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Forums: Index > The Wizengamot > "Added by..."



As I'm sure most of you have noticed, there's a small "Added by [username here]" tag under every image in the articles, next to a small thumbnail of the user's avatar. This has been around since (if I remember correctly) the latest redress of the wiki skin and, while I haven't pronounced on the matter (actually, was anyone consulted about this?), it has been kind of a personal pet peeve for quite some time. The reasons for this are thus:

  1. It is so very unnecessary. To find out who originally uploaded the picture, one can just go the file page and there is is, complete with a full upload history (recording uploaders, dates, old versions, etc.);
  2. It is inappropriate, as it takes away from the articles' encyclopedic look. I think this is pretty much self-explanatory. If we don't list who added a particular sentence to the article, why would we list who added that picture there? Credits for specific additions to the article exist and have their proper place (i.e. article history; file history), which is not the article itself;
  3. Is is potentially misleading. The tag briefly says the image was "added by" someone, but it does not specify whether it was added to the page or added to the wiki by that user. Let me exemplify: User X uploads an image to the wiki and uses it properly to illustrate articles. User Y sees the image, and likes it so much that uses it repeatedly in articles not realising that he is placing it in all the wrong places and cluttering the articles with meaningless images. As a result, articles are cluttered with images that bear the words "Added by User X". This could potentially be harmful to User X's credibility, as the community would presume that X had added the cluttering and unnecessary images to the articles while he, in fact, had done nothing of the kind.

I wrote this to know if there is anyone there who opposes getting rid of these tags and, in case we all concur, if anyone knows how to get rid of them. --  Seth Cooper  owl post! 23:41, August 19, 2012 (UTC)

It's a pain-in-the-neck to be sure, but it's been around for so long now that I've more-or-less learned to ignore it. Personally, I think there are bigger fish out there to fry, such as the issue being addressed here. Regarding this particular issue, I don't think anyone ever was consented on it and I think it's something that Wikia basically just forced through with one of their updates. The only way I know of to make it not appear is to not use "Thumb" when inserting the image, as such:
Harry Potter in Classroom
Unfortunately, that method also results in not being able to include a caption.
P.S.: I don't see this on any of the images over at the Final Fantasy Wiki, so it would seem they've found a way to give it the heave-ho. So if we decide we want to do that, too, and I'm certainly in favor of that, perhaps I could ask them how they did it. ProfessorTofty (talk) 00:11, August 20, 2012 (UTC)
This bothers me as well. In addition to the problems pointed out by Seth above, it lists the original uploader of the file, even if a new version is uploaded by someone else. Memory Alpha is another wiki that doesn't have this, so there must be a way to shut this feature off buried somewhere. Starstuff (Owl me!) 03:58, August 20, 2012 (UTC)
I've asked if and how this tag can be disabled at Community Central. Starstuff (Owl me!) 04:21, August 20, 2012 (UTC)
Successfully got rid of the "Added by..." tag by adding some code to MediaWiki:Wikia.css‎‎. Starstuff (Owl me!) 07:34, August 20, 2012 (UTC)
Fantastic, good to be rid of it. ProfessorTofty (talk) 15:15, August 20, 2012 (UTC)
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