Commons:OpenRefine

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 About How to: upload files How to: edit files Advanced tips and tricks Training Projects 


OpenRefine is a free and open source (FOSS) tool with which you can (batch) edit and upload files on Wikimedia Commons. OpenRefine focuses on adding and editing structured data. OpenRefile is available as a cloud service on PAWS to Wikimedia users.

  • A typical Wikimedia Commons project in OpenRefine
  • A schema in OpenRefine that prepares edits to Wikimedia Commons

This page collects information about OpenRefine for the Wikimedia Commons community.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have problems installing / opening OpenRefine on my computer. What should I do?

You can download the latest stable version of OpenRefine from its website. OpenRefine's manual includes detailed installation instructions; make sure to read these.

  • If you use Windows, then make sure you install the OpenRefine kit with embedded Java.

Some users are unable to install OpenRefine because of, for instance, firewall issues, or because their organization or company does not allow users to install external software. In that case, you can use Wikimedia's cloud version of OpenRefine on PAWS, which is described elsewhere on this page.

Does OpenRefine allow upload of all types of files that Wikimedia Commons supports?

OpenRefine supports all kinds of media files that can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. It does not support the upload of data files.

Many upload tools, including OpenRefine, sometimes have trouble uploading TIFF files.

Please note that OpenRefine supports uploading local files up to 100MB, not larger. It is possible to upload larger files from URL though.

What is the maximum size of files that can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons with OpenRefine?

OpenRefine does not (yet) support Chunked Uploads, and hence only allows uploads of files from your local drive up to 100MB. See GitHub issue (help is very welcome to address and fix this issue). Uploading larger files to Wikimedia Commons is possible via URLs on the web. If that is not an option for you, please use Pattypan or the Upload Wizard.

How many files can I upload in one session or project? Can I upload 10,000s or even 100,000s of files at once?

OpenRefine can easily handle datasets of up to tens of thousands (potentially hundreds of thousands) of rows of data. The bottleneck is the speed of uploading files to Wikimedia Commons, which is regulated by the Wikimedia Commons API. For an upload of thousands of files at once (or more), you will need some patience and you will need to keep OpenRefine open.

Can OpenRefine retrieve embedded metadata from files (like EXIF metadata)?

This is not possible inside OpenRefine. We recommend using EXIFtool https://exiftool.org. This YouTube video explains the process quite clearly.

What are the (dis)advantages of running OpenRefine locally? What are the (dis)advantages of the cloud (PAWS) version of OpenRefine?

When running OpenRefine locally (on your own computer):

  • On your own computer, it will especially be easier when you want to do file uploads to Wikimedia Commons. You will be able to upload files from your own local harddrive. This is not possible on PAWS.
  • On your own computer, you can do various tasks (especially data cleanup and joining/splitting data) without an internet connection. You do need an internet connect as soon as you want to do reconciliation and upload data and files to Commons and Wikidata.

When running OpenRefine in the cloud (via Wikimedia PAWS):

  • The cloud version is convenient when you can't easily install new software on your own computer.
  • You always need a live internet connection for this.
  • With this PAWS/cloud version, it is not possible to upload images from your local computer.


General links
Talk about OpenRefine with its community and with Wikimedia users
Bug reports and feature requests


Coolest Tool Award 2022 logo

Open Refine

2022 Coolest Tool
Award Winner

in the category
Eggbeater


Learn to use OpenRefine for Wikimedia Commons: WikiLearn course

This online course is available at any time, for free, for anyone with a Wikimedia account. It can be followed at your own pace, with computer-graded exercises. Following the course takes an average of 6 to 8 hours.


Upload files to Wikimedia Commons with OpenRefine (version 3.7)

For uploading files to Wikimedia Commons, you need OpenRefine 3.7. Wikimedia Commons upload is not supported in OpenRefine 3.6 or earlier versions.


Edit files on Wikimedia Commons with OpenRefine (version 3.6 and newer)

For editing Wikimedia Commons, you need OpenRefine 3.6 or newer. Wikimedia Commons is not supported in OpenRefine 3.5 or earlier versions. It is highly recommended to also install OpenRefine's Wikimedia Commons extension.


Advanced tips and tricks

There is also a page with advanced tips and tricks, which include more instructions on working with manifests and reconciliation, retrieving EXIF, special GREL recipes, and more. Add your own!


Install and run OpenRefine

As a local application on your computer

OpenRefine can be downloaded as an application and works on desktop and laptop computers with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. It runs a small server on your computer and you then use a web browser to interact with it. It works best with browsers based on Webkit, such as Google Chrome, Chromium, Opera and Microsoft Edge, and is also supported on Firefox.

You can download OpenRefine here. Installation instructions are available in OpenRefine's user manual.

Wikimedia Commons extension for OpenRefine

Screenshot of GitHub page of the Wikimedia Commons extension for OpenRefine

Additionally, you can also install OpenRefine's Wikimedia Commons extension. This is not necessary, but helpful for Wikimedia Commons batch editing. It offers:

  • A start screen to load file names directly from Wikimedia Commons categories.
  • Thumbnails of Commons files (not all file formats supported yet).
  • Several dedicated GREL expressions to retrieve data from wikitext for further processing.

Download and installation instructions are available at https://github.com/OpenRefine/CommonsExtension

In the cloud (via Wikimedia PAWS)

If you are unable to install OpenRefine on your computer, or if it runs very slowly, then you can also use it in the cloud (on wmcloud.org through PAWS). Everyone with a Wikimedia account can access OpenRefine here. Visit https://hub-paws.wmcloud.org/, log in, and click on the OpenRefine (blue diamond) logo.

The Wikimedia Commons extension (mentioned above) is installed in OpenRefine on PAWS. Please note: with OpenRefine on PAWS it is NOT possible to upload files to Wikimedia Commons from your local computer.

 Launch PAWS

Demo: start OpenRefine on Wikimedia PAWS

PAWS logo

OpenRefine via PAWS is not managed by the OpenRefine team; if you have any questions or comments about this service, you can submit a ticket in the PAWS project on Phabricator or ask a question on its talk page.


Log of past activities, presentations...[edit]

When Activity Links
July 2023-June 2024 OpenRefine and Wikimedia Commons training and sustainability project (funded from Wikimedia Foundation funds)
August 13, 2022 Tutorial: Batch uploading to Wikimedia Commons with OpenRefine at Wikimania 2022 Etherpad / Video recording
June 9, 2022 OpenRefine and SDC editing tutorial, Wikidata Lab XXXIV Video recording
May 19, 2022 One hour demo for beginners: Wikimedia Commons batch editing with OpenRefine (tutorial by Sandra Fauconnier), during Image Description Week
March–June 2022 Monthly OpenRefine office hours No notes/recordings (the meetings were informal)
February 22, 2022 OpenRefine community meetup with demo of Structured Data on Commons functionalities Slides and meeting recording
July 2021 – October 2022 Development of Wikimedia Commons features for OpenRefine (funded by a Wikimedia Foundation Project Grant)



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