Commons:Village pump/Archive/2026/07

Deletion request has continued for over a week with no response

Hello!

I've opened a deletion request at Commons:Deletion requests/File:Sherlock App.png regarding an image that almost certainly contains undisclosed AI-generated content (see nomination for more info), but more than a week later, I have not received any response.

Would an administrator please see what they can do about this? (I'm from the English Wikipedia, so I'm not very familiar with the procedures at Commons.)

Thanks for your time. GrinningIodize (talk) 14:15, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

We still have open deletion requests from last year. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a deletion discussion to remain open for an extended period. Best regards, זיו「Ziv」 • For love letters and other notes 14:21, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

@GrinningIodize: Hi, and welcome. Please be patient. Per COM:DR#Latest requests to be closed, "There are 10612 open deletion requests, the oldest being 232 days old."   — 🇺🇦Jeff G. ツ please ping or talk to me🇺🇦 14:45, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Oh my! I didn't realize that your backlog was that bad! Is there anything that I can do to help out? GrinningIodize (talk) 15:41, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

GrinningIodize, try leaving comments on other deletion requests, someone might return the favor. Comments generally make it easier for admins to close requests. - Alexis Jazz ^{ping plz} 15:46, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Got it! Will see what I can do, thanks! GrinningIodize (talk) 16:03, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Yoruba Heritage Photography Contest

Dear colleagues, the Wiki Loves Yoruba Heritage photography contest will start on August 1, 2026. We invite everyone to help document and celebrate the rich heritage of the Yoruba people by contributing photographs of our culture, traditions, historical sites, festivals, architecture, arts, and other aspects of Yoruba heritage. To reach more people outside the Wikimedia community, we have proposed a CentralNotice banner to promote the contest and encourage wider participation. Thank you. Agbalagba (talk) 11:08, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Help needed! Is this really CC BY 4.0?

• https://www.data.rio/apps/PCRJ::geo-pal-planejamento-urbano-1/explore

This page, from an official website of the Rio de Janeiro city government, features satellite photos of the city and its surroundings ranging from 1999 to 2025. The images are very good, with an amazing resolution (I can even identify the existence of people on the streets in some cases). According to the details, it is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license, which would be great for Commons.

However, on the 2025 map for instance, the bottom right corner reads "NASA/USGS | Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro Powered by Esri". On the 1999 one, it reads only "Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro Powered by Esri". I have not checked all the years, but I would like to know if, at least in the cases where "NASA" is written, the map can be screenshotted and uploaded here. And what about "Powered by Esri"? Thank you! Yacàwotçã (talk) 18:21, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Seems to be a partnership between NASA and the Rio de Janeiro city government. I don't see any reason to not accept the CC BY 4.0 license. Darwin ^Ahoy! 18:29, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

AI-mediated editing?

I stumbled upon Category:Cagar Budaya Provinsi Banten earlier today, and noticed a bunch of categories duplicating already existing ones. So I just went ahead to merge and clean up where needed (taking a break currently at section "S"). At some point I wondered about the user that seems to be at the source of it all, Arif Permana Putra (talk · contribs). Their edits seem to be superhumanly rapid (I counted 500 similar edits between 2026-06-23 02:59:02 and 2026-06-23 02:41:19, or about one edit every 2 seconds), which is of course possible with gadgets, but as far as I know, these are tagged as such. Being untagged, they have to be regular edits, right? But to load a page > copy+paste a line of wikicode > switch to the summary field > copy+paste a summary > and save every 2 seconds for 500 consecutive edits? And that for a user who has been active for just over two months? My question to the audience here: what do you think is going on here? And if it is AI-assisted editing, would that be subject to COM:BOTS rules? --HyperGaruda (talk) 19:55, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

@HyperGaruda: Didn't you ask this user first? Also you should have notified them, which I did for you this time. Yann (talk) 21:03, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

HyperGaruda, why AI? These look like repetitive edits. I've made many semi-automated untagged edits with user scripts I wrote myself. Look no further than my impressive 15K edit count on nvwiki. - Alexis Jazz ^{ping plz} 01:39, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

Sorry about that, I thought linking the user was sufficient as ping and notification. As to why AI rather than a script: I got triggered initially by their last couple of 2026-06-23 Wikidata edits, using "hallucinatory" in their edit summaries while fixing some very remarkable values for the "located in..." property. From here on, it's admittedly assumptions and suspicions, hence why my initial post is formulated as more of a question. Perhaps something that points more towards AI involvement, are the Commons category creations and file categorisations at the start of 2026-06-23, each with edit summaries that feel a bit too perfect and artificial:

• Creating parent category
• Creating subcategory and linking to parent
• Categorizing file into [insert link to specific category here]

--HyperGaruda (talk) 06:06, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

HyperGaruda, I didn't really look into it, but are there significant problems with their edits? - Alexis Jazz ^{ping plz} 06:48, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

Well, if that is the reason for the duplicated categories (e.g. Category:Masjid Caringin, Category:Masjid dan Menara Agung Banten Lama, Category:Mercusuar Cikoneng Anyer etc.), including the related duplications on wikidata, then I'd say yes. --HyperGaruda (talk) 07:04, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

Final reminder: Wikimedia Commons Pre-Conference at the Wikimania 2026

This is a final reminder about our Wikimedia Commons Pre-Conference at the Wikimania in Paris on July 21. If you want to join the pre-conference, please sign up on this page until July 7. Participation at the pre-conference is also possible without a ticket for the Wikimania. If you sign up before the deadline on July 7, you will get free access to the pre-conference day. Unfortunately, online participation will not be possible.

If you have something you want to present or you want to talk about at the pre-conference, please add it here, also until July 7. See you in Paris! GPSLeo (talk) 15:58, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

How to categorize All media needing categories as of 2022?

The Category:All media needing categories as of 2022 still contains a bit more than 15,000 files. A small team started to reduce this number from 80,000 to zero in February 2025, but now we got stuck at letter E. Do you want to help categorizing the remainder manually, by reviewing the files one by one, or do you have a recommendation, how this could be done more effectively, based on the hints shown in the Commons:WikiProject Minimum One Category? --NearEMPTiness (talk) 06:37, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

Files that are already being used in an article can be found using Glamtools. This simpliefies the categorisation for new volunteers. NearEMPTiness (talk) 02:13, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

14,000 files to be categorized, please. We need more volunteers now, because it is getting increasingly difficult, since the low hanging fruit have been harvested. --NearEMPTiness (talk) 18:57, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

I did some, but 13,108 still to be done. If people just try, they will surely find some they can do. Good luck! B25es (talk) 15:38, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

It's anonymous work, but it doesn't go unnoticed. I find it particularly rewarding, if I can find a good photo for a previously pictureless article. NearEMPTiness (talk) 16:28, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Say it in your language!

Hello everyone,

As part of Wiki Indaba 2026 (Abidjan, November 13–15), the organizing committee is launching a call to all Wikimedia communities across Africa and beyond.

Say it in your language!

We invite every community to record a short video (1 minute maximum) in which a member says the Wiki Indaba 2026 theme in their local language:

“Africa’s Future: Knowledge Equity and Innovation”

All submitted videos will be edited together into a collaborative pan-African video celebrating the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Wikimedia movement.

• Maximum 1 minute

Submit your video here

⏳ Deadline: July 20, 2026

Please share this call within your communities! 🙏

Wiki Indaba 2026 Organizing Team — Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire x WisCom Abiba Pauline (talk) 13:06, 8 July 2026 (UTC)