This page outlines rules and recommendations concerning the uploading and usage of files (Images and Videos) on the Toaru Majutsu no Index wiki.
For other general regulations and recommendations, see the Manual of Style.
Images
Images are primarily used to illustrate the subjects and events of the Toaru series on the wiki's articles. These include certain illustrations from the light novels, which give visual form to the text, the covers of volume releases, certain panels from manga chapters and screenshots from anime episodes and video games, among others, partial or full. They are used to show what the various characters, phenomena, objects and locations in the series look like, and how certain events transpire. They are used when appropriate and not in excess.
Uploading
Images can be uploaded via Special:Upload, which can be accessed manually, via the drop-down menu from the button on the top-right corner of the wiki's top navigation bar or from an image red-link (in which case, the image name defaults to the name listed in the red-link).
First off, before uploading an image, check the existing images uploaded to the wiki to make sure that the same image has not been added already.
If there is already an image on the wiki, compare the image which is already present, including its current usage, and the image which has yet to be uploaded, in all aspects. If the two are comparable or the one on the wiki exceeds the one to be uploaded in all aspects and purposes, leave the existing image as it is and don't upload the other one. If the new image is much better suited to the purpose, rather than uploading it separately, use the 'replace' button to upload the new one as a new version of the previous image (if so, give valid reasons and descriptions in the input box).
As noted in 'Usage' below, excessive uploading of images is inadvisable and in certain cases, may result in cautionary action and intervention from the administrators.
Content
The images used on the Toaru wiki usually fall under one of the following types (in a few cases, there may be a slight overlap between them):
- Profile Pictures & Infobox Images: Images used in an infobox to illustrate the subject - also a profile picture in the case of characters.
- Subject Images: Images used to illustrate a subject.
- Event Images: Images used to illustrate an event.
- Summary Images: Images which accompany a section summary.
- Design Images: Images which illustrate subject design and the design process.
The images used on the Toaru wiki are typically from official Toaru media (either parts of them or in full), and these usually fall into one of the following sources and categories (with overlap between them in a few cases):
- Cover Images: Images of the front covers of light novel volumes, manga volumes, manga chapters, audio-visual releases etc. These are commonly used for the infobox images of articles concerning these subjects (the Japanese version is the one used in the main infobox, while other language versions for volumes may be used in Localized Release sections).
- Design Images: Design images illustrating subject designs and their associated design process. The most common sources of these images are the official site character sections (for anime character designs) and Rainbow Spectrum, novel illustrator Haimura Kiyotaka's website (novel subject designs). Full design images are typically located in Gallery under Art Design (e.g. Character Art Design, Concept Art Design etc) sections.
- Novel/Manga Illustrations: Images of illustrations from Toaru light novels, short stories or manga chapters, used to illustrate subjects and events as shown within them. In the case of manga chapters, such images are usually only part of a multi-panel page (unless it is a single-panel page or a multi-page spread). These images are to be uploaded and used in careful moderation, and excess should be avoided (obviously, uploading an entire chapter is forbidden) - they are to be used when and where they are required.
- Screenshots: Images taken from anime and video game footage, used to illustrate subjects and events as shown within them. These images are to be uploaded and used in careful moderation, and excess should be avoided (i.e. not a full episode) - they are to be used when and where they are required.
- Promotional Images: Images released to promote official Toaru media.
- Magazine Spreads: Images used as the background for magazine articles about the Toaru series.
- Merchandise: Images of official Toaru merchandise, typically used to illustrate them on the Merchandise articles.
Images outside of official Toaru media are a bit more limited and have a number of restrictions on their usage, also detailed in 'Usage'. When they are used, they are used sparingly. These include:
- Emblems and Symbols, Logos and Flags: These can be used in certain cases to illustrate emblems and symbols associate with various subjects such as magical systems, religions and mythologies (such as when the symbols haven't appeared in visual form in Toaru media or are unsatisfactory for the purpose). Partially connected but also outside of the Toaru series, the logos of companies involved in its production are often used on their respective articles to illustrate them. Flags are usually used for the infobox images for articles concerning real-life countries.
- Maps: Aside from blog posts, these can be used in special cases to illustrate geographical aspects and movements for certain locations and events.
- Diagrams: Aside from blog posts, these can be used in special cases to illustrate and help explain certain concepts and phenomena within the series which might prove difficult to understand otherwise.
- Paintings & Portraits: Aside from blog posts, these can be used in rare cases in the Trivia sections for certain historical figures (e.g. William Wynn Westcott), for whom photographs are not available.
- Photographs: Staff members and historical domain (even these from official channels and public domain). Absolutely no photos featuring individuals outside these two.
- Fanart: Non-official artwork depicting characters, items and events from the Toaru series. These images are not allowed on the wiki articles, being only permitted on user pages and blog posts, and even then extremely sparingly. The source must be provided and where possible, permission should be obtained from the artist.
- Fan modified Images: Non-official and fan modifications of images from official Toaru media, including fan-coloring of light novel and manga illustrations. These images follow similar regulations to those for fanart.
The following types of images are NOT permitted:
- Images not connected to the Toaru series, its subjects or the functions of the Toaru wiki in any way whatsoever.
- Images from media which are released ahead of the media's release date (i.e. leaks), except through official sources/previews.
- Explicit images. Any users violating this rule will be banned from the wiki.
Images connected to key wiki functions are left to the administrators and their key collaborators.
With regards to size and quality, the image needs to be the appropriate size and quality to be able to carry out its function on the wiki (or at the very least, act as a placeholder until a better image can be brought in as a replacement), however it should not be excessively high-quality or large (superfluous size/quality is not encouraged, it increases file size unnecessarily, wastes space and can cause drag problems). For screenshots and manga images, subtitles, annotations and speech/sound text must be either not present or removed. As for watermarks (such as the ones present in the top-right corner of the screen during television broadcasts), they must not be obvious but ideally not be present at all.
If still unsure, consult one of the administrators or senior contributors.
Naming
The filename for the image can be altered in the first input box after the source address (if no change is made, the file will default to the same name as the source file or from the red-link). The image's filename should be appropriate and relevant to the subject depicted in the image (this enables proper searching and organizing for usage and management of the wiki's images), not too short (such that the rough image subject can't be found from the title) but not excessively long either (this wastes space and creates trouble for image searching and organizing, and in article edits). A random string is inappropriate. Hyphen and brackets can be used to separate elements of the name (i.e. main subject and variation), though in moderation. Please avoid using full stops to separate name elements in the same manner.
If the image is a screenshot from an anime episode to be used as screenshots in an Episode article (usually positioned in the Summary), they must be in the following format: Series E## ##m ##s.jpg (where the series in question is placed first (in place of "Series"), and the appropriate numbers for the Episode, and the time where the image came from, inserted in the relevant places accordingly, e.g. Toaru Majutsu no Index III E01 21m 32s.jpg for an image from the first episode of Toaru Majutsu no Index III, 21 minutes and 32 seconds into the episode). Any screenshots for episode articles which do not conform to this format will be deleted. If it isn't possible to add a time-verified screenshot as the infobox image, a preview image can be used as a temporary placeholder.
If still unsure of what to name an image, check existing files on the wiki of a similar nature for examples, or ask one of the administrators or senior contributors.
Description
After the input box for the filename is a larger input box, in which an uploader can describe and detail the image and its contents. It is generally recommended that the uploader give a rough description of the image and provide its source, at the minimum. Once the image is uploaded, this will be included under the heading Summary on the file's page and can be amended through conventional editing.
These are some suggested pieces of information to include:
- Description: What subjects and/or events are depicted in the image.
- Source: Where does the image come from. If the image originates from Toaru media, such as a light novel illustration, an anime episode, a manga chapter etc, insert a link to the relevant wiki article. If the image comes from a website, insert a link to the website in question.
- Purpose: What the image is intended to be used for on the wiki.
- Portion used: What part of the original image has been used.
- Replaceable?: The circumstances under which the image can be replaced.
- Artist's comments: Any comments from the artist connected to the image. This is usually restricted to design images (such as the character designs from Haimura's website, Rainbow Spectrum).
Licensing
Below the input box for the file description is a drop-down menu for a Licensing tag. Choose the appropriate tag for the licensing details connected to the image from the list. Once the image is uploaded, this will be included under the heading Licensing on the file's page and can be amended through conventional editing.
Categories
Images can be categorized both by placing a category in the file description text (e.g. [[Category:Category Name]]) or by adding it through the bottom bar, much like with the wiki articles. Choose the appropriate categories based on the nature of the image.
For illustrations and artwork from a specific artist, they should be categorized under the artwork category for that artist (e.g. Category:Artwork by Haimura Kiyotaka for illustrations/artwork/designs by Haimura Kiyotaka, the illustrator for the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novels).
Episode screenshots should be categorized under Anime Images, Episode Images and Series images, with the series in question in place of "Series" (e.g. Category:Toaru Majutsu no Index III Images).
Usage
Article infoboxes often include an image illustrating the article's subject. See below for instructions and recommendations for image usage on the infoboxes depending on article type:
- For Character articles, the image used is a profile picture which shows what the character looks like in Toaru media. If multiple images for different mediums (e.g. Novels, Anime, Manga etc) are in use, a gallery is used in the infobox with the appropriate images and labels for the relevant mediums.
- For Organization/Faction articles with an infobox, the infobox image can be either the group's emblem or a representative image of the group's members.
- For Event or Arc articles, the image should be one representing the events in question, with a caption if necessary.
- For Country articles, the country's flag should be used as the infobox image.
- For Volume and Game articles, the Japanese front cover should be used as the infobox image.
- For Manga Chapter articles, the front cover or opening page of the manga chapter may be used as the infobox image.
For articles lacking an infobox, an image illustrating the article's subject can be placed in a thumbnail before the first paragraph, aligned to the right and with an appropriate label.
Relevant images can accompany section summaries, in thumbnail form with the appropriate size setting (typically 200-250px, often 220px with summary-placed screenshots, though there are various exceptions) and annotations, and alternating left and right positions further down the page.
A fair number of articles have an image gallery located under the sub-section Gallery in the section Character Art Designs, Concept Art Designs, Art Designs or something similar, in the lower part of an article - this gallery is used for design images only (with other images detailing appearance only being used if there are no available design images for that particular instance).
Excessive usage of images is inadvisable and if taken too far, may result in cautionary action and intervention from the administrators.
Other
If an infringing image is found, add the Delete or SpeedyDelete tag, to the file page, listing the reason for deletion (if it isn't self-evident), and the administrators will take care of the deletion.
It should be noted, as of October 2018 - the time of writing, there is a considerable backlog of images needing better names - it is intended that these will be dealt with during the course of the wiki-wide overhaul accompanying the release of Toaru Majutsu no Index III and the other 2018-2019 elements of the Toaru Project.
Videos
Videos are of a lower priority than Images and more restricted because of copyright issues, but under the right circumstances, they can be a nice addition to some articles.
Uploading
Uploading videos involves a slightly different procedure to images. It is initiated through the 'Add a New Video' button on Special:Videos, which can be accessed via the drop-down menu from the button on the top-right corner of the wiki's top navigation bar. If the video is from one of the accepted sites, insert the source URL into the URL input box. If it is part of the general interwiki video database, use the search option below the URL input to find the relevant video.
As with images, check that the video in question has not already been uploaded to the wiki.
Content
Appropriate videos include:
- Official trailers and teasers for Toaru media (including promotional videos, commercials and character previews)
- Limited gameplay demonstrations for Toaru video games (i.e. Character finishing moves or movesets)
The following videos are NOT permitted:
- Full anime episodes
- Full chapter/volume videos
- Explicit videos. Just as with images, uploaders will be banned from the wiki.
With regards to size and quality, similar conditions as with images, though in some cases, this is outside of the uploader's control.
Naming
When uploading videos from external sites, the name usually defaults to the title of the source video, and in some cases, this isn't particularly practical. It is recommended in these cases, to change the name to something more appropriate in a similar manner to the naming of images, detailed in the Image 'Naming' section above.
Description
Adding descriptions follows the same procedure as with images.
Licensing
Adding licensing information follows the same procedure as with images.
Categories
As with images, videos can be categorized both by placing a category in the file description text (e.g. [[Category:Category Name]]) or by adding it through the bottom bar, much like with the wiki articles. At present, there is only a single category for Category:Videos.
Usage
Usage of videos is restricted to Video sections on selected articles (i.e. audio-visual media such as video games or anime series) - this is where trailers and teasers are placed. Videos may also be used on blog posts but in limited moderation and only when relevant.
Videos for the front page are left to the administrators and their key collaborators.
Embedded videos (videos which are embedded rather than uploaded) are not permitted on main articles.