Chris Flook

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Welcome!

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Please remember to sign your messages on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or , and a volunteer should respond shortly. Again, welcome! Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 21:37, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

February 2017

Hello, I'm Zackmann08. Thank you for your recent contributions to Acme, Indiana. I noticed that when you added the image to the infobox, you added it as a thumbnail. In the future, please do not use thumbnails when adding images to an infobox (see WP:INFOBOXIMAGE). What does this mean? Well in the infobox, when you specify the image you wish to use, instead of doing it like this:

|image=[[File:SomeImage.jpg|thumb|Some image caption]]

Instead just supply the name of the image. So in this case you can simply do:

|image=SomeImage.jpg.

There will then be a separate parameter for the image caption such as |caption=Some image caption. Please note that this is a generic form message I am leaving on your page because you recently added a thumbnail to an infobox. The specific parameters for the image and caption may be different for the infobox you are using! Please consult the Template page for the infobox being used to see better documentation. Thanks! Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 21:37, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

Hello. Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia.

When editing Wikipedia, there is a field labeled "Edit summary" below the main edit box. It looks like this:

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Please use the edit summary to explain your reasoning for the edit, or a summary of what the edit changes. You can give yourself a reminder to add an edit summary by setting Preferences → Editing → Prompt me when entering a blank edit summary. Thanks! Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 21:38, 6 February 2017 (UTC)

Small Town Indiana Survey

Hello Chris - I have noticed that you have been adding photos to small towns in Wikipedia. Thank you very much. The few photos that I have seen always have the caption "Photo from Small Town Indiana Survey". Could you please improve the caption to describe the photo? For example: the photo in Millgrove, Indiana appears to be a photo of abandoned railroad line, but it says only "Photo from Small Town Indiana Survey". In Montpelier, Indiana, we have a photo of the building housing Neff Reality, but have no idea what the significance of that old building is. Also, for Roll, Indiana, you have added a photo with the caption "Photo from Small Town Indiana Survey" that is of the same building (with a useful caption) shown in another paragraph—an unnecessary addition. One Blackford County addition that would be useful is a photo for Shamrock Lakes, Indiana. This small town has no photo other than one from the air. Thank you and keep up the good intentions! TwoScars (talk) 17:36, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

I'd add to the above your addition of a photo to Shipshewana of a rather nondescript store front in an article that was already quite well illustrated. You also added a picture of a 60s vintage ranch house to Ceylon, Indiana which I reverted. A picture of home more or less identical to hundreds of thousands of other homes does not illustrate the article in any way.

One last question for you, and this really does need a response: Chris Flook: Are you the actual photographer of all these photos you are uploading? John from Idegon (talk) 00:51, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Hi Chris Flook, great photos. I'd also like to ask if you could add a more meaningful photo caption. Something like "Downtown Pineville". Thanks. Magnolia677 (talk) 01:06, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Oh, my. It appears Mr. Flook is the director of a grant funded project to document the small towns in Indiana. (website) All these images appear on the website, which has no copyright language on it whatsoever. As I understand it, unless Mr. Flook is the actual photographer of all these images, they're going to have to come down. I'll ping Diannaa, a recognized expert on Wikipedia copyright policies and TwoScars, who has participated in this discussion back here to help develop a concensus on what to do. Chris Flook, your attention is needed here. John from Idegon (talk) 01:10, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Yes, these are all of my photos. I am the photographer for this project and I am donating about 1000 photos to WikiMedia. I'm having a graduate student help me and wfe're trying to do it in batches, so that's why the captions are simple for the moment. How else can I ensure you these are my photos?

You'll have to forgive my ignorance here, but this is my first time donating so many images to Wikipedia/wiki commons. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Chris Flook (talk • contribs)

I looked at the photo of Abingdon and the version uploaded to the Commons is of much higher quality than the one on the smalltowns.soulofindiana.org website. So yeah, I don't have any trouble believing these are your own work. However, since the photos were previously uploaded elsewhere online, we will need an OTRS ticket in place on each photo. Chris Flook, what you need to do is provide us with proof that you are the copyright holder of these images. That is done by sending a permission email to us using the instructions at WP:Donating copyrighted materials. There's a sample permission email at WP:Consent. Please be sure to list all the involved images and state which license you wish to use. If this is not done right away, the images will have to be deleted. — Diannaa 🍁 (talk) 01:29, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Thank you! However, these images were never copyrighted in the first place. They were produced by a state official (me), which places them in the public domain. Do I still need to submit this form?

Photos that are the property of a US state government are not public domain; only the federal government. And although you have never claimed copyright on them, your right to exists. Therefore you must execute the release under CC BY-SA 3.0 using the procedure described above. I'm sorry this is a hassle, but Wikipedia has copyright policies that are somewhat stricter than the law. I've been to many of the town's or blips on the map you've shot. Great work! You must have burned up a lot of tires! Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 03:18, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Ok. So, help me out here if you (all) would be so kind. I have almost a 1000 images to donate. It's not realistic that I provide 1000 links for the specific images. Is there a different way to write this letter:

I hereby affirm that [I, Chris Flook, am] the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of CHOOSE ONE: [URLs of the content] OR [attached images/text], and have legal authority in my capacity to release the copyright of that work.

I agree to publish the above-mentioned content under the free license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported and GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).

I acknowledge that by doing so I grant anyone the right to use the work in a commercial product or otherwise, and to modify it according to their needs, provided that they abide by the terms of the license and any other applicable laws.

I am aware that this agreement is not limited to Wikipedia or related sites.

I am aware that I always retain copyright of my work, and retain the right to be attributed in accordance with the license chosen. Modifications others make to the work will not be claimed to have been made by me.

I acknowledge that I cannot withdraw this agreement, and that the content may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project.

Chris Flook 
Chris Flook - Photographer (Photos were not submitted for copyright and taken with the intention of releasing them into the Public Domain).
 2-24-217

I am ignorant of the exact procedures, Chris. The only photos of mine that I've uploaded were not published anywhere prior. Diannaa has left a note on my talk saying she was gone for the day. Perhaps your question may be able to be answered at the Commons help desk. This is English Wikipedia. Wikimedia Commons is a separate independent website under the Wikimedia Foundation umbrella. I do not do much there. Also since it appears you are going to have do some correspondence, please do not forget to sign and timestamp your messages by typing four tildes (~~~~) at the end. Thanks. John from Idegon (talk) 03:37, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Let's see if we can find you someone smarter than me. Pinging Nyttend, who is an administrator both here and on Commons and a prolific photographer of Indiana too boot. If he doesn't answer the ping, you may want to drop him a note on his talk page. John from Idegon (talk) 03:46, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Ok, will do! Thank you for the help! Chris Flook (talk) 03:53, 25 February 2017 (UTC)Chris Flook

As John mentioned, there are several different parts to Wikipedia. Your photos are being displayed on articles within the English encyclopedia, but your photos are being stored on the media storage section of Wikipedia called the "Commons", and that's where you need to sort out the copyright issues. These two links will get you started: Licensing and OTRS/Noticeboard. Magnolia677 (talk) 03:56, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks Magnolia677, that's what I understood I was doing, specifically "that are in the public domain in at least the United States and in the source country of the work." the work I am donating is not copyrighted and was produced in the public domain. Using ten for a website does make them published. I'm not sure why I can't donate my work to wiki commons or Wikipedia. Chris Flook (talk) 04:09, 25 February 2017 (UTC)Chris Flook

Since they have appeared on another website which contains no visible reference to the copyright status of it, we view that as a potential problem and assume without any evidence to the contrary, that they are copyrighted. If you have complete control of your website, it may be simpler to just mark it as licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. John from Idegon (talk) 04:44, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for everyone's help! Nyttend is getting me squared away and I sent a special copyright email to Wikimedia to get this all cleared up. Chris Flook (talk) 19:34, 25 February 2017 (UTC)Chris Flook

You have been recieved the Indiana Barnstar!

		The Indiana Barnstar
		I don't normally do this, but for you I will make an exception. Your photography work on various small towns all across the state of Indiana have earned you the Indiana Barnstar. Many Wikipedia pages of small Indiana towns that used to not have any photo at all are now adorned with your work with the Small Town Indiana survey. Keep up the good work. Evking22 (talk) 00:54, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Thank you!!!!

A barnstar for you!

	The Photographer's Barnstar
	Thank you for all these great photos. You're obviously a skilled photographer. I'm especially glad for your addition to Nineveh, Indiana. It's the first non vandalism edit to that article in 5 years! Now if only someone could find a picture of the old high school! John from Idegon (talk) 03:24, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Photo for Saint Marks, Indiana

Your photo that is used for Saint Marks wasn't taken there. It is actually of a church in nearby Saint Anthony (more specifically, the St. Anthony Rectory). I'm also certain that the current photo for Saint Anthony wasn't actually taken there either, and I'm currently trying to find out where that is from. I am a native of Dubois County, where both towns are located at so that's how I know. Evking22 (talk) 00:27, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

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Hello, Chris Flook. Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 3 December. All users who registered an account before Sunday, 28 October 2018, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Thursday, 1 November 2018 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

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