deskthority

For image descriptions, there is Template:Imagedesc:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Template:Imagedesc

There's nothing for files, e.g. PDF uploads.

Two alternatives I can think of:

1. Rename Imagedesc to Filedesc, since Imagedesc has nothing in it specific to images, and PDF files and images share the same namespace
2. Create Docdesc that does the same thing, but just replacing "image" with "document", and maybe use green instead of blue (working backwards through the DT RGB colour scheme)

Which seems a better option?

1.
And maybe someone can put something in the template which people can cut&paste into the page they are working on. Currently there's no hint what to do for people who don't know how templates work.

Imagedesc isn't too complex to include an example on-page. When you get to something like Template:Infobox_dkeyboard, should it have an example of the whole template? Or just the most commonly-used fields?

I've always advocated copying and pasting code from existing pages as a syntax reference (which I still do), but this is a little less obvious with imagedesc. I only refer back to the template pages when I need to use a less-common parameter that isn't used in the page I'm copying from. (I just copy the infobox from the SIIG MiniTouch page each time, as it has the fields I need.)

I have at least since learnt that MediaWiki is intelligent enough to allow you to invoke a template on its own page; you just need to run ?action=purge once after each edit to break the dependency cycle and fully refresh the page. That's what I've been doing with the TODO templates — the example given recursively calls on itself to render the result, using careful use of <noinclude> and <includeonly>. Enough rope, but to your collective dismay, I've not hanged myself with it yet …

I've started writing actual documentation under Help, but whether it makes any sense to anyone or not, I don't know — writing documentation for a wide range of knowledge and experience levels is extremely difficult.

Did I really post this under photos and videos instead of wiki talk? I need more sleep ... Needs moving, not sure why users can't move their own topics.

OK, it's now Filedesc, though I'm just going to use Imagedesc anyway :P (Either one works.)

Copy-paste example provided:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Template:Filedesc

Daniel Beardsmore wrote: ↑ Copy-paste example provided:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Template:Filedesc

That's fine and dandy but a beginner like me still isn't sure how to use that. Whenever I am editing a page to add more pictures I find a plethora of "File:yadda_yadda.jpg|caption" in there. Following the picture link I end up with a nice description for the image complete with author, licence and so on but I have no idea how to add that data for my pictures - I simply upload a picture and nothing like that is added as there are no data fields for that purpose in the upload form. Thus, my images end up having no licence, etc. info whatsoever as far as I can tell.

And BTW the "help" link in the main page just points to the mediawiki general help page which doesn't exactly "help" either. I want to contribute as much as I can but things are far from obvious for someone new to wikis.

Edit: Never mind, I found http://deskthority.net/wiki/Help:Uploading_images which explains the mistery. I'll see if I can "fix" what I did without making a mess...

^ I was struggling with the description/license form too, until I ignored "paste it into description field" and pasted it into the "summary" text box on the upload form.

So basically, you first upload the files one by one and copy and paste into the summary field your prepared text (and change only the first line with every new upload):

{{imagedesc
| description = JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro front view -- CHANGE THIS WITH EVERY NEW UPLOAD
| source = Own work
| date = 2015-06-15
| author = [[User:zts|]]
| licence = Public domain or nearest equivalent
}}

Once done, go to the page you want to update and create gallery -- in this case, I was just adding an additional gallery to what 002 already created:

===JUST Limited 108UW-HiPro===
<gallery widths=250px heights=187>
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro front.jpeg | Front
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro boxID sideview.jpeg | Box label; sideview
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro JS logo.jpeg | Logo
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro keycaps sideview.jpeg | Keycaps, board sideview
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro blue LEDs.jpeg | Blue LEDs
File:JustSystems RF 108UW-HiPro blue LEDs 2.jpeg | Blue LEDs, keycaps sideview
</gallery>

I guess it's one of those things that when you see it the first time it just doesn't make any sense, but it starts being rather logical when working with it for a longer time. Frankly, it's more a fear of messing up somebody else's work/topic to which you just want to contribute rather than an extreme system complexity that makes this wiki work slower than it should be.

Fortunately I figured out where to enter the imagedesc data first time off, however with my first picture I didn't use the template and apparently one can't just replace the original with a proper, "licenced" one afterwards while keeping the same filename. So, I suppose I'll have to bother some admin to have it deleted and then start with a fresh one again. On my second try at enhancing what's currently there I'm avoiding the urge of posting even more photos and instead I'm trying to create one of those "wanted" pages, I hope this will keep DanielB happy... Besides, I won't be defeated by a harsh beginning!

^ I also had to re-upload files because they were without the needed info the first time. So, yes there are some duplicates up there. Hopefully it doesn't bother anyone.

It would be easier if filedesc was automatically used in the upload form. Zilog Jones/HaaTa keeps uploading images without any kind of attribution, which by DT wiki terms (or DanielB's at least) would be grounds to have them removed.

I don't think Zilog Jones is HaaTa...HaaTa was just poking some fun at his page

This looks more like it might be Zilog Jones: http://steamcommunity.com/id/zilog_jones
(Note the description, 'I hate the vidya')

OK, but what about my suggestion?

I think we're supposed to be using filedesc according to the description of that template (EDIT: lol...and apparently according to this whole thread which I didn't realise was 2 years old )
I've added 'Upload-default-description' which is a default function of the MediaWiki namespace that allows you to control what goes on the Upload page.

Details here: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/78468/

You should now see a blank form there which should hopefully make people fill it in before proceeding...

Good, thanks!

Next is making the "licence:" dropdown menu do something useful. Right now I see "None selected" and nothing else, it's useless.

Also, instead of empty parameters for filedesc perhaps you want to consider these defaults instead:

{{filedesc
| description =
| source = Own work | other (please specify)
| date = YYYY-MM-DD
| author = [[User:your_username|]] | other (please specify)
| licence = Public domain or nearest equivalent | other (please specify)
}}

This makes it easier for those not yet at home with the syntax (like, hm, me), though it remains to be seen whether you can do something with the above mentioned licence field.