images on Arch wiki

sas · 2011-11-07 14:44:22

Uploading images to the Arch wiki seems to be forbidden for normal users.
Why is that?

All in all, the wiki seems to contain very few images.
Is that an explicit rule?

karol · 2011-11-07 14:56:17

Yup, only some icons got uploaded.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/He … nt_content

What exactly did you want to include?

Last edited by karol (2011-11-07 14:59:26)

sas · 2011-11-10 22:13:36

karol wrote:

Yup, only some icons got uploaded.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/He … nt_content

Ok, that page confirms it's an official policy, but it doesn't explain why.
Is server space an issue?
Or is it to ensure that users of text-based browsers can see all information on the wiki?

karol wrote:

What exactly did you want to include?

For one thing, I was wondering in general why the wiki articles are not decorated with the occasional screenshot or diagram etc. like in most other wikis.

For another, I would really like to use the following two images in feature comparison tables (example) in the wiki, where otherwise the words "Yes" and "No" would appear:
It would just make it so much easier for the reader to get an instant overview of the information contained in the table at a glance, as well as to find a specific piece of information in it.
Using the relevant html magic, it should be possible to make sure that browsers which can't show images will continue to show the words "Yes" and "No" in their place.

jasonwryan · 2011-11-10 22:26:19

I do not know why the policy is in place, but I completely agree with it. The wiki should be as accessible as possible, both to people who use assistive technologies and those using other devices, like phones.

Given the way the image rules on the forum are routinely ignored, the wiki admins would spend most of their time removing oversized or inappropriate images. If it can't be explained in text, it is probably not worth explaining...

karol · 2011-11-10 22:34:33

From what I understand, you need to upload the pictures to the wiki server in order to be able to display them and allowing users to do that has been decided not to be worth the hassle.
You can post a link to an external gallery or even YouTube if you want to e.g. illustrate the installation guide, same goes for application's screenshots.

The 'tick' &'cross' icons are a different case but I'm not sure how much difference will they make. I'll ask our Admins.

As jasonwryan said, we can't be relying on pictures to explain things. The wiki has text-only downloadable versions and the info presented in images would be lost to people using it. You can still provide links to external sources, but stuff that goes directly in the wiki should be text-based.
I know ASCII diagrams are a PITA to create ;P

Edit: Oh, and you can use ✔ and ✘ instead :-)

Last edited by karol (2011-11-10 22:38:32)

/dev/zero · 2011-11-10 22:46:58

sas wrote:

For another, I would really like to use the following two images in feature comparison tables (example) in the wiki, where otherwise the words "Yes" and "No" would appear:
It would just make it so much easier for the reader to get an instant overview of the information contained in the table at a glance, as well as to find a specific piece of information in it.
Using the relevant html magic, it should be possible to make sure that browsers which can't show images will continue to show the words "Yes" and "No" in their place.

I'm no expert on editing wikis, but I suppose there exist mark-ups that could enlarge and colourify the utf-8 symbols that match these icons.

✔ ✘

Edit: sorry, karol got there first :-)

Last edited by /dev/zero (2011-11-10 22:47:37)

pointone · 2011-11-10 22:50:59

Brief rationale:

1) Accessibility (already mentioned): text-based browsers and screen readers may stumble over images.
2) Maintenance: users will post screenshots which are no longer relevant/accurate in three months. Arch Linux is a rolling-release cutting-edge distribution that provides the latest version of most software.
3) Duplication of effort: Arch Linux provides mostly "vanilla" or unpatched software. There are very few Arch-specific customizations -- simply linking to the upstream documentation and screenshots is sufficient.
4) Moderation/administration: user-provided images represent another category the administrators must patrol for vandalism/inappropriate content.

Last edited by pointone (2011-11-10 22:52:44)

sas · 2011-11-11 00:14:41

@pointone:
Thanks for the explanation.

karol wrote:

Edit: Oh, and you can use ✔ and ✘ instead :-)

OK, I can do that...
However, I think that would make the page less accessible compared to using images with correctly set alternative text, as I doubt that screen readers will be able to output those symbols as "Yes" and "No", and I'm not sure whether all text browsers support UTF8. (Plus it doesn't look quite as nice...)
But yeah, it's a usable work-around.

karol · 2011-11-11 00:19:54

I'm not opposed to having some more icons because I understand some people prefer visual representation of this kind, but it's up to the admins.
If it were up to me, I'd remove even the icons from the templates e.g. the merge template https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fi … arrows.png ;P

kynikos · 2011-11-11 12:51:34

Let's keep it simple, why not use a method similar to the tables in some laptop articles like https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Asus_Eee_PC_T101MT or https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Asus_N82JV ? You may use a green "Yes" and a red "No", IMO it'd look even better than using ✔ and ✘.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-11-07 14:44:22

images on Arch wiki

#2 2011-11-07 14:56:17

Re: images on Arch wiki

#3 2011-11-10 22:13:36

Re: images on Arch wiki

#4 2011-11-10 22:26:19

Re: images on Arch wiki

#5 2011-11-10 22:34:33

Re: images on Arch wiki

#6 2011-11-10 22:46:58

Re: images on Arch wiki

#7 2011-11-10 22:50:59

Re: images on Arch wiki

#8 2011-11-11 00:14:41

Re: images on Arch wiki

#9 2011-11-11 00:19:54

Re: images on Arch wiki

#10 2011-11-11 12:51:34

Re: images on Arch wiki

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