Photos provide an important function, especially for a website that uses them extensively for galleries and articles. While many articles do not necessarily require an image to enhance the quality, galleries are redundant without them. Here on The English Lakes we use photos for both galleries and articles, so they are necessary to provide a useful resource for everyone.
Uploading your own photos to The English Lakes is fairly straight forward. You will need to create an account first. Once this is done the first step is to click on the upload file link, which is located in the "Tools" menu to the left. You will now be on the upload page. The form has the following options:
Source file section
Choose the file you wish to upload from the source. We ask that it isn't larger 30MB per file even though the maximum is 250MB. The following file types are preferred: jpeg, jpg and png. Whenever possible upload the image with the highest possible resolution.
File description section
The file description box includes file destination, summary and licensing, which are all mandatory.
- File destination: Photo uploads should always be titled appropriately as this is the searchable title for your image. Use a descriptive and concise filename, e.g., Sunset over Windermere.jpg instead of IMG_0086273.jpg. You will not be able to change the filename once you've uploaded the file unless you move the page.
- Summary: This tells the viewer all about your photo, so it is worth adding as much useful information as possible. The fields for this are discussed in more detail below.
Image details in summary box
{{File details
|description =
|date-taken =
|author =
|source =
|camera =
|licence = {{cc-by-sa-4.0 (self)}} <!--change as required-->
<!---------------------MAP COORDINATES------>
|latitude = <!--important-->
|longitude = <!--important-->
|service = leaflet
|static = yes
|zoom = 16
|fullscreen = yes
|scrollwheel = no
|width =
|height = 500px
|clicktarget =
<!---------------------OTHER COORDINATES---->
|dms-latitude = <!--optional-->
|dms-longitude = <!--optional-->
|os-grid =
|w3w =
|elevation = <!--optional-->
|view-direction =
|notes =
|additional-notes = <!--optional-->
}}
- Description: The description of your image.
- Date taken: Goes without saying really.
- Author: This is you (hopefully) so link to your username or real name. This is used for attribution purposes.
- Source: Use "Own work" if you are the author. You can also link to an external site here.
- Licence: The drop-down licence options, preferably cc-by-sa-4.0 (self) – see other options below.
- Latitude and Longitude: These are essential and need to be decimal degrees as they render the map location.
- OS grid: Ordnance Survey National Grid reference numbers, e.g., NY2621 is a 1km x 1km grid square. On this site it is used for categorising images into grid squares.
- w3w: This is the what3words address, which is another way to find an exact location. The National trust car park at Buttermere village is checked.piglets.loudly
- View direction: Provides an approximate direction of view. There are 16 pre-set templates to use; just type one of the following:
{{N}}, {{S}}, {{E}}, {{W}}, {{NE}}, {{SE}}, {{SW}}, {{NW}}etc.
Leaving the map fields as they are will be fine and will work in most cases. In some instances, you may want a different zoom level. The lower the number the further out the map is.
Using a licence
You should be the author of the photos being uploaded. We cannot accept other people's photos without their permission. If you are uploading on their behalf, you need their permission first and this should be stated in the author field of the summary. Selecting the correct licence is important. This site uses the following Creative Commons licence:
- To share – copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
- To remix – adapt, transform and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Under the following conditions:
- Attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike – If you adapt, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same licence as the original.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International and Legal Code
Currently, these are the only licences we use and are available in the drop-down list. Selecting a licence on the upload page will display a preview.
- CC Zero: Work is in the public domain / No copyright
- CC BY-SA 4.0 (self): Own work / Attribution required / ShareAlike
- PD OLD: Work is in the public domain in United Kingdom / Term of copyright has expired
Upload options section
There are two options. You can choose to watch the image page and ignore any warnings.
- Watching a page means that it will be added to your watch list, which is accessible from your user area. A watch list is a list of pages you currently watch and if any changes are made to those pages you will be notified.
- Ignoring warnings simply means you will ignore any warnings that pop up during the file upload process.
Click on upload
Once the above has been filled out check you are happy with the information and click on the upload button. The file will be uploaded. The image will have its own page, which can be edited should you wish to add to or amend.
Alternative upload option
The easier and quicker way to upload the file is to omit the image details in the summary box. Everything else can be added after uploading your photo; you can edit the page and copy/paste the blank image details (shown above) and fill them out then. This way you have the ability to preview your edit before saving.
Issues? Contact admin
It may look complicated with the following options available to you but after a couple of tries it will be like second nature. If you do encounter any problems, you can always post any issues on the administrator's discussion page.
After upload
That covers the upload screen and its various options. After the image has been uploaded you will be presented with the image page. This page is the image's permanent location and from there it can be included in other locations across the site. For example, to include an image or media file in an article page, use a link in one of the following forms:
[[File:your-file-name.jpg]]→ to use the full version of the file[[File:your-file-name.png|200px|thumb|left|alt text]]→ a 200 pixel wide rendition in a box in the left margin with "alt text" as your chosen description[[Media:your-file-name.ogg]]→ for directly linking to the file without displaying the file.