Using Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons is a fantastic resource for free images. Because it is such a good source, RapidQandA provides special support for images you might find there. Follow these simple steps to use an image from Wikimedia Commons in RapidQandA.

Go to Wikimedia Commons.
Use the search tools to find the image you want.
When you find the image, select More Details.
Find the the Use this file on the web link. If you’re on a mobile and the link isn’t available, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Desktop.
When you click on the link, a Use this file on the web dialog box will pop up.
At the top right of the Embed this file field, you’ll see an image size selector. It is recommend that you don’t select anything larger than 512px wide.
Select the HTML option. The BBCode option can be used, but it requires a bit more work which is described later.
Copy all the text from the Embed this file field to the clipboard. The HTML option should be selected.
Paste the text into your lesson file.
RapidQandA will automatically extract the image and attribution details; you don’t need to do anything.
An example is shown below:

<a title="Martin Vorel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Programming_code.jpg"><img width="512" alt="Programming code" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Programming_code.jpg/512px-Programming_code.jpg"></a>

Using BBCode

Wikimedia Commons allows you to use BBCode** to define the image. *RapidQandA should be able to parse the **HTML** format successfully. If you come across an image where HTML doesn’t seem to be recognised correctly, you can try the *BBCode** instead. The only difference is that the BBCode has to be wrapped between {bbcode} marker in RapidQandA. So to use the *BBCode** text, just type {bbcode}{bbcode} in your lesson, and then paste the BBCode between the two tags.

{bbcode}[url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg/256px-Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg]Elizabeth of York from Kings and Queens of England[/url] National Portrait Gallery , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons{bbcode}

Image alignment

In the Adding Images topic, you will have seen how to push an image to the left by adding the < character. You can do a similar thing with the embedded code from Wikimedia Commons. Just prefix the code with another < character. So the following text would push the image to the left.

<<a title="Martin Vorel, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Programming_code.jpg"><img width="512" alt="Programming code" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Programming_code.jpg/512px-Programming_code.jpg"></a>

Notice that it starts with <<a and not <a.

You can use the same technique with BBCode. Just place the < before the first [url marker. Here is an example:

{bbcode}<[url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg/256px-Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_of_York_from_Kings_and_Queens_of_England.jpg]Elizabeth of York from Kings and Queens of England[/url] National Portrait Gallery , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons{bbcode}

Notice that it starts with {bbcode}<[url and not {bbcode}[url.

Using Wikimedia Commons for your own images.

Wikimedia Commons also allows you to upload your own images and then embed them in web pages. This makes it ideal for use with RapidQandA.

Images you add should really be for educational purposes, but that of course fits nicely within the aim of RapidQandA. You also need to make any content you create free content, normally under a Creative Commons licence. That again fits in with the ethos of RapidQandA.

Wikimedia Commons icon by Daniele Pugliesi, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Please note that any acknowledgment does not mean that the acknowledged creators endorse RapidQandA or the use of their work in any way.