Help:Magic words

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This is an organized index of Magic words used in MediaWiki.

A "magic word" is a symbol recognized by the MediaWiki software and which when seen in the non-commented text of the page, triggers the software to do something other than display that symbol, or transclude a page with that name, but instead to use the symbol directly.

A magic word can be:

  • an upper case word, preceded and followed by two underscores, e.g. __NOTOC__
  • an XML object, coded similar to HTML, preceded by "<" (and for the end tag "/") and followed by ">", as in <nowiki>...</nowiki>
  • a parser function: similar to a template, a word preceded by the symbols "{{" and followed by "}}", and optionally parameter definitions between pipe characters, except that the part before the first pipe (or without pipes, the text between the braces) contains a colon (":"), e.g. {{ns:3}} and {{#ifexpr:{{{1}}}>3|large|small}}
  • a variable: similar to a template without parameters, a word preceded by the symbols "{{" and followed by "}}", except the word used is in all upper case, e.g. {{CURRENTDAY}}
  • a template modifier
  • an image modifier

If a page in the template namespace has the same name as a magic word, the magic word will be invoked instead. If you discover you absolutely have to define a template with the same name as a magic word, prefix the name of the template with "msg:" or the name of the template namespace ("Template:"). See below for further details if you need this feature.

Tags which are used on this page such as "[MW1.5+]" indicate the MediaWiki version that first supported the magic word. "XYZ" indicates user input, which is used in the example.

Contents

Magic words between double underscores

Table of contents

For details see Help:Section
Word Explanation
__NOTOC__ Hides ToC on the current page.
__FORCETOC__ Forces the table of contents to appear.
__TOC__ Places a ToC here (overriding any __NOTOC__). Multiple ToCs are no longer supported. If __TOC__ is used multiple times, only the first occurrence causes a ToC to appear.


Other

Word Explanation
__NOEDITSECTION__ Hides the edit links beside headings. Also, will no longer automatically edit only one section at a time when double- or right-clicking a heading (if you have that feature enabled in your preferences)
__NEWSECTIONLINK__ [MW1.7+] Gives a "+"-link next to the edit-tab to make a new section on a non-talk page (post-a-comment feature).
__NOCONTENTCONVERT__
__NOCC__
Don't perform the content language conversion (character and phase) in article display; for example, Chinese zh with zh_cn, zh_tw, zh_sg, zh_hk.
__NOGALLERY__ [MW1.7+] This magic word allows images in category pages to be displayed as inline links instead of gallery.
__NOTITLECONVERT__
__NOTC__
Like __NOCC__ but affecting article title only.
__END__ Allows for trailing whitespace to be included in the page save (does not seem to work anymore).
__START__ This magic word has no effect but an ID in MagicWord.php (MAG_START).
__HIDDENCAT__ When placed anywhere on a category page, this magic word causes that category not to appear in the horizontal box near the bottom of every member page. See Help:Category#Hidden_categories for further detail.


XML-style tags

XML-style tags use the syntax <tag name>contents</tag name>. XML-style tags are frequently used by MediaWiki extensions; see Extending wiki markup for details on adding new tags.

Default

The following tags are available in a default MediaWiki installation.

  • parsing is the conversion of text markup and XHTML to formatting and structure like templates, links, formatting, line breaks, et cetera. Two tags affect parsing:
    • nowiki disables parsing of all wiki syntax. For example, "<nowiki>'''[[{{tc}}]]'''</nowiki>" gives "'''[[{{tc}}]]'''".
    • pre mimics nowiki above in a formatted box, and preserves new lines. For example, "<pre>'''[[{{tc}}]]'''</pre>" outputs as:
      '''[[{{tc}}]]'''
      
  • transclusion is adding the content of one page to another using the {{...}} template syntax. Three tags affect transclusion:
    • noinclude prevents text from appearing when the page is transcluded, so the text will only be visible on the current page. For example, "<noinclude>[[Category:Foo]]</noinclude>" will only categorize the template page.
    • includeonly hides text on the current page, so that it will only appear when the page is transcluded. For example, "<includeonly>[[Category:Foo]]</includeonly>" will categorize all pages that transclude the template, but not the template itself.
    • onlyinclude hides all other text when the page is transcluded, so that only the text inside the onlyinclude tags will be shown. For example, "I am an <onlyinclude>apple</onlyinclude>." will output "apple" when transcluded.
  • math uses TeX markup to generate complex mathematics, usually in image form (see Help:Displaying a formula). For example, "<math>\sqrt{a^2+b^2}</math>" outputs as \sqrt{a^2+b^2}.

Common extensions

  • hiero (WikiHiero extension) uses the Hieroglyph coding manual syntax to generate images of hieroglyphs. For example, "<hiero>A1</hiero>" outputs as
    A1
    .

Variables

For details see Help:Variable

Time

The time in UTC. Note that if the page was displayed by the same user and has not changed (has not been edited) since the last time it was displayed, it is possible that the page may be cached (by the user's browser) and the displayed time or date may not change. Also, if a heavily used page, rather than freshly rendered by the software each time it is generated, is instead being retrieved from a caching system (such as the main page on Wikipedia) the date or time may not change from the last time the page was originally retrieved by the caching hardware or software.

Word Example Explanation
{{CURRENTDAY}} 10 Displays the current day in numeric form.
{{CURRENTDAY2}} 10 [MW1.6+] Same as {{CURRENTDAY}}, but with leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Tuesday Name of the day in the language of the project or English.
{{CURRENTDOW}} 2 Same as {{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, but as a number (0=Sunday, 1=Monday...).
{{CURRENTMONTH}} 06 The number 01 .. 12 of the month.
{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}} Jun [MW1.5+] Same as {{CURRENTMONTH}}, but in abbreviated form (Jan .. Dec).
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} June Same as {{CURRENTMONTH}}, but in named form (January .. December).
{{CURRENTTIME}} 20:52 The current time (00:00 .. 23:59).
{{CURRENTHOUR}} 21 The current hour (00 .. 23).
{{CURRENTWEEK}} 24 Number of the current week (1-53) according to ISO 8601 with no leading zero.
{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2008 Returns the current year.
{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}} 20080610210922 [MW1.7+] ISO 8601 time stamp.


Local time

The time depending on the local timezone of the wiki (not depending on the timezone in the user's preference settings). (All words [MW1.8+] )

Word Example Explanation
{{LOCALDAY}} 10 Displays the local day of the month in numeric form.
{{LOCALDAY2}} 10 Same as {{LOCALDAY}}, but with a leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{LOCALDAYNAME}} Tuesday Name of the day in the language of the project or English.
{{LOCALDOW}} 2 Same as {{LOCALDAYNAME}}, but as a number (0=Sunday, 1=Monday...).
{{LOCALMONTH}} 06 The number 01 .. 12 of the month.
{{LOCALMONTHABBREV}} Jun Same as {{LOCALMONTH}}, but in abbreviated form as Jan .. Dec.
{{LOCALMONTHNAME}} June Same as {{LOCALMONTH}}, but in named form as January .. December.
{{LOCALTIME}} 21:09 The local time (00:00 .. 23:59).
{{LOCALHOUR}} 21 The local hour (00 .. 23).
{{LOCALWEEK}} 24 Number of the local week (1-53) according to ISO 8601 with no leading zero.
{{LOCALYEAR}} 2008 Returns the local year.
{{LOCALTIMESTAMP}} 20080610210922 ISO 8601 time stamp.


Statistics

Statistics variables give thousands separators unless ":R" for "raw" is added (actually, these versions are parser functions).

Word Example Explanation
{{CURRENTVERSION}} 1.13alpha (r36113) [MW1.7+] $wgVersion [1]
{{NUMBEROFEDITS}}
{{NUMBEROFEDITS:R}}
229,819,050
229819050
[MW1.10+ (r21319)] Returns the total number of page edits since MediaWiki, the software that runs this site, was installed.
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES:R}}
2,407,567
2407567
A variable which returns the total number of articles on the Wiki.
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}
{{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}}
13,488,678
13488678
[MW1.7+] Returns the total number of pages. [2]
{{NUMBEROFFILES}}
{{NUMBEROFFILES:R}}
786,130
786130
[MW1.5+] Returns the number of uploaded files (rows in the image table).
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}
{{NUMBEROFUSERS:R}}
7,282,578
7282578
[MW1.7+] Returns the number of registered users (rows in the user table).
{{NUMBEROFADMINS}}
{{NUMBEROFADMINS:R}}
1,557
1557
[MW1.7+] Returns the number of administrators (users in the sysop group).
{{PAGESINNAMESPACE}}  disabled here Longer alias of PAGESINNS
{{PAGESINNS:ns}}
{{PAGESINNS:ns|R}}
{{PAGESINNS:2}} 
{{PAGESINNS:2|R}} 
disabled here
[MW1.7+] Returns the number of pages in the given namespace. Disabled by default, enable with $wgAllowSlowParserFunctions.


Page names and related info

Word Example Explanation
This page "User:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page" page
"User talk:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page" page
{{PAGENAME}} Magic words Anonymous user/sandbox/my page Returns the name of the current page, including all levels (Title/Subtitle). This does not include the name of the namespace.
{{PAGENAMEE}} Magic_words Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page More URL-friendly percent encoded special characters (To use an articlename in an external link).
{{BASEPAGENAME}}
{{BASEPAGENAMEE}}
Magic words
Magic_words
Anonymous user/sandbox
Anonymous_user/sandbox
[MW1.7+] The basename of a subpage ("Title/Other" on "Title/Other/Subtitle"), see Help:Link.
{{SUBPAGENAME}}
{{SUBPAGENAMEE}}
Magic words
Magic_words
my page
my_page
[MW1.6+] Name of the current page, excluding parent pages ("Subtitle" on "Title/Other/Subtitle") in namespaces supporting subpages, see Help:Link.
{{NAMESPACE}}
{{NAMESPACEE}}
Help
Help
User
User
Returns the name of the namespace the current page resides in.
User talk
User_talk
{{FULLPAGENAME}}
{{FULLPAGENAMEE}}
Help:Magic words
Help:Magic_words
User:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page
User:Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page
[MW1.6+] Shorthands for NAMESPACE+PAGENAME
User talk:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page
User_talk:Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page
{{TALKSPACE}}
{{TALKSPACEE}}
Help talk
Help_talk
User talk
User_talk
[MW1.7+] Name of next odd namespace (e.g. 4 => 5)
{{SUBJECTSPACE}}
{{SUBJECTSPACEE}}
Help
Help
User
User
[MW1.7+] Name of last even namespace (e.g. 5 => 4)
{{ARTICLESPACE}}
{{ARTICLESPACEE}}
Help
Help
User
User
[MW1.7+] An alias for SUBJECTSPACE(E)
{{TALKPAGENAME}}
{{TALKPAGENAMEE}}
Help talk:Magic words
Help_talk:Magic_words
User talk:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page
User_talk:Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page
[MW1.7+] FULLPAGENAME in its TALKSPACE
{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}}
{{SUBJECTPAGENAMEE}}
Help:Magic words
Help:Magic_words
User:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page
User:Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page
[MW1.7+] FULLPAGENAME in its SUBJECTSPACE
{{ARTICLEPAGENAME}}
{{ARTICLEPAGENAMEE}}
Help:Magic words
Help:Magic_words
User:Anonymous user/sandbox/my page
User:Anonymous_user/sandbox/my_page
[MW1.7+] An alias for SUBJECTPAGENAME(E)
{{REVISIONID}} 212194099 N/A [MW1.5+] The unique identifying number of a page, see Help:Diff. Note that when editing a page, this value is null.
{{REVISIONDAY}} 13 N/A [MW1.8+] The day on which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONDAY2}} 13 N/A [MW1.8+] The day on which the page was last modified, but with a leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{REVISIONMONTH}} 5 N/A [MW1.8+] The month in which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONYEAR}} 2008 N/A [MW1.8+] The year in which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}} 20080513203650 N/A [MW1.8+] ISO 8601 time stamp, indicating when the page was last modified.
{{SITENAME}} Wikipedia Value of $wgSitename.
{{SERVER}} http://en.wikipedia.org Value of $wgServer
{{SCRIPTPATH}} ../../../.. [MW1.5+] $wgScriptPath
{{SERVERNAME}} localhost [MW1.5+] $wgServerName


Other

Word Example Example results Explanation
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:category}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:category|R}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:User en}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:User en|R}}
40,809
40809
[MW1.13+] Returns the number of pages in a given category.
{{PAGESINCAT:category}}
{{PAGESINCAT:category|R}}
{{PAGESINCAT:User en}}
{{PAGESINCAT:User en|R}}
40,809
40809
[MW1.13+] Alias of PAGESINCATEGORY.


Parser functions

For details see Help:Parser function.

Not working at the position of the page where the tag is located but on the page header, and throughout the page, respectively (see below):

  • DISPLAYTITLE: allow the page header to be different from the page name.
  • DEFAULTSORT: Sets a default category sort key for the page.

Namespaces and URLs

Word Example Explanation
{{ns:}} {{ns:4}} = Wikipedia
{{ns:project}} = Wikipedia
Returns the local name of a given namespace number.
{{localurl:x y @}}
{{localurle:x y @}}
{{localurl:a|b=c}}
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Category}}
../../../../articles/x/_/y/X_y_%40.html
../../../../articles/x/_/y/X_y_%40.html
../../../../articles/a/_/_/A.html
../../../../articles/c/a/t/Wikipedia%7ECategory_37f1.html
Returns the local URL of a page (might not exist). Optional query parameter, see Help:Variable.
{{urlencode:x y @}} x+y+%40 [MW1.7+] Encodes variable values for use in external links. [3]
{{anchorencode:x #y @}} x_.23y_.40 [MW1.8+] Encodes variable values for use in section anchors. [4]
{{fullurl:x y @}}
{{fullurle:x y @}}
{{fullurl:m:a|b=c}}
http://en.wikipedia.org../../../../articles/x/_/y/X_y_%40.html
http://en.wikipedia.org../../../../articles/x/_/y/X_y_%40.html
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/a?b=c
[MW1.5+] Returns the full URL of a given page. Optional query parameter as for localurl:.


Formatting

Word Example Explanation
{{#language:}} {{#language:da}} = Dansk [MW1.7+] Native name of language code.
{{lc:}} {{lc:AbC dEf}} = abc def [MW1.5+] LowerCase
{{lcfirst:}} {{lcfirst:Ab Cd}} = ab Cd [MW1.5+] LC first char.
{{uc:}} {{uc:aBc DeF}} = ABC DEF [MW1.5+] UpperCase
{{ucfirst:}} {{ucfirst:aB cD}} = AB cD [MW1.5+] UC first char.
{{formatnum:}} {{formatnum:-299792458.56789}} = -299,792,458.56789 [MW1.7+] Changes the decimal separator and adds digit group separators (before the decimal separator only) according to the wiki's default locale. Also changes the digits into the local script. Leading minus and plus are recognized.
{{padleft:}}




{{padright:}}

{{padleft:7|3|0}} = 007

{{padleft:0|3|0}} = 000

{{padleft:bcd|6|a}} = aaabcd
{{padleft:cafe|8|-}} = ----cafe

{{padleft:bcd|6|{{!}}}} = |||bcd

{{padright:bcd|6|a}} = bcdaaa
{{padright:0|6|a}} = 0aaaaa


First case is, for example, applicable to years in a category... giving an ordered year to sort by pipetricks order, or any such ordering where left extended zeros allow a proper sorting.

[MW1.8+] Pads a string with a character to the specified width. Note that there's a little bug that interprets non-US-ASCII characters as two, instead of one character (see the difference in café and cafe in the examples.)

It does not seem possible to use padleft and padright for padding with characters with a multi-character code, such as &nbsp;, which would be useful with padleft for sorting tables with Javascript.

Also, giving a non-ASCII character as a character to replicate results in a "?" character. bugzilla:12324

{{#tag:}} {{#tag:myextension | content | attr=val | attr2=val2 }} = <myextension attr=val attr2=val2>content</myextension> [MW1.12+, r29482] Passes attributes and inner content to an XML-style parser tag, parsing template variables along the way. See Bug 2257 and Extension:TagParser.


With regard to #language and m:Template:n local (backlinks, edit), see also:

  • List of Wikipedias/local names - shows both names for all languages, without automatic comparison
  • List of Wikipedias/local names/diff - values of #language for which {{n local}} contains a different name.
  • List of Wikipedias/local names/diff 1 - for languages where the two names are different, shows both

Note: An alternative of LC and UC, for display only (not for further processing) is with CSS:

  • Template:Xpdplain
  • Template:Xpdplain

Capitalizing the first letter of each word:

  • Template:Xpdplain

Template modifiers

Usage Explanation
{{:xyz}} A bare colon is not a template modifier, it's the prefix for the main namespace. Test e.g. article {{:UTC}} vs. template {{UTC}}.
Using this syntax you include the text of the main namespace article xyz in another article.
{{int:xyz}} Same as {{MediaWiki:xyz}}, except standard message translation is applied depending on subpages and content/user/uselang language. Another difference is: this doesn't appear under "Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page:". Rendered as <xyz> if MediaWiki:xyz doesn't exist. See also Help:System message.
{{msg:xyz}} Even if there is a magic word named "xyz", use template:xyz unless the template doesn't exist (equivalent to {{template:xyz}}). Normally, magic words have priority when there is a conflict.
{{msgnw:xyz}} The unexpanded wikitext is rendered (more or less, for details see msgnw).
{{raw:xyz}} [MW1.6+] Equivalent to {{msg:xyz}} above[1].
{{subst:xyz}} In the wikitext, the tag is substituted by the content (single-level evaluation only), see Help:Substitution.


Image modifiers

For details see w:en:Wikipedia:Extended image syntax.

These are image modifiers used in [[Image:title.ext|modifier|...|modifier]] links. Some are mutually exclusive, and then the last specified wins. The last unrecognized modifier is used as caption for framed images or together with thumbnails. It's also used as description alt=text.

Size

Word Usage Explanation
framed
frame
enframed
[[Image:Mediawiki.png|framed]] Places an image in a frame with a description. Uses original size and stubbornly ignores width parameter if given.
In general, far better to use thumb, as is only suitable for small images.
border [[Image:Mediawiki.png|border]] Shows a 1px border around the image.
thumbnail
thumb
[[Image:Mediawiki.png|thumbnail]] Modifies image size, sets it dependent on user's favorite thumbnail size in one's preferences, or on the given width parameter (see below).
thumb=xyz [[Image:Mediawiki.png|thumb=Wiki.png]] Manualthumb: instead of displaying an automatically-sized thumbnail for Mediawiki.png, display the image Wiki.png.
width px
100x200px
[[Image:Mediawiki.png|40px]]
[[Image:Mediawiki.png|100x200px]]
Scales image to given width  in pixels
Scales image to no more than 100 pixels wide and no more than 200 high, but image scaled to retain its true aspect ratio within the boundary specified.


Position

For details see Help:Images and other uploaded files

The positions are mutually exclusive; the last specified wins. Template:- can stop floating. For inline images only modifier px (see above) is supported.

Word Usage Explanation
right [[Image:Mediawiki.png|right]] Modifies position, floats the image to the right.
left [[Image:Mediawiki.png|left]] Modifies position, floats the image to the left.
none [[Image:Mediawiki.png|none]] Explicitly states that the image should not float.
center
centre
[[Image:Mediawiki.png|center]] Modifies position, like none but centered.


Miscellany

Word Example Explanation
{{DISPLAYTITLE:xyz}} [MW 1.7+] Set the page's title [5], enabled in Wikimedia projects since June 2007 ([6]). Also see $wgAllowDisplayTitle.
{{DIRMARK}}
{{DIRECTIONMARK}}

[MW1.7+] u+200E left to right or u+200D right to left mark
{{CONTENTLANGUAGE}} en [MW1.7+] code of the site's default interface language ($wgLanguageCode)
{{DEFAULTSORT:xyz}} {{DEFAULTSORT:xyz}} [MW1.10+] Sets a default category sort key for the whole current page (also applying for category tags before this tag)[2].
#REDIRECT #REDIRECT [[target]]
at top of source page
Creates a redirect to another page (to the target page).


Language-dependent word conversions

Word Example Explanation
{{ CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN }} June Genitive form of month name used for Czech, Polish, Ukrainian[7]
{{grammar:case | word }} {{grammar:7sg|Wikipedie}}
on cs: is Wikipedií.
Derived word forms in inflected languages like Czech [8]
{{plural:count |form1 |form2 }}
{{plural:count |1st | 2nd | 3rd }}
{{plural: 2 | is | are }}
outputs are
{{plural: 1 | this | these }}
outputs this
{{plural: 0 | his | their }}
outputs their
count 1 yields form1 (singular), plural transformations are used for languages like Russian [9] based on "count mod 10".


"Grammar" and "Plural" are language-dependent functions, defined in [10], [11], etc. (note that in PHP, the modulo operator is the percent sign).

"Grammar" can either be applied to predefined words only, or to arbitrary words, depending on whether the definition is just a 2D array, or involves string manipulations. See also cs:Šablona:Wikivar/GRAMMAR.

"Plural" is a site-language-dependent switch function, controlled by function convertPlural in Language.php (which distinguishes between 1 and "not 1"), for some languages overridden in Languagexx.php, e.g. for French (which distinguishes between <=1 and >1) and Russian (oddly, first option is 1, 21, 31,.., 91, 101, 121, .., second is 2, 3, 4, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 41,.., 94, 102, 103, 104,.., 122, 123,.., and else the third).

As opposed to ParserFunctions, "plural" accepts points and commas in numbers and interprets them in a site-language-specific way (depending on $separatorTransformTable in Messagesxx.php); on this site:

  • {{plural:1.000|a|b|c}} gives a
  • {{plural:1,000|a|b|c}} gives b

(on e.g. the German and the Dutch sites reversed w.r.t. the result on English sites).

"Plural" is used in various system messages, e.g. message with id 'nmembers' (talk), where it uses interface language instead of site language.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Wikimedia SVN revision 12925
  2. ^ "Technology report", en-Wikipedia Signpost, January 2007
edit

Wikipedia-specific help

There are no known magic words working only for Wikipedia, or working on Meta but not here As of 2007at the moment.


This page is a copy of the master help page at Meta (for general help information all Wikimedia projects can use), with two Wikipedia-specific templates inserted. To update the main text, edit the master help page for all projects at m:Help:Magic words. For Wikipedia-specific issues, use Template:Ph:Magic words (the extra text at the bottom of this page) or Template:Phh:Magic words for a Wikipedia-specific lead (text appears at the top of this page). You are welcome to replace the full wikitext of this page with that of the master page at Meta at any time. To view this page in other languages see the master page at Meta.