If you are using Wikibase.Cloud you likely encounter limitation of file hosting…
My thinking is to use external hosts whenever possible and link:
#Wikimedia Commons whenever possible
##Miraheze Commons for when needed due to licences
###Flickr for when needed due to licences and file types
###YouTube/Vimeo/SoundCloud/MixCloud…when already there
####Self-hosting and shared-hosting *(with partners) when a must
#Archive.org + locally as backup
Where, why and how you host files?
Local file uploads appear to be disabled on Wikibase.Cloud, which is reasonable enough but slightly inconvenient.
It would be useful if Wikibase.Cloud enabled something like QuickInstantCommons so that Commons could be used as a file store.
The recommendations for the other sites seem reasonable enough, but I am not sure how you would embed them into the content of the wiki, unless just having outlinks is fine.
For those running their own Wikibases, you can have locally hosted files as a data type with this extension: Extension:Wikibase Local Media - MediaWiki
Yes WMDE wants to keep it simple for themselves, but it is more then slightly inconvenient for less technical folx that are to experiment and were to be target ‘audience’ or ‘market’ :-/
YES, at least that.
Outlinks is not good enough for most tests we needed now for abcDNK instance, so we will give up for now on Wikibase.Cloud and hope for updates on the other side :-/
I already have the images on a standalone wiki, so I made a SPARQL query to calculate the path from the filename. This can then be displayed by whatever is using the query. I can’t deny it would be nice to have the thumbnail right there. And it would be easy if we had JS access.
I wouldn’t recommend image services not under your control like Imgur, they announced the removal of some anonymously-uploaded content last year and like most such services do has become more censorious in general.
The result of the investigation is that they are moving forward with InstantCommons. Unfortunately it also means they are deprioritising Wikibase Local Media. So it will work if what you want can be on Commons under a free license, but not otherwise.