 | This is aninformation page. It is not anencyclopedic article, nor one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels ofconsensus andvetting. |
 | This page in a nutshell: |
Thefile moveruser right allows usersexperienced in working with files to rename them, subject to policy, with the ease thatautoconfirmed users enjoy when renaming Wikipedia articles.
Any administrator can grant this right at their discretion totrusted users who regularly work with media files and have demonstratedfamiliarity with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines surrounding renaming this type of media. There is no set requirement but users should bewell-versed in Wikipedia's image and media policies (specifically the renaming guidelines given in this document), have experience with images, and how the rename process works. Experience with the equivalent tool atCommons and other relevant experience with media files may be taken into account.
The user right isnot normally given to brand-new editors, regardless of the number of files uploaded.
If you wish to request File mover rights for yourself or another user, please seeWikipedia:Requests for permissions/File mover. Administrators do not need to request or add this user right for themselves or other administrators; it is automatically granted as part of the administrator tools package.
There are currently390 file mover users, which makes the total number of users with this permission 1,218 (the rest are administrators).
Files uploaded to Wikipedia can be renamed only by administrators,file movers, and Wikimediastewards. If you belong to any of the user groups above, and therefore have the 'movefile' right, just use the "move" tab as you would normally on a regular page.
If you're not a file mover, you can place{{rename media}} on the image description page, which will put the page intoCategory:Wikipedia files requiring renaming. A file mover will perform the move, if it conforms to the guidelines described below. File movers should follow the instructions on the template.
File movers cannot move a file if precisely the same file name exists on Commons. Administrators, however, can do so, because they have the 'reupload-shared' right.
Files uploaded to Commonscannot be renamed by Wikipedia administrators or filemovers. To request the rename of a file at Commons, follow the instructions atCommons:File renaming.
As when a page is moved, a redirect is left when moving files. In most cases the file redirect should remain, except if the original name falls under one of therevision deletion criteria (purely disruptive, grossly insulting, privacy breaching, etc.) or shadows a file on Commons.
Wikipedia:File names describes how files should be named. In general, Wikipedia aims to provide stable file names as these may be being used by tools outside of Wikipedia. Currently there are nine widely undisputed uses for rename requests:
| No. | Aim | Examples (old name) | Examples (new name) | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uploader requested | WP:FNC#1 | ||
| 2 | Change from completelymeaningless names into suitable names, according to what the image displays |
|
| WP:FNC#2 |
| 3 | Correctmisleading names into accurate ones |
|
| WP:FNC#3 |
| 4 | Changegeneric bio-names into binomial scientific names |
|
| WP:FNC#4 |
| 5 | Correcterrors in file names (e.g. wrongproper nouns or false historical dates) |
|
| WP:FNC#5 |
| 6 | Harmonize file names of aset of images (so that only one part of all names differs)to ease their usage in templates (e.g. diagram symbols, scans of pages of a book, maps) |
|
| WP:FNC#6 |
| 7 | Disambiguate files with overly similar names. The software allows for multiple different files to have the same name, but with different capitalization (see ninja example) or different expressions of the same filetype extension (see bunny example). However, these are not ideal situations. |
|
| WP:FNC#7 |
| 8 | Removepejorative,offensive orcrude language that would not be appropriate in the file description |
|
| WP:FNC#8 |
| 9 | Renamefiles that shadow a Commons file or redirect[1] |
|
| WP:FNC#9 |
After moving the file, pleasereplace all uses of the old file link with the new one.
If a file name on English Wikipedia conflicts with a file name at Commons, please check theFile usage on other wikis before deciding which should be renamed. Renaming a file at Commons might affect a lot of projects instead of just one.
If the file was moved perWP:FNC#9, after all of the links have been updated, please place{{db-redircom}} on the leftover redirect (file movers), or delete the leftover redirect using the summary generated by{{db-redircom}} (administrators). Administrators and file movers that are alsopage movers can instead suppress the redirect, perWP:PMRC#5. Please seespeedy deletion criterion R4 for more information.
Additional naming conventions and exceptions from the above list might be discussed for specific projects.
As a matter of principle, it is best to leave all files with generally valid names at their locations, even ifslightly better names may exist. So, for example:
However, situations that could cause confusion are to be avoided.