Help:Magic words

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 Mediawikiwiki:Manual:Magic words. This is not a complete list, just those Magic Words that might be useful in the Absit Omen Lexicon.

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:...}}. See also mediawikiwiki:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions.

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.

Word	Description
Table of contents
__NOTOC__	Hides the mediawikiwiki:table of contents (TOC).
__FORCETOC__	Forces the table of contents 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 ("+" by default) beside the "edit" tab for adding a new section on a non-talk page (see Adding a section to the end).
__NONEWSECTIONLINK__	Removes the link beside the "edit" tab on pages in talk namespaces.
Categories
__NOGALLERY__	Used on a category page, replaces thumbnails in the category view with normal links.
__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).
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).
Other
__INDEX__	Tell search engines to index the page (overrides $wgArticleRobotPolicies, but not robots.txt).
__NOINDEX__	Tell search engines not to index the page (ie, do not list in search engines' results).
__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".

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.

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.

Variable	Output	Description
Year
{{CURRENTYEAR}}	2025	Year
Month
{{CURRENTMONTH}}	05	Month (zero-padded number)
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}	May	Month (name)
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}	May	Month (genitive form)
{{CURRENTMONTHABBREV}}	May	Month (abbreviation)
Day
{{CURRENTDAY}}	18	Day of the month (unpadded number)
{{CURRENTDAY2}}	18	Day of the month (zero-padded number)
{{CURRENTDOW}}	0	Day of the week (unpadded number), 0 (for Sunday) through 6 (for Saturday)
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}	Sunday	Day of the week (name)
Time
{{CURRENTTIME}}	23:45	Time (24-hour HH:mm format)
{{CURRENTHOUR}}	23	Hour (24-hour zero-padded number)
Other
{{CURRENTWEEK}}	20	Week (number)
{{CURRENTTIMESTAMP}}	20250518234523	YYYYMMDDHHmmss timestamp

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 mediawikiwiki: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.

Variable	Output	Description
Latest revision to current page
{{REVISIONDAY}}	27	Day edit was made (unpadded number)
{{REVISIONDAY2}}	27	Day edit was made (zero-padded number)
{{REVISIONMONTH}}	10	Month edit was made (zero-padded number)
{{REVISIONMONTH1}}	10	Month edit was made (unpadded number)
{{REVISIONYEAR}}	2012	Year edit was made
{{REVISIONTIMESTAMP}}	20121027183450	Timestamp as of time of edit
{{REVISIONUSER}}	Cody	The username of the user who made the most recent edit to the page, or the current user when previewing an 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}} → 10,981 and {{NUMBEROFPAGES:R}} → 10981). 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.

Variable	Output	Description
Entire wiki
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}	10,981	Number of wiki pages.
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}	3,845	Number of pages in [[mediawikiwiki:Manual:Using custom namespaces#Content namespaces|content namespaces}}.
{{NUMBEROFFILES}}	2,079	Number of uploaded files.
{{NUMBEROFEDITS}}	66,480	Number of page edits.
{{NUMBEROFVIEWS}}	Template:NUMBEROFVIEWS	Number of page views. Usually useless on a wiki using caching.
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}	184	Number of registered users.
{{NUMBEROFADMINS}}	3	Number of users in the sysop group.
{{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}}	12	Number of active users, based on the criteria used in Special:Statistics.

Page names

Variable	Output	Description
{{FULLPAGENAME}}	Help:Magic words	Namespace and page title.
{{PAGENAME}}	Magic words	Page title.
{{BASEPAGENAME}}	Magic words	Page title excluding the current subpage and namespace ("Title/foo" on "Title/foo/bar"). For more complex splitting, use {{#titleparts:}} from ParserFunctions extension.
{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}} {{ARTICLEPAGENAME}}	Help:Magic words Help:Magic words	The namespace and title of the associated subject 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. See mediawikiwiki:Manual:$wgNamespacesWithSubpages for information on enabling subpages.

Namespaces

Variable	Output	Description
{{NAMESPACE}}	Help	Name of the page's namespace
{{SUBJECTSPACE}} {{ARTICLESPACE}}	Help Help	Name of the associated content namespace
{{TALKSPACE}}	Help talk	Name of the associated talk namespace

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 [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:ParserFunctions|ParserFunctions extension}}. For those see mediawikiwiki:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions.

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.

Content namespaces			Talk namespaces
Usage	Output		Usage	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}}	Absit Omen Lexicon		{{ns:5}} or {{ns:Project talk}}	Absit Omen Lexicon 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
{{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). Leading zeroes are not removed.
{{#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. The magic word cannot properly convert between negative years (used with ISO 8601) and years BC or years BCE (used in general writing).
{{lc:string}}	{{lc:DATA CENTER}} → data center	The lowercase input.
{{lcfirst:string}}	{{lcfirst:DATA center}} → dATA center	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.