
This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
Manual of Style (MoS) |
---|
|
This page provides an overview of how images are used on Wikipedia. For detailed guidelines, see the Image use policy. For instructions on uploading and including images, see Help:Files.
Choosing images
Pertinence and encyclopedic nature
Images must be significant and relevant in the topic's context, not primarily decorative. Each image in an article should have a clear and unique illustrative purpose and serve as an important illustrative aid to understanding. When possible, find better images and improve captions rather than simply removing poor or inappropriate ones, especially on pages with few visuals. However, not every article needs images, and too many can be distracting: usually, less is more.
Images should look like what they are meant to illustrate, regardless of whether they are authentic. For example, a painting of a cupcake may be an acceptable image for Cupcake, but a real cupcake that has been decorated to look like something else entirely is less appropriate. Similarly, an image of a generic-looking cell under a light microscope might be useful on multiple articles, as long as there are no visible differences between the cell in the image and the typical appearance of the cell being illustrated.
Strive for variety. For example, in an article with numerous images of persons (e.g. Running), seek to depict a variety of ages, genders, and ethnicities. If an article on a military officer already shows its subject in uniform, then two more formal in-uniform portraits would add little interest or information, but a map of an important battle and an image of its aftermath would be more informative. Resist the temptation to overwhelm an article with images of marginal value simply because many images are available. Prioritize quality over quantity.
Ethnic groups
Articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations should not be illustrated by a photomontage or gallery of images of group members. This does not apply to articles about things such as body parts or haircuts.
Image quality
Use the best quality images available. Poor-quality images—dark or blurry; showing the subject too small, hidden in clutter, or ambiguous; and so on—should not be used unless absolutely necessary. Think carefully about which images best illustrate the subject matter. For example:
- An image of a white-tailed eagle is useless if the bird appears as a speck in the sky.
- A biography should lead with a portrait photograph of the subject alone, not with other people.
- A suitable picture of a hammerhead shark would show its distinctive hammer-like head, to distinguish it from other sharks.
- A map of Moldova should show its frontiers with Romania and Ukraine, so people may know where the country is located in relation to its neighbors.
- Rice is best represented with an image of plain rice, not fried rice.
- Intangible concepts can be illustrated; for example, two boars butting heads portrays aggression.
Pages using seals, flags, banners, logos, or other symbols to represent governments, organizations, and institutions should use the version prescribed by that entity when available. These are preferable to amateur creations of similar quality, including photographs of physical representations of emblems.
Avoid presenting textual information as images
Scale references
An image sometimes includes a familiar object to communicate scale. Such fiducial markers should be as culturally universal and standardized as possible: rulers, matches, batteries, pens/pencils, footballs (soccer balls), people and their body parts, vehicles, and famous structures such as the Eiffel Tower are good choices, but many others are possible. Such objects as coins, banknotes, and sheets of paper are less satisfactory because they are specific to given locales, but may be better than none at all since at least the general scale is still communicated.
Quantitative data, if available, should still be given in the caption or the article.
- A tick (with a matchstick for scale)
- Ammunition (with an AA battery)
- Emus (with a human silhouette and scale in meters)
Offensive images

Wikipedia is not censored: its mission is to present information, including information which some may find offensive. However, a potentially offensive image—one that would be considered vulgar, horrifying, or obscene by typical Wikipedia readers—should be included only if it is treated in an encyclopedic manner, i.e. only if its omission would cause the article to be less informative, relevant, or accurate, and no equally suitable alternative is available. Images should respect conventional expectations of readers for a given topic as much as is possible without sacrificing the quality of the article. Avoid images that contain irrelevant or extraneous elements that might seem offensive or harassing to readers; for example, photographs taken in a pornographic context would normally be inappropriate for articles about human anatomy.
Images for the lead
It is common for an article's lead or infobox to carry a representative image—such as of a person or place, a book or album cover—to give readers visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page.
For some topics, selecting the lead image can be difficult. While Wikipedia is not censored, lead images should be selected with care
. The lead image is perhaps the first thing to catch the reader's eye, so avoid lead images that readers would not expect to see there. Unlike other content beyond the lead, the lead image should be chosen with these considerations in mind.Advice on selecting a lead image includes:
- Lead images should be natural and appropriate representations of the topic; they should not only illustrate the topic specifically, but also be the type of image used for similar purposes in high-quality reference works, and therefore what our readers will expect to see. Lead images are not required, and not having a lead image may be the best solution if there is no easy representation of the topic.
- Lead images should be of least shock value; an alternative image that accurately represents the topic without shock value should always be preferred. For example, using an image of deportees being subjected to selection as the lead image at this version of The Holocaust is far preferable to the appropriate images that appear later in the article that show the treatment of the prisoners or corpses from the camps.
- Sometimes it is impossible to avoid using a lead image with perceived shock value, for example in articles on human genitalia. Editors may assume, per Wikipedia:Content disclaimer, that readers are aware that such articles may contain such images.
- Articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations should not be illustrated by a photomontage or gallery of images of group members. This does not apply to articles about things such as body parts or haircuts.
- On some mobile platforms an article's first image may be displayed at the top of the article, even if it appears well into the article in the desktop view. When placing images consider whether this phenomenon may mislead or confuse readers using mobile devices.
How to place an image
Syntax
Basic example (producing the image at right):
[[File:Siberian Husky pho.jpg|thumb|alt=A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy.|A [[Siberian Husky]] used as a pack animal]]

File:Siberian Husky pho.jpg
The file (image) name must be exact (including capitalization, punctuation and spacing) and must include.jpg
,.png
or other extension. (Image:
andFile:
work the same.) If Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons both have an image with the specified name, the Wikipedia version is the one that will appear in the article.thumb
is required in most casesalt=A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy.
Alt text is meant for those who cannot see the image; unlike the caption, it summarizes the image's appearance. It should comport with Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility/Alternative text for images and should name famous events, people and things.A [[Siberian Husky]] used as a pack animal
The caption comes last, and gives the meaning or significance of the image.
See WP:Extended image syntax for further features and options. If the image does not display after you have carefully checked the syntax, it may have been blacklisted.
VR photographs
To display VR photographs (aka 360-degree panoramas or photospheres), use {{PanoViewer}}.
Size
- Images adjacent to text should use the
|thumb
(thumbnail) or|frameless
parameter, typically sized differently from the original. The default image width then becomes 220 pixels (px), which registered (logged-in) users can change via Preferences. The Siberian Husky image above is displayed at whatever your base width is.

upright=1.8
, so that it is 80% wider than the Siberian Husky image above (which is at the default upright=1
width)
upright=0.5
; a scaling factor less than 1 contracts the image width.- An image's size is controlled by changing its width – after which software automatically adjusts height in proportion. (Most references to an image's "size" really mean its width.)
- Except with very good reason, a fixed width in pixels (e.g.
17px
) should not be specified, because it ignores the user's base width setting. Thusupright=scaling factor
is preferred when it is desired to present an image at other than the default width. As a general rule, images should not be set to a larger fixed width than 220px (the initial base width), and if an exception to this general rule is warranted, the resulting image should usually be no more than 400px wide (300px for lead images) and 500px tall, for comfortable display on the smallest devices "in common use" (though this may still cause viewing difficulties on some unusual displays). - To convert a
px
value toupright
, divide it by 220 and round the result as desired. For example,|150px
is roughly equivalent to|upright=0.7
because 150 / 220 ≃ 0.682 .- Cases where fixed sizes may be used include for standardization of size via templates (such as within infobox templates or the display of country flag icons), for displaying reduced images sizes where space is constrained (such as images used in the In the News and Did You Know sections on the WP:Main Page, or within larger tables such as List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates), or if it is necessary to align images in columns or rows. Templates like {{multiple image}} can automatically match the height or width of images with different aspect ratios, though this height or width must be hard coded to a set number of pixels because it cannot scale images to respect users' preferences.
- Where a smaller or larger image is appropriate, use
|upright=scaling factor
, which expands or contracts the image by a factor relative to the user's base width.- For example:
upright=1.3
might be used for an image with fine detail (e.g. a map or diagram) to render it "30% larger than this user generally wants". (For a reader with the usual base width setting of 220px, this is 285px.)upright=0.6
might be used for an image with little detail (e.g. a simple drawing or flag) which can be adequately displayed "40% smaller than this user generally wants". (For a reader with the usual base width setting of 220px, this is 130px.)
- Short, wide images often call for
upright
of 1 or greater; tall, narrow images may look best withupright
of 1 or less. - When specifying
upright=
values greater than 1, take care to balance the need to reveal detail against the danger of overwhelming surrounding article text.- Images in which a small region of detail is important (but cropping to that region is unacceptable) may need to be larger than normal, but
upright=1.8
should usually be the largest value for images floated beside text. - Lead images should usually use
upright=1.35
at most.
- Images in which a small region of detail is important (but cropping to that region is unacceptable) may need to be larger than normal, but
- Images within an article, especially those near one another and on the same side, may be more appealing if presented at the same width.
- If
upright
is completely absent, that's equivalent toupright=1
. Butupright
alone, with no=scaling factor
(e.g.[[File:Dog.jpg|thumb|upright|A big dog]]
) is equivalent toupright=0.75
; this usage is confusing and therefore deprecated. Historically, "upright" was intended for upright (portrait) images, which look better at a narrower width. Later, the parameter was expanded to support any scaling factor, but the original name remained.
- For example:
- To present images larger than the guidelines above (e.g. panoramas), use
|thumb|center
or|thumb|none
, so that the image stands alone; or use {{wide image}} or {{tall image}} to present a very large image in a scrollable box.

|thumb|center|upright=2.5
to expand the image, center it, and clear the area on either side.Location

Most images should be on the right side of the page, which is the default placement. Left-aligned images may disturb the layout of bulleted lists and similar structures that depend on visual uniformity, e.g. by pushing some items on such lists further inward. Hence, avoid left-aligned images near such structures. If an exception to the general rule is warranted, specify |left
in the image link: [[File:Siberian Husky pho.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy |A [[Siberian Husky]] used as a pack animal]]
.
An image should generally be placed in the most relevant article section; if this is not possible, try not to place an image too early, i.e., far ahead of the text discussing what the image illustrates, if this could puzzle the reader. The first image of a section should be placed below any hatnote (typically a navigational hatnote in the form of {{Main}}
, {{Further}}
and {{See also}}
templates). Do not place an image at the end of the previous section as this will not be visible in the appropriate section on mobile devices. An image causes a paragraph break (i.e., the current paragraph ends and a new one begins) so it is not possible to place an image within a paragraph. This applies to thumb
images; small inline images are an exception ( ).


Multiple images can be staggered right and left. However, avoid sandwiching text between two images horizontally opposite each other; or between an image and an infobox, navigation template, or similar. As an alternative, consider using the {{multiple image}} template, which places two images together on the right (but which, however, ignores logged-in users' selected image sizes). If the section has multiple relevant paragraphs, you can also move one image to another place in the section.
Portrait
It is often preferable to place a portrait (image or representation of a person) so that they "look" toward the text, but do not achieve this by reversing the image, which creates a false presentation. (Faces are never truly symmetric even in the absence of scars or other features.)
References from article text
Image placement varies with platform and screen size, especially mobile platforms, and is meaningless to screen readers. As such, article text should not refer to image positions, especially with terms such as left, right, above, or below. Instead, use captions to identify images.
Inline images
- Substituting
frameless
forthumb
produces an "inline" image. For example,
This [[File:Flag of Japan.svg|frameless|x20px]] is an inline image.
produces
Thisis an inline image.
- A one-pixel border may be added via
|border
. For example,
This [[File:Flag of Japan.svg|frameless|x20px|border]] is an inline image with a border.
produces
Thisis an inline image with a border.
- Inline images do not have captions
- Note the syntax
x20px
: whereas20px
specifies a 20-pixel width,x20px
specifies a 20-pixel height. Heights betweenx18px
andx22px
will usually match surrounding text well. (upright
is not usually used with inline images.)
Making images available
All images used on Wikipedia must be uploaded to Wikipedia itself or Wikimedia Commons. That is, hotlinking is not supported.
Images uploaded to Wikipedia are automatically placed into the File namespace (formerly known as the Image namespace), i.e., the names of image pages start with the prefix File:
.
Obtaining images
All images must comply with Wikipedia's image use policy: in general, they must be free for reuse, including commercial use and use after alteration, though some "fair use" of non-free content is allowed in limited circumstances—see Wikipedia:Non-free content.
Finding images already uploaded
Search for existing files through:
- Special:Search – Use the "Multimedia" setting to search for images and other files uploaded to the English Wikipedia by keyword or title. Most fair-use images are located here.
- commons:Special:Search – Go to Wikimedia Commons to search for images and other media files by description, title, or category.
- If the article has interlanguage links to other Wikipedias, then click through to the non-English articles to see which images they are using.
Making images yourself
You may upload photographs, drawings, or other graphics created with a camera, scanner, graphics software, and so on. When photographing or scanning potentially copyrighted works, or creating depictions of persons other than yourself, be sure to respect copyright and privacy restrictions. For further information see Wikipedia:Non-free content.
In order to maximize images' usefulness in all languages, avoid including text within them. Instead, add text, links, references, etc., to images using Template:Annotated image or Template:Annotated image 4, which can also be used to expand the area around an image or crop and enlarge part of an image—all without the need for uploading a new, modified image.
Finding images on the Internet
An extensive list of free image resources by topic can be found at: Public domain image resources. In addition to Wikimedia Commons, the Wikimedia Toolserver has a Free Image Search Tool (FIST), which automatically culls free images from the Wikimedia sister projects, Flickr and a few other sites. Several other useful, general purpose image search engines include: Google Image Search, Picsearch and . Creative Commons licensed images with Attribution and Attribution-ShareAlike as their license may be used on Wikipedia. Images with any license restricting commercial use or the creation of derivative works may not be used on Wikipedia.
The Creative Commons site has a search page that can be used as a starting point to find suitably licensed images; make sure you check both the checkboxes "use for commercial purposes" and "modify, adapt, or build upon".
If you find an image on the Internet that is not available freely, you can email the copyright owner and ask for their permission to release it under a suitable license, adapting the boilerplate request for permission. If you cannot find a suitable image, you may also list your request at Wikipedia:Requested pictures, so that another contributor may find or create a suitable image.
Requesting images from others
See
- Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission
- Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials
- Wikipedia:Declaration of consent for all enquiries
- Wikipedia:Requested pictures (for requesting Wikipedians to take photos etc.)
Editing images

An image's utility or quality may be improved by cropping (to focus on the relevant portion), cleaning up scanning artifacts, correcting color balance, removing red-eye effect, or other adjustments.
The caption of an image should mention such edits (e.g. introduction of false color or pseudocolor) if a reader needs to know about them to properly interpret the image.
Edits that improve the presentation without materially altering the content need not be mentioned in the caption e.g. rotation to correct a slightly crooked image, improvement to the contrast of a scan, or blurring a background to make the main subject more prominent. (However, all changes to images taken from outside sources should be noted on the image's description page. For images created by editors themselves, changes which could have been part of the image's original composition—such as rotation or minor cropping—need not be mentioned on the description page.)
Images should not be changed in ways that materially mislead the viewer. For example, images showing artworks, faces, identifiable places or buildings, or text should not be reversed (although those showing soap bubbles or bacteria might be). Do not change color integral to the subject, such as in images of animals. It is usually appropriate to de-speckle or remove scratches from images, though that might be inappropriate for historical photographs.
An image that was originally published as a monochrome image, such as black-and-white or sepia photographs, should not usually be colorized. Adding color to such an image constitutes original research. Images that were colorized by their creator, an expert, or a reliable source may sometimes be acceptable.
AI upscaling software should generally not be used to increase the resolution or quality of an old or low-resolution image. Original historical images should always be used in place of AI upscaled versions. If an AI-upscaled image is used in an article, this fact should be noted in its caption.
For assistance in editing images, try WP:Graphics Lab.
Uploading images
Logged in users with autoconfirmed accounts (meaning at least four days old and at least ten edits at the English Wikipedia) can upload media to the English Wikipedia. Only free licensed media, not fair use media, may be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. Media on Wikimedia Commons can be linked to in the same way as media of the same name on Wikipedia. To upload media to the English Wikipedia, go to special:upload and for Wikimedia Commons, go to commons:special:upload. For preferred file formats, see: Preparing images for upload.
Image description pages
Each image has a corresponding description page, which documents the image's source, author and copyright status; descriptive (who, what, when, where, why) information; and technical (equipment, software, etc.) data useful to readers and later editors.
To maximize the utility and educational value of an image, please describe its contents as fully as possible on the image's description page. For example, photographs of artwork benefit from documentation of the artist, title, location, dates, museum identification numbers, and so on. Images that are described only in vague terms (for example, "a cuneiform tablet" or "a medieval manuscript") are often less useful for Wikipedia and less informative to our readers.
Reliable sources, if any, may be listed on the image's description page. Generally, Wikipedia assumes in good faith that image creators are correctly identifying the contents of photographs they have taken. If such sources are available, it is helpful to provide them. This is particularly important for technical drawings, as someone may want to verify that the image is accurate.
Description pages for images are rediscovered by editors using the search engine and the categories. To help editors find precise images, please remember to document the image description page accordingly. Well-categorized and well-described images are more likely to be used.
Consideration of image download size
Images can greatly increase the bandwidth cost of viewing an article – a consideration for readers on slow or expensive connections. Articles carry reduced-size thumbnails instead of full images (which the user can view by "clicking through" the thumbnail) but in some file types a thumbnail's reduced dimensions doesn't translate into a concomitant reduction in file size. (In most browsers you can see a thumbnail's size by right-clicking for its "Properties".)
If one image's file size is disproportionate to those of others in the same article, you may want to reduce it by selecting a different file format:
- GIF images with a frame size larger than 100 million pixels (measured as pixel height × pixel width × number of frames in the animation) cannot currently be displayed in thumbnail form in Wikipedia articles. A thumbnail of a GIF image can be considerably larger in kilobytes than the original image file.
- The PNG format is useful for storing graphics that contain text, line art, or other images with sharp transitions. It can achieve the same graphical results as a GIF file, and in many cases do so with a higher rate of file compression. For this reason, PNG format files are usually preferred to the GIF format. For images with substantial editing, or for which further editing may be warranted, uploading a PNG as well as a JPEG is common (PNG is lossless compression, so repeatedly saving edits on a PNG will not result in loss of quality).
- Animated GIF images have a few additional restrictions. Images larger than 100 million pixels (measured as pixel height × pixel width × number of frames in the animation) currently will only show the first frame of the animation in a thumbnail. When not using a GIF animation at its original frame size, consider creating an Ogg Theora movie of the animation.
- Animated PNG images with a frame size larger than 12.5 million pixels cannot currently be displayed in thumbnail form in Wikipedia articles, a significantly lower limit than the GIF format, and is not fully supported on all browsers.
- A JPEG or other compressed image format can be much smaller than a comparable GIF or PNG format file. When there is no apparent difference in quality, such as with a photograph that has no sharp graphical transitions, a compressed image format such as JPEG may be preferable for reasons of download performance. Wikipedia is often able to achieve much better compression of JPEG photograph thumbnails than comparable PNG images, and with little perceptible loss of quality. Repeatedly loading and resaving an image as JPEG will result in loss of quality, however, as will using low settings for the JPEG; as such, if you've made edits, it can be helpful to save a PNG or TIFF copy before closing the image editor and upload that as well; this copy can then be used to generate a new JPEG after further editing.
- Where an image consists solely of line art, charts text and simple graphics, an SVG file can be significantly smaller than other graphics formats. This is because the data is encoded as a series of drawing commands, rather than as raster graphics. There are open source applications available for rendering graphics in SVG format. However, SVG thumbnails are rendered as PNGs.
- Rather than including an image gallery on an article, which could add significantly to the download size, consider creating a gallery/category on the Wikimedia Commons instead.
Video content
- The guidelines on this page also generally apply to videos.
- Many readers will not be able to play videos, because of technical limitations of their web browser, because they are seeing article content on a different web site or app, or because they are using a different medium, such as paper or text-to-speech system. Some readers cannot see or find it difficult. Videos should be used as a supplement to article material, to concisely illustrate the subject in a way that a still image or text cannot do. Videos should not replace article text, and articles should remain coherent and comprehensive when video playback is not available.
- Similar to MOS:TEXTASIMAGES, for accessibility and file size reasons:
- Videos that simply show text should be replaced with text.
- Videos that simply show a sequence of still pictures should be replaced with an image gallery.
- Videos that are just text being read aloud should be replaced with text - or if the sound of words is being demonstrated, audio files (with the text being read in the file caption or in closed captioning).
- Videos that are just text with narration should be converted to article text.
- The copyright and other guidelines on Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music samples also apply to video samples.
- The policies on Wikipedia:Image use policy also generally apply to videos.
- Accessibility guidelines at MOS:ANIMATION apply.
See also
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Captions
- Wikipedia:Image dos and don'ts (information page summarizing the key points of this guideline)
- Exchangeable image file format
- Image editing
- mw:Extension:ImageMap
- c:Commons:File types
- Wikipedia:Extended image syntax
- Wikipedia:Finding images tutorial
- Wikipedia:Guide to image deletion
- Wikipedia:How to create charts for Wikipedia articles
- Wikipedia:How to improve image quality
- Wikipedia:Image quality requirements (historical proposal)
- Wikipedia:Image use policy
- Wikipedia:No 3D illustrations
- Wikipedia:Picture tutorial
- Wikipedia:Public domain image resources
- Wikipedia:Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipedia
- Wikipedia:Requested pictures
- Wikipedia:Uploading images
- Wikipedia:Graphics Lab
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Sexology and sexuality/WIP-image-guidelines (historical reference)
Notes
- See the 2016 RfC and 2016 Administrators' noticeboard RfC close review threads for the most recent consensus discussion on the topic.
- The general rules about image galleries still applies, where the gratuitous or indiscriminate use of galleries should be avoided.
- Natural means the obvious or usual type of image. For example, the natural choice for the lead image for an article about a person would be a drawing or photograph of that person, and the natural choice for the lead image for an article about an insect is a drawing or photograph of that insect. Natural does not mean casual or informal.
- The size of the original image can vary widely, depending on for example the resolution. Some images could take a whole 15 inches of space on a computer screen.
- Here a "typical Wikipedia reader" is defined by the cultural beliefs of the majority of the website readers (not active editors) that are literate in an article's language. Clarifying this viewpoint may require a broad spectrum of input and discussion, as cultural views can differ widely.
- If you do much work with image layouts, consider leaving your preference at 220px to match the "reader experience" of most readers.
-
px
works the same asupright
for users with the usual base width setting of 220px, but works counterintuitively for readers whose base width is set to a different value (see Help:Preferences § Files). For example, an image coded275px
—presumably to make it wider than most images on a particular page—is actually rendered smaller than most images if the user has changed their base width to 300px. In contrast,upright
responds gracefully to changes in the user's base width, maintaining the relative size of images in any given article by enlarging or reducing all of them proportionately.However, a thumbnail cannot be displayed larger than the original uploaded image. For example, if an image is coded
|thumb|330px
or|thumb|upright=1.5
(for a reader with the usual base width of 220px), but the original uploaded file was only 200px wide, then the article thumbnail will still be displayed at only 200px. - A consistent left margin creates a stable anchor for tracking through lines of text making it more readable / accessible.
Wikimedia project page This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia s Manual of Style It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow though occasional exceptions may apply Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus When in doubt discuss first on the talk page ShortcutsMOS IMAGESMOS IMGManual of Style MoS ContentAccessibility Biography Disambiguation pages Organizing by subject Gender identity Hidden text Infoboxes Linking Self references Words to watchFormattingAbbreviations Capitalization Dates and numbers Pronunciation Spelling Text formatting Titles of worksImagesCaptions Image placement Icons ImagesLayoutLayout Lead section Tables Trivia sectionsListsLists Lists of works Road junctions Stand alone listsBy topic areaLegalLegal TrademarksArtsAnime and manga Comics Film Lyrics and poetry Novels Television Video games Visual arts Writing about fictionMusicMusic Music samples Record charts Stringed instrumentsHistoryBlazons Military historyRegionalSpecific naming conventions Canada China and Chinese Egypt France and French Hawaii India Indonesia Ireland Japan Korea Macedonia Malaysia Pakistan Philippines Poland Singapore Trinidad and TobagoReligionIslam Latter Day SaintsScienceChemistry Compound classes Chemicals References and external links Safety Structure drawing Computer science Mathematics Medicine TaxonomySportsCue sports Snooker Figure skating Terminology Related guidelinesArticle size Article titles Categories lists and navigation templates Categorization Hatnotes Subpages UnderstandabilityOverview Contents Tipsvte This page provides an overview of how images are used on Wikipedia For detailed guidelines see the Image use policy For instructions on uploading and including images see Help Files Choosing imagesPertinence and encyclopedic nature ShortcutsMOS IMAGERELMOS IMAGERELEVANCEMOS PERTINENCEMOS IRELEV This image of a helicopter over the Sydney Opera House shows neither adequately Images must be significant and relevant in the topic s context not primarily decorative Each image in an article should have a clear and unique illustrative purpose and serve as an important illustrative aid to understanding When possible find better images and improve captions rather than simply removing poor or inappropriate ones especially on pages with few visuals However not every article needs images and too many can be distracting usually less is more See also Wikipedia Manual of Style Icons Encyclopedic purpose MOS DECOR on misuse of icons and other elements for decorative intent Images should look like what they are meant to illustrate regardless of whether they are authentic For example a painting of a cupcake may be an acceptable image for Cupcake but a real cupcake that has been decorated to look like something else entirely is less appropriate Similarly an image of a generic looking cell under a light microscope might be useful on multiple articles as long as there are no visible differences between the cell in the image and the typical appearance of the cell being illustrated Strive for variety For example in an article with numerous images of persons e g Running seek to depict a variety of ages genders and ethnicities If an article on a military officer already shows its subject in uniform then two more formal in uniform portraits would add little interest or information but a map of an important battle and an image of its aftermath would be more informative Resist the temptation to overwhelm an article with images of marginal value simply because many images are available Prioritize quality over quantity Ethnic groups ShortcutsMOS NOETHNICGALLERIESMOS PEOPLEGALLERY Articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations should not be illustrated by a photomontage or gallery of images of group members This does not apply to articles about things such as body parts or haircuts Image quality ShortcutMOS IMAGEQUALITY Use the best quality images available Poor quality images dark or blurry showing the subject too small hidden in clutter or ambiguous and so on should not be used unless absolutely necessary Think carefully about which images best illustrate the subject matter For example An image of a white tailed eagle is useless if the bird appears as a speck in the sky A biography should lead with a portrait photograph of the subject alone not with other people A suitable picture of a hammerhead shark would show its distinctive hammer like head to distinguish it from other sharks A map of Moldova should show its frontiers with Romania and Ukraine so people may know where the country is located in relation to its neighbors Rice is best represented with an image of plain rice not fried rice Intangible concepts can be illustrated for example two boars butting heads portrays aggression Pages using seals flags banners logos or other symbols to represent governments organizations and institutions should use the version prescribed by that entity when available These are preferable to amateur creations of similar quality including photographs of physical representations of emblems Avoid presenting textual information as images Scale references ShortcutWP FIDUCIAL An image sometimes includes a familiar object to communicate scale Such fiducial markers should be as culturally universal and standardized as possible rulers matches batteries pens pencils footballs soccer balls people and their body parts vehicles and famous structures such as the Eiffel Tower are good choices but many others are possible Such objects as coins banknotes and sheets of paper are less satisfactory because they are specific to given locales but may be better than none at all since at least the general scale is still communicated Quantitative data if available should still be given in the caption or the article A tick with a matchstick for scale Ammunition with an AA battery Emus with a human silhouette and scale in meters Offensive images ShortcutMOS OMIMG Options to hide an image Wikipedia is not censored its mission is to present information including information which some may find offensive However a potentially offensive image one that would be considered vulgar horrifying or obscene by typical Wikipedia readers should be included only if it is treated in an encyclopedic manner i e only if its omission would cause the article to be less informative relevant or accurate and no equally suitable alternative is available Images should respect conventional expectations of readers for a given topic as much as is possible without sacrificing the quality of the article Avoid images that contain irrelevant or extraneous elements that might seem offensive or harassing to readers for example photographs taken in a pornographic context would normally be inappropriate for articles about human anatomy Images for the lead ShortcutsMOS LEADIMAGEMOS IMAGELEAD It is common for an article s lead or infobox to carry a representative image such as of a person or place a book or album cover to give readers visual confirmation that they ve arrived at the right page For some topics selecting the lead image can be difficult While Wikipedia is not censored lead images should be selected with care see Offensive images above The lead image is perhaps the first thing to catch the reader s eye so avoid lead images that readers would not expect to see there Unlike other content beyond the lead the lead image should be chosen with these considerations in mind Advice on selecting a lead image includes Lead images should be natural and appropriate representations of the topic they should not only illustrate the topic specifically but also be the type of image used for similar purposes in high quality reference works and therefore what our readers will expect to see Lead images are not required and not having a lead image may be the best solution if there is no easy representation of the topic ShortcutsMOS SHOCKMOS SHOCKVALUELead images should be of least shock value an alternative image that accurately represents the topic without shock value should always be preferred For example using an image of deportees being subjected to selection as the lead image at this version of The Holocaust is far preferable to the appropriate images that appear later in the article that show the treatment of the prisoners or corpses from the camps Sometimes it is impossible to avoid using a lead image with perceived shock value for example in articles on human genitalia Editors may assume per Wikipedia Content disclaimer that readers are aware that such articles may contain such images Articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations should not be illustrated by a photomontage or gallery of images of group members This does not apply to articles about things such as body parts or haircuts On some mobile platforms an article s first image may be displayed at the top of the article even if it appears well into the article in the desktop view When placing images consider whether this phenomenon may mislead or confuse readers using mobile devices How to place an imageShortcutsMOS IMGSYNMOS IMAGESYNTAX Syntax Basic example producing the image at right span class p span span class nn File span span class p span span class nt Siberian Husky pho jpg span span class p span thumb span class p span span class na alt span span class o span A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy span class p span A span class p span span class nt Siberian Husky span span class p span used as a pack animal span class p span A Siberian Husky used as a pack animalFile Siberian Husky pho jpg The file image name must be exact including capitalization punctuation and spacing and must include jpg png or other extension Image and File work the same If Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons both have an image with the specified name the Wikipedia version is the one that will appear in the article thumb is required in most cases alt A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy Alt text is meant for those who cannot see the image unlike the caption it summarizes the image s appearance It should comport with Wikipedia Manual of Style Accessibility Alternative text for images and should name famous events people and things A span class p span span class nt Siberian Husky span span class p span used as a pack animal The caption comes last and gives the meaning or significance of the image See WP Extended image syntax for further features and options If the image does not display after you have carefully checked the syntax it may have been blacklisted VR photographs ShortcutMOS 360 To display VR photographs aka 360 degree panoramas or photospheres use PanoViewer Size ShortcutsMOS IMGSIZEMOS UPRIGHT Images adjacent to text should use the thumb thumbnail or frameless parameter typically sized differently from the original The default image width then becomes 220 pixels px which registered logged in users can change via Preferences The Siberian Husky image above is displayed at whatever your base width is Image using width upright 1 8 so that it is 80 wider than the Siberian Husky image above which is at the default upright 1 width Image using upright 0 5 a scaling factor less than 1 contracts the image width An image s size is controlled by changing its width after which software automatically adjusts height in proportion Most references to an image s size really mean its width Except with very good reason a fixed width in pixels e g 17px should not be specified because it ignores the user s base width setting Thus upright var style padding right 1px scaling factor var is preferred when it is desired to present an image at other than the default width As a general rule images should not be set to a larger fixed width than 220px the initial base width and if an exception to this general rule is warranted the resulting image should usually be no more than 400px wide 300px for lead images and 500px tall for comfortable display on the smallest devices in common use though this may still cause viewing difficulties on some unusual displays To convert a px value to upright divide it by 220 and round the result as desired For example 150px is roughly equivalent to upright 0 7 because 150 220 0 682 Cases where fixed sizes may be used include for standardization of size via templates such as within infobox templates or the display of country flag icons for displaying reduced images sizes where space is constrained such as images used in the In the News and Did You Know sections on the WP Main Page or within larger tables such as List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates or if it is necessary to align images in columns or rows Templates like multiple image can automatically match the height or width of images with different aspect ratios though this height or width must be hard coded to a set number of pixels because it cannot scale images to respect users preferences Where a smaller or larger image is appropriate use upright var style padding right 1px scaling factor var which expands or contracts the image by a factor relative to the user s base width For example upright 1 3 might be used for an image with fine detail e g a map or diagram to render it 30 larger than this user generally wants For a reader with the usual base width setting of 220px this is 285px upright 0 6 might be used for an image with little detail e g a simple drawing or flag which can be adequately displayed 40 smaller than this user generally wants For a reader with the usual base width setting of 220px this is 130px Short wide images often call for upright of 1 or greater tall narrow images may look best with upright of 1 or less When specifying upright values greater than 1 take care to balance the need to reveal detail against the danger of overwhelming surrounding article text Images in which a small region of detail is important but cropping to that region is unacceptable may need to be larger than normal but upright 1 8 should usually be the largest value for images floated beside text Lead images should usually use upright 1 35 at most Images within an article especially those near one another and on the same side may be more appealing if presented at the same width If upright is completely absent that s equivalent to upright 1 But upright alone with no var style padding right 1px scaling factor var e g File Dog jpg thumb upright A big dog is equivalent to upright 0 75 this usage is confusing and therefore deprecated Historically upright was intended for upright portrait images which look better at a narrower width Later the parameter was expanded to support any scaling factor but the original name remained To present images larger than the guidelines above e g panoramas use thumb a href wiki Wikipedia PIC center class mw redirect title Wikipedia PIC center a or thumb a href wiki Wikipedia PIC none class mw redirect title Wikipedia PIC none a so that the image stands alone or use wide image or tall image to present a very large image in a scrollable box This image uses thumb center upright 2 5 to expand the image center it and clear the area on either side Location ShortcutMOS IMAGELOC A Siberian Husky used as a pack animal Most images should be on the right side of the page which is the default placement Left aligned images may disturb the layout of bulleted lists and similar structures that depend on visual uniformity e g by pushing some items on such lists further inward Hence avoid left aligned images near such structures If an exception to the general rule is warranted specify left in the image link File Siberian Husky pho jpg thumb strong style color green left strong alt A white dog in a harness playfully nuzzles a young boy A Siberian Husky used as a pack animal ShortcutMOS SECTIONLOC An image should generally be placed in the most relevant article section if this is not possible try not to place an image too early i e far ahead of the text discussing what the image illustrates if this could puzzle the reader The first image of a section should be placed below any hatnote typically a navigational hatnote in the form of a href wiki Template Main title Template Main Main a a href wiki Template Further title Template Further Further a and a href wiki Template See also title Template See also See also a templates Do not place an image at the end of the previous section as this will not be visible in the appropriate section on mobile devices An image causes a paragraph break i e the current paragraph ends and a new one begins so it is not possible to place an image within a paragraph This applies to thumb images small inline images are an exception see Inline images ShortcutMOS SANDWICH Wide images opposite one another can create an unsightly text sandwich depending on platform and window size Mul ti ple im ages can be stag gered right and left How ever a void sand wich ing text be tween two im ages hor i zon tally op po site each other or be tween an im age and an in fo box nav i ga tion tem plate or sim i lar As an al ter na tive con sid er us ing the multiple image tem plate which pla ces two im ag es to geth er on the right but which how ev er ig nores logged in us ers se lect ed im age siz es If the sec tion has mul tiple rele vant para graphs you can also move one image to an other place in the sec tion See WP GALLERY for in form ation on the u se of multip le im ages Portrait ShortcutMOS PORTRAIT It is often preferable to place a portrait image or representation of a person so that they look toward the text but do not achieve this by reversing the image which creates a false presentation Faces are never truly symmetric even in the absence of scars or other features References from article text ShortcutMOS SEEIMAGE Image placement varies with platform and screen size especially mobile platforms and is meaningless to screen readers As such article text should not refer to image positions especially with terms such as left right above or below Instead use captions to identify images Inline images ShortcutMOS BORDERIMAGE Substituting frameless for thumb produces an inline image For example This File Flag of Japan svg frameless x20px is an inline image produces This is an inline image A one pixel border may be added via border For example This File Flag of Japan svg frameless x20px border is an inline image with a border produces This is an inline image with a border Inline images do not have captions Note the syntax x20px whereas 20px specifies a 20 pixel width x20px specifies a 20 pixel height Heights between x18px and x22px will usually match surrounding text well upright is not usually used with inline images Making images availableShortcutMOS HOTLINK For further information see Extended image syntax Embedding Commons media in Wikipedia articles as well as Uploading images All images used on Wikipedia must be uploaded to Wikipedia itself or Wikimedia Commons That is hotlinking is not supported Images uploaded to Wikipedia are automatically placed into the File namespace formerly known as the Image namespace i e the names of image pages start with the prefix File Obtaining images All images must comply with Wikipedia s image use policy in general they must be free for reuse including commercial use and use after alteration though some fair use of non free content is allowed in limited circumstances see Wikipedia Non free content Finding images already uploaded Search for existing files through Special Search Use the Multimedia setting to search for images and other files uploaded to the English Wikipedia by keyword or title Most fair use images are located here commons Special Search Go to Wikimedia Commons to search for images and other media files by description title or category If the article has interlanguage links to other Wikipedias then click through to the non English articles to see which images they are using Making images yourself For further information see WP Image use policy User created images Commons How to take pictures WP Uploading images and WP Graphics tutorials You may upload photographs drawings or other graphics created with a camera scanner graphics software and so on When photographing or scanning potentially copyrighted works or creating depictions of persons other than yourself be sure to respect copyright and privacy restrictions For further information see Wikipedia Non free content In order to maximize images usefulness in all languages avoid including text within them Instead add text links references etc to images using Template Annotated image or Template Annotated image 4 which can also be used to expand the area around an image or crop and enlarge part of an image all without the need for uploading a new modified image Finding images on the Internet For further information see Finding images tutorial An extensive list of free image resources by topic can be found at Public domain image resources In addition to Wikimedia Commons the Wikimedia Toolserver has a Free Image Search Tool FIST which automatically culls free images from the Wikimedia sister projects Flickr and a few other sites Several other useful general purpose image search engines include Google Image Search Picsearch and Creative Commons licensed images with Attribution and Attribution ShareAlike as their license may be used on Wikipedia Images with any license restricting commercial use or the creation of derivative works may not be used on Wikipedia The Creative Commons site has a search page that can be used as a starting point to find suitably licensed images make sure you check both the checkboxes use for commercial purposes and modify adapt or build upon If you find an image on the Internet that is not available freely you can email the copyright owner and ask for their permission to release it under a suitable license adapting the boilerplate request for permission If you cannot find a suitable image you may also list your request at Wikipedia Requested pictures so that another contributor may find or create a suitable image Requesting images from others See Wikipedia Requesting copyright permission Wikipedia Donating copyrighted materials Wikipedia Declaration of consent for all enquiries Wikipedia Requested pictures for requesting Wikipedians to take photos etc Editing images In this pseudocolor image of the Moon red tints represent the highest elevations purple the lowest lest the reader be misled the caption should make clear that this is not the coloring a viewer of the Moon would actually see An image s utility or quality may be improved by cropping to focus on the relevant portion cleaning up scanning artifacts correcting color balance removing red eye effect or other adjustments The caption of an image should mention such edits e g introduction of false color or pseudocolor if a reader needs to know about them to properly interpret the image Edits that improve the presentation without materially altering the content need not be mentioned in the caption e g rotation to correct a slightly crooked image improvement to the contrast of a scan or blurring a background to make the main subject more prominent However all changes to images taken from outside sources should be noted on the image s description page For images created by editors themselves changes which could have been part of the image s original composition such as rotation or minor cropping need not be mentioned on the description page Images should not be changed in ways that materially mislead the viewer For example images showing artworks faces identifiable places or buildings or text should not be reversed although those showing soap bubbles or bacteria might be Do not change color integral to the subject such as in images of animals It is usually appropriate to de speckle or remove scratches from images though that might be inappropriate for historical photographs An image that was originally published as a monochrome image such as black and white or sepia photographs should not usually be colorized Adding color to such an image constitutes original research Images that were colorized by their creator an expert or a reliable source may sometimes be acceptable ShortcutMOS AIUPSCALE AI upscaling software should generally not be used to increase the resolution or quality of an old or low resolution image Original historical images should always be used in place of AI upscaled versions If an AI upscaled image is used in an article this fact should be noted in its caption For assistance in editing images try WP Graphics Lab Uploading images For further information see Uploading images and File names Logged in users with autoconfirmed accounts meaning at least four days old and at least ten edits at the English Wikipedia can upload media to the English Wikipedia Only free licensed media not fair use media may be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons Media on Wikimedia Commons can be linked to in the same way as media of the same name on Wikipedia To upload media to the English Wikipedia go to special upload and for Wikimedia Commons go to commons special upload For preferred file formats see Preparing images for upload Image description pages Each image has a corresponding description page which documents the image s source author and copyright status descriptive who what when where why information and technical equipment software etc data useful to readers and later editors To maximize the utility and educational value of an image please describe its contents as fully as possible on the image s description page For example photographs of artwork benefit from documentation of the artist title location dates museum identification numbers and so on Images that are described only in vague terms for example a cuneiform tablet or a medieval manuscript are often less useful for Wikipedia and less informative to our readers Reliable sources if any may be listed on the image s description page Generally Wikipedia assumes in good faith that image creators are correctly identifying the contents of photographs they have taken If such sources are available it is helpful to provide them This is particularly important for technical drawings as someone may want to verify that the image is accurate Description pages for images are rediscovered by editors using the search engine and the categories To help editors find precise images please remember to document the image description page accordingly Well categorized and well described images are more likely to be used Consideration of image download size Images can greatly increase the bandwidth cost of viewing an article a consideration for readers on slow or expensive connections Articles carry reduced size thumbnails instead of full images which the user can view by clicking through the thumbnail but in some file types a thumbnail s reduced dimensions doesn t translate into a concomitant reduction in file size In most browsers you can see a thumbnail s size by right clicking for its Properties If one image s file size is disproportionate to those of others in the same article you may want to reduce it by selecting a different file format GIF images with a frame size larger than 100 million pixels measured as pixel height pixel width number of frames in the animation cannot currently be displayed in thumbnail form in Wikipedia articles A thumbnail of a GIF image can be considerably larger in kilobytes than the original image file The PNG format is useful for storing graphics that contain text line art or other images with sharp transitions It can achieve the same graphical results as a GIF file and in many cases do so with a higher rate of file compression For this reason PNG format files are usually preferred to the GIF format For images with substantial editing or for which further editing may be warranted uploading a PNG as well as a JPEG is common PNG is lossless compression so repeatedly saving edits on a PNG will not result in loss of quality Animated GIF images have a few additional restrictions Images larger than 100 million pixels measured as pixel height pixel width number of frames in the animation currently will only show the first frame of the animation in a thumbnail When not using a GIF animation at its original frame size consider creating an Ogg Theora movie of the animation Animated PNG images with a frame size larger than 12 5 million pixels cannot currently be displayed in thumbnail form in Wikipedia articles a significantly lower limit than the GIF format and is not fully supported on all browsers A JPEG or other compressed image format can be much smaller than a comparable GIF or PNG format file When there is no apparent difference in quality such as with a photograph that has no sharp graphical transitions a compressed image format such as JPEG may be preferable for reasons of download performance Wikipedia is often able to achieve much better compression of JPEG photograph thumbnails than comparable PNG images and with little perceptible loss of quality Repeatedly loading and resaving an image as JPEG will result in loss of quality however as will using low settings for the JPEG as such if you ve made edits it can be helpful to save a PNG or TIFF copy before closing the image editor and upload that as well this copy can then be used to generate a new JPEG after further editing Where an image consists solely of line art charts text and simple graphics an SVG file can be significantly smaller than other graphics formats This is because the data is encoded as a series of drawing commands rather than as raster graphics There are open source applications available for rendering graphics in SVG format However SVG thumbnails are rendered as PNGs Rather than including an image gallery on an article which could add significantly to the download size consider creating a gallery category on the Wikimedia Commons instead Video contentThe guidelines on this page also generally apply to videos Many readers will not be able to play videos because of technical limitations of their web browser because they are seeing article content on a different web site or app or because they are using a different medium such as paper or text to speech system Some readers cannot see or find it difficult Videos should be used as a supplement to article material to concisely illustrate the subject in a way that a still image or text cannot do Videos should not replace article text and articles should remain coherent and comprehensive when video playback is not available Similar to MOS TEXTASIMAGES for accessibility and file size reasons Videos that simply show text should be replaced with text Videos that simply show a sequence of still pictures should be replaced with an image gallery Videos that are just text being read aloud should be replaced with text or if the sound of words is being demonstrated audio files with the text being read in the file caption or in closed captioning Videos that are just text with narration should be converted to article text The copyright and other guidelines on Wikipedia Manual of Style Music samples also apply to video samples The policies on Wikipedia Image use policy also generally apply to videos Accessibility guidelines at MOS ANIMATION apply See alsoWikipedia Manual of Style Captions Wikipedia Image dos and don ts information page summarizing the key points of this guideline Exchangeable image file format Image editing mw Extension ImageMap c Commons File types Wikipedia Extended image syntax Wikipedia Finding images tutorial Wikipedia Guide to image deletion Wikipedia How to create charts for Wikipedia articles Wikipedia How to improve image quality Wikipedia Image quality requirements historical proposal Wikipedia Image use policy Wikipedia No 3D illustrations Wikipedia Picture tutorial Wikipedia Public domain image resources Wikipedia Ten things you may not know about images on Wikipedia Wikipedia Requested pictures Wikipedia Uploading images Wikipedia Graphics Lab Wikipedia WikiProject Sexology and sexuality WIP image guidelines historical reference NotesSee the 2016 RfC and 2016 Administrators noticeboard RfC close review threads for the most recent consensus discussion on the topic The general rules about image galleries still applies where the gratuitous or indiscriminate use of galleries should be avoided Natural means the obvious or usual type of image For example the natural choice for the lead image for an article about a person would be a drawing or photograph of that person and the natural choice for the lead image for an article about an insect is a drawing or photograph of that insect Natural does not mean casual or informal The size of the original image can vary widely depending on for example the resolution Some images could take a whole 15 inches of space on a computer screen Here a typical Wikipedia reader is defined by the cultural beliefs of the majority of the website readers not active editors that are literate in an article s language Clarifying this viewpoint may require a broad spectrum of input and discussion as cultural views can differ widely If you do much work with image layouts consider leaving your preference at 220px to match the reader experience of most readers px works the same as upright for users with the usual base width setting of 220px but works counterintuitively for readers whose base width is set to a different value see Help Preferences Files For example an image coded 275px presumably to make it wider than most images on a particular page is actually rendered smaller than most images if the user has changed their base width to 300px In contrast upright responds gracefully to changes in the user s base width maintaining the relative size of images in any given article by enlarging or reducing all of them proportionately However a thumbnail cannot be displayed larger than the original uploaded image For example if an image is coded thumb 330px or thumb upright 1 5 for a reader with the usual base width of 220px but the original uploaded file was only 200px wide then the article thumbnail will still be displayed at only 200px A consistent left margin creates a stable anchor for tracking through lines of text making it more readable accessible vteManual of StyleOverview Contents TipsContentAccessibility Biography Disambiguation pages Organizing by subject area Gender identity Hidden text Infoboxes Linking Self references Words to watchFormattingAbbreviations Capitalization Dates and numbers Pronunciation Spelling Text formatting Titles of worksImagesCaptions Image placement Icons ImagesLayoutLayout Lead section Tables Trivia sectionsListsLists Lists of works Road junctions Stand alone listsBy topic areaLegalLegal TrademarksArtsAnime and manga Comics Film Lyrics and poetry Novels Television Video games Visual arts Writing about fictionMusicMusic Music samples Record charts Stringed instrumentsHistoryBlazons Military historyRegionalSpecific naming conventions Canada China and Chinese France and French Egypt Hawaii India Indonesia Ireland Japan Korea Malaysia Macedonia Pakistan Philippines Poland Singapore Trinidad and TobagoReligionIslam Latter Day SaintsScienceMathematics Medicine Chemistry Compound classes Chemicals References and external links Safety Structure drawing Computer science TaxonomySportsCue sports Snooker Figure skating TerminologyRelated guidelinesArticle size Article titles Categories lists and navigation templates Categorization Hatnotes Subpages UnderstandabilitySearchCategory vteWikipedia key policies and guidelines Five pillars Ignore all rulesContent PVerifiability No original research Neutral point of view What Wikipedia is not Biographies of living persons Copyright Copyright violations Image use Article titlesGNotability Autobiography Citing sources Reliable sources Medicine Do not include copies of lengthy primary sources Plagiarism Don t create hoaxes Fringe theories Patent nonsense External linksConduct PCivility Consensus Harassment Vandalism Ignore all rules No personal attacks Ownership of content Edit warring Dispute resolution Sockpuppetry No legal threats Child protection Paid contribution disclosureGAssume good faith Conflict of interest Disruptive editing Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point Etiquette Gaming the system Please do not bite the newcomers Courtesy vanishing Responding to threats of harm Talk page guidelines SignaturesDeletion PDeletion policy Proposed deletion Biographies Speedy deletion Attack page Oversight Revision deletionEnforcement PAdministrators Banning Blocking Page protectionEditing PEditing policyGArticle size Summary style Be bold Disambiguation Hatnotes Broad concept article UnderstandabilityStyleManual of Style Contents Accessibility Dates and numbers Images Layout Lead section Linking ListsClassificationCategories lists and navigation templates Categorization Template namespaceProject content GProject namespace WikiProjects User pages User boxes Shortcuts SubpagesWMF PUniversal Code of Conduct Terms of Use List of policies Friendly space policy Licensing and copyright Privacy policyList of all policies and guidelines P List of policies G List of guidelines Summaries of values and principles