Help:Magic Words

This is an organised index of Magic words used in MediaWiki. Tags such as "[MW1.5+]" indicate the version that first supported the magic word. "XYZ" indicates user input, which is used in the example.

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__).

More magic

Word	Explanation
__NOEDITSECTION__	Hides the edit links beside headings.
__NEWSECTIONLINK__	[MW1.7+] Gives a "+"-link next to the edit-tab to make a new section on a non-talk page.
__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.
__START__	This magic word has no effect but an ID in MagicWord.php (MAG_START).

Variables

For details see Help:Variable

Time

The time in UTC.

Word	Example	Explanation
{{CURRENTDAY}}	24	Displays the current day in numeric form.
{{CURRENTDAY2}}	24	[MW1.6+] Same as {{CURRENTDAY}}, but with leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}	Sunday	Name of the day in the language of the project or English.
{{CURRENTDOW}}	0	Same as {{CURRENTDAYNAME}}, but as a number (0=Sunday, 1=Monday...).
{{CURRENTMONTH}}	11	The number 01 .. 12 of the month.
{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}}	Nov	[MW1.5+] Same as {{CURRENTMONTH}}, but in abbreviated form as Jan .. Dec.
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}	November	Same as {{CURRENTMONTH}}, but in named form January .. December.
{{CURRENTTIME}}	17:24	The current time (00:00 .. 23:59).
{{CURRENTHOUR}}	17	The current hour (00 .. 23).
{{CURRENTWEEK}}	47	Number of the current week (1-53) according to ISO 8601 with no leading zero.
{{CURRENTYEAR}}	2024	Returns the current year.
{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}}	20241124172432	[MW1.7+] ISO 8601 time stamp.

Template:-

Local time

The time depending on the local timezone of the wiki. (All words [MW1.8+] )

Word	Example	Explanation
{{LOCALDAY}}	24	Displays the local day of the month in numeric form.
{{LOCALDAY2}}	24	Same as {{LOCALDAY}}, but with a leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{LOCALDAYNAME}}	Sunday	Name of the day in the language of the project or English.
{{LOCALDOW}}	0	Same as {{LOCALDAYNAME}}, but as a number (0=Sunday, 1=Monday...).
{{LOCALMONTH}}	11	The number 01 .. 12 of the month.
{{LOCALMONTHABBREV}}	Nov	Same as {{LOCALMONTH}}, but in abbreviated form as Jan .. Dec.
{{LOCALMONTHNAME}}	November	Same as {{LOCALMONTH}}, but in named form as January .. December.
{{LOCALTIME}}	17:24	The local time (00:00 .. 23:59).
{{LOCALHOUR}}	17	The local hour (00 .. 23).
{{LOCALWEEK}}	47	Number of the local week (1-53) according to ISO 8601 with no leading zero.
{{LOCALYEAR}}	2024	Returns the local year.
{{LOCALTIMESTAMP}}	20241124172432	ISO 8601 time stamp.

Template:-

• See also the ParserFunction #time:

Statistics

Word	Example	Explanation
{{CURRENTVERSION}}	1.35.3	[MW1.7+] Template:H:mwg [1]
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} {{NUMBEROFARTICLES:R}}	9,136 9136	A variable which returns the total number of articles on the Wiki.
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}} {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}}	82,064 82064	[MW1.7+] Returns the total number of pages. [2]
{{NUMBEROFFILES}} {{NUMBEROFFILES:R}}	8,515 8515	[MW1.5+] Returns the number of uploaded files (rows in the image table).
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} {{NUMBEROFUSERS:R}}	358,030 358030	[MW1.7+] Returns the number of registered users (rows in the user table).
{{NUMBEROFADMINS}} {{NUMBEROFADMINS:R}}	6 6	[MW1.7+] Returns the number of administrators (sysop, bureaucrat, steward and checkuser).
{{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 Template:H:mwg.

Template:-

Page names and related info

Word	Example	Explanation
{{PAGENAME}}	Magic Words	Returns the name of the current page, including all levels (Title/Subtitle).
{{PAGENAMEE}}	Magic_Words	More URL-friendly percent encoded special characters (To use an articlename in an external link).
{{SUBPAGENAME}} {{SUBPAGENAMEE}}	Magic Words Magic_Words	[MW1.6+] Name of the current page, excluding parent pages ("Subtitle" on "Title/Other/Subtitle") in namespaces supporting subpages, see Help:Link.
{{BASEPAGENAME}} {{BASEPAGENAMEE}}	Magic Words Magic_Words	[MW1.7+] The basename of a subpage ("Title/Other" on "Title/Other/Subtitle"), see Help:Link.
{{NAMESPACE}} {{NAMESPACEE}}	Help Help	Returns the name of the namespace the current page resides in.
{{FULLPAGENAME}} {{FULLPAGENAMEE}}	Help:Magic Words Help:Magic_Words	[MW1.6+] Shorthands for NAMESPACE+PAGENAME
{{TALKSPACE}} {{TALKSPACEE}}	Help talk Help_talk	[MW1.7+] Name of next odd namespace (e.g. 4 => 5)
{{SUBJECTSPACE}} {{SUBJECTSPACEE}}	Help Help	[MW1.7+] Name of last even namespace (e.g. 5 => 4)
{{ARTICLESPACE}} {{ARTICLESPACEE}}	Help Help	[MW1.7+] An alias for SUBJECTSPACE(E)
{{TALKPAGENAME}} {{TALKPAGENAMEE}}	Help talk:Magic Words Help_talk:Magic_Words	[MW1.7+] FULLPAGENAME in its TALKSPACE
{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}} {{SUBJECTPAGENAMEE}}	Help:Magic Words Help:Magic_Words	[MW1.7+] FULLPAGENAME in its SUBJECTSPACE
{{ARTICLEPAGENAME}} {{ARTICLEPAGENAMEE}}	Help:Magic Words Help:Magic_Words	[MW1.7+] An alias for SUBJECTPAGENAME(E)
{{REVISIONID}}	6290	[MW1.5+] The unique identifying number of a page, see Help:Diff.
{{REVISIONDAY}}	11	[MW1.8+] The day on which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONDAY2}}	11	[MW1.8+] The day on which the page was last modified, but with a leading zero (01 .. 31).
{{REVISIONMONTH}}	01	[MW1.8+] The month in which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONYEAR}}	2007	[MW1.8+] The year in which the page was last modified.
{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}}	20070111232829	[MW1.8+] ISO 8601 time stamp, indicating when the page was last modified.
{{SITENAME}}	MyWikiBiz	Value of Template:H:mwg.
{{SERVER}}	https://mywikibiz.com	Value of Template:H:mwg
{{SCRIPTPATH}}		[MW1.5+] Template:H:mwg
{{SERVERNAME}}	mywikibiz.com	[MW1.5+] Template:H:mwg

Template:-

Parser functions

For details see Help:Parser function.

Namespaces and URLs

Word	Example	Explanation
{{ns:}}	{{ns:4}} = MyWikiBiz {{ns:project}} = MyWikiBiz	Returns the name of a given namespace number.
{{localurl:x y @}} {{localurle:x y @}} {{localurl:a|b=c}}	/X_y_@ /X_y_@ /index.php?title=A&b=c	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}}	https://mywikibiz.com/X_y_@ https://mywikibiz.com/X_y_@ https://mywikibiz.com/index.php?title=M:a&b=c	[MW1.5+] Returns the full URL of a given page. Optional query parameter as for localurl:.

Template:-

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+] Add decimal separators according to the wiki's default locale. Leading minus and plus are recognized.
{{padleft:}} {{padright:}}	{{padleft:bcd|6|a}} = aaabcd {{padleft:café|6|-}}=--café {{padright:bcd|6|a}} = bcdaaa	[MW1.8+] Pads a string with a character to the specified width.

Template:-

A letter like é counts for two. It does not seem possible to use padleft and padright for padding with characters with a multi-character code, such as  , which would be useful with padleft for sorting tables with Javascript.

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}}	Shorthand for {{MediaWiki:xyz}}, rendered as ⧼xyz⧽ if MediaWiki:xyz doesn't exist. See Help:MediaWiki namespace.
{{msg:xyz}}	Try {{Template:xyz}} before magic word xyz, without this modifier it's the other way around. No additional effect if there is no template xyz.
{{msgnw:xyz}}	The unevaluated wikitext is rendered. See msgnw.
{{raw:xyz}}	[MW1.6+] Like {{msg:}} Template:Unclear [5]
{{subst:xyz}}	In the wikitext, the tag is substituted by the content (single-level evaluation only), see Help:Substitution.

Template:-

Image modifiers

For details see Centiare: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.

Size

The last unrecognized modifier is used as caption for framed images or together with thumbnails. It's also used as description alt=text.

Word	Usage	Explanation
framed frame enframed	[[Image:Mediawiki.png|framed]]	Places an image in a frame with a description. Uses original size.
thumbnail thumb	[[Image:Mediawiki.png|thumbnail]]	Modifies image size, sets it to dependant on user's favourite thumbnail size in their preferences.
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	[[Image:Mediawiki.png|40px]]	Scales image to given width  in pixels

Template:-

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.

Template:-

Miscellany

Word	Example	Explanation
{{DISPLAYTITLE:xyz}}	default disabled	[MW 1.7+] Set the page's title [6], see Template:H:mwg.
{{DIRMARK}} {{DIRECTIONMARK}}	‎ ‎	[MW1.7+] u+200E left to right or u+200D right to left mark
{{CONTENTLANGUAGE}}	en	[MW1.7+] Default content Template:H:mwg
{{DEFAULTSORT:xyz}}		[MW1.10+] Sets a default category sort key for the current page.
#redirect	#REDIRECT [[target]] at top of source page	Creates a redirect to another page.

Template:-

Language-dependent word conversions

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

Template:-

"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 project-dependent switch function, e.g. giving the first text if count = 1, the second if count = 2,3, or 4, and else the third. See also mediazilla:5805 for the use of "plural" in system messages.

See also

• Parser functions #expr:, #if:, #ifeq:, etc.
• mw:Manual:Magic words
• Source for Language.php
• Source for MagicWord.php