Apologies for the long break between releases – we have been busy working on fixing an issue that many users were reporting with failed uploads, and we are thrilled to announce that we may have finally solved it! 🙂 Additionally, Wikidata integration is now complete, with uploads via Nearby Places automatically editing the p18 property of the associated Wikidata item. There are several other new features, including two recently-completed GSoC projects that we mentored – users can now browse other images on Commons, and view their achievements and upload statistics.
Please feel free to register for beta testing if you would like to help test v2.8. If you experience any bugs or crashes, or if you find any aspect of the new features to be unwieldy, please do let us know on GitHub.
Important bugfixes
Failed uploads
Over the last two months, we have attempted to debug and solve a problem reported by many users – that their uploads consistently fail. We had a lot of difficulty reproducing the problem, figuring out what caused it and obtaining the information needed to fix things, and we almost had to revert the new 2FA feature as a last resort. But we finally have a solution that fixes the problem for our testers (while still keeping 2FA intact), so we hope this works for everyone else too!
For those experiencing this issue, please register for beta testing and update to version 2.8, and let us know if it does not solve the problem for you.
Crashes during upload
We have also fixed a longstanding issue with users occasionally crashing halfway through an upload.
New features
Wikidata p18 edits via Nearby uploads
The “Nearby places that need pictures” feature works by searching for Wikidata items that are located within a certain radius of the user and are missing the p18 property. Now, when you upload an image to a pin on the Nearby map or list, the image will be automatically added to the p18 property of that Wikidata item. 🙂
To illustrate the workflow, we will again use the example of Queen Street Mall, a Wikidata item that lacks a photo:
- I selected the “Queen Street Mall” pin on my Nearby map and tapped the camera button on the right side of the screen
- I took a photo of the mall, and the title and description fields were automatically filled for me based on the properties of that Wikidata item
- I tapped the arrow button on the upper right, and selected categories based on the suggestions given
- After the upload completes, I check the Queen Street Mall page on Wikidata, and find that my image has been added to the “image” property
- After refreshing the Nearby map, the Queen Street Mall pin is gone, because it now has a photo!
This feature is in its infancy, so we are keeping tabs on Wikidata edits that have been made via our app here.
Browse other images on Commons, including featured images, via “Explore”
The “Explore” feature is a GSoC project by Ujjwal Agrawal, mentored by Neslihan Turan and Nicolas Raoul. It builds on top of the “view featured images” feature that we had recently implemented, adding the search function to view other non-featured images. Featured images are displayed by default, but all images in Commons can be viewed by searching for a title or a category. More details about an image can be viewed by tapping on it.
View your achievements and upload statistics
The new “Achievements” feature is part of a GSoC project by Tanvi Dadu, mentored by Vivek Maskara and myself. Accessible by tapping on the “trophy” icon next to your username, you can view your images uploaded, % of images not deleted, and images used, all of which are used to calculate your level.
Quiz for users with high deletion rates
Also part of Tanvi’s GSoC project, this feature aims to help educate users who are found to have excessively high revert rates. A quiz will pop up for them in the app, and they can see the correct answer immediately after attempting a question.
First-run tutorial for Nearby Places
Based on feedback from new users, we have designed a short first-run tutorial explaining the Nearby Places feature.
Upload stats for 2018
We have a record high number of uploads via the app in 2018 Q2, with only a small fraction of them requiring deletion. \o/ Thank you all for your contributions! (Source: Commons app stats courtesy of Yusuke. 2018Q3 still in progress.)
cookies & code 