belong here does not mean it does not have value, and it is worth preserving valuable free content if we can.
Please consider directing people to these sites (or this page), rather than simply telling them that their contributions are COM:NOT wanted.
There may be legal or ethical restrictions on the copying of content from Commons to other sites. It is up to individual contributors to familiarize themselves with the procedures and policies of other outlets and to examine their licensing arrangements, which may differ from Commons in significant ways.
Sister projects[edit]
Directory of alternatives[edit]
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NOTICE: The presence of a third-party site does not constitute an endorsement by the Wikimedia Foundation or the Commons community. See the general disclaimer for more information. |
| If you want to... | ... try this site | Additional instructions for using a free license |
|---|---|---|
| Publish your personal photos or artistic photography | Flickr, Ipernity | Flickr: Select a default license (log in first) Ipernity FAQ: Creative Commons Licenses |
| Publish personal/humor videos or an entertainment program | YouTube, Vimeo, List of video hosting platforms | YouTube: Creative Commons Vimeo FAQ: How do I add Creative Commons licensing for my videos? |
| Publish something which is in the public domain in the US but not in its source country | English Wikipedia accepts this type of file upload | |
| Publish something which is in the public domain in Canada (50 years pma) but not in the US | Wikilivres accepts texts and images in the public domain in Canada | |
| Publish a podcast or freely licenced music | Radio4all.net | |
| Publish original designs, artwork, or stories | deviantART, Openclipart | Creative Commons on DeviantArt - Explained |
| Discuss your life, interests, or opinions | LiveJournal, Tumblr, Blog hosting services | |
| Write an encyclopedia article | Wikipedia | |
| Write a dictionary entry | Wiktionary | |
| Write an educational book | Wikibooks | |
| Create learning material | Wikiversity | |
| Write a travel guide | Wikivoyage | |
| Socially interact with others | List of social networking websites | |
| Create your own website | Use a web host. Some are listed in the web hosting category on the English Wikipedia | |
| Create your own wiki | List of wikis, Comparison of wiki farms, Start your own wiki |
Inclusion criteria[edit]
The above is more than an arbitrary list of sites. Sister projects in the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) are preferred. Failing that, sites should meet some combination of the following criteria to be listed:
- Policies consistent with the spirit of WMF goals
- Allow content to be moved over verbatim (e.g., CC-BY-SA-compatible or GFDL-compatible)
- A wiki, or like a wiki
- Notable in some way (preferably as a link to an existing Wikipedia article)
Changes to this list should be proposed on the talk page. Changes that do not have prior consensus should be reverted.
License restrictions[edit]
Content (text, images, etc.) Text submitted to Commons is required to be licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License (CC-BY-SA); Media submitted to Commons is required to be licensed under the terms of the CC-BY-SA or a similar free license. Other sites (especially non-WMF sites) may require a different license. Do not copy content from Commons to other sites unless you are sure the licenses are compatible. If they are not, try contacting the copyright holder of the content to obtain permission to re-license the content, or to encourage them to resubmit the content to the new site themselves. Typically the user who submitted the content to Commons in the first place is the copyright holder. Check the page's edit history to help identify the user.
Moving content[edit]
- Transwiki guide at Meta