Archives:FAQ
This guide will attempt to address all issues and questions that a user may have during their time on the Archives. If there are any questions not addressed here, by all means, please bring them up with a staff member.
Userspace
Are there rules to using the userspace?
Generally there shouldn't be a userpage on the Archives. That isn't the purpose of this site. It would be better if you went to Bulbapedia to create your userpage; however, a simple link or redirect to your Bulbapedia page is all right. Userspace limits are the same here as on Bulbapedia, three edits per day. If you go above this limit, you may lose your privilege to edit your userpage here indefinitely.
Can I have personal images?
No. As of May 13, 2011, personal images are no longer allowed to be uploaded to the Archives, and personal images that had been uploaded at the time have since been deleted. There are many different image hosts available but the Archives is not the place for them.
Problems with other users
This user is being rude to me, what do I do?
Users do occasionally disagree. It happens. However, if a user is bullying you, it is unacceptable. If you feel that a user is bullying you, please bring it up with an admin right away and explain the situation to us and we will step in and will handle the situation. The Archives does not tolerate bullying behavior and neither should you.
This user is reverting me and changing my image, what do I do?
Users do fight over images, however, instead of getting in an edit war, bring it up on the other user's talk page, a staff's talk page, or the talk page of the file itself to solve the problem. Edit wars are frowned upon and users caught in edit wars can face short blocks depending on the revisions they've changed.
How do I upload?
The upload form to upload an image can be found by clicking here. To upload a file, you must first become autoconfirmed. To become autoconfirmed, assist by editing a certain number of files and have your account exist for a certain period of time. Both of these values are kept secret so that users do not purposely only perform this number of edits to become autoconfirmed.
I uploaded an image and added it over to Bulbapedia, but why isn't it showing up?
Bulbagarden runs on multiple servers. As such, some are not on the same server. This is the case for the Archives and Bulbapedia. Sometimes images do not show up on the site, even if they were uploaded here. Usually a hard refresh, dry edit, which is clicking the edit tab and saving the page without editing; or a purge, which can be done by clicking the clock at the top of the page; of the page will force the image to show up sometimes. Please don't upload the image more than once if it does not show up on Bulbapedia. To avoid running into this problem, it is best to upload the image before you link to it on Bulbapedia.
Why can't I upload over this file?
To upload over an existing file, you must first become autoconfirmed. To become autoconfirmed, assist by editing a certain number of files and have your account exist for a certain period of time. Both of these values are kept secret so that users do not purposely only perform this number of edits to become autoconfirmed.
Categories
What do you mean by "categorizing my images"?
Categorizing refers to adding information based on what is in the image. For example, if an image is uploaded and has Ash and his Pikachu in the image, one would tag it with "[[Category:Ash Ketchum]]" and "[[Category:Ash's Pikachu]]", as they are in the picture.
What is a category?
For a list of categories, see here.
What are categories used for?
Categories allow for general organization of images. Images care categorized by certain ways, such as the Pokémon in the images, or if the images are of Nintendo or Game Freak staff. Categories also allow for searching for a certain kind of images by the category itself. For instance, by searching though "Category:Pikachu", one would find images of Pikachu.
Why are they important?
The Archives is a place where images are uploaded, and it is best that they are organized.
What are some common categories?
Some common categories include Moves (game), Location artwork, and main character categories. Specifics include Pikachu, Ash Ketchum, Meowth (Team Rocket), and Blue (Adventures). If you are unsure if a certain category exists, either check if it does through the search bar or ask a staff member or other active members.
Tagging
What do you mean by "tagging my images"?
Tagging refers to the process of organizing an image by where it came from, such as a Pokémon website, from a scan of a magazine, or in the public domain. They further categorize an image into different categories based on the type of tag.
What is a license tag?
For a list of tags, see here.
What are tags used for?
A license tag allows for general organization of images. It also allows the viewer to get an idea where the image came from, be it a screenshot, sprite, or otherwise. In addition, this is for copyright purposes. Images are uploaded from a variety of sources, so it is a good idea to know where it is from should the image be questionable in infringing a copyright. Also, it determines how freely the uploaded image is able to be used outside of Bulbapedia, Bulbagarden Archives, and Bulbanews.
Why are they important?
Like categories, they are important on images as they organize them in certain ways.
Link templates
What link templates are there?
Generally we use the same link templates as we do on Bulbapedia. For those unfamiliar with the link templates, the only templates that are really needed include {{bp}}, {{m}}, {{adv}}, {{p}}, {{game}}, {{a}}, and {{an}}. If you are unfamiliar with how any of the templates work or if you are wondering if a certain template exists, ask a staff member or other active members.
Images
Why is this image not moving on my browser?
Some images move, and while a lot of browsers support them, some do not. Browsers such as Internet Explorer and Apple Safari do not support png moving images, while browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Opera support them. In the case of Google Chrome, unless you have installed an extension, the browser will not support the animated images as well. If you cannot see the image moving on a browser that does not support animated png moving images, but the image is tagged with a template that says that it moves, please do not change anything, as it does move for other users.
Someone mentioned that I shouldn't be using jpgs, why?
JPGs are allowed for certain images, mostly images such as for the TCG. We generally would like PNGs to be used for images like anime screenshots, game or anime artwork and scans. PNGs generally look better in thumbnails on Bulbapedia where they are scaled down. Remember to always use lowercase extensions! That means .png and not .PNG and if you're using .jpgs, it's .jpg not .JPG or .JPEG. Many templates on Bulbapedia use lowercase extensions so it is imperative that you follow this format.
There isn't a need for an image, can I delete it?
Deleting images is an administrator and above tool. If a file should be deleted, you can place the {{delete}} template on the page, along with the reason for deletion, like {{delete|this is a duplicate image of [[:File:Example.jpg]]}}.
This file has a wrong name, how do I change it?
Moving files is a junior administrator and above tool. However, if a file does need to be changed, you can place the {{move}} template on the page, along with the new filename, like {{move|New filename}}. After an image is moved, an administrator will delete the redirect and remove the template.
Why do we use AniPNG instead of GIFs for animated sprites?
Bulbagarden Archives uses animated pngs over gifs due to a higher quality image, lower filesize, and a larger color palette.
Summaries
What should I put in my summary?
Generally it would be best to describe what is going on in an image, such as an anime image. Keep it limited to a few sentences.
What are the summaries used for?
Summaries are used as details for an image.
Why are they important?
They are important as they allow for a user to check at a glance about the image and what it's about.
Uploading problems
I tried to upload an image but the form didn't go through, why?
Because of occasional server stress from user and visitor traffic, the site does occasionally experience session losses, which forces a user to redo what they were doing, such as saving a page or uploading an image. If the upload form does not go through during a session loss, just go through the upload form again and it should go through the next time.
Other
What can I do to help out the Archives?
There's always things to do on the Archives. Help keep the Archives clean and organized by checking out our to-do list.
Who can I contact if an admin isn't online?
Generally there is usually an admin watching over the Archives, even if they don't appear in the Recent Changes. However, if a vandal strikes and an Archives admin does not step in to solve it, please bring it up with an active Bulbapedia staff member. If you are unsure who to ask, the Archives's staff page will tell you who has sysop powers on the Archives who are also on Bulbapedia.