Help:Files

"File" is a word with a special meaning on a wiki. In your own computer, a file is really anything that's not an application. Your monthly budget spreadsheet is a "file"; a picture from your Christmas party is a "file"; a short story you're writing is a "file".

On a wiki, however, "file" is effective a synonym for "photo" or "picture". A "file" is generally a non-moving image. Our wiki regulates the use of photos. You can read more about those limitations at Tardis:Image use policy.

This document is much more about the technical aspect of working with files. It's more about how to use files than the rules governing them.

Uploading a file

Special:Upload

To upload a file to Tardis Wiki, simply follow the steps below:

1. Prepare the file on your computer in its final format. Make sure the file is exactly as you want it.
2. In the sidebar, under "tools", click "Upload file", or simply go to Special:Upload directly.
3. Click "Browse" next to the "Source filename:” to locate the file on your device.
4. Change the "Destination filename:" to something descriptive, if it is not already. Please ensure that the name of the file is intuitive and makes sense, not something such as "Screenshot from 09:55.jpg".
5. Fill in the "Summary", if necessary. Please also add image categories to the file in this section, by linking to the category. For example, if your image features the Tenth Doctor, you should add "[[:Category:Tenth Doctor images]]" to the "Summary" box. A complete list of such categories can be found at. Please also add in a category saying what media it comes from. For example, if your image is a screenshot of Blink ^[+]Loading...["Blink (TV story)"], then you should add "[[:Category:Blink TV story images]]" to the "Summary" box. A nearly complete list of such categories can be found at.
6. Select a licence from the dropdown that appears next to the text saying "You must choose the most appropriate license from this list:". This licence will invoke a template giving licencing details about the image which you have uploaded. If you do not fill in this section, then your image will likely be deleted. (see #Why was my file deleted?)
7. Click the "Upload file" button.

Placing the file

After you upload a file, you'll then want to put it on a page. Below are some options on various ways to do this.

At the top of a page

If the page upon which you wish to place your picture contains an infobox — that is, the little, graphical summary on the upper right of many articles — and the infobox already contains a picture, then you'll look for a line that looks like this:

|image   =

After the "=", just type your file name, such as:

|image    = filename.jpg

If the page upon which you want to place it does not contain an infobox, and you wish to place the image at the top of the page, then {{First pic}} is a helpful template. Invoke the template by placing the following text at the very top of a page, and replacing "filename.jpg" with the name of your file and "caption" with the caption for your image.

{{first pic|filename.jpg|Caption}}

Elsewhere

Should you wish to place your file in the main body of an article, then you can call the file by placing "[[File:Filename.jpg]]" on a page, and substituting "filename.jpg" for the name of the file that you want to place on the page. There are several things which you can do to customise this image, but the majority of times, you'll want to use the following code:

[[File:Filename.jpg|thumb|caption]]

This will create an easily-expanded thumbnail to the right of the page, with the caption displayed underneath. If you have multiple images in a page, you will probably want to alternate between left-orientated and right-orientated images. Left orientated images can be added onto the page by adding "|left" immediately before or after "|thumb".

Customisation

The former will be used in the vast majority of cases, but very, very occasionally you may need to customise your image to display in a different way. The following is a brief guide to how this may be done.

• Image size - Size should not be defined if image is a thumbnail, but it can be defined by inserting "|[file size][file measurement]" (e.g. "|720px") after the filename.

more to be added

Why was my file deleted?

No two cases are the same. However, if your file was deleted the most likely cause was a lack of licensing information. It's really important that we try to give users downstream of us the copyright details of the pictures we use. This is because, with a few extraordinary examples, we don't own any of the pictures here. Part of our responsibilities under standard "fair use" conventions is to clearly announce who owns the pictures we display.

If your picture was deleted, please be assured there was no personal malice towards you.

Please see Tardis:Image use policy and related pages for other reasons why your file may have been deleted, as well as guidelines for uploading your images.

See also

• Gallery of new files
• List of all files on the wiki