Help:Magic words

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Magic words are strings of text that MediaWiki associates with a return value or function, such as time, site details, or page names. This page explains only the standard magic words; for a technical reference, see Manual:Magic words .

There are three general types of magic words:

Behavior switches: these are usually written as uppercase words surrounded by double underscores, e.g. __FOO__.
Variables: these are uppercase words surrounded by double braces, e.g. {{FOO}}. As such, they look a lot like templates.
Parser functions: these take parameters and are either of the form {{foo:...}} or {{#foo:...}}, e.g. {{#invoke:...}}. See also Help:Extension:ParserFunctions and Extension:Scribunto .

Variables and parser functions can use subst:, just like templates. Page-dependent magic words will affect or return data about the current page (by default), even if the word is added through a transcluded template or included system message.

Behavior switches

A behavior switch controls the layout or behavior of the page (if supported by the skin) and can often be used to specify desired omissions and inclusions in the content. Notably some of these are not supported by the Minerva skin.

Word Description Versions

Table of contents

__NOTOC__ Hides the table of contents (TOC).

__FORCETOC__ Forces the table of contents to appear at its normal position (before the first header, overriding __NOTOC__).

__TOC__ Places a table of contents at the word's current position (overriding __NOTOC__). If this is used multiple times, the table of contents will appear at the first word's position.

Editing

__NOEDITSECTION__ Hides the section edit links beside headings. This is especially useful where a heading is created from within a template: the normal wiki section-edit would in this case edit the template code, which is usually not what the user intends. Use of this in a template will extend the effect to that template, the pages it's included on, and any other templates included on the same page. For a workaround, see here.

__NEWSECTIONLINK__

Adds a link beside the "Edit" tab for adding a new section on a non-talk page (see Adding a section to the end).

≥ 1.7

__NONEWSECTIONLINK__

Removes the link beside the "Edit" tab on pages in talk namespaces.

≥ 1.15

r47522

Variables

Variables return information about the current page, wiki, or date. Their syntax is similar to templates. Variables marked as "[expensive]" are tracked by the software, and the number that can be included on a page is limited.

If a template name conflicts with a variable, the variable will be used (so to transclude the template Template:PAGENAME you would need to write {{Template:PAGENAME}}). In some cases, adding parameters will force the parser to invoke a template; for example, {{CURRENTDAYNAME|x}} transcludes Template:CURRENTDAYNAME, not the variable.

Date and time

The following variables return the current date and time in UTC.

Due to MediaWiki and browser caching, these variables frequently show when the page was cached rather than the current time.

The use of those variables cause pages to be cached for a more limited number of seconds. This is configured in MagicWordFactory.

The date and time magic words are formatted in the wiki content language. Since 1.19, they depend on the page content language.

Variable Output Description Versions

Year

{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2021 Year

Month

{{CURRENTMONTH}} 12 Month (zero-padded number)

{{CURRENTMONTH1}} 12 Month (unpadded number)

{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} December Month (name)

{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} December Month (genitive form)

{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}}

Dec

Month (abbreviation)

≥ 1.5

Day

{{CURRENTDAY}} 27 Day of the month (unpadded number)

{{CURRENTDAY2}}

27

Day of the month (zero-padded number)

≥ 1.6

{{CURRENTDOW}} 1 Day of the week (unpadded number), 0 (for Sunday) through 6 (for Saturday)

{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Monday Day of the week (name)

Time

{{CURRENTTIME}} 23:09 Time (24-hour HH:mm format)

{{CURRENTHOUR}} 23 Hour (24-hour zero-padded number)

Other

{{CURRENTWEEK}} 52 Week (number)

{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}}

20211227230930

YYYYMMDDHHmmss timestamp

≥ 1.7

{{CURRENTDATE}} is not a magic word but it might be a template.

The following variables do the same as the preceding ones but using the site's server config or $wgLocaltimezone.

{{LOCALYEAR}}
{{LOCALMONTH}}
{{LOCALMONTH1}}
{{LOCALMONTHNAME}}
{{LOCALMONTHNAMEGEN}}
{{LOCALMONTHABBREV}}
{{LOCALDAY}}
{{LOCALDAY2}}
{{LOCALDOW}}
{{LOCALDAYNAME}}
{{LOCALTIME}}
{{LOCALHOUR}}
{{LOCALWEEK}}
{{LOCALTIMESTAMP}}

For more thorough time formatting, or to output the current year and week with better compliance with ISO-8601, you may want to install Extension:ParserFunctions to use the #time parser function.

Technical metadata

Variable Output Description Versions

Site

{{SITENAME}} MediaWiki The wiki's site name ($wgSitename).

{{SERVER}} //www.mediawiki.org Domain URL ($wgServer).

{{SERVERNAME}} www.mediawiki.org Subdomain and domain name (no longer dependent on $wgServerName as of version 1.17).

{{DIRMARK}}

{{DIRECTIONMARK}}

‎

Outputs a Unicode directional mark that matches the wiki's default language's direction (&lrm; on left-to-right wikis, &rlm; on right-to-left wikis), useful in text with multi-directional text. Since 1.19, it depends on the page content language.

≥ 1.7

r14442

{{SCRIPTPATH}} /w Relative script path ($wgScriptPath).

{{STYLEPATH}}

/w/skins

Relative style path ($wgStylePath).

≥ 1.16

{{CURRENTVERSION}}

1.38.0-wmf.13 (e9394e2)

The wiki's MediaWiki version.

≥ 1.7

r14199

{{CONTENTLANGUAGE}}

{{CONTENTLANG}}

en

The wiki's default interface language ($wgLanguageCode).

≥ 1.7

r14661

Page

{{PAGEID}}

1748

Returns the page identifier.

≥ 1.20

Gerrit change 9858

{{PAGELANGUAGE}}
{{#language:{{PAGELANGUAGE}}}}

en
English

Returns the language of the current page. The language code that this variable returns can be converted to a language name using {{#language:...}}.

≥ 1.29

Gerrit change 330982

<translate> Translated unit. Language: <tvar name=lang>{{TRANSLATIONLANGUAGE}}</tvar>.</translate>

<translate> Untranslated unit. Language: <tvar name=lang>{{TRANSLATIONLANGUAGE}}</tvar>.</translate>

Translated unit. Language: en.

Not translated unit. Language: en.

Must be used in a translated page, inside ‎<translate> tags. Returns the language code of the current translation unit. In a translation page, if the unit has been translated, then it returns translation language. Else, it returns source language. The language code that this variable returns can be converted to a language name using {{#language:...}}. Should only be used by translation admins.

≥ 1.36.0-wmf.8

Gerrit change 603472

{{PROTECTIONLEVEL:action}}

Outputs the protection level (e.g. "autoconfirmed", "sysop") for a given action (e.g. "edit", "move") on the current page. Returns an empty string if not protected.

≥ 1.15

r45587

{{PROTECTIONEXPIRY:action}}

Outputs the protection expiry (e.g. "20160418155030", "infinity") for a given action (e.g. "edit", "move") on the current page. Returns "infinity" if not protected.

≥ 1.27

Gerrit change 255717

{{CASCADINGSOURCES}}

[Expensive] Returns the sources of any cascading protection acting on the current page. Pages will not return their own title unless they transclude themselves.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 104999

Latest revision to current page

{{REVISIONID}}

-

Unique revision ID. It is empty in preview, thus one can show an error message only in preview. May be disabled in miser mode.

≥ 1.5

{{REVISIONDAY}}

15

Day edit was made (unpadded number).

≥ 1.8

{{REVISIONDAY2}}

15

Day edit was made (zero-padded number).

≥ 1.8

{{REVISIONMONTH}}

11

Month edit was made (zero-padded number as of 1.17+, unpadded number in prior versions).

≥ 1.8

{{REVISIONMONTH1}}

11

Month edit was made (unpadded number).

≥ 1.17

r66200

{{REVISIONYEAR}}

2021

Year edit was made.

≥ 1.8

{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}}

20211115181918

Timestamp as of time of edit.

≥ 1.8

{{REVISIONUSER}}

Uzume

The username of the user who made the most recent edit to the page, or the current user when previewing an edit.

≥ 1.15

r48149

{{REVISIONSIZE}}

94961

The size (bytes of wikitext) of the current revision of this page

≥ 1.22

Gerrit change 82650

Affects page content

{{DISPLAYTITLE:title}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:title|noerror}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:title|noreplace}}

Format the current page's title header. The value must be equivalent to the default title: only capitalization changes to certain parts of the title (not all) and replacing spaces with underscores are allowed (this can be changed with $wgRestrictDisplayTitle). It can be disabled or enabled by $wgAllowDisplayTitle; disabled by default before 1.10+, enabled by default thereafter.

It can take a second argument of noerror or noreplace to suppress error messages when multiple displaytitles are used on one page or to make this displaytitle do nothing if a displaytitle was already specified earlier in the page.

≥ 1.7

≥ 1.24

Gerrit change 144870

(for noerror and noreplace)

{{DEFAULTSORT:sortkey}}
{{DEFAULTSORTKEY:sortkey}}
{{DEFAULTCATEGORYSORT:sortkey}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:sortkey|noerror}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:sortkey|noreplace}}

Used for categorizing pages, sets a default category sort key. For example if you put {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John}} at the end of John Smith, the page would be sorted under "S" by default in categories. It can take a second argument of noerror or noreplace to suppress error messages when multiple defaultsortkeys are used on one page or to make this defaultsort do nothing if a defaultsort was already specified earlier in the page.

≥ 1.10

≥ 1.19

r96767

(for noerror and noreplace)

Statistics

Numbers returned by these variables normally contain separators (commas, dots or spaces, depending on the local language) but can return raw numbers with the ":R" flag (for example, {{NUMBEROFPAGES}} → 1,221,298 and {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}} → 1221298).

Use "|R" for magic words that require a parameter like PAGESINCATEGORY (for example {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help}} and {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help|R}}, or {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help|subcats}} and {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help|subcats|R}}). Also applicable to {{PAGESIZE:page name}} hereinbefore.

The number magic words are formatted in the wiki content language. Since 1.19, it depends on the page content language.

Variable Output Description Versions

{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}

1,221,298

Number of wiki pages.

≥ 1.7

{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} 49,390 Number of pages in content namespaces that qualify as articles. See Manual:$wgArticleCountMethod for details.

{{NUMBEROFFILES}}

2,846

Number of uploaded files.

≥ 1.5

{{NUMBEROFEDITS}}

4,878,995

Number of wiki edits.

≥ 1.10

r21319

{{NUMBEROFVIEWS}}

Number of page views. Usually useless on a wiki using caching. Removed in Gerrit change 150699.

1.14 – 1.24

r42721

{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}

17,564,566

Number of registered users.

≥ 1.7

{{NUMBEROFADMINS}}

164

Number of users in the sysop group.

≥ 1.7

{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}}

1,207

Number of active users, based on the criteria used in Special:Statistics.

≥ 1.15

r47392

{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname}}
{{PAGESINCAT:categoryname}}

127
127

[Expensive] Number of pages (including subcategories and files) in the given category. (Category:Help used for demonstration)

≥ 1.13

r32932

{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname|all}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname|pages}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname|subcats}}
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname|files}}

127
124
3
0

[Expensive] Respectively, the number of

all pages
ordinary pages (excluding subcategories and files)
subcategories or
files

in the given category. (Category:Help used for demonstration)

≥ 1.20

Gerrit change 12790

{{NUMBERINGROUP:groupname}}
{{NUMINGROUP:groupname}}

28
28

Number of users in a specific group. ({{NUMBERINGROUP:bureaucrat}} used for demonstration)

≥ 1.14

r40116

{{PAGESINNS:index}}
{{PAGESINNAMESPACE:index}}

Not enabled

[Expensive] Number of pages in the given namespace (replace index with the relevant namespace index). For instance, {{PAGESINNAMESPACE:14}} will output the number of category pages. {{PAGESINNS:0}} differs from {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} in that the former includes redirects and disambiguation pages. Disabled by default, enable with $wgAllowSlowParserFunctions.

≥ 1.7

Page names

Variable For current page Description Versions

{{FULLPAGENAME}}

Help:Magic words

Namespace and full page title (including all subpage levels).

≥ 1.6

{{PAGENAME}} Magic words Full page title (including all subpage levels) without the namespace.

{{BASEPAGENAME}}

Magic words

Page title of the page in the immediately superior subpage level without the namespace. Would return Title/Foo on page Help:Title/Foo/Bar.

≥ 1.7

{{ROOTPAGENAME}}

Magic words

Name of the root of the current page. Would return Title on page Help:Title/Foo/Bar.

≥ 1.22

{{SUBPAGENAME}}

Magic words

The subpage title. Would return Bar on page Help:Title/Foo/Bar.

If no subpage exists the value of {{PAGENAME}} is returned.

For more complex splitting, use {{#titleparts:}} from the ParserFunctions extension.

≥ 1.6

{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}}
{{ARTICLEPAGENAME}}

Help:Magic words
Help:Magic words

Full page name of the associated subject (e.g. article or file). Useful on talk pages.

≥ 1.7

{{TALKPAGENAME}}

Help talk:Magic words

Full page name of the associated talk page.

≥ 1.7

None of these are affected by changes to the display title using {{DISPLAYTITLE:xxxx}}; the values returned are the original page title.

The {{BASEPAGENAME}} and {{SUBPAGENAME}} magic words only work in namespaces that have subpages enabled. See $wgNamespacesWithSubpages for information on enabling subpages.

As of 1.15+, these can all take a parameter, allowing specification of the page to be operated on, instead of just the current page:

{{PAGENAME:Template:Main Page}} → Main Page

Warning:

If the page title contains any parts that are "." or "..", the magic word returns nothing.

{{PAGENAME:one/./three}} → . Nothing is returned.

Warning: Page titles containing certain characters, such as apostrophes ' or asterisks *, may produce unexpected results when handled with these magic words, e.g. {{PAGESINCATEGORY:{{PAGENAME}}}}. See bugs T16779, T18474, T37628, T37746. One simple way to fix this is wrapping the pagename in {{#titleparts:}} from the ParserFunctions extension.

URL encoded page names

The following are equivalents encoded for use in MediaWiki URLs (i.e. spaces replaced with underscores and some characters HTML escaped using numeric character encoding):

{{FULLPAGENAMEE}}
{{PAGENAMEE}}
{{BASEPAGENAMEE}}
{{SUBPAGENAMEE}}
{{SUBJECTPAGENAMEE}}
{{ARTICLEPAGENAMEE}}
{{TALKPAGENAMEE}}
{{ROOTPAGENAMEE}}

Note that {{PAGENAME:...}}, {{PAGENAMEE:...}} and {{urlencode:...}} have distinct implementations. See Manual:PAGENAMEE encoding for details.

Namespaces

Variable Output Description Versions

{{NAMESPACE}} Help Name of the page's namespace

{{NAMESPACENUMBER}}

12

ID of the page's namespace

≥ 1.20

Gerrit change 4056

{{SUBJECTSPACE}}
{{ARTICLESPACE}}

Help
Help

Name of the associated content namespace

≥ 1.7

{{TALKSPACE}}

Help talk

Name of the associated talk namespace

≥ 1.7

The following are equivalents encoded for use in MediaWiki URLs (spaces replaced with underscores and some characters percent-encoded):

{{NAMESPACEE}}
{{SUBJECTSPACEE}}
{{ARTICLESPACEE}}
{{TALKSPACEE}}

As of 1.15+, these can take a full-page-name parameter and will return the requested namespace associated with that page, instead of with the current page:

{{NAMESPACENUMBER:MediaWiki}} → 0
{{NAMESPACE:MediaWiki}} → (Pages in main space will return empty)
{{NAMESPACE:Template:Main Page}} → Template
{{SUBJECTSPACE:Template:Main Page}} → Template
{{ARTICLESPACE:Template:Main Page}} → Template
{{TALKSPACE:Template:Main Page}} → Template talk

Parameter must not be a namespace name:

{{SUBJECTSPACE:Help talk}} → (Empty)

Other

Variable Output Description Versions

{{!}}

|

Used to include a pipe character as part of a template argument or table cell contents. Before this was added as a magic word, many wikis implemented this by creating Template:! with | as the content.

See Help:Extension:ParserFunctions#Escaping pipe characters in tables for further explanation.

≥ 1.24

Gerrit change 136234

Parser functions

Parser functions are very similar to variables but take one or more parameters (technically, any magic word that takes a parameter is a parser function), and the name is sometimes prefixed with a hash to distinguish them from templates.

This page only describes parser functions that are integral to the MediaWiki software. Other parser functions may be added by MediaWiki extensions such as the Extension:ParserFunctions . For those see Help:Extension:ParserFunctions .

Technical metadata of another page

Parser function Output
(for page MediaWiki) Description Versions

{{PAGEID: page name }}

1

[Expensive] Returns the page identifier of the specified page*.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{PAGESIZE:page name}}
{{PAGESIZE: page name |R}}

94,961
94961

[Expensive] Returns the byte size of the specified page. Use "|R" to get raw (unformatted) numbers.

≥ 1.13

r33551

{{PROTECTIONLEVEL:action | page name}}

sysop

[Expensive] Outputs the protection level (e.g. "autoconfirmed", "sysop") for a given action (e.g. "edit", "move") on the specified page. Returns an empty string if not protected.

≥ 1.21

r44683

{{PROTECTIONEXPIRY: action | page name}}

infinity

[Expensive] Outputs the protection expiry (e.g. "20160418155030", "infinity") for a given action (e.g. "edit", "move") on the specified page. Returns "infinity" if not protected.

≥ 1.27

Gerrit change 255717

{{CASCADINGSOURCES: page name}}

[Expensive] Returns the sources of any cascading protection acting on the specified page. Pages will not return their own title unless they transclude themselves.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 104999

{{REVISIONID: page name }}

3878227

[Expensive] Unique revision ID of the last revision on the specified page*.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONDAY: page name }}

26

[Expensive] Day of edit from the last revision of the specified page* (unpadded number).

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONDAY2: page name }}

26

[Expensive] Day of edit from the last revision of the specified page* (zero-padded number).

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONMONTH: page name }}

05

[Expensive] Month of edit from the last revision of the specified page* (zero-padded number as of 1.17+, unpadded number in prior versions).

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONMONTH1: page name }}

5

[Expensive] Month of edit from the last revision of the specified page* (unpadded number).

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONYEAR: page name }}

2020

[Expensive] Year of edit from the last revision of the specified page*.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP: page name }}

20200526133817

[Expensive] Timestamp as of time of edit on the specified page*.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

{{REVISIONUSER: page name }}

Shirayuki

[Expensive] The username from the last revision on the specified page*.

≥ 1.23

Gerrit change 76534

*When the given param is equal to the current title of the parser, the parser function will yield the previous versions on preview and on substitution, that includes empty strings when used on page creation but using the values from the current version for page view, including viewing old revisions. In this case it is a non-expensive parser function.

URL data

Parser function Input → Output Description Versions

{{localurl:page name}}
{{localurl:page name |query_string}} {{localurl:MediaWiki}}
→ /wiki/MediaWiki
{{localurl:MediaWiki|printable=yes}}
→ /w/index.php?title=MediaWiki&printable=yes The relative path to the title.

{{fullurl:page name}}

{{fullurl:page name
|query_string}}

{{fullurl:interwiki:remote page name
|query_string}}

{{fullurl:Category:Top level}}
→ //www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Top_level

{{fullurl:Category:Top level|action=edit}}
→ //www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Top_level&action=edit
{{fullurl:s:Electra|action=edit}}
→ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Electra?action=edit
{{fullurl:s:es:Electra|action=edit}}
→ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/es:Electra?action=edit

A protocol-relative path to the title, which depends on the $wgServer configuration setting for the local wiki (and so may or may not start with http(s)://). This will also resolve interwiki prefixes. Note: Unbracketed (plain) protocol-relative links are not automagically linked.

≥ 1.5

{{canonicalurl:page name}}

{{canonicalurl:page name
|query_string}}

{{canonicalurl:interwiki:remote page name
|query_string}}

{{canonicalurl:Category:Top level}}
→ https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Top_level

{{canonicalurl:Category:Top level|action=edit}}
→ https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Top_level&action=edit

The absolute path to the title, using the canonical URL. This will also resolve interwiki prefixes.

≥ 1.18

{{filepath:file name}}
{{filepath:file name|nowiki}}
{{filepath:file name|thumbnail_size}}

{{filepath:Wiki.png}}
→ //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/mediawiki/b/bc/Wiki.png

{{filepath:Wiki.png|nowiki}}
→ //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/mediawiki/b/bc/Wiki.png
{{filepath:Example.svg|300}}
→ //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Example.svg/300px-Example.svg.png

The parameter nowiki usually removes the link around the filepath (which can't be seen in this example).

A protocol-relative path to the full size or thumbnail (1.18+) of a media file.

≥ 1.12

r25854

≥ 1.18

r80813

{{urlencode:string}} or
{{urlencode:string|QUERY}}
{{urlencode:string|WIKI}}
{{urlencode:string|PATH}}

{{urlencode:x:y/z á é}} or
{{urlencode:x:y/z á é|QUERY}}
→ x%3Ay%2Fz+%C3%A1+%C3%A9
{{urlencode:x:y/z á é|WIKI}}
→ x:y/z_%C3%A1_%C3%A9
{{urlencode:x:y/z á é|PATH}}
→ x%3Ay%2Fz%20%C3%A1%20%C3%A9

Note that the default changed from |WIKI to |QUERY in 1.17; this may break templates that rely on this function.

The input encoded for use in URLs. Note that there is no urldecode function like there is in the obsolete Extension:StringFunctions

Encoding
code	space
none	`+`
`QUERY`	`+`
`WIKI`	`_`
`PATH`	`%20`

≥ 1.7

r14273

(or

≥ 1.17

r64726

≥ 1.17

r64726

≥ 1.17

r64726

)

{{anchorencode:string}}

{{anchorencode:x y z á é}}
→ x_y_z_á_é

The input encoded for use in URL section anchors (after the “#” symbol in a URL).

≥ 1.6

r16279

Namespaces

{{ns:}} returns the current localized name for the namespace with that index, canonical name, or local alias. Thus {{ns:6}}, {{ns:File}}, and {{ns:Image}} (an old name for the File namespace) all return "File". On a wiki where the content language is French, {{ns:Fichier}} is also valid, but {{ns:Datei}} (the localisation of "File" in German) is not.

{{nse:}} is the equivalent encoded for MediaWiki URLs. It does the same, but it replaces spaces with underscores, making it usable in external links.

Content namespaces		Talk namespaces
Usage	Output	Usage	Output
`{{ns:-2}}` / `{{ns:Media}}`	Media	`{{ns:-1}}` / `{{ns:Special}}`	Special (no talk* page)*
`{{ns:0}}` / `{{ns:}}`		`{{ns:1}}` / `{{ns:Talk}}`	Talk
`{{ns:2}}` / `{{ns:User}}`	User	`{{ns:3}}` / `{{ns:User talk}}`	User talk
`{{ns:4}}` / `{{ns:Project}}`	Project Varies between wikis	`{{ns:5}}` / `{{ns:Project talk}}`	Project talk
`{{ns:6}}` / `{{ns:File}}` or `{{ns:Image}}`	File	`{{ns:7}}` / `{{ns:File talk}}` or `{{ns:Image talk}}`	File talk
`{{ns:8}}` / `{{ns:MediaWiki}}`	MediaWiki	`{{ns:9}}` / `{{ns:MediaWiki talk}}`	MediaWiki talk
`{{ns:10}}` / `{{ns:Template}}`	Template	`{{ns:11}}` / `{{ns:Template talk}}`	Template talk
`{{ns:12}}` / `{{ns:Help}}`	Help	`{{ns:13}}` / `{{ns:Help talk}}`	Help talk
`{{ns:14}}` / `{{ns:Category}}`	Category	`{{ns:15}}` / `{{ns:Category talk}}`	Category talk

Don't confuse localised namespaces with custom namespaces.

Formatting

Usage Input → Output Description Version

{{formatnum:unformatted number}}
{{formatnum:formatnum-formatted number|R}}
{{formatnum:unformatted number|NOSEP}}

Simple:
- {{formatnum:987654321.654321}}
  → 987,654,321.654321
- {{formatnum:987,654,321.654321|R}}
  → 987654321.654321
Advanced:
- {{formatnum:{{formatnum:987654321.654321}}|R}}
  → 987654321.654321 (on any locale)
- {{formatnum:00001}}
  → 00,001
- {{formatnum:987654321.654321 |NOSEP}}
  → 987654321.654321
- Examples with Bangla locale:
  - {{formatnum:987654321.654321}}
    → ৯৮,৭৬,৫৪,৩২১.৬৫৪৩২১
  - {{formatnum:987654321.654321 |NOSEP}}
    → ৯৮৭৬৫৪৩২১.৬৫৪৩২১
  - {{formatnum:৯৮,৭৬,৫৪,৩২১.৬৫৪৩২১ |R}}
    → 987654321.654321

Unsupported:
{{formatnum:{{formatnum:987.654.321}}}}
→ 987 654 321 (e.g. with Italian locale)

Examples of wrong input (unreliable output), with or without |R:
{{formatnum:987,654.321|R}} (the least broken)
{{formatnum:987.654,321|R}}
{{formatnum:987 654,321|R}}
{{formatnum:987 654,321|R}}

Takes an unformatted number (Arabic, no group separators and . as decimal separator) and outputs it in the localized digit script and formatted with decimal and decimal group separators, according to the wiki's default locale.

The |R parameter can be used to reverse the behavior, for use in mathematical situations: it's reliable and should be used only to deformat numbers which are known to be formatted exactly as formatnum formats them with the wiki's locale.
The NOSEP ("no separators") parameter means that no group / decimal separators are changed; formatnum will only transform the digits themselves in languages which don't use the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. NOSEP can also prevent non-standard digit groupings you wouldn't expect.

Warning:

Leading zeroes are not removed, you can use {{#expr:00001}} instead if you have Extension:ParserFunctions installed.

Warning:

If you don't input numbers in the exact format required, don't expect any reliable output, especially on non-English wikis.

If you really need to format (according the wiki's locale) a number in unknown input format, you could try and use formatnum two times (but not if it can have a decimal group, or its separator will be eaten or the number won't be formatted). Be aware that this is more a hack than a regular way to proceed, thus the output may be not reliable.

≥ 1.7

≥ 1.13

r32012

{{#dateformat:date}}
{{#formatdate:date}}
{{#dateformat:date|format}}
{{#formatdate:date|format}}

{{#dateformat:25 dec 2009|ymd}}
→ 2009 December 25 (your pref), 2009 Dec 25 (default)
{{#formatdate:dec 25,2009|dmy}}
→ 25 December 2009 (your pref), 25 Dec 2009 (default)
{{#dateformat:2009-12-25|mdy}}
→ December 25, 2009 (your pref), December 25, 2009 (default)
{{#formatdate:2009 dec 25|ISO 8601}}
→ 2009-12-25 (your pref), 2009-12-25 (default)
{{#dateformat:25 decEmber|mdy}}
→ December 25 (your pref), DecEmber 25 (default)
Note: In the examples above, "your pref" refers to your date preference on the current MediaWiki wiki only.

Formats an unlinked date based on user "date format" preference, and adds metadata tagging it as a formatted date. For logged-out users and those who have not set a date format in their preferences, dates can be given a default: mdy, dmy, ymd, ISO 8601 (all case sensitive). If only the month and day are given, only mdy and dmy are valid. If a format is not specified or is invalid, the input format is used as a default. If the supplied date is not recognized as a valid date (specifically, if it contains any metadata such as from a nested use of these or similar templates), it is rendered unchanged, and no (additional) metadata is generated.

Warning:

Although the ISO 8601 standard requires that dates be in the Gregorian calendar, the ISO parameter in this function will still format dates that fall outside the usual Gregorian range (e.g. dates prior to 1583). Also, the magic word cannot properly convert between negative years (used with ISO 8601) and years BC or years BCE (used in general writing).

≥ 1.15

r48249

{{lc:string}}

{{lc:DATA CENTER}} → data center

The lowercase input.

≥ 1.5

{{lcfirst:string}}

{{lcfirst:DATA center}} → dATA center

The input with the very first character lowercase.

≥ 1.5

{{uc:string}}

{{uc:text transform}} → TEXT TRANSFORM

The uppercase input.

≥ 1.5

{{ucfirst:string}}

{{ucfirst:text tRAnSFORM}} → Text tRAnSFORM

The input with the very first character uppercase.

≥ 1.5

{{padleft:xyz|stringlength}}
{{padleft:xyz|strlen|char}}
{{padleft:xyz|strlen|string}}

{{padleft:xyz|5}} → 00xyz

{{padleft:xyz|5|_}} → __xyz
{{padleft:xyz|5|abc}} → abxyz
{{padleft:xyz|2}} → xyz
{{padleft:|1|xyz}} → x (first character of the string)

Inserts a string of padding characters (character chosen in third parameter; default "0") of a specified length (second parameter) next to a chosen base character or variable (first parameter). The final digits or characters in the base replace the final characters in the padding; i.e. {{padleft:44|3|0}} produces 044. The padding string may be truncated if its length does not evenly divide the required number of characters.

Only the first character of the third parameter is used in versions up to 1.12, but by version 1.15, all the characters are used.

Bug (fixed in r45734): multibyte characters are interpreted as two characters, which can skew width. These also cannot be used as padding characters.

≥ 1.8

≥ 1.15

r45734

{{padright:xyz|stringlength}}
{{padright:xyz|strlen|char}}
{{padright:xyz|strlen|string}}

{{padright:xyz|5}} → xyz00

{{padright:xyz|5|_}} → xyz__
{{padright:xyz|5|abc}} → xyzab
{{padright:xyz|2}} → xyz
{{padright:|1|xyz}} → x

Identical to padleft but adds padding characters to the right side.

≥ 1.8

≥ 1.15

r45734

See also: Extension:StringFunctions .

Localization

Here are the magic words which are used as main localisation tools. Other magic words will often depend on the wiki's locale and configuration or on the chosen language: see in particular #Date and time, #Formatting, #Miscellaneous. More magic words are added by the Extension:Translate .

The usage of these magic words can be very complex, and the documentation is currently incomplete; there's some more info on PLURAL, GRAMMAR, GENDER.

Usage Input → Output Description Version

{{plural:2|is|are}}

{{plural:0|is|are}} → are
{{plural:1*1|is|are}} → is
{{plural:21 mod 10|is|are}} → are
{{plural:{{#expr:21 mod 10}}|is|are}} → is
{{plural:1|is|are}} → is
{{plural:2|is|are}} → are
{{plural:-1|is|are}} → is
{{plural:-2|is|are}} → are
{{plural:0.5|is|are}} → are
{{plural:1.5|is|are}} → are
{{plural:-0.5|is|are}} → are
{{plural:-1.5|is|are}} → are
(For Russian)
{{PLURAL:5|1=Категория|Категории}} → Категории

{{PLURAL:3|страница|страницы|страниц}} → страницы
{{PLURAL:5|страница|страницы|страниц}} → страниц

Outputs the singular form (second parameter) if the absolute value of the first parameter is an expression equalling one; the plural form (third parameter) otherwise. Its functioning is language-dependent.

Some language codes (ab, av, ba, bxr, ce, crh_cyrl, cv, inh, koi, krc, kv, lbe, lez, mhr, mrj, myv, ru, tt_cyrl, tyv, udm, xal) used 3 plural forms (updated 01.2014):

Form 1: 1, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81, 101, 1001, …
Form 2: 0, 5, 6, 7, 8, …, 18, 19, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, …
Form 3: 2, 3, 4, 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 42, 43, 44, 52, 53, 54, 62, 102, 1002, …

{{grammar:N|noun}}

Outputs the correct inflected form of the given word described by the inflection code after the colon (language-dependent). Grammar transformations are used for inflected languages like Polish. See also $wgGrammarForms.

≥ 1.7

{{gender:username|text for every gender}}

{{gender:Username|male text|female text|text for unspecified}}
{{gender:|male text|female text|text for unspecified}}
{{gender:.|male text|female text|text for unspecified}}

(Depends on the named user's gender)

A switch for the gender set in Special:Preferences.

Note: The first example is basically a no-op
Note: If 3rd parameter is omitted and user hasn't defined their gender, then text if user is male is returned.
A blank username field ({{gender:|) means the current user, but can be used only in interface messages (MediaWiki namespace).
A dot username (.) means the default user gender on this wiki.

≥ 1.15

r46247

{{int:message name}}

{{int:edit}} → Edit
(Depends on user language; try: fr • ja)

Internationalizes (translates) the given interface (MediaWiki namespace) message into the user language. For msgnw and other transclusion magic words, see the Transclusion modifiers section.

Note that this can damage / confuse cache consistency in MediaWiki 1.17 and earlier, see T16404.

{{int:editsectionhint|MediaWiki}} {{int:editsectionhint|MediaWiki}} → Edit section: MediaWiki You may also use parameters with translations.
Parameters are designated in messages with: $1, $2, $3, etc.
For example, here is the message for editsectionhint: Edit section: $1
In this example, MediaWiki replaces $1.

Transclusion modifiers

{{Page name|optional params}} usually transcludes another page, by default from the Template:namespace. These magic words modify that behavior.

Usage Description Version

{{:xyz}} A bare colon is not a template modifier but the prefix for the main namespace. Since transclusion defaults to the Template namespace, you would use for example, {{:UTC}} (vs. {{UTC}}) to include the text of the main namespace article UTC rather than Template:UTC.

{{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 "Templates used on this page:". Rendered as ⧼xyz⧽ if MediaWiki:xyz doesn't exist. See also Help:System message .

{{msg:xyz}}
{{raw: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.

{{raw:xyz}}

If $wgEnableScaryTranscluding is enabled, and this is an interwiki transclusion, include the raw wikitext instead of the html from the foreign wiki.

≥ 1.6

r12925

{{msgnw:xyz}} The unexpanded wikitext is rendered (more or less, for details see Help:Templates ).

{{subst:xyz}} In the wikitext, the tag is substituted by the content (single-level evaluation only), see Help:Templates .

{{safesubst:xyz}} See Help:Templates .

Miscellaneous

Usage Input → Output Description Version

{{#language:language code}}
{{#language:language code|target language code}}

{{#language:ar}} → العربية
{{#language:ar|en}} → Arabic

The full name of the language for the given language code: native name (language autonym) by default, name translated in target language if a target language code is specified. Extension:CLDR must be installed for the translation to work.

≥ 1.7

r14490

≥ 1.18

r91875

(translation)

{{#special:special page name}}

{{#special:userlogin}} → Special:UserLogin

The localized name for the given canonical Special: page.

≥ 1.9

r17321

{{#speciale:special page name}}

{{#speciale:userlogin}} → Special:UserLogin

The localized and URL-encoded name for the given canonical Special: page.

≥ 1.20

Gerrit change 4340

{{#tag:tagname 
|content 
|attribute1=value1 
|attribute2=value2
}}

Example for the Cite extension's ‎<ref> tags:

{{#tag:ref|Citation on Magic words. |name = "multiple"}} → ^[1]

Alias for XML-style MediaWiki parser tags or extension tags. It allows a pre-save transform of wiki code and Extension:ParserFunctions within tags before the tag is processed. It also prevents parsing of tags in conditional paths that aren't executed (like in #if statements). Content between tags is passed as the first parameter, and any attributes for the tags can be passed as subsequent parameters. This example:

‎<tagname attribute1="value1" attribute2="value2">Your content goes here‎</tagname>

…can be rewritten like this:

{{#tag:tagname|Your content goes here|attribute1=value1|attribute2=value2}}

Warning: You must write {{#tag:tagname||attribute1=value1|attribute2=value2}} to pass an empty content. No leading or trailing space of the text content are permitted between the pipe characters || before attribute1.

≥ 1.12

r29482

For parser function #invoke, see w:Wikipedia:Lua#Running a module.

↑ Citation on Magic words.

[multiple-1] Citation on Magic words.

[1]

Help:Magic words

Contents

Behavior switches

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Date and time

Technical metadata

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Namespaces

Other

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URL data

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Miscellaneous

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Help:Magic words

Behavior switches

Variables

Date and time

Technical metadata

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Page names

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Parser functions

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URL data

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