Commons:Village pump/Archive/2026/02

Request

Hello. For those who have contacts or are living in the Switzerland area, can anyone contact Sebastian W. Bauer, the photographer/uploader contributing at the now-defunct Panoramio media hosting site? This is to try convince him to change the restrictive license of w:en:File:San Fernando Toll Plaza (circa 1999-2001).jpg to {{Cc-by-sa-4.0}}. In this way, this image can be hosted here and be used in all Wikipedias. The shutdown of Panoramio should hopefully convince him that it is better to share images with a wider audience. Regards, JWilz12345 (Talk|Contributions) 01:25, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

That sounds like a job for Commons:Permission requests (though it isn't very active). HyperAnd [talk] 04:45, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

@HyperAnd noted. I'll transfer my request there. Thanks.

This section was archived on a request by: 10:01, 5 February 2026 (UTC) JWilz12345 (Talk|Contributions) 10:01, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Question about the "No permission since" tag on File:Concept_route.png

Hello, I noticed that the tag "No permission since" has been added to the file File:Concept route.png, which I uploaded. I understand that my original description may have been too brief. However, this image is a derivative work that I created by drawing lines along roads on top of a map licensed under CC BY 4.0. I believe that this does not require any additional permission. I also saw a comment on my talk page mentioning: "Alternatively, you may click on 'Challenge speedy deletion'," but I could not find any such link or option. Could you please advise me on the appropriate way to address this situation? Is it safe to leave the file as it is, or should I take specific steps? I would greatly appreciate your guidance. Thank you very much for your help. Galactic Center Radio Arc (talk) 15:21, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

I have made that challenge for you; please make your case at Commons:Deletion requests/File:Concept route.png. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:32, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

@Galactic Center Radio Arc: That looks ok. (There is a template for the PDL1.0). The user who added the "no permission" tag probably considered that the source of the map was not detailed enough initially. You have now provided more information. The "Challenge" button is prominent in a standard configuration but it might not be present depending on the device and configuration you are using. In the present case, considering the additional information you provided, I suppose that the "no permission" tag can simply be removed. I will remove it. Notifying Shizhao to check if that's ok for them. -- Asclepias (talk) 15:41, 7 February 2026 (UTC) Someone has opened a deletion discussion. -- Asclepias (talk) 15:43, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you very much for all your kind assistance. It seems that a place has been created to leave comments, so I would like to explain my thoughts there. I appreciate everyone's kindness.Galactic Center Radio Arc (talk) 15:55, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

This section is resolved and can be archived. If you disagree, replace this template with your comment. Prototyperspective (talk) 19:26, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Metadata gibberish

Stumbled onto this image File:"Slavery Memorial" Brown.jpeg and noticed the "User comments" in the file metadata. Just a bunch of strings of characters, no seeming logic - wondering if it was originally something legible and just rendered incorrectly, or if it's something else. Any ideas on what it means? /is there a need to fix it, or should I just leave it alone? 19h00s (talk) 20:36, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

They might have been written in a different script than Latin maybe. Sometimes I see stuff similar to this when trying to convert a scanned text page (=image) and saved in PDF format into an editable MS Word document with Word failing to decipher the script/text from the PDF file. I don't know whether something like this could also happen for meta data. Nakonana (talk) 22:01, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

The EXIF data for that file is corrupted. There's actually part of a video embedded in it, but not enough to be playable. Omphalographer (talk) 22:20, 1 February 2026 (UTC)

I tend to see this with Samsung models. Makes me wonder if it is related to the live/motion photo function. --HyperGaruda (talk) 06:42, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

Open questions about the 2026-2027 WMF Annual Plan

Hello, as per every year, the discussion on the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan on Meta has begun.

This year, the questions focus on various topics that will be central to the Foundation's Product & Technology department's plans for the next fiscal year (July 2026-June 2027). They include global trends, experiments, new users and administrators, users who can control IP addresses, and even our readers.

Feel free to join the discussion on Meta. You can also participate in your own language, if English is a barrier for you. --Sannita (WMF) (talk) 14:40, 2 February 2026 (UTC)