Help:Variables

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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 is about usage of standard magic words; for a technical reference, see Template:Mediawiki.

There are three general types of magic words:

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 and can often be used to specify desired omissions and inclusions in the content.

Template:Hl2| Word Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
Template:Hl3 colspan="3"| Table of contents
__NOTOC__ Hides the table of contents (TOC).
__FORCETOC__ Forces the table of content to appear at its normal position (above the first header).
__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. It is possible to suppress the auto-generated section numbers, if the proper class exists locally at MediaWiki:Common.css, defined as .tocnumber { display: none; }.
Template:Hl3 colspan="3"| Editing
__NOEDITSECTION__ Hides the section edit links beside headings.
__NEWSECTIONLINK__ Adds a link ("+" by default) beside the "edit" tab for adding a new section on a non-talk page (see Template:Mediawiki). 1.7+
__NONEWSECTIONLINK__ Removes the link beside the "edit" tab on pages in talk namespaces. Template:Mediawiki
Template:Hl3 colspan="3"| Categories
__NOGALLERY__ Used on a category page, replaces thumbnails in the category view with normal links. 1.7+
__HIDDENCAT__ Used on a category page, hides the category from the lists of categories in its members and parent categories (there is an option in the user preferences to show them). 1.13+
Template:Hl3 colspan="3"| Language conversion
__NOCONTENTCONVERT__
__NOCC__
On wikis with language variants, don't perform any content language conversion (character and phase) in article display; for example, only show Chinese (zh) instead of variants like zh_cn, zh_tw, zh_sg, or zh_hk.
__NOTITLECONVERT__
__NOTC__
On wikis with language variants, don't perform language conversion on the title (all other content is converted).
Template:Hl3 colspan="3"| Other
__START__ No effect.
__END__ Explicitly marks the end of the article, to prevent MediaWiki from removing trailing whitespace. Removed in Template:Mediawiki. 1.1–1.8
__INDEX__ Tell search engines to index the page (overrides Template:Mediawiki, but not robots.txt). 1.14+
__NOINDEX__ Tell search engines not to index the page (ie, do not list in search engines' results). Template:Mediawiki
__STATICREDIRECT__ On redirect pages, don't allow MediaWiki to automatically update the link when someone moves a page and checks "Update any redirects that point to the original title". Template:Mediawiki

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 date and time magic words are formatted in the wiki content language. Since Template:R, they depend on the page content language.

Template:Hl2| Variable Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Year
{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2024 Year
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Month
{{CURRENTMONTH}} 11 Month (zero-padded number)
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} November Month (name)
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} November Month (genitive form)
{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}} Nov Month (abbreviation) 1.5+
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Day
{{CURRENTDAY}} 5 Day of the month (unpadded number)
{{CURRENTDAY2}} 05 Day of the month (zero-padded number) 1.6+
{{CURRENTDOW}} 2 Day of the week (unpadded number)
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Tuesday Day of the week (name)
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Time
{{CURRENTTIME}} 12:59 Time (24-hour HH:mm format)
{{CURRENTHOUR}} 12 Hour (24-hour zero-padded number)
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Other
{{CURRENTWEEK}} 45 Week (number)
{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}} 20241105125942 YYYYMMDDHHmmss timestamp 1.7+

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

  • {{LOCALYEAR}}
  • {{LOCALMONTH}}
  • {{LOCALMONTHNAME}}
  • {{LOCALMONTHNAMEGEN}}
  • {{LOCALMONTHABBREV}}
  • {{LOCALDAY}}
  • {{LOCALDAY2}}
  • {{LOCALDOW}}
  • {{LOCALDAYNAME}}
  • {{LOCALTIME}}
  • {{LOCALHOUR}}
  • {{LOCALWEEK}}
  • {{LOCALTIMESTAMP}}
For more thorough time formatting, you may want to install Extension:ParserFunctions to use the #time parser function

Technical metadata

Note: Revision variables return data about the latest edit to the current page, even if viewing an older version of the page.

Template:Hl2| Variable Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Site
{{SITENAME}} wiki.occupyboston.org The wiki's site name (Template:Mediawiki).
{{SERVER}} //wiki.occupyboston.org domain URL (Template:Mediawiki)
{{SERVERNAME}} wiki.occupyboston.org domain name (No longer dependent on Template:Mediawiki as of version 1.17)
{{DIRMARK}}
{{DIRECTIONMARK}}

Outputs a unicode-directional mark that matches the wiki's default language's direction (‎ on left-to-right wikis, ‏ on right-to-left wikis), useful in text with multi-directional text. Since Template:R, it depends on the page content language. Template:R
{{SCRIPTPATH}} /wiki relative script path (Template:Mediawiki)
{{STYLEPATH}} /wiki/skins relative style path (Template:Mediawiki) 1.16+
{{CURRENTVERSION}} 1.41.0 (e85c658) The wiki's MediaWiki version. Template:R
{{CONTENTLANGUAGE}}
{{CONTENTLANG}}
en
en
The wiki's default interface language (Template:Mediawiki) Template:R
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Latest revision to current page
{{REVISIONID}} 9249 Unique revision ID 1.5+
{{REVISIONDAY}} 31 Day edit was made (unpadded number) 1.8+
{{REVISIONDAY2}} 31 Day edit was made (zero-padded number) 1.8+
{{REVISIONMONTH}} 12 Month edit was made (zero-padded number as of Template:Mediawiki, unpadded number in prior versions) 1.8+
{{REVISIONMONTH1}} 12 Month edit was made (unpadded number) Template:Mediawiki
{{REVISIONYEAR}} 2011 Year edit was made 1.8+
{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}} 20111231020858 Timestamp as of time of edit 1.8+
{{REVISIONUSER}} OneKarma The username of the user who made the most recent edit to the page, or the current user when previewing an edit Template:Mediawiki
{{PAGESIZE:page name}}
{{PAGESIZE:page name|R}}
0
0
[expensive] Returns the byte size of the specified page. Use "|R" to get raw numbers. Template:Mediawiki
{{PROTECTIONLEVEL:action}} protection level Outputs the protection level (e.g. 'autoconfirmed', 'sysop') for a given action (e.g. 'edit', 'move') on the current page or an empty string if not protected. Template:Mediawiki
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Affects page content
{{DISPLAYTITLE:title}} Format the current page's title header. The value must be equivalent to the default title: only capitalization changes and replacing spaces with underscores are allowed (this can be changed with Template:Manual). It can be disabled or enabled by Template:Mediawiki; disabled by default before 1.10+, enabled by default thereafter. 1.7+
{{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 defaultsortkey's are used on one page or to make it do nothing if multiple defaultsortkey's are used. 1.10+
Template:Mediawiki (for noerror and noreplace)

Statistics

Numbers returned by these variables normally contain separators (commas or spaces, depending on the local language), but can return raw numbers with the ":R" flag (for example, {{NUMBEROFPAGES}} → 2,398 and {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}} → 2398). Use "|R" for magic words that require a parameter like PAGESINCATEGORY (for example {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help}} and {{PAGESINCATEGORY:Help|R}}). Also applicable to {{PAGESIZE:page name}} above.

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

Template:Hl2| Variable Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
Template:Hl3 colspan="4"| Entire wiki
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}} 2,398 Number of wiki pages. 1.7+
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} 510 Number of pages in Template:Mediawiki.
{{NUMBEROFFILES}} 460 Number of uploaded files. 1.5+
{{NUMBEROFEDITS}} 18,136 Number of page edits. Template:Mediawiki
{{NUMBEROFVIEWS}} Template:NUMBEROFVIEWS Number of page views. Usually useless on a wiki using caching. Template:Mediawiki
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} 2,950 Number of registered users. 1.7+
{{NUMBEROFADMINS}} 13 Number of users in the sysop Template:Mediawiki. 1.7+
{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}} 0 Number of active users, based on the criteria used in Special:Statistics. Template:Mediawiki
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:categoryname}}
{{PAGESINCAT:Help}}
36
36
[expensive] Number of pages in the given category. Template:Mediawiki
{{NUMBERINGROUP:groupname}}
{{NUMINGROUP:groupname}}
9
9
({{NUMBERINGROUP:bureaucrat}} used here)
Number of users in a specific Template:Mediawiki. Template:Mediawiki
{{PAGESINNS:index}}
{{PAGESINNAMESPACE:index}}
not enabled 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 Template:Mediawiki. 1.7+

Page names

Template:Hl2| Variable Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
{{FULLPAGENAME}} Help:Variables Namespace and page title. 1.6+
{{PAGENAME}} Variables Page title.
{{BASEPAGENAME}} Variables Page title excluding the current subpage and namespace ("Title/foo" on "Title/foo/bar").

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

1.7+
{{SUBPAGENAME}} Variables The subpage title ("foo" on "Title/foo"). 1.6+
{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}} Help:Variables The namespace and title of the associated subject page. 1.7+
{{TALKPAGENAME}} Help talk:Variables The namespace and title of the associated talk page. 1.7+

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

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

  • {{FULLPAGENAMEE}}
  • {{PAGENAMEE}}
  • {{BASEPAGENAMEE}}
  • {{SUBPAGENAMEE}}
  • {{SUBJECTPAGENAMEE}}
  • {{TALKPAGENAMEE}}

As of Template:Mediawiki, 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

Template:Warning

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

Namespaces

Template:Hl2| Variable Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
{{NAMESPACE}} Help Name of the page's namespace
{{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}}
  • {{TALKSPACEE}}

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

  • {{NAMESPACE:Template:Main Page}}Template
  • {{SUBJECTSPACE:Template:Main Page}}Template
  • {{TALKSPACE:Template:Main Page}}Template talk

Parameter must not be a namespace name:

  • {{SUBJECTSPACE:Help talk}} → '

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 Template:Mediawiki. For those see Help:Extension:ParserFunctions.

URL data

Template:Hl2| Parser function Template:Hl2| Input → Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Versions
{{localurl:page name}}
{{localurl:page name|query_string}}
{{localurl:MediaWiki}} → /wiki/MediaWiki
{{localurl:MediaWiki|printable=yes}} → /wiki/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}} → //wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Category:Top_level

{{fullurl:Category:Top level|action=edit}} → //wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Top_level&action=edit

A protocol-relative path to the title. 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}}http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/Category:Top_level

{{canonicalurl:Category:Top level|action=edit}}http://wiki.occupyboston.org/wiki/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:Wiki.png}}

{{filepath:Wiki.png|nowiki}}
{{filepath:Example.svg|300}}

The absolute URL to the full size or thumbnail (Template:Mediawiki) of a media file. Template:Mediawiki
Template:Mediawiki
{{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+y+z+%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%20y%20z%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. Template:Mediawiki (or Template:Mediawiki)
Template:Mediawiki
Template:Mediawiki
{{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). Template:Mediawiki

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 was French, {{ns:Fichier}} would also be valid, but {{ns:Datei}} (the localisation of "File" into German) would 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.

Template:Hl3 colspan="2" width="50%" | Content namespaces Template:Hl3 colspan="2" width=%50%" | Talk namespaces
Template:Hl2| Usage Template:Hl2| Output Template:Hl2| Usage Template:Hl2| Output
{{ns:-2}} or {{ns:Media}} Media
{{ns:-1}} or {{ns:Special}} Special
{{ns:0}} or {{ns:}} {{ns:1}} or {{ns:Talk}} Talk
{{ns:2}} or {{ns:User}} User {{ns:3}} or {{ns:User talk}} User talk
{{ns:4}} or {{ns:Project}} OccupyBoston {{ns:5}} or {{ns:Project talk}} OccupyBoston talk
{{ns:6}} or {{ns:File}} or {{ns:Image}} File {{ns:7}} or {{ns:File talk}} or {{ns:Image talk}} File talk
{{ns:8}} or {{ns:MediaWiki}} MediaWiki {{ns:9}} or {{ns:MediaWiki talk}} MediaWiki talk
{{ns:10}} or {{ns:Template}} Template {{ns:11}} or {{ns:Template talk}} Template talk
{{ns:12}} or {{ns:Help}} Help {{ns:13}} or {{ns:Help talk}} Help talk
{{ns:14}} or {{ns:Category}} Category {{ns:15}} or {{ns:Category talk}} Category talk

Formatting

Template:Hl2| Usage Template:Hl2| Input → Output Template:Hl2| Description Template:Hl2| Version
{{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+
{{formatnum:unformatted num}}
{{formatnum:formatted num|R}}
{{formatnum:987654321.654321}}
→ 987,654,321.654321

{{formatnum:987,654,321.654321|R}}
→ 987654321.654321
{{formatnum:{{formatnum:987.654.321}}}}
→ 987 654 321 (e.g. with Italian locale)
{{formatnum:00001}}
→ 00,001

The input with decimal and decimal group separators, and localized digit script, according to the wiki's default locale. The |R parameter can be used to unformat a number, for use in mathematical situations. It doesn't always work if you try to unformat a number in non-English format on a wiki with non-English locale; if you need to format (according the wiki's locale) a number in unknown input format, 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).
Template:WarningLeading zeroes are not removed, you can use {{#expr:00001}} instead if you have Extension:ParserFunctions installed
1.7+
Template:Mediawiki

{{#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 example 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.
Template:WarningAlthough 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).
Template:Mediawiki
{{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.
Template:Mediawiki (fixed in Template:Mediawiki): multibyte characters are interpreted as two characters, which can skew width. These also cannot be used as padding characters.
1.8+
{{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.
{{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}} → are
{{plural:1|is|are}} → is
{{plural:2|is|are}} → are
(for Polish):
{{plural:2|milion|miliony|milionów}} → miliony
Outputs the singular form (second parameter) if the first parameter is an expression equalling one; the plural form (third parameter) otherwise. Plural transformations are used for languages like Russian based on "count mod 10". You should not expect this to handle fractions (like 44.5) — see bug 28128.
{{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 Template:Mediawiki. 1.7+

See also: Extension:StringFunctions

Miscellaneous

Template:Nmbox