User:This, that and the other/For the Common Good

For the Common Good is a standalone software application that aids in transferring free media to Wikimedia Commons. It is no longer maintained, but it still works and remains available for download.

Shortcut

• WP:FTCG

You take full responsibility for any action you perform using For the Common Good. You must understand both local policies and Wikimedia Commons policies and use this tool within those policies, or risk being blocked here and/or on Commons. If using FtCG on another wiki, you must additionally be aware of policies on that wiki.

For the Common Good in action

Features

FtCG includes several features:

• Easy traversal of Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons, Category:Copy to Wikimedia Commons (bot-assessed), Category:Move to Commons Priority Candidates, or any other category (FtCG is not limited to category traversal: you can also enter file names manually)
• Integrated display of all elements on the file page (wikitext, file metadata, file links, previous versions, EXIF metadata)
• Automatic provision of a partially-filled {{Information}} template if not already present, or amelioration of the existing one if present
• A number of magic transformations to generate the Commons file description page:
  • For example, on English Wikipedia, "self" license templates are converted to the equivalent "user" templates, and there is plenty more magic
  • FtCG allows you to customize the transformations for each wiki using local wiki data
• Ability to rename file when transferring
• Ability to select one or more old versions of an image and transfer them separately
• Automatic tagging with {{now Commons}} (or deletion, for admins) of the local image after transfer
• Ability to keep a log of transfers if desired (very handy for Move to Commons drives)
• A built-in categorisation system, similar to HotCat

Be aware that FtCG doesn't do all your work for you. Normally, you will still need to clean up the file page wikitext a little bit before clicking the "Transfer" button.

Download

You can download the latest version of FtCG at https://atlight.github.io/ftcg. The most recent version is listed on that site. (You can check the version of your copy by clicking the "Settings..." button.)

A note on operating system compatibility: FtCG works on Windows and Linux, and most likely on Mac OS too.

• Windows users can run FtCG directly. No installation is required, so long as your PC has the .NET Framework 4.6.1 (already installed on almost all Windows computers).
• Tech-savvy Mac OS and Linux users can run this application using Mono and/or Wine^[1], with only very minor loss of functionality compared to Windows^[2].

For those who are interested, source code (in C#) is available on GitHub.

Feedback

I would appreciate any feedback, bugs, or suggested improvements, especially regarding the deletion of files after transfer (not being an admin, I can't really test this feature).

Other wikis and languages

• For the Common Good is available in a few languages.
• You can download "local wiki data" files, which allow FtCG to adapt to a particular wiki. See also the list of local wiki data files.
• You can even use FtCG to perform reverse transfers from Commons back to local wikis, or from one local wiki to another.

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1. If you have a choice, try FtCG under both Mono (mono ForTheCommonGood_1.x.y.z.exe) and Wine (wine ForTheCommonGood_1.x.y.z.exe) and see which one you prefer. They both work correctly, but each one has a different set of skin-deep visual glitches.
2. Known issues:

   • The category suggester does not provide automatic suggestions. (This functionality is intentionally disabled on Mono, as it causes FtCG to freeze.)
   • The "preview wikitext" window always appears blank.

   If you discover other issues, please let me know on the talk page.