This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump.

In this context the term image tag is used for a template tag such as ((PD-self)) or ((cc-by-sa-4.0)) that identifies the copyright status of an image. There's a complete list, along with descriptions, at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags. Image tagging is the helpful task of finding untagged images and adding tags to them.

Images that don't contain copyright information may be deleted, since we have no way of knowing whether it's legal to use the image or not. A tagged image will automatically have standard copyright text included, and it will be given a category regarding its copyright status. Further, automated tasks, such as moving images to the Commons, are much easier with tagged images.

But there's a more immediate reason to tag images. Mandriva Linux plans to include a static copy of Wikipedia in their next Linux distribution. (See meta:Wikimedia and Mandriva for details.) Images that have not been tagged will not be included. It's great that Wikipedia is being promoted in this way, and we want it to look as good as possible.

Wikipedia:Untagged images/Contributors

Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia:Image copyright tags, these are the templates you will be using. The links below contain lists of images that were untagged at the time the lists were made. Just pick one and click on the images listed. Some will have already been tagged – you can simply delete those from the list. For others, it will be obvious what tag they should get. Add the tag, save the image, and remove it from the list.

Images need both source and license information. Many images that are uploaded do not contain this information and should be tagged as ((no source)) or ((no license)), these templates have day-specific variables, for ease of use the following templates were created.

To subst ((no license)) with correct variables:

((subst:nld))

To substitute ((no source)) with correct variables:

((subst:nsd))

If you are unsure about an image leave it as is, do not delete it from the list and someone will look at it again later.

The tool we've used to generate our lists is currently broken, so we don't have any lists available at the moment.

Once a list is cleared, please tag the empty page with

((db|No longer needed subpage used with WP:UI))

so an Admin can delete the page, or if you are an admin, please delete the page.

• Found a completely unidentified image without even a single word about its origin? Does the description page say "from Google"? Try copying the filename, including the extension (in other words, leave .gif, .jpg, .png, etc. intact, but cut off the "Image:"), and using that as a keyword in Google's Image Search. It's quick and simple, and, as long as the uploader didn't rename it, it will come up with exactly the same image. Even if this fails, a variety of different keywords may allow you to find that same picture through much the same route the uploader probably took to find it.
• If you would like to avoid edit conflicts with other people tagging images, add a note at the top of the page, or use ((inuse)).
• When you add a tag, you might want to use an edit summary that will attract new taggers. Here's a suggested summary:
  • Thousands of images have no copyright tags. [[Wikipedia:Untagged Images|You can help!]]
• Alternatively, you can add a tag to direct people to a place they can get answers to questions they have about your edit, such as:
  • Image tagging [[WP:UI]], for questions see [[Wikipedia:Media copyright questions]]
• Tag orphan images (images that are not linked into the main namespace)) that are clearly unfree as ((subst:orfud)).
• Javascript file to make tagging for no source, no license, no rationale, or deletion nomination simpler: User:Howcheng/quickimgdelete.js.