User blog:Sasstoreth/Helpful Hints for Adding Images

I've just started the daunting task of categorizing/organizing the uncategorized images on this Wiki, and while it's satisfying work there is a lot of it!  Contributors to the Wiki can help a lot by keeping a few guidelines in mind.

Name Your Images Uniquely
Please do not name your map "map". Please do not name your picture of your character "blood elf". There's a lot of maps and a lot of blood elves! And besides the problem of trying to narrow down which map or which elf, the next time someone else comes along and uploads a file titled "map" or "blood elf" it's going to cause all kinds of problems. You can be sure that your image is part of the solution by giving it a unique name.

Name Your Images Meaningfully
A file name of "hgouaihpwhgwioalg_2.jpg" is certainly unique. It's also meaningless. Whenever I come along and try to determine how to categorize it... okay, it's an orc. Is it a PC? NPC? What class? What character? What guild? I don't know, and often I have very few clues to narrow it down! Furthermore, someone looking for a picture of your character may not be able to find it based on the name alone (who would think of that?  who can spell it?). Uploading your screenshots with the randomly-assigned name is fast, but a few extra seconds spent naming your file thoughtfully will save you and others time and effort down the line.

(I added the example at right to provide illustration without shaming anyone. But there have been some funky names out there!)

Source Your Pics
The basics of crediting content are listed under that page, and if you haven't checked out those guidelines you really should! Of course you don't have to ruthlessly document every screenshot you take on your own machine, but if you borrow an image from somewhere else please do your fellow wikians and the image originator a favor and stick a note to the image telling where you got it. There's a handy comment box when you upload a picture; use it! (And if you did make it yourself, a note regarding whether other people can use it isn't a bad idea...!)  We've got some gorgeous art floating around this wiki, and I'd love to know where to find more of it.

Link To Your Artists
This kinda falls under 'Source Your Pics' but is important enough to warrant a separate heading. If you are using a commissioned, painstakingly-created art piece, do the artist a solid and provide links back to their portfolio, DeviantArt profile, Tumblr or whatever other 'net presence they may have. There's a pretty wonderful community of artists who are providing art for us gamers and roleplayers and word of mouth is about the only advertising they get. The more people see their art, the more people buy their art, the more time they can spend making art, and the more we as a community benefit.

The example at right has a link right in the caption, but putting a link in the file description is more than sufficient. Again, the box is right there; fill it up!

Categorize As You Go
You don't have to wait for me. If you know where a picture should go -- put it there! Everything can go under "Images", and new subcategories are being created and organized all the time* (I'm still figuring out progressively better ways to sort things as I go). Every bit helps.

* please do not make a new category for every picture, but y'know, if there's an overlooked genre, go for it.

Closing Thoughts
These are just the hints I was most highly motivated to share after several days trying to organize thousands of images -- and I know I haven't even scratched the surface! More suggestions would be gladly welcomed.

And keep uploading. We have a gorgeous Wiki, in part because of how many images people have been willing to throw onto these pages. Overall you guys do great work.