Forum:Temporary forums/Overhauling image policies: Difference between revisions

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Rafe Wallbank uncropped.jpg|Who can it be now?

Before we start this, there's also a ''third'' page for image rules, [[T:ICC]]. I think this should be ''updated'' but not ''merged''. Having one rule list that goes into detail and another that is a "cheat sheet" works for me!

This was the favored practice of admins a decade ago, but isn't so in-vogue today. Basically the idea was that by cropping the top and bottom of images to look "widescreen" instead of 4:3, it would made the focus of the images more clear.

To me, this seems like something that might have seemed cool in 2011, but is just odd in 2023. It's my belief that since over 65% of televised ''Doctor Who'' stories were broadcast in 4:3, it should not be our official policy that we have to cut out details on the top and bottom just to make it look more slick. The cropping on our files, in my opinion, should correlate to whatever looks best and gives an accurate view of the story itself.

[[File:Turlough.jpg|thumb|This photo is entirely in-line with our image policy, and also happens to look really ''really'' bad.]]

Next, I wanted to bring up another policy that I think makes the site actively worse.

When it comes to what is important in an infobox image, it really should be a case-by-case basis. Like, [[Fourth Doctor]] should have the hair and scarf in the image. [[Ninth Doctor]] has the Dalek in the background for obvious thematic reasons. Rarely is the most important thing the eyes, nor is it typically the same across every image.

[[File:Bras.jpg|thumb|Oh no! This image of James Corden features him looking to the right of the article! Now all of our readers will quit reading our website! What have I done???]]

Okay, so this is a big one that might initially appear a little blasphemous. I've taken some graphic design courses since I started on this wiki, and I have ''never'' had someone repeat to me the rule about all images facing inside of the design. Like, I've never never never never had someone tell me "the person's face must never face away from the book's spine because then the reader will remember that reality exists and they'll close the book." Never.

So I do think it would be a good idea for this being our official preferred policy to be retired.

[[File:Lizardworld John Gilliand and First Doctor.jpg|thumb|This is one of my favorite images on the website. It captures a unique era, features three characters important to many pages, and also features the unique TARDIS of the TV Comic era. And the colours are REALLY a big part of what makes it look so nice.<br><br>According to our official policies, this image is actually ''banned''.]]

Basically, I think this one needs thrown out immediatley.

[[File:BilliePiperSmile.jpg|thumb|This image, on the page for [[Billie Piper]], has clearly been cropped to match with our in-universe image policy. There's no real reason for this to be done, and we should essentially treat real-world images the exact same way that Wikipedia does.]]

This has come up recently in the edit history of the image used on [[Rafe Wallbank]]. Basically, some editors on this wiki believe that images used on out-of-universe pages should have separate rules from those on in-universe pages. That is, the basic standard for cropping and framing, and what sort of images we use.

I am inclined to agree with this position. Looking at Rafe's page, it is a little silly that he's framed like one of the main Doctors, and cropping it just hides extra details in the photo.

This is a rule I don't think used to be here, and I personally think it's not needed. This made sense back when we were combining of all of the Master's pages into one, meaning the page was the length of ''War and Peace'' and was likely to blue screen your laptop

So I think we should replace this with the more practical and easy-to-remember maximum of "one picture per paragraph." I think most editors can see when a section is too bloated with images just by looking at it, so really it's just a thing of case-by-case discretion.

[[File:FiveErimemChurchAndCrown.jpg|thumb|This image was once featured on [[Erimem]] as an illustration of her. It was very important for the time, because the character isn't white, but her actress was. The image is taken from a ''DWM'' promotional comic previewing the story. This image is now against the rules.]]

So I thought I would include this one, since it's a rule we changed years ago, and I think it's generally been for the worse.

To be more precise, I think it would make complete sense for the Wiki to cover promotional images from DWM previews, slideshow-y BF video trailers, and so on, which are essentially '''illustrations''' that happen to be released separately from the story they illustrate. Sure, they're not exactly "part" of the audio story, but neither are images cropped the cover, or illustrations from the booklet, and we already allow these without trouble, considering them an accessory to the story.

Since we are now adapting the use of Tabbed galleries in multi-incarnation characters like [[The Master]] or [[The Doctor]].

I can think of a ton of uses for this right away. Maybe [[Oswin Oswald]] could have a tab featuring her as a human, and another as her as a chained-up Dalek. Maybe [[Hob]] could have a pre/post Erdrich horror tab system. etc.

Since this already covers a lot, I thought I'd thrown in another quick recommendation we have in [[TARDIS:Temporary forums]] that is quite popular.

One suggestion I've heard just today is that we could have a /Gallery subpage system. Similar to how we have things like [[Ninth Doctor/Appearances]] and [[Death's Head/Appearances]]. This could be a really cool way to bring in newer editors who love to contribute but don't want to just write essays all day.

Finally, comes the big one. File size limit. This has long been a struggle on this wiki, as we are requested to stick to a file size limit of 100kb, while also being asked to post images above 250px wide. Having to use third party software to compress images is a major pain and is not user-friendly.

At the end of the day, Fandom has a file size limit of 10MB. So if the company investing money into us don't have a 100kb file size limit, neither should we.

I believe that A) we should probably start our image guides from scratch, B) we should consider new sensibilities based on what's best for fresh-faced readers, and C) many of the rule changes above should be taken.

[[User:OttselSpy25|OS25]][[User Talk:OttselSpy25|🤙☎️]] 22:27, 21 February 2023 (UTC)