What URL should be used when a feature links a image to wikimedia commons?

[Necessarycoot72]

Hi,

I was wondering which URL format should be used to link a feature with the image=* tag.

For example:

• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inhalatorium_-_panoramio.jpg
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Inhalatorium_-_panoramio.jpg

Both URLs link to a valid image, but I’m not sure which URL scheme is preferred.

[Hungerburg (Asa Hundert)]

The canonical link is the one to the image embedded in a webpage, the first one in you list.

The other one is considered a deep-link where not guaranteed it remains.

BTW: There is also the “wikimedia_commons” tag to link to images. Some argue this is preferred over image?

[Minh_Nguyen (Minh Nguyễn)]

Consider setting wikimedia_commons=File:Inhalatorium - panoramio.jpg instead. (In iD, there’s an optional Wikimedia Commons Page field.)

If you use image=*, then there are at least three different possible URLs that correspond to a given Wikimedia Commons file. The two you give as examples both have significant usage, but both have drawbacks:

Restrict wikimedia_commons URLs as image=* tag values?

Moreover, the correct URL to put in image isn’t obvious for Wikimedia Commons–hosted files. For example, this traffic sign node links to the following page on Commons via wikimedia_commons=*: If I were to convert this tag to image=*, which URL format would a data consumer expect me to use? https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lane_use_diagram_sign_at_Interstate_280_and_Almaden_Plaza_Way,_San_Jose,_California.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Lane_use_diagram_sign_a…

[Necessarycoot72]

Oh, I know about wikimedia_commons=* and I exclusively use it. I’m asking about cases when a feature already has both wikimedia_commons=* and image=* tags.

I remember there was some disagreement awhile back on which tag should be used. So, I decided not to use the image=* and instead exclusively use wikimedia_commons=*. However, if a feature already has both image=* and wikimedia_commons=*, I want to ensure the image=* tag is correct.

[Hungerburg (Asa Hundert)]

Personally, I always use the File: link, regardless of key. Works both with the “image” and the “commons” key in my editor and some QA tools; just because my editor (JOSM) seems unbeknown of the “wikimedia_commons” key I happened to tag image instead. Helpful janitors correct that to wiki key, I have learned.

To repeat: The File: link on wikimedia is the canonical one. The other is not considered stable, users might get unexpected results.

[Necessarycoot72]

Thanks for your detailed response. I have a question: doesn’t the https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File URL format seem the best option? If someone uploads a newer version, having a link that goes bad would be catastrophic. While the https://commons.wikimedia.org link is not an image, it is more persistent. Is this a problem for data consumers? Do they have issues if the tag links to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File instead of https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia?

[Minh_Nguyen (Minh Nguyễn)]

@Necessarycoot72

Do they have issues if the tag links to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File instead of https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia?

This is at least a problem for OsmAnd:

Restrict wikimedia_commons URLs as image=* tag values?

My bad, I had an outdated download. The image does appear now: [Photo of a storefront with a robot on the sidewalk in front.] But here’s another example, a building last edited a decade ago to add image=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bank_of_Italy_%28Livermore,_CA%29.JPG (note insecure URL): [We do not have photos for this location.] So OsmAnd will fetch direct image URLs but will not resolve URLs to image description pages.

A data consumer could add special logic to resolve a URL to a file description page to the canonical file name. However, I don’t think mappers can take this fallback heuristic for granted if they want to ensure that the image works.

@Necessarycoot72

Oh, I know about wikimedia_commons=* and I exclusively use it. I’m asking about cases when a feature already has both wikimedia_commons=* and image=* tags.

The problem with both keys is that they presume a single best image to represent the feature, which isn’t always possible. At least wikimedia_commons=* can be set to a category name (beginning with Category:), which a data consumer can then resolve to a whole image gallery if it wants.

[Necessarycoot72]

Using OsmAnd as a benchmark, we can infer that other data consumers might also have issues with image=*. Are there other examples of applications that either do or do not have problems with https://commons.wikimedia.org links?

According to an issue on the OsmAnd GitHub page, they support wikimedia_commons=*, eliminating the need for image=* altogether. This suggests that wikimedia_commons=* is the better option for displaying images in OsmAnd use case.