Commons:WLM/Onboarding
How to get started
with Wiki Loves Monuments?
Discover your countries cultural heritage und learn how to contribute your photos to the worlds biggest photo competition.
Welcome to Wiki Loves Monuments, welcome to the world's largest photo contest! Wiki Loves Monuments has set itself the goal of collecting photos of as many cultural monuments around the world as possible - making them available to the general public under a free license. For more than 10 years now, every September, people in many countries of the world set out to photograph their cultural heritage. Uploading their photos here on Wikimedia Commons to use them in Wikipedia other projects. This page should offer a easy and comprehensive guide, how to participate in this project yourself.
How to discover
monuments nearby?
When people talk about monuments, most of them first think of world-famous buildings like the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal. But cultural heritage monuments are not only these famous landmarks visited by millions of tourists each year, but also many lesser-known buildings in almost any region of the world. These include large historical buildings such as temples or palaces, but also many smaller houses or simple memorial stones, where even the local people are often not aware that it actually is a monument.
Often it is not easy, to find out which building is a monument and which is not. Let's see how to discover monuments in your area, and find out about the ones you have already encountered on trips or during vacations.
FAQ Monuments
If they are visible from the public space, the photography is covered by the freedom of panorama in many countries.
For interior views, it depends on the age of the building and the regulations of the buildings owner. Old buildings, whose builders have been dead for more than 70 years, are usually free of charge and may therefore be photographed without copyright restrictions. In case of doubt just ask here.
Often there are several names for one and the same building. If there is already a category for this monument on Wikimedia commons you should keep its name for the time being. The deviating designation can be indicated then in the picture description e.g. in brackets.
Yes, In case of doubt. But it is important that you ad an precise description, where you took this picture and what you think it shows. If you are not quite sure you can also ask here.
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What to photograph
for the Wiki?
Photographing cultural monuments is somewhat different from other normal vacation snapshots or selfies. Instead of putting yourself in the best light or conveying an impression that is more artistically playful, the aim here is, to depict the monument as authentically as possible. Not only should the building, statue oder landmark play the main role in the photo, but the impression should also be reproduced, that comes close to what is seen on site. Therefore, massive processing, color effects, image manipulation and filters should be avoided.
Of course, this does not mean that you have to limit yourself to dull insurance photography. This competition also calls for exciting perspectives and new angles. Exciting weather conditions and current festivals e.g. can provide an interesting frame for the presentation of the monument.
FAQ Photography
Of course, you can also use your smartphone to take photos of cultural monuments. The image quality of todays phones is by far good enough for the web. And the best camera is the one you have with you, when you're on the go, anyway.
Lighting is usually best in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun is a little lower and the shadows are not as harsh as they are around noon. Also a slightly cloudy sky helps to get a balanced lighting.
Both is possible and helpful point especially with larger cultural monuments it is worthwhile to take several pictures point including not only portrait and landscape formats but also different angles views and also details.
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How to upload
and tag your photos?
Uploading your pictures to Wikimedia Commons is the last but really important step of the WLM process. This is how you enables others to use your images in Wikipedia and other projects (and it’s the precondition to actually participate in the competition). Therefore it is important to name describe and categorize you uploads in a way that others are able to find them.
There are multiple ways to bring your images to the Commons. Feel free to choose the one, that fits your needs and experience most.
FAQ Upload
No: pictures taken by others are not yours to share. Only when you've shot the image yourself, you can enter them for Wiki Loves Monuments.
No, you can enter the competition with pictures you have taken at any time, as long as the upload happens during the actual upload period.
The list of participating countries is on the /Participating countries page of the competition per year, and also here on the WLM blog.
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Discover Monuments via Map
A quick and easy way to find monuments near your location is the web tool Monumental:
Find Monuments in the Lists of Wikipedia
What is a monument and how these monuments are recorded depends on the respective state legislation. Different countries or states and municipalities have different systems to record cultural monuments and make them accessible. This sometimes makes it difficult to find monuments.
Wikipedia Volunteers worldwide have already put a lot of effort into transforming many of the national and local directories into unified lists. Here you can find them sorted by continents:
Regrettably, these lists are often incomplete or missing. You can help us to complete them and also create a new list for your region.
Better Photos for Wikipedia
For Wikipedia's requirements, often an existing photo is better than no photo at all. Therefore, we are happy about every image submission. However, to place well in the contest, the technical execution and object representation should be coherent.
Above all, the subject should be easily recognizable. Please also make sure that the photos have a documentary character and should not represent an artistic composition; watermarks and frames are also not desired (see also the rules).
For the perfect photo, many technical details can be taken into account in order to reproduce the monument as faithfully as possible. In any case, the image should be provided in the best possible quality - ideally in the maximum resolution that the camera can provide.
To give your photos a better chance in the competition and to make them useful in Wikipedia, we have compiled a number of common problems together with tips on how you can improve the quality of your pictures with little effort.
| Image | Problem | Shooting | Postproduction |
|---|---|---|---|
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Help! All lines and angles in my picture are crooked! | Falling lines occur when the camera is not held horizontally but tilted up or down. Less tilt is therefore a measure. A greater shooting distance also alleviates the problem as far as space allows. | Careful de-skewing with image processing programs like Hugin or ShiftN, please do not forget to add margins for dropped parts of the image, but do not overdo de-skewing, as it can lead to unnatural or unrealistic views. |
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The house looks like blown up! | Use lens with lower barrel distortion. | Rectify with image processing program. Some of them even "know" the individual distortion characteristics of certain lenses and rectify quite specifically with the help of the data stored with the image. |
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The building is at an angle! | Use spirit level on or in camera, display guide line grid on camera monitor and carefully align during shooting. | Straighten" with image editing program. |
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And no matter how I turn it - something always remains slanted! | see first example | see first example |
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I have bright spots and stripes in the picture! | Observe the position of the sun, if possible do not photograph against the sun, possibly use a lens hood. | Corrections and or retouching in the image editing program |
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On the facade are ugly shadows! | Note the position of the sun, if it is possible, take photos under a slightly overcast sky. | Lighten depths with image editing program |
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The house looks much more gloomy and sad than it really is! | Wait for more favorable lighting conditions and better weather | Tonal value corrections can alleviate the dreariness. |
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The sky is bright enough, but the building is too dark! | Wait for more favorable light conditions (position of the sun) | Darken highlights, lighten depths with image processing program. |
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Somehow it doesn't get any prettier with flash! | Use tripod and available light, don't use flash, or, for advanced photographers, possibly light with multiple flashes separate from the camera. | extensive image processing |
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Actually, I am only concerned about the dovecote, not the house behind it! | Use depth of field in a calculated way so that the background becomes blurred, or find a location with a more neutral background (e.g. the sky or a tree). | Artificially blur the background with image editor. |
Copyright matters
Wikimedia Commons is a free content project. It only contains images and photograph, that can be used by anybody free of charge. Therefore it is really important that you make sure, that you yourself are the author of all the photographs, you upload to the Wiki Loves Monuments competition.
✔️ Only your own work
You may upload works that you created entirely yourself.
This includes photos and videos of..
- natural landscapes, animals or plants.
- public figures and people photographed in public places
- useful or non-artistic objects
- original graphs, maps, diagrams and audio.
Remember: By sharing your work on Wikimedia Commons, yougrant anyone permission touse, copy, modify, and sell itwithout notifying you.
❌ Not somebody elses works
We can’t accept works created or inspired by others. By default, you can't upload someone else'swork. This includes material such as
- most pictures published onthe Internet
- logos
- CD / DVD covers
- promotional photos
- screenshots of TV shows, movies, DVDs, and software
- drawings of characters fromTV, comics, or movies — even if you drew them
Exceptions:
- You can upload your photographs of old art, statues and buildings (usually over 150 years old). Which applies to most of the monuments.
- You may upload someone else'swork if the author granted permission for anyone to use, copy, modify, and sell it.
Create an Account
To upload pictures and participate in the Wiki Loves Monuments competition, it is essential to have an Wikimedia account.
FAQ Wikimedia Account
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Upload your images
The easiest way to upload your photos is propably the WLM Upload Wizard, that will guide you throught the upload process. All images uploaded with that wizard during the competition period automatically participate in Wiki Loves Monuments.
1 | Select files
Your photos should be stored in JPEG format in the maximum available resolution. Select one or more image files in your File-Explorer and drag them onto the dedicated field in the upload wizard.
Although you can upload as many pictures as you want, it's a good practice, do no more than a dozen at a time, since this makes it easier to enter all the metadata in the next steps.
Wait for the files being uploaded, till the thumbnails-images appear. Then press “continue”.
2 | Name and license
Select "own work" and enter your name to confirm, that you yourself are the author of these photographs.
With this step you also confirm that you are willing, to publish your work under a free license that allows everybody (including Wikipedia) to use your image. The preselected license is CC by sa 4.0. If you prefer to choose a different one feel free to do so.
3 | Name, caption and categories
On the next page you can enter an individual name, captions and categories for each image:
- Please choose understandable yet short title for your photo. Don't use the camera generated numbers ("IMG1234"). This title should give the users a good idea of what the image depicts ("Castle Somewhere - Gate house").
- The caption field should contain a realy short description, that may be usesd when your image is displayed.
- The description field on the other hand, is the place where you can get realy specific on what yout photo depicts. But keep in mind that this is just a image information and not on Wikipedia article. Feel free to enter descriptions and captions in as many languages as you are able to.
- Enter at least one category to help other users to find your image. For monuments the category is usually the monument's name ("Castle Somewhere") in English - sometimes followed by more specific locations like "interior" or "exterior". The auto complete function helps you to find existing categories but you are also free to create new ones yourself. Try to use the most specific categories and avoid generic terms like "Castle".
You may enter as many categories as you want.
- You may also add further information like Geo location data
4 | Publish files
By clicking the publish button you you finish the update process and end up on a page with the overview of all uploaded images your photos are now available in all Wikipedia projects and can be can be found by using the search function or by typing the image title right away.
Congratulations!
You just uploaded your first images to Wikimedia Commons and now uh official member of the wikimedia community. Here you can find all your uploads and all your text contributions.
Since every image or text helps to make Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects little better, it would be nice if you stick around here a bit longer – even after this years WLM competition is finished.
Other upload options for advanced users
More experienced users, who want to upload a lot of pictures, can use variety of helpfull software tools. These tools must be installed on your local computer, where you can organize the pictures, keyword them and then upload them all together. We recommend the following programs:
- LrMediaWiki is a plugin for Adobe Lightroom (version 5 or higher), which can be used to describe the images edited there and publish them directly on Commons.
- VicuñaUploader VicuñaUploader is an open source Java program for uploading images. It supports caching of meta information, category information and adding geo-tags.
- Pattypan Pattypan is OpenSource Java program for easy mass uploading of images. The tool generates files that can be supplemented with a spreadsheet program.
- Commonist is a free Java program for easy mass uploading of files to Wikimedia Commons.
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