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Wikimedia Commons ​

What is Wikimedia Commons? ​

  • Wikimedia Commons is the free media library used by Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
  • It contains public-domain and freely licensed files uploaded by people, museums, archives, educators, researchers, and Wikimedia contributors around the world.
  • The plugin uses the official Wikimedia Commons API, not a scraped website.

What You Can Do ​

  • Search for freely licensed videos and audio recordings.
  • Browse simple built-in categories like Featured Videos, Nature Videos, Science Videos, Music & Audio, and Spoken Audio.
  • Open a media item to see helpful details such as author, license, file size, duration, and categories when Wikimedia provides them.
  • Stream playable audio and video files directly from Wikimedia's official media servers.

Install ​

  1. Open AN Player.
  2. Go to the Plugins Screen.
  3. Find Wikimedia Commons in the official plugins list.
  4. Install it.
  5. Open the plugin and start browsing or searching.

Configure Plugin ​

Wikimedia Commons does not require setup.

You do not need:

  • A Wikimedia account.
  • An API key.
  • A password.
  • A server address.

After installation, the plugin works immediately.

Searching Tips ​

Wikimedia Commons is a huge public archive, so search terms matter.

Try searches like:

  • space video
  • wildlife audio
  • classical music
  • historical film
  • science lecture
  • bird song

If a search returns too many unrelated results, add a clearer word like video, audio, recording, music, or lecture.

Important Notes ​

  • The plugin focuses on audio and video files because AN Player is a media player.
  • Wikimedia Commons also contains millions of images, but image-only files are skipped by this plugin.
  • Some files have very detailed titles because they come from archives or museums.
  • Some metadata may be incomplete because each file is uploaded and described by different contributors.
  • Wikimedia Commons files are freely licensed, but some licenses require attribution. Check the media details if you plan to reuse a file outside personal viewing/listening.

If Nothing Loads ​

Try these steps:

  1. Search for a simple term like nature video or music audio.
  2. Check your internet connection.
  3. Try again later if Wikimedia Commons is temporarily slow.
  4. Remember that image-only files are intentionally hidden, so searches that mostly return photos may show fewer results.

Find more at Wikimedia Commons and the official Wikimedia Commons API documentation.