Commons talk:File renaming/Archive/2022

Proposal of duplicate file names

I started a discussion at Commons:Village pump/Proposals#Duplicate file names added to COM:FNC#2. Terasail^[✉️] 18:28, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

Mass-rename limiting characters

When I use Mass-rename tool, the "replace" box requires to fill in at least 8 characters; that's frequently limiting (e.g. in situation when I need just to remove some part of the name). Could anyone modify the code of the tool and decrease the number of required characters? (I'm writing directly here as Perhelion is retired since 2019.) Regards — Draceane ^talk_contrib. 18:40, 18 May 2022 (UTC)

If you're talking about one of the user scripts referenced on this project page, you're probably better off, either leaving a message on the users talk page, or copying the user script to your own userpage and making the change yourself. TommyG (talk) 06:39, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Yes, but 1) Perhelion is retired for more than 2 years 2 ) I have a little knowledge how to change the JS files. — Draceane ^talk_contrib. 10:07, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

@TommyG: And I don't understand this edit, the Perhelion's JS is an updated version of Legoktm's (last human edit 2015 + see talk). — Draceane ^talk_contrib. 12:13, 19 May 2022 (UTC)

Text becomes codes against my will

Why is it that whenever I scan some text that I want to use to rename a file, it keeps getting converted into some convoluted, cockamamie code? --DanTD (talk) 23:04, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

@DanTD: Would you please give us an example or two?   — Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me} 23:08, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

I'll try. I've been trying to add a group of files with the new name "Metro-North Railroad - International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD)" leaving the last four numbers of each photo, with another group of numbers in parentheses. When I scan that title and post it in the "What should the new file name be?" box, instead of that text, I get this ridiculous nonsense (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/30-DSC_2142_%2852134378521%29.jpg/800px-30-DSC_2142_%2852134378521%29.jpg?20220619210505). --DanTD (talk) 23:14, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

@DanTD: So you wanted to rename File:30-DSC 2142 (52134378521).jpg to File:Metro-North Railroad - International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) 2142 (52134378521).jpg? I just did that for you, without touching {{Rename}}. Where do you find these files?   — Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me} 23:41, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

I didn't use the {{Rename}} tag. I just renamed them. And most were in the generic Category:Metropolitan Transportation Authority until I researched the connected links, and a Long Island Rail Road station that had a similar Flickr category. ----DanTD (talk) 00:05, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

UPDATE; Okay, I started doing fine with the same text, but suddenly it turned into this (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/22-DSC_2096_%2852134618714%29.jpg/800px-22-DSC_2096_%2852134618714%29.jpg?20220619210512). ----DanTD (talk) 00:14, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

@DanTD: That is an 800px thumbnail. I was able to decipher it and rename File:22-DSC 2096 (52134618714).jpg to File:Metro-North Railroad - International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD) 2096 (52134618714).jpg for you. Where are you getting 800px thumbnail URLs?   — Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me} 00:47, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

They just keep coming up out of nowhere. In fact a few seconds ago, I got this (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/13-DSC_2044_%2852134379261%29.jpg/800px-13-DSC_2044_%2852134379261%29.jpg?20220619210524). --DanTD (talk) 01:01, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

@DanTD: Are you still having this problem?   — Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me} 15:59, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

@Jeff G. Not in a while. What I have been getting though are occasions when I try to cut and paste text from one page or file to another, because the icon that usually contains the "Paste" command doesn't always show up. I'm also getting some of my photos replaced by one user who keeps renaming them so he can post his own pics. --DanTD (talk) 16:07, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

@DanTD: Who is doing that? Examples?   — Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me} 19:08, 25 September 2022 (UTC)

@Okay, back in June a photograph I took of a series of billboards along Interstate 95 in Ridgeland, South Carolina was tagged by User:Mattwalker4444 for renaming under Criterion 3, when this clearly wasn't the case. An administrator blindly accepted his tag, and all of the sudden it was called File:Shrine Circus Billboard in West Columbia, SC.jpg. This month I found out that he tagged another image I took in South Carolina for renaming, specifically File:I-95 Frontage Road near billboards; Northern Jasper County.jpg. This time, he tagged it under Criterion 2 then Criterion 6. Not only did another administrator blindly accept his request, but he added his own image. I'm willing to consider that this man is new to the process of Wikimedia Commons, but he has other files that didn't come from renaming and/or defacing mine. ----DanTD (talk) 00:37, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Change numeration of list in note for renaming criterion 2

How about a different numeration of list items in notes for criterion 2 (“meaningless or ambiguous name”)? For now both the notes and the list in note 2 are numerated in the same style. I suggest numeration with lower case letters for the inner list. After my fix due to the broken numeration in the moment an according change would be very easy for everyone who has knowledge about HTML. — Speravir – 23:14, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Speaking of your fix, what was broken? The previous version seems for me to be just fine. —Tacsipacsi (talk) 01:45, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

Not for me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made the edit. The outer notes/references should be numbered from 1 to 6, but aren’t, instead note 3 ist displayed as 4 and so on. And the ordered list in note 2 should be numbered from 1 to 8, but isn’t, instead the last item is displayed as number 3, what very probably is the reason for the issue with the outer list. To make it even more confusing: When I edited yesterday the inner list went from 1 to 5 and then again from 1 to 3. But for my suggested change we’d anyway need the HTML list syntax. — Speravir – 02:06, 19 October 2022 (UTC)

Instructions for requesting a file rename

Let’s fix this page so that any user can come here, without knowing anything about file renaming, and quickly figure out how to request a rename.

I have already improved the lead section’s wording. But there are more improvements to be made. In particular, the lead says to activate the RenameLink gadget, but the ‘How to rename a file’ section says that the gadget is activated by default. Can someone clarify? Brianjd (talk) 09:29, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

@Brianjd: Thank you for doing this work. I've often thought this page was backwards, and should start from the end-user's viewpoint and cover what filemovers see later. If you visit Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets, you should see that RenameLink is marked with a ^"d", which indicates that it's enabled by default. So the only people who should need to turn it on are those who have turned it off themselves. --bjh21 (talk) 11:55, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

@Bjh21 I have done more extensive editing (but I still think it could be tidied up a bit). I think it is necessary, in light of this discussion, but it will require extensive work to re-translate the page. So I hope to see more discussion here before the changes are marked for translation. Brianjd (talk) 13:32, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

A bot has marked the changes for translation anyway. Another thing to think about: I just saw a user mistakenly move a file talk page instead of requesting a move of the file itself. Perhaps the software should be improved, or failing that, the instructions should be improved. Brianjd (talk) 14:29, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

It was not a bot, but User:Brackenheim, as can be seen in the logs and page history (the latter is not always available, the former always).

I don’t think moving file talk pages should be disabled, as it’s rare but not impossible that someone really wants to move only the talk page (e.g. archiving can be a legitimate reason). Instead, there could be an abuse filter warning, which blocks moving for the first time but allows it after the user confirmed that they know what they do. —Tacsipacsi (talk) 20:10, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

@Tacsipacsi I did see that it was Brackenheim and, in my haste, I overlooked the fact that that user is not named like a bot. But the edit is marked as a bot edit in my watchlist. That is what I based on my comment on.

I agree that moving only the talk page should still be possible, just hard to do by accident. Brianjd (talk) 12:44, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

@Brianjd: I asked about this at User talk:Brackenheim#Bot edit?.   — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ _{please ping or talk to me}🇺🇦 13:09, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Declining file rename requests because of open DRs

In my experience, file rename requests are generally declined when files are subject to open DRs. This is a good thing (see Commons:Deletion requests/File:Flag of the National Committee for Disaster Management (Cambodia).jpg), but it doesn’t seem to be documented here or anywhere else. Brianjd (talk) 12:43, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

It's partially mentioned in #4 of COM:FRNOT, although that explicitly mentions copyright issues, which is usually handled much more swiftly than regular deletion requests. It's possible that this rule has been applied to widely by file movers, and should only be applied in the specific case mentioned. TommyG (talk) 12:53, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

@TommyG If the current practice is inconsistent with the guideline, I would prefer to see the guideline changed to match the current practice, rather than the other way around. Brianjd (talk) 13:01, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

I usually avoid renaming files that have open DRs because if you rename the file then it becomes unclear whether the DR is for the file or for the new redirect, and clarifying that seems like more effort than just waiting for the DR to end. I'd make an exception if the existing name is particularly bad (bad enough that the redirect would be deleted anyway), or if the filename is the main reason for the DR. I think expanding FRNOT 4 in this sort of direction would be a good plan. bjh21 (talk) 13:26, 12 December 2022 (UTC)