Help:Magic Words
Magic words are strings of text that the wiki associates with a return value or function, such as time, site details, or page names.
There are three general types of magic words:
- Behavior switches: these are 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:...}}.
Page-dependent magic words will affect or return data about the current page, even if the word is added through a transcluded template or included system message.
Behaviour switches
A behaviour switch controls the layout or behaviour of the page and can often be used to specify desired omissions and inclusions in the content.
Word | Description |
---|---|
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. |
Editing | |
__NOEDITSECTION__ | Hides the section edit links beside headings. |
__NEWSECTIONLINK__ | Adds a link ("+") beside the "edit" tab for adding a new section on a non-talk page. |
Categories | |
__NOGALLERY__ | Used on a category page, replaces thumbnails in the category view with normal links. |
Variables
Variables return information about the current page, wiki, or date. Their syntax is similar to templates.
Date & time
The following variables return the current date and time according to the user's timezone preferences, defaulting to the UTC timezone.
Due to MediaWiki and browser caching, these variables frequently show when the page was cached rather than the current time.
Variable | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
Year | ||
{{CURRENTYEAR}} | 2024 | Year |
Month | ||
{{CURRENTMONTH}} | 11 | Month (zero-padded number) |
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} | November | Month (name) |
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} | November | Month (genitive form) |
{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}} | Nov | Month (abbreviation) |
Day | ||
{{CURRENTDAY}} | 2 | Day of the month (unpadded number) |
{{CURRENTDAY2}} | 02 | Day of the month (zero-padded number) |
{{CURRENTDOW}} | 6 | Day of the week (Sunday = 0 thru Saturday=6) |
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} | Saturday | Day of the week (name) |
Time | ||
{{CURRENTTIME}} | 20:57 | Time (24-hour HH:mm format) |
{{CURRENTHOUR}} | 20 | Hour (24-hour zero-padded number) |
Other | ||
{{CURRENTWEEK}} | 44 | Week (number) |
{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}} | 20241102205717 | YYYYMMDDHHmmss timestamp |
The following variables do the same as the above, but using the server's time (either UTC or BST (UTC+1) depending on daylight savings)
- {{LOCALYEAR}}
- {{LOCALMONTH}}
- {{LOCALMONTHNAME}}
- {{LOCALMONTHNAMEGEN}}
- {{LOCALMONTHABBREV}}
- {{LOCALDAY}}
- {{LOCALDAY2}}
- {{LOCALDOW}}
- {{LOCALDAYNAME}}
- {{LOCALTIME}}
- {{LOCALHOUR}}
- {{LOCALWEEK}}
- {{LOCALTIMESTAMP}}
Technical metadata
Revision variables return data about the latest edit to the current page, even if viewing an older version of the page.
Variable | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
Site | ||
{{SITENAME}} | The Urban Dead Wiki | The wiki's site name |
{{SERVER}} | //wiki.urbandead.com | domain URL |
{{SERVERNAME}} | wiki.urbandead.com | domain name |
{{CURRENTVERSION}} | 1.39.1 | The wiki's MediaWiki version. |
Latest revision to current page | ||
{{REVISIONID}} | 2041895 | Unique revision ID |
{{REVISIONDAY}} | 19 | Day edit was made (unpadded number) |
{{REVISIONDAY2}} | 19 | Day edit was made (zero-padded number) |
{{REVISIONMONTH}} | 11 | Month edit was made (unpadded number) |
{{REVISIONYEAR}} | 2012 | Year edit was made |
{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}} | 20121119043404 | Timestamp as of time of edit |
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}}
→ 152,321 and {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}}
→ 152321).
Variable | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
Entire wiki | ||
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}} | 152,321 | Number of wiki pages. |
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} | 19,388 | Number of pages in main namespace without Main Page. |
{{NUMBEROFFILES}} | 22,071 | Number of uploaded files. |
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} | 51,330 | Number of registered users. |
{{NUMBEROFADMINS}} | 7 | Number of sysops. |
{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Guides}} | 132 | Number of pages in the specified category. |
Page names
Variable | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
{{FULLPAGENAME}} | Help:Magic Words | Namespace and page title. ("Help:Title/Page/Subpage" on "Help:Title/Page/Subpage"). |
{{PAGENAME}} | Magic Words | Page title excluding namespace. ("Title/Page/Subpage" on "Help:Title/Page/Subpage"). |
{{BASEPAGENAME}} | Magic Words | Page title excluding the current subpage and namespace ("Title/Page" on "Help:Title/Page/Subpage"). |
{{SUBPAGENAME}} | Magic Words | The subpage title ("Subpage" on "Help:Title/Page/Subpage"). |
{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}} | Help:Magic Words | The namespace and title of the associated content page. |
{{TALKPAGENAME}} | Help talk:Magic Words | The namespace and title of the associated talk page. |
The {{BASEPAGENAME}} and {{SUBPAGENAME}} magic words only work in namespaces that have subpages enabled.
The following are URL-encoded equivalents:
- {{FULLPAGENAMEE}}
- {{PAGENAMEE}}
- {{BASEPAGENAMEE}}
- {{SUBPAGENAMEE}}
- {{SUBJECTPAGENAMEE}}
- {{TALKPAGENAMEE}}
Namespaces
Variable | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
{{NAMESPACE}} | Help | Namespace (name) |
{{SUBJECTSPACE}} {{ARTICLESPACE}} |
Help Help |
Name of the associated content namespace |
{{TALKSPACE}} | Help talk | Name of the associated talk namespace |
The following are URL-encoded equivalents:
- {{NAMESPACEE}}
- {{SUBJECTSPACEE}}
- {{TALKSPACEE}}
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 usually prefixed with a hash to distinguish them from possible templates)
This page only describes parser functions that are integral to the MediaWiki software. This wiki does not have the Parser functions extension.
URL data
Parser function | Input → Output | Description |
---|---|---|
{{localurl:page name}} {{localurl:page name|query string}} |
{{localurl:Help:Magic Words}} → /index.php/Help:Magic_Words {{localurl:Help:Magic Words|printable=yes}} → /index.php?title=Help:Magic_Words&printable=yes |
The relative path to the title. |
{{fullurl:page name}} {{fullurl:page name|query_string}} |
{{fullurl:Help:Magic Words}} → //wiki.urbandead.com/index.php/Help:Magic_Words {{fullurl:Help:Magic Words|action=edit}} → //wiki.urbandead.com/index.php?title=Help:Magic_Words&action=edit |
The absolute path to the title. |
{{urlencode:string}} | {{urlencode:x y z}} → x+y+z | The input encoded for use in URLs. |
{{anchorencode:string}} | {{anchorencode:x y z}} → x_y_z | The input encoded for use in URL section anchors (after the '#' symbol in a URL). |
Namespaces
{{ns:}}
returns the localized name for the namespace with that index.
Content namespaces | Talk namespaces | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Usage | Output | Usage | Output | |
{{ns:-2}} or {{ns:Media}} | Media | {{ns:-1}} or {{ns:Special}} | Special | |
{{ns:0}} | {{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}} | UDWiki | {{ns:5}} or {{ns:Project talk}} | UDWiki 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
Usage | Input → Output | Description |
---|---|---|
{{lc:string}} | {{lc:TEXT TRANSFORM}} → text transform | The lowercase input. |
{{lcfirst:string}} | {{lcfirst:TEXT TRANSFORM}} → tEXT TRANSFORM | The input with the very first character lowercase. |
{{uc:string}} | {{uc:text transform}} → TEXT TRANSFORM | The uppercase input. |
{{ucfirst:string}} | {{ucfirst:text transform}} → Text transform | The input with the very first character uppercase. |
{{formatnum:unformatted num}} {{formatnum:formatted num|R}} |
{{formatnum:-987654321.654321}} → −987,654,321.654321 | Formats a number. |
{{padleft:xyz|stringlength}} {{padleft:xyz|strlen|char}} |
{{padleft:xyz|5}} → 00xyz {{padleft:xyz|5|_}} → __xyz |
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. |
{{padright:xyz|stringlength}} {{padright:xyz|strlen|char}} |
{{padright:xyz|5}} → xyz00 {{padright:xyz|5|_}} → xyz__ |
Identical to padleft, but adds padding characters to the right side. |
{{plural:2|is|are}} | {{plural:1|is|are}} → is {{plural:2|is|are}} → are |
Outputs the correct given pluralization form (parameters except first) depending on the count (first parameter). Plural transformations are used for languages like Russian based on "count mod 10". |
Miscellaneous
Usage | Output | Description |
---|---|---|
{{#language:language code}} {{#language:ar}} {{#language:th}} |
language code العربية ไทย |
The native name for the given language code, in accordance with ISO 639. |
{{#special:special page name}} {{#special:userlogin}} |
Special:Special page name Special:UserLogin |
The localized name for the given canonical Special: page. |
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