Help:Images
The use of images in Encyclopedia of Wisconsin Environmental History entries is encouraged. Adhere to these guidelines.
Use Public Domain and Creative Commons Sources
You must ensure that any images you use are either in the public domain or have a Creative Commons license (similar to the license shown at the bottom of the About page for this site) that allows for non-commercial reuse.
As a general rule, unless otherwise noted, images produced by federal, state, and local government agencies are in the public domain, as are any images created prior to 1923. For more specific guidelines, see this Cornell University guide.
You can search the Creative Commons database for available resources. You should uncheck the box that says “use for commercial purposes," as doing so will produce more results.
Note that many sources licensed for use through the Creative Commons require that you provide an attribution (i.e., a credit line) that provides the terms of use.
Uploading Images
- Before you upload an image, you need to have the image stored locally on your computer or device. Generally, you can control-click or right-click on an image in a webpage in order to save the image to your computer. Please use a filename that briefly identifies the image and that does not include spaces or special characters, other than an underscore or a hyphen.
- To upload an image stored on your computer, click the Upload file link in the left sidebar.
- In addition to provided a brief, user-friendly filename, please use the comment field to provide the URL of the webpage where you found the image and to make any notes about the licensing. If the image is licensed under a Creative Commons license, please paste in that information.
- Copy the filename of the image to your clipboard, because you will need it to create the link to the image. If you forget the image filename, you can search for the image on the Files Page after you upload it.
Citing Image Sources
When you upload an image, you should include the URL (web address) of the page where you found the image, if applicable, in the image comment field. If someone clicks on the image, they will then be able to view this information.
You should format images to include a caption (a description label), followed by a credit line (citation). The citation should include the photographer or creator's name, if possible, as well as the date, if relevant and provided, and the terms of use, if specified.
Inserting and Formatting Images
The image (right) provides an example of a properly formatted and cited image.
This image was inserted and formatted using the following code:[[File:Apollo16 earth northamerica 1972.jpg|upright=0.5|thumb|alt=View of the Earth photographed by Apollo 16 mission April 16, 1972.|Earth as photographed on April 16, 1972, by the Apollo 16 Mission. Source: [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-earth.html NASA]]]
You can copy and paste the following line of code into a page and replace the generic text with the specific information for your image file: [[File:insertfilename|upright=0.5|thumb|alt=insertalttext|insertcaptiontext. Source: [http://insertsourceURL insertcreatorinfo]]]
The parameters should be specified as follows:
- filename: The filename of the uploaded image; this tells the server where to look for the file that you have uploaded to the wiki using the Upload file link in the left sidebar.
- upright=: The number displayed here specifies the size of the image. You may need to play with this number to find the best size.
- alt=: The alt text will display if the user cannot load, view, or see images. This is a more detailed description for visually impaired users.
- caption: The caption text is not labeled but follows a vertical line (|) after the alt text. The caption should provide a basic description of the image, including any relevant identifying features, such as the date and place. The caption should end with a credit line, marked as "Source:" If the source of the image is a webpage, the URL should be included as a link, to be accessed when the source creator, etc., is clicked. In the example above, "NASA" is a link to the source page.
- NOTE: The filename that you type for the image link must be EXACT, including capitalization of the filename and suffix. In other words, the file database is case sensitive, even for jpg versus JPG.
Advanced Image Formatting
For additional image formatting syntax, see: