Each uploaded file has an associated image description page. This term is also applied in the case of other file types, notably sound files, e.g. Image:V1sound.ogg.
The image description page of any image on Ireland Information Guide may be accessed by simply clicking on the image. The image description page of a sound file may be linked from an article; if not, use a URL like http://www.Ireland Information Guide.org/wiki/Image:V1sound.ogg or put Image:V1sound.ogg in the search window and press Go.
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: [[:Image:a_sound.ogg]] or [[:Image: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:
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 Ireland Information Guide:Sound.
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In the description part of the page you can put text, which should ideally include all of the following information, but if you don't know something, just put whatever you can.
Note that this information should generally not go in articles that use the image, and not embedded as graphical text on the image itself. However, the image file may contain embedded comments - in particular a copyright notice and statement of license under the GFDL would be good to include.
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). As opposed to an ordinary edit summary, double brackets in it produce working links, both in the description part of the image description file and in the upload log (but not in the image history, nor in the revision history of the image description).
Eg: "Photograph taken on 3 March 2003", "Taken from the BBS News website", "Scanned from copy of 1911 encyclopedia". Also include the author of the image and any other credits. This is just giving credit where credit is due.
If you have created an image yourself, and you have a higher-quality source file in a format such as SVG, OpenOffice.org Draw, GIMP, Adobe Illustrator, or Adobe Photoshop, you may want to consider uploading that source file so that other Ireland Information Guide users can more easily modify it if the need arises. Link the source file from the image description page, and add a link to Ireland Information Guide:Image source files. If the source file is too large to upload, you may be able to compress it using a utility such as WinZip or gzip.
See Ireland Information Guide:copyrights and the "Copyright" section of image use policy for more.
Adding explicit copyright information helps make Ireland Information Guide more useful for third parties who wish to reuse our content, just as many people reuse our text. It also allows users to edit images in greater confidence that their work will not be wasted if we subsequently discover that an image is copyrighted and not licensed under the GFDL (or a similarly open license).
Images with the following copyright status are acceptable:
Some images on Ireland Information Guide may show a copyright status similar to the following. These are more problematic, because their use may not qualify for the GFDL.
When possible, it is strongly preferred to use licensed, GFDL or public domain images instead of fair use images. If you do use an image but are not sure if it qualifies for use under the GFDL, consider indicating the status in the image caption somehow, so those who read the article will know that we are looking for an image which is easier for others to use. Document everything you know about the copyright status of the image on its image description page. This will help others know if we should look for an alternative image.
If the copyright status is unknown it's particularly important that you include all possible source information about the image, both to help others use the image and to reduce the chance of it being deleted as a possible copyright infringement. Such images are generally problematic, so please try to determine the copyright status or the year the image was originally created if at all possible, since you're likely to know more about the image and subject than those who end up having to try to work out if it's infringing with little or no information about it. If the image is a photograph or scan of a work of art, building, statue, illustration, old book or something else which predated the image, please give some information about the subject as well, since the effective date of copyright is often that of the subject, not of the image itself.
The more information you can provide, the easier it will be for others to determine whether it is safe for them to use the image.
Not all inclusions of fair use material may violate the GFDL; if there is a significant reason to include the image and no permission can be obtained it may still be allowable under the GFDL — a justification may be necessary. If you are claiming "fair use" it will help later users under the GFDL to determine if the "fair use" is broad (for further encyclopedia use) or perhaps not even applicable to Ireland Information Guide. It will help if the basis of the "fair use" is explained (briefly). See the Ireland Information Guide article on fair use for an explanation of the topic.
This should be done in two places. Firstly, add the following hidden text in the article:
Secondly, add rationale text to the image description page, beyond the information mentioned above. This fair use rationale text can be in the following format (the following are just basic examples, you must write your own specific text, do not copy this text for that purpose):
The above are only general examples; for what information to be included in this entry you can review the list of four factors in the fair use encyclopedia entry and use the Checklist for fair use (http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/checklist.pdf) a pdf document from Purdue University to draft your answers. The information should be as specific as possible, i.e. why you need to use the image as part of the article. Remember to put any information about the copyright owner on the image page after you upload the image and mark it "fair use." The rationale text should be mentioned in the actual article so that it is part of the article and anyone editing the article can see it but it is in the text not the talk page. It can also be mentioned on the talk page for a discussion with other Ireland Information Guide contributors). Adding this information is no guarantee that the image will not be later removed, but it will demonstrate a rationale to others that you may have a valid justification for including "fair use" materials that can be used under the GFDL.
Remember there is no "general rule" about fair use, each "fair use" must be explained and a rationale must be established for that specific use (i.e. every page that uses the image will have a distinct rationale for using the image on that page even though fair use is claimed on the image page).
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 longdesc tag.
You could also include the proportions of the image, in pixels.
If other versions (especially a larger version) of the same image exists, link to them.
Textfree versions are useful for our fellows using other language versions.
Please avoid adding a description in a language other than English. Instead, use interlanguage links to link to the image description page on the appropriate-language wiki, where you should upload a second copy of the image for local use.
You can include images on image description pages. This is sometimes done when:
meta:image pages includes a proposal to do the last one automatically. In the other two cases, some Ireland Information Guide users prefer other alternatives, such as good use of media: links.