Extension:Media Viewer/About



Media Viewer aims to improve the multimedia viewing experience on Wikipedia, Commons and MediaWiki sites, to display images in larger size and with less clutter. It is being developed by the Wikimedia Foundation's new multimedia team and now has a first beta version ready for testing, as part of our new Beta Features program.

You can now test beta version v0.2 of Media Viewer on all wikis worldwide. For example, check out this demo page on MediaWiki.org (be sure to enable Media Viewer first in your Beta preferences). This version is still in development, with [//bugzilla.wikimedia.org/buglist.cgi?resolution=---&component=MultimediaViewer many known bugs], and we invite community members to report any new issues, as described below.

After you've had a chance to test it as described below, we invite you to join this discussion. Hope to see you there!

IRC Chat Log: Here is the log of our recent IRC Chat about Media Viewer, held on Friday, February 21, 2014. We will host another one in mid-March at Wikimedia's Office IRC Channel. To participate in the next one and keep up with our work, subscribe to our multimedia mailing list.

Why Media Viewer?
The purpose of this tool is to:
 * Provide a richer multimedia experience, to match user expectations
 * Display images in larger size, on the same page as the thumbnail you click on
 * Reduce confusion when users click on thumbnails (bypass duplicate file info page on Wikipedias)

It aims to serve all users of Wikipedia, Commons and other MediaWiki sites. Note that this media viewer now only supports still images, but we plan to support other file formats such as video, audio and slides in the next version.

Current features include:
 * Show images in larger media viewer panels when you click on them
 * Modal panel opens up as overlay (on same page where you clicked)
 * Large image appears without clutter, for a more immersive experience
 * Information about the image can be accessed easily
 * Images can be shown in full-screen mode
 * Images in a collection can be browsed easily

How does Media Viewer work?








Media Viewer provides two different views of an image when you click on its thumbnail on an article page: Lightbox and Full-screen View.

Lightbox View
The 'Lightbox view' for this tool includes:

The image is shown in large size against a black background, as an overlay that fills up the entire browser page where you clicked on the thumbnail. This makes the image stand out more and removes some of the visual clutter typically found on a text-heavy page.
 * Image

In this v0.2 release, these tools are provided:
 * Viewing Tools
 * Close button (goes back to article view)
 * Full screen button (expands into full-screen view)
 * Next and Previous arrows (to browse through related images)

Here is the information that is shown immediately below the image, in a small meta-data strip (see mockup):
 * Primary Info
 * File name (Zonotrichia atricapilla)
 * Author (e.g. Alejandro Erickson)
 * Source (e.g. Bird Institute)
 * License Info (e.g. CC-BY-SA-2.0) (or link to license info)
 * Chevron icon for opening the metadata panel to reveal more info (see below)

Here is the information that is shown below the fold, once you open the metadata panel (by clicking on the chevron or scrolling):
 * Secondary Info
 * Description
 * Site name and link (e.g. 'Learn more on Wikimedia Commons')
 * Uploader name (e.g. Smallbones)
 * Creation Date (e.g. 12 April, 2012)
 * Location (e.g. place name and/or geotag coordinates, if any)
 * Categories (e.g. Birds of British Columbia, Zonotrichia atricapilla … more> )
 * File usage (e.g. 'This file is being used by 5 other pages. ')
 * Permissions (e.g. special credits or restrictions) (screenshot)
 * Assessment credit (e.g. '') (screenshot)
 * More meta-data may be added to this panel over time

Full Screen View
The 'full-screen view' for this tool will show a large image across the entire screen, with minimal information and buttons available on hover.

This is the view that lets you focus exclusively on the image, with no other distractions. When you click on the full screen icon, you see the largest version of the image that fits within the user's entire screen (not just the browser window). In this mode, you only see the controls, the file name and the author/source/license if you hover over the image.

New Tools
We are also working on these new tools and features for version v0.2:
 * Use/share this file (screenshot)
 * Embed this file (screenshot)
 * Download this file (screenshot)
 * Access Media Viewer on Commons
 * Bypassing Media Viewer
 * Zoom on this file

We're also working on a range of other features such as faster image load and better user interface. We invite you to test and discuss features in development, so we can improve them based on your feedback. Please join this discussion about Media Viewer, where new features are regularly listed. We would love it if you could try the ones labeled ‘ready for testing’. You can also review our specifications for features that are ‘coming soon’ — and hope you can help test them as well later this month (we release new code every Thursday).

When will it be released?
We are now working on beta version v0.2 of Media Viewer, with a focus on faster image load, better user interface, more file info and attributions, as well as improved 'use this file' tools (share, embed, download). We are now targeting a wider release of this version out of beta by the end of March 2014. It will remain in beta until we have completed work on remaining key features.

Media Viewer can now be tested in beta mode by logged-in users on most sites using the current MediaWiki software. You can enable this feature in your Beta preferences, such as this one on MediaWiki.org. See instructions below on how to test this software.

A first beta version v0.1 of Media Viewer was released in November 2013, as part of Beta Features (a new experimental program that will enable users to opt-in to test new beta features before they are released widely).

In the first releases, the Media Viewer only supports the most widely used image file formats (e.g.: JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF). In subsequent releases, we will gradually add support for other file formats (e.g.: PDF), as well as audio and video file formats.

How can I help?


Can you help us test Media Viewer in coming days? Version 0.2 of this beta feature is now available for testing by logged-in users on all wikis. For example, you can test it on this demo page on MediaWiki.org (don't forget to enable Media Viewer in your Beta Features preferences page).

If you're feeling adventurous, you can test the latest features before they are released, on this beta site, but performance will be much slower on that site (you will also need to create an account, then enable Media Viewer in your Beta preferences).

To test either version of Media Viewer, click on the small 'Beta' link next to 'Preferences' in your personal menu. Then check the box next to 'Media Viewer' in the Beta Features section of your user preferences — and click 'Save' (see screenshot). You can turn off any this option anytime, by reversing these steps.

Try out Media Viewer and let us know what you think on this discussion page. If you find any technical bugs, please [//bugzilla.wikimedia.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=MediaWiki%20extensions&component=MultimediaViewer report them here on Bugzilla].

Over 12,000 other beta testers have now enabled Media Viewer around the world. Here is an overview of the feedback they have kindly given us to help improve this tool. Many of these requests are now being implemented, as part of our current release plan.

Note: in this current release, the Media Viewer will only support the most widely used image file formats (e.g.: JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, SVG). In future releases, we plan to add support for more file formats, such as PDF, audio and video files. See the next section.

Next Version


The next version 0.3 of Media Viewer will focus on tools for using files, more file formats (e.g. slides, video, audio), as well as navigating through collections, enabling users to zoom on large images, as well as provide plug-ins so developers can add more features. For an overview of what we're working on, check our 2016 multimedia vision, as well as the current release plan.


 * Show file collection panel
 * View files in slideshow mode
 * Show PDF slides
 * Play Video files
 * Play Audio files
 * Developer Plugins
 * Mobile Version of Media Viewer

A consistent user interface will be provided for time-based and audio-video playback tools above (play/pause, rewind, volume, timeline). In future versions, we plan to provide more feedback tools below the image (e.g. thank, flag), as suggested by best practices from other media sites. We will also start working on mobile versions of the Media Viewer, in collaboration with the mobile team.

Desktop Mockups
Here are some preliminary mockups of designs we're exploring for desktop computers.

These mockups will be adjusted based on community feedback.

Mobile Mockups
Here are some preliminary mockups of designs we're exploring for mobile devices.

We will update mobile specifications on this Mingle card in coming weeks. This product will be considered for v0.3 but may not be included in this release, if not feasible.

This new version v0.3 will not be available until March, but you can test version v0.2 right away, as described above. Enjoy!

More Info
For more information about this tool, visit the project overview page on MediaWiki.org.

This feature was designed in collaboration with community members like you, through a series of discussions held over video roundtable #2, IRC, the in person at Wikimania, as well as video roundtable #4 and video roundtable #5.

Media Viewer was brought to you by many Wikimedia Foundation team members, including: Fabrice Florin, Gilles Dubuc, Mark Holmquist, Gergő Tisza, Pau Giner, Jared Zimmerman, May Galloway, Brian Wolff, Bryan Davis, Keegan Peterzell, Rob Lanphier, Erik Moeller, Howie Fung and Tomasz Finc, to name but a few.

To learn more about other multimedia projects we're working on, visit this Multimedia project hub.