Wikipedia: The Missing Manual

Questions or Problems with Images

Sometimes you want to mention an image on an article talk page, or at a discussion page such as the Village Pump. If you type [[Image:imagename.jpg]], you insert the image itself onto that talk page, not a link to the image page, as you wanted. Displayed images don’t belong on talk pages. To create a link to the image page instead, type a colon just after the first two square brackets, so the link looks like this: [[:Image:imagename.jpg]]. Then those interested in actually seeing the image can click the link.

Tip

Using a leading colon works also for links to category pages, when you want to point to them rather than actually add categories to a page.

If you find an image that you think has copyright problems, you should:

• Remove all links to the image from articles, making sure your edit summary mentions copyright issues. (You can find all uses of the image by going to the image page and clicking, in the left margin, “What links here.”)

• Post a note at the user talk page of the editor who uploaded the image, mentioning your concerns. You may be able to resolve the issue at that point.

• If the editor who uploaded the image disagrees with your assessment, and you remain convinced there is a copyright problem, list the image at the page Wikipedia:Copyright problems (shortcut: WP:CP).

• If you get no response from the editor in a reasonable amount of time (say, a week), post the {{ifd}} template on the image page, save the change, and then follow the link ...