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Help:Preferences

The preferences dialog allows you to personalize some aspects of a MediaWiki wiki. They will apply only when you are logged in.

Some MediaWiki projects form a family in the sense that one logs in into the family as a whole, and that common preference settings apply. Notably this is the case for the more than 500 projects of Wikicities. On Wikimedia projects logging in and setting preferences are currently done separately on each wiki. You may find it convenient to specify the same preferences on each wiki that you use, but this is not necessary. See also Single signon transition.

User data
User data Your email*: ... o Register email Your nickname (for signatures): ... o Raw signatures (without automatic link) Interface language: English Change password Old password: ... New password: ... Retype new password: ... o Remember password across sessions for giving you attribution for your work. without you having to reveal your email address to them, and it can be used to send you a new password if you forget it.
 * Real name (optional): if you choose to provide it this will be used
 * Email (optional): Enables people to contact you through the website

 * Your e-mail: You may optionally register your e-mail address (it will not be shown publicly on the site). This will enable you to reset your password by clicking the "Mail me a new password" box on the log in screen, if you forget it. Additionally, it will enable other registered users to send e-mail to you from the "E-mail this user" link on your user page unless you've checked the disable box (see below).
 * Disable e-mail from other users: If you check this, users will not be able to send you e-mail by way of the "E-mail this user" feature.

Your nickname
Although your username is not necessarily your real name and could therefore be called a nickname, the term "nickname" is used here for a name you may optionally specify, different from your username, for when you enter your signature with or ~.

(If you use the edit toolbar for signing, remember that it gives two dashes before the four tildes.)

Raw signatures
However, there is even more versatility. You can use any text as your nickname.

If "Raw signatures (without automatic link)" is unchecked, then
 * The software enters " " in front of, and "" after your nickname text.
 * Any characters in your nickname that would otherwise constitute Wiki markup and HTML markup are escaped as HTML character entities. A nickname of " ]] | Talk " will thus produce a signature of "[[User:Name|]] | [[User talk:Name|Talk", which is probably not what you want.

If "Raw signatures" is checked, then
 * Nothing is added to the text that you specify. What you specify is what is used between the two dashes and the timestamp.
 * Wiki markup and HTML markup are not escaped, allowing you to include links, font tags, images, and templates in your signature.

Invalid raw signatures
You may find the following message displayed in your user preferences:
 * Invalid raw signature; check HTML tags.

This means you are using invalid HTML markup on your signature. Some possible causes with their corresponding solutions:

 * Unclosed tags :If you are opening a tag without the corresponding closing tag (for instance: ), you should close the tag (for instance:  ). It's also a good idea to put the tags outside the link if possible (for instance:  ).
 * Mismatched or incorrectly nested tags :If the tags are mismatched (for instance: ), fix them (for instance:  ).
 * Unquoted attributes :It's also recommended to use quotes on all attributes (for instance, use  instead of  ).
 * Unclosed entities :If you have a HTML entity which is lacking the final, you need to add it; if you have a bare  , it must be replaced by   (a bare   is always a mistake in either HTML or wikicode).
 * Unescaped special characters :If you are using one of,  , or  , and want it shown as text, it must be escaped as  ,  , or  , respectively.

Using images and templates in signatures
Note that changes in the images and templates are retroactive, which on one hand may be confusing, but on the other hand, to rectify annoying signatures, may be convenient. To avoid retroactivity, use a new image or template name. Do not create a signature template in the article or template namespace: instead use a subpage of your own userpage such as sig, and link it with " ".

In the case of a common signature on several projects, as in Wikicities, remember that templates are project-specific. Thus, if a signature contains a template call, to make it work in all projects, a template is needed in each (these may be copies, but the content can also be different for each project). Note also that links may lead to a different page, depending on the project in which you put the signature, even if you use interwiki link style. For example, India:User talk:John leads to the page User talk:John on India, except from the India project, where it leads to India:User talk:John in the India namespace. Therefore you may want to use external link style, or make a redirect such that the final target of the link is always the same.

Signature content
Check the rules of your project (for example, for the English Wikipedia see w:Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages) and note that:
 * using another nickname than your username is confusing (the page history shows your username, not your nickname)
 * if you show your username as an image, or with letters replaced by special characters, even if the name is still readable, searching a talk page for your username will fail
 * excessive signatures may clutter talk pages
 * drawing excessive attention to yourself may create the impression that you find yourself more important than other people

Password
To change your password, enter your old password, the new password, and the new password a second time. (If you're merely changing the other preferences, you do not need to enter your password.)

 * Remember password across sessions. Enabling this feature will place an HTTP cookie in your browser's cache, which will allow MediaWiki to recognize you each time you visit the page. You will not have to log in each time you visit.

If you want to use remember my password you have to change your password if it was generated by Mediawiki and emailed to you. This is a security feature but very often causes trouble for new users.

Interface language
One can specify an interface language. It shows the default messages, not those in the MediaWiki namespace. Note that some contain internal links, with the name of a page in the interface language project but without the corresponding prefix; therefore these links in general do not work, unless redirects are made.

Note that using English as interface language in RTL projects shows "This is a minor edit" and "Watch this page" on the edit page with tick boxes reversed: the tick boxes do not belong to the nearest but to the other text.

Note that using Spanish as interface language in version up than 1.4.0 shows no Edit toolbar when editing articles (Mozilla browser, firefox as well).

QuickBar settings

This selection only works in the Classic and Cologne Blue skins (see below). In Monobook there is a left panel anyway; in Nostalgia there is none.

This is the list of links to the various special pages. You may optionally have it appear at the right or left side of each page. There's no option yet to have it appear at the top or bottom of the page.

The "fixed" quickbar will appear at the top corner of the page, while the "floating" quickbar will appear at the top corner of the browser window instead of scrolling with the article text. Floating quickbars may not float correctly on old or mobile browsers.

The QuickBar must be enabled to allow you access to some features such as moving (renaming) a page, and in the case of Classic, also to arrive at the Special Pages, unless you type the URL.

Skin
Skin O Classic O Nostalgia O Cologne Blue O MonoBook O MySkin

A MediaWiki skin is a style of page display. There are differences in the HTML code the system produces (but probably not in the page body), and also different style sheets are used.

The default is the MonoBook skin; what was called Standard is here in the preferences called Classic (not to be confused with the even older Nostalgia), but the system uses "wikistandard" in the naming of css files.

Links at the edges of the page are in different positions. Some links are not present in every skin. In Nostalgia some links are in a drop-down menu instead of directly visible.

Cologne Blue has a fixed font size unless one specifies in the browser "ignore font sizes specified in the webpage"; even then the line height is fixed; therefore this skin is hardly suitable for a large font.

In MonoBook the width of the panel on the left is dependent on the font size. Therefore, with a large font, the width of the main part of the page is smaller than with other skins.

For Classic with a quickbar and a large font a CSS setting to reduce the size of the quickbar text may be necessary. This depends on the project, specifically on the length of the longest word in the quickbar. If that does not fit in the designated width, there are complications depending on the browser. In Internet Explorer the quickbar overlaps the main text and a vertical line which is intended to separate the two, crosses the main text. In some other browsers the problem does not arise if the quickbar is on the right.

Since there is word wrapping but no wrapping within a word, the longest word and not the longest full label is the criterion:

 * "contributions" - English and French Wikipedia and Meta - short, large font is possible
 * "Beobachtungsliste" - German Wikipedia - long - large font is hardly useable
 * "Foutenrapportage" - Dutch Wikipedia - ditto
 * "Gebruikersbydraes" - Afrikaans - ditto

To use the full width of the screen for the main text, use Classic without quickbar or Nostalgia. The drawback is that links are missing to the special pages and your user page, respectively.

Screenshots:
 * Cologne Blue
 * Nostalgia
 * Classic

See also Help:User style, and for developments and discussions, Skins.

Rendering math
Rendering math o Always render PNG o HTML if very simple or else PNG o HTML if possible or else PNG o Leave it as TeX (for text browsers) o Recommended for modern browsers o MathML if possible (experimental) MediaWiki allows you to enter mathematical equations as TeX code. These options let you control how that code is rendered into PNG images.
 * Always render PNG: Always make a PNG image from the TeX code.
 * HTML if very simple or else PNG: If the TeX code is very simple, like "x = 3", render it as HTML. For more complex code, render as PNG.
 * HTML if possible or else PNG: This option tries really hard to use HTML, but if it's too complicated, then it renders it as PNG. This option does not show a^{b^c} correctly! It shows the c at base level, which is not just a matter of being ugly, but it makes formulas wrong!. A workaround is to add "\,\!": a^{b^{\,\!2+2}}. With the current settings you get $$a^{b^c}$$ and $$a^{b^{\,\!c}}$$
 * Leave it as TeX: Don't convert the TeX code, just show it. This is primarily for text-based browsers like Lynx.
 * Recommended for modern browsers. If you use a web browser that was released in the past year or so, use this option.

 * MathML if possible (experimental)

Files
Limit images on image description pages to: 320x240 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1280x1024 10000x10000 (Prior to version 1.5, this is under "Recent changes and stub display".)

One can specify a limit on the size of images on image description pages.

The large limit 10000x10000 means that one gets the full image.

With a slow connection it is not practical to have to load a large image just to read image info. Also, it may be practical if a large image at first is made to fit on the screen, in the case that the browser does not do that itself. If the image has been reduced there is a link to the full image.

Date format
The following is rendered depending on preferences:

2001-01-15 January 15, 2001 15 January 2001 2001 January 15 2001-01-15 January 15 15 January

With your current preference setting on this project the seven are rendered as follows:

 * 2001-01-15
 * January 15, 2001
 * 15 January 2001
 * 2001 January 15
 * 2001-01-15
 * January 15
 * 15 January

By default the rendering is as usual for links. However one can specify as preference that all of the first five are rendered the same, in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th way. If the 4th or 5th way is selected, the 6th and 7th line are not affected. If the 2nd or 3rd way is selected, the 6th and 7th line are rendered accordingly, without the year.

The setting also affects what wikitext the signature of the user produces. Since dates in signatures are not linked, this determines how the date is rendered for everybody, and this can not be changed retroactively, except by editing the pages with the signature.

Note that using this date formatting feature in section headers complicates section linking: a link to a section with a variable date format has to be set in a fixed date format, which works only for users for whom the formats match. Thus, if you want to be able to use links like November_2004, in the calendar at the upper right of the month pages on Wikipedia, or links elsewhere to the section about a particular day (if they also use the default format), you cannot use the date formatting feature.

See also Dynamic dates and w:en:Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers).

Time zone
Time zone Server time is now: 06:34 Local time display: 08:34 Offset*:
 * Enter number of hours your local time differs from server time (UTC).

 * Time diff. This is the number of hours to be added or subtracted from UTC to find your time zone. This time zone is used when calculating displayed page update timestamps, and may become temporarily incorrect from time to time if you observe daylight saving time -- don't forget to update it to match your local time, because the Wiki doesn't know where you are or precisely when you celebrate DST. (Also, the server's clock may be slightly offset from reality, much as Wikipedia articles may be.) A scattering of typical (and possibly incorrect!) time diff values are below. If yours isn't listed, try this link or add and subtract a few hours as needed.

 * -10 (DST -9) Hawaii, western Aleutians (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
 * -9 (DST -8) All of Alaska, except for western Aleutians (Alaska Standard Time)
 * -8 (DST -7) California; Washington; almost all of Oregon, Nevada, and British Columbia (Pacific Standard Time)
 * -7 (DST -6) Colorado, Arizona (no DST except for Navajo Nation), Alberta (Mountain Standard Time)
 * -6 (DST -5) Chicago, most of Mexico, Central America, Saskatchewan (Central Standard Time)
 * -5 (DST -4) New York, Toronto, Quebec (Eastern Standard Time)
 * -4 (DST -3) Canada's Maritime Provinces, plus most of Labrador
 * -3.5 (DST -2.5) Newfoundland
 * -3 (DST -2) Brasilia, Buenos Aires, most of Greenland
 * -2 (DST -1) Mid-Atlantic
 * -1 (DST 0) Azores, Cape Verde Islands
 * 0 (DST 1) United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, mainland Portugal, Iceland (no DST), Casablanca, Monrovia (no DST)
 * 1 (DST 2) most of Europe, West Central Africa (no DST)
 * 2 (DST 3) Bucharest, Kiev, Cairo, Johannesburg (no DST), Finland, Jerusalem
 * 3 (DST 4) Moscow, Kuwait, Baghdad, Tehran, Nairobi (no DST)
 * 4 Abu Dhabi, Baku
 * 4.5 Kabul
 * 5 Islamabad
 * 5.5 India
 * 5.75 Nepal
 * 6 Sri Lanka, etc.
 * 6.5 Rangoon
 * 7 Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta
 * 8 People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Western Australia, Ulaan Bataar, Singapore, Manila
 * 9 Japan, Seoul
 * 9.5 (DST 10.5) South Australia and Northern Territory (no DST)
 * 10 (DST 11) Queensland (no DST), New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, Guam (no DST), Vladivostok
 * 11 Magadan (DST 12), Solomon Islands, New Caledonia
 * 12 Pago Pago, New Zealand (DST 13)

The time is displayed in local time, according to the set preferences, in:
 * Recent changes
 * Related changes
 * Page history, Image history
 * User contributions
 * Special:Newpages
 * "This page was last modified" at the bottom of pages
 * Special:Imagelist

The UTC time is applicable:
 * In the signing of Talk pages
 * In the Upload log
 * In referring to non-localized events, including things that happen on the wiki.

Keep this in mind when copying an excerpt from Recent Changes, a revision history listing, etc. to a Talk page. Convert manually to UTC or temporarily set the preferences to a zero offset before producing the revision history etc. to be copied.

Editing
Editing Rows:          Columns: o Edit box has full width o Show edit toolbar o Show preview on first edit o Show preview before edit box and not after it o Add pages you edit to your watchlist o Mark all edits minor by default o Use external editor by default o Use external diff by default

 * Rows, Columns. Here you can set up your preferred dimensions for the textbox used for editing page text.
 * Edit box has full width. If this box is checked, the edit box (when you click "Edit this page") will be the width of the browser window, minus the quickbar width.
 * Show edit toolbar. In compatible browsers, a toolbar with editing buttons can be displayed.
 * Show preview on first edit - when pressing the edit button or otherwise following a link to an edit page, show not only the edit box but also the rendered page, just like after pressing "Show preview". This is especially useful when viewing a template, because even just viewing, not editing, typically requires both.
 * Show preview before edit box and not after it. If you select this option, the preview will be displayed above the edit box when you click the "Show preview" button while editing a page.
 * Add pages you edit to your watchlist. If this option is selected, any pages that you create or modify will be automatically added to your watchlist.
 * Mark all edits minor by default. This option automatically selects the "This is a minor edit" checkbox when you edit pages.
 * Use external editor by default. (New to 1.5) Changes editing from online version to external program. See Help:External editors.
 * Use external diff by default. (New to 1.5) Changes diffing from online version to external program. See Help:External editors.

Recent changes and stub display
Number of titles in recent changes: o Hide minor edits in recent changes o Enhanced recent changes (not for all browsers) Threshold for stub display:
 * Number of titles on recent changes: You may select the number of changes which will be shown by default on the Recent Changes and Watchlist page. Once on those pages, links are provided for other options.
 * Hide minor edits in recent changes. Registered users may choose to mark edits as being minor (meaning fixes too trivial for trusting users to check up on). It applies to Recent Changes and Enhanced Recent Changes, but not to the Watchlist. It also affects Related changes, but currently in an odd way: if the last edit of a page linking to the current page was minor, then neither that nor the last major change is shown.
 * Enhanced recent changes (not for all browsers). Group recent changes per day by article, display the titles of the changed articles in order from new to old latest change, or in the case of hiding minor edits, latest major change. This feature applies also to Related Changes, but not to the watchlist.
 * Threshold for stub display: see Stub feature.

Search result settings
Hits to show per page: Lines to show per hit: Characters of context per line: Search in these namespaces by default:(Main) Talk User User talk Meta Meta talk Image Image talk MediaWiki MediaWiki talk Template Template talk Help Help talk Category Category talk Hilfe Hilfe Diskussion Aide Discussion Aide Hjælp Hjælp diskussion Helpo Helpa diskuto Hjälp Hjälp diskussion Ayuda Ayuda Discusión Aiuto Discussioni aiuto ヘルプ ヘルプ‐ノート NL Help Overleg help Pomoc Dyskusja pomocy Ajuda Aju
 * Hits to show per page: You may choose the number of results returned on each page of search results.
 * Lines to show per hit is somewhat cryptic; specifying a number n means: "do not show any context if the search term occurs beyond line n in the page"; here a paragraph, as well as the blank line between two paragraphs, each count as one "line"; line breaks in the source, even when not affecting the lay-out of the page (and even when not directly visible in the edit box of the article), affect the line count. Setting the parameter to 5000 or more gives context for every occurrence.
 * Characters of context per line: the number of characters of context per occurrence; however, the context is anyway restricted to the "line" (see above) it occurs in. To get the whole line, put a large number like 5000.
 * Search in these namespaces by default: shows a list of all namespaces (not the same in all projects; for older MediaWiki versions, which do not have Special:Version, this is also a useful indicator what version is used; for even older versions that do not have this item in the preferences, see the list after performing a search), allowing one to select which ones are searched by default; see also Namespaces searched.

Misc settings
Show hoverbox over wiki links Underline links Format broken links like this (alternative: like this?). Justify paragraphs Auto-number headings Edit pages on double click (JavaScript) Enable section editing via [edit] links Enable section editing by right clicking on section titles (JavaScript) Show table of contents (for pages with more than 3 headings) Disable page caching
 * Show hoverbox over wiki links. This option determines whether a link title is put in the HTML code. The result depends on the browser: putting the mouse pointer over a link often displays this title in a hover box. However, some browsers show the URL anyway, so a link title may be superfluous. If enabled, the link title is the page name in the case of an internal link, the page name with prefix in the case of an interwiki link, and the URL in the case of an external link.
 * Underline links. Normally, link text will be underlined. Optionally, you may request that links not be underlined, although your browser may not respect this setting. Normally links that are not underlined can still be recognized by color. However, one can then not distinguish between two consecutive words being a single link or two links, without pointing at the words with the cursor. There is some discussion of changing the default here: see Link style vote
 * Format broken links like this . An internal link to a non-existing pages is automatically a link to the edit page. By default the link label of b and a|b is "b", just like for links to existing pages. Alternatively the link label is a question mark inserted after "b", like this: The weather in London?. The appearance of the link is further determined by the style specified for css selectors "a.new" and "a.new:hover" (the example on the preferences page wrongly uses class="internal" for the question mark).  Internal links to pages which do not yet exist currently appear on your browser like this: the weather in London. Normally, this is underlined and in red. With the trailing question mark link one can then not distinguish between a single word being linked or a phrase of more than one word, without pointing at the question mark with the cursor. Also, remember that the question mark does not mean that the information is uncertain.
 * Justify paragraphs. If set, article paragraphs will be formatted to avoid jagged line endings. If unset, the paragraphs will be formatted as-is.
 * Auto-number headings. This adds hierarchical outline-style numbering to headers in articles.
 * Edit pages on double click. If this box is checked, you can double-click on a page to edit it. This option requires JavaScript to be enabled in your browser.
 * Enable section editing via [edit] links. Shows or hides the [Edit] links on section titles.
 * Enable section editing by right-clicking on section titles (JavaScript). Note that in the case of a header with a link (which may occur, although it is not recommended in some projects) this disables opening the link in a new window through right-clicking (an alternative way such as shift-clicking may work). Also other right-clicking functions, such as "Properties", are disabled.
 * Show table of contents (for articles with more than 3 headings)
 * Disable page caching. This turns off page caching. This is useful if you're experiencing problems of seeing outdated versions of pages, but this comes at a cost of longer loading times.

Browser preferences
Browsers usually also allow you to specify preferences, e.g. font size and font type. The standard skin is compatible with your browser setting of font size and font type. The Cologne Blue skin has most text in a fixed font size, ignoring your browser setting. Some browsers, e.g. IE, allow you to specify that font size specified in the web page is ignored. In that case the font size in Cologne Blue is as specified in the browser, but with the line height not adjusted accordingly. Therefore a large font gives a messy result.

Providing your own CSS
Cascading Style Sheets are used to configure MediaWiki's visual appearance. You can specify your own CSS definitions and overwrite the default settings. See Help:User style.

title: Help:Preferences


text:
Help talk:Preferences

Meta:Help:Preferences authors and history

 * 08:11, 27 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 03:35, 25 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 16:07, 24 November 2005 User:Patrick (→Recent changes and stub display - Enhanced recent changes applies also to Related Changes, but not to the watchlist.)
 * 13:26, 23 November 2005 User:Patrick (→Raw signatures - fixed link)
 * 02:38, 23 November 2005 User:24.18.251.20 (→Raw signatures - ft: <!---The link added by the template in the next paragraph seems to be broken.--->)
 * 01:35, 18 November 2005 User:Uncle G (→Your nickname - Note about changes to signature processing.)
 * 18:13, 17 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed hyperlinks that break when this page is copied to other projects.)
 * 05:27, 16 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Replacement of with )
 * 05:02, 16 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed hyperlinks that break when this page is copied to other projects.)
 * 04:24, 16 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed hyperlinks that break when this page is copied to other projects.)
 * 11:38, 15 November 2005 User:Korg (rv)
 * 11:04, 15 November 2005 User:83.31.190.133 (→User data)
 * 10:09, 3 November 2005 User:80.58.47.107 (→Interface language)
 * 10:08, 3 November 2005 User:80.58.47.107 (→Interface language)
 * 10:06, 3 November 2005 User:80.58.47.107 (→Interface language)
 * 10:05, 3 November 2005 User:80.58.47.107 (→Interface language)
 * 22:05, 31 October 2005 User:82.83.82.228 (→Date format - sp)
 * 12:50, 7 October 2005 User:196.25.3.250 (→Files)
 * 11:37, 7 October 2005 User:Habakuk (revert User:81.156.252.188)
 * 01:27, 4 October 2005 User:Mikez m (rv)
 * 00:54, 4 October 2005 User:128.101.178.119
 * 07:52, 3 October 2005 User:81.156.252.188 (Georgia Stewart)
 * 01:49, 30 September 2005 User:Korg m (rv)
 * 22:01, 29 September 2005 User:24.86.19.86 (→Interface language)
 * 01:18, 29 September 2005 User:Korg m (Rv -> 23.9)
 * 12:25, 28 September 2005 User:Encephalon m (Rm vanadalism or newbie edit.)
 * 05:42, 28 September 2005 User:68.55.83.110
 * 23:32, 23 September 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 142.161.123.57 to last version by Patrick)
 * 19:29, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Providing your own CSS)
 * 19:29, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Meeting)
 * 19:27, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Search result settings)
 * 19:26, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Time zone)
 * 19:24, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Date format)
 * 19:23, 23 September 2005 User:142.161.123.57 (→Rendering math)
 * 13:50, 23 September 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 71.241.200.51 to last version by Patrick)
 * 11:58, 22 September 2005 User:71.241.200.51 (→User data)
 * 12:47, 16 September 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 83.23.111.28 to last version by 128.61.64.23)
 * 11:59, 16 September 2005 User:83.23.111.28 (→User data)
 * 01:54, 1 September 2005 User:128.61.64.23
 * 16:26, 31 August 2005 User:Nae'blis m (revert to last non-null version)
 * 11:05, 31 August 2005 User:210.214.143.181
 * 16:14, 30 August 2005 User:68.236.215.31 (→Notes - added link to 'changing username' section)
 * 19:03, 27 August 2005 User:Ardonik m (→User data - rm. "enterprise" in user data text block)
 * 03:11, 22 August 2005 User:Omegatron (→Your nickname - it wouldn't have a dash in it without the raw signatures checked)
 * 21:32, 21 August 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 202.173.157.192 to last version by Patrick)
 * 12:55, 21 August 2005 User:202.173.157.192 (→Recent changes and stub display)
 * 09:01, 14 August 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 24.22.76.157 to last version by 68.81.127.67)
 * 20:45, 13 August 2005 User:24.22.76.157 (→Time zone)
 * 03:15, 13 August 2005 User:68.81.127.67 (→Skin)
 * 03:02, 9 August 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 71.109.89.139 to last version by 143.248.139.142)
 * 21:22, 7 August 2005 User:71.109.89.139 (→Skin)
 * 11:42, 1 August 2005 User:143.248.139.142 (→User data)
 * 11:42, 1 August 2005 User:143.248.139.142 (→User data)
 * 21:51, 21 July 2005 User:Sweets (revert SPAM)
 * 21:27, 21 July 2005 User:85.98.60.131
 * 20:04, 21 July 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 24.64.223.204 to last version by Patrick)
 * 17:15, 21 July 2005 User:24.64.223.204 (→Time zone)
 * 10:03, 20 July 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 67.113.17.228 to last version by Patrick)
 * 00:39, 20 July 2005 User:67.113.17.228 (→Time zone)
 * 20:39, 16 July 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 213.239.234.56 to last version by Patrick)
 * 13:27, 16 July 2005 User:213.239.234.56 (→Time zone)
 * 15:41, 11 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 15:39, 11 July 2005 User:Patrick (The setting also affects what wikitext the signature of the user produces. Since dates in sigs are not limked, this determines how the date is rendered for everybody.)
 * 20:47, 10 July 2005 User:213.140.22.75
 * 21:19, 8 July 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 24.165.154.246 to last version by Astronouth7303)
 * 17:48, 8 July 2005 User:24.165.154.246 (→Time zone - -5)
 * 17:41, 8 July 2005 User:24.165.154.246 (→Time zone)
 * 17:35, 29 June 2005 User:Astronouth7303 (→Editing - Adding descriptiongs)
 * 22:53, 28 June 2005 User:Astronouth7303 (→Editing - Adding new options)
 * 22:24, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Files - Also, it may be practical if a large image at first is made to fit on the screen, in the case that the browser does not do that itself.)
 * 21:12, 28 June 2005 User:Astronouth7303 (→QuickBar settings)
 * 06:09, 28 June 2005 User:HorsePunchKid m (Moved and renamed section on "Image display" and reordered "Editing" and "Time zone" to match prefs in 1.5)
 * 22:33, 21 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Date format - Oddly the setting also affects how everybody sees the date in a signature of the user.)
 * 11:26, 16 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Image display on image description pages - width)
 * 11:20, 16 June 2005 User:Patrick m (→Image display on image description pages)
 * 11:18, 16 June 2005 User:Patrick ({{new|the default thumb nail size can be set in the preferences; this can be overridden by an image size specified in the image tag; the latter typically not advisable, in order to respect the users')
 * 23:20, 13 June 2005 User:67.150.121.98 (Moving DST To beginning on UTC-10 - →Time zone)
 * 08:34, 2 June 2005 User:216.98.174.126 (→User data)
 * 20:28, 24 May 2005 User:Patrick m (→Your nickname)
 * 08:10, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 08:06, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (India:User:John, called from the India project, leads to the page User:John on India, except from the India project, where it leads to India:User:John)
 * 08:00, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 07:31, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (In the case of a common signature on several projects, as in Wikicities, remember that templates are project-specific, so not very suitable. Note also that links may lead to a different page, dependin)
 * 07:12, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 07:06, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 07:01, 23 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 19:51, 14 May 2005 User:Patrick (Some MediaWiki projects form a family in the sense that one logs in into the family as a whole, and that common preference settngs apply. Notably this is the case for the more than 300 projects of [[w)
 * 07:42, 7 May 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 202.108.156.174 to last version by 62.214.12.210)
 * 03:30, 7 May 2005 User:202.108.156.174
 * 17:05, 5 May 2005 User:62.214.12.210 (→Editing - typo)
 * 08:26, 4 May 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 66.75.134.83 to last version by Patrick)
 * 06:03, 4 May 2005 User:66.75.134.83 (→User data)
 * 05:04, 4 May 2005 User:66.75.134.83 (→User data)
 * 16:36, 30 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→Skin)
 * 09:06, 27 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→Editing)
 * 09:04, 27 April 2005 User:Patrick (→Editing - This is especially useful when viewing a template, because even just viewing, not editing, typically requires both.)
 * 00:02, 23 April 2005 User:Patrick (when pressing the edit button or otherwise following a link to an edit page, show not only the edit box but also the rendered page, just like after pressing "Show preview".)
 * 23:43, 22 April 2005 User:Patrick (→Editing - add: Show preview on first edit)
 * 13:15, 22 April 2005 User:Patrick (Note that using English as interface language in RTL projects shows "This is a minor edit" and "Watch this page" on the edit page with tick boxes reversed: the tick boxes do not belong to the near)
 * 12:42, 22 April 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 12.149.100.21 to last version by AnyFile)
 * 11:56, 22 April 2005 User:12.149.100.21
 * 15:22, 21 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 21:00, 19 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→Providing your own CSS)
 * 04:08, 15 April 2005 User:SDaniel (→Misc settings - +short description to "Enable section editing via [edit] links.")
 * 08:38, 12 April 2005 User:217.155.223.43 (→Search result settings - spelling)
 * 11:47, 31 March 2005 User:Patrick m (→Editing)
 * 11:20, 28 March 2005 User:203.164.189.232 (→Your nickname)
 * 11:18, 28 March 2005 User:203.164.189.232 (→Your nickname - e.g. -> for example)
 * 11:16, 28 March 2005 User:203.164.189.232 (→Your nickname)
 * 14:23, 15 March 2005 User:Patrick m (→Your nickname)
 * 14:21, 15 March 2005 User:Patrick (→Your nickname -avoid template to make copying to other projects easier)
 * 12:03, 15 March 2005 User:GrmWnr (→Your nickname - fix template (link did not work))
 * 11:44, 11 March 2005 User:Patrick (→Misc settings - Also other right-clicking functions, such as "Properties", are disabled.)
 * 11:34, 11 March 2005 User:Patrick (*Enable section editing by right clicking on section titles (JavaScript). Note that in the case of a header with a link (which may occur, although it is not recommended in some projects) this di)
 * 23:59, 5 March 2005 User:Patrick m (→Misc settings)
 * 21:03, 2 March 2005 User:Patrick (for older MediaWiki versions, which do not have Special:Version, this is also a useful indicator what version is used; for even older versions that do not have this item in the preferences, see th)
 * 20:55, 2 March 2005 User:Patrick (→User data - re:talk: update)
 * 21:21, 20 February 2005 User:Mormegil m (→Providing your own CSS -+cs:)
 * 17:09, 20 February 2005 User:80.57.197.169 (signature templates, raw sigs)
 * 13:07, 24 January 2005 User:Patrick (→Image display on image description pages)
 * 12:58, 24 January 2005 User:Patrick (→Image display on image description pages - more)
 * 20:29, 14 January 2005 User:69.65.154.212 (→Password - gm)
 * 22:16, 1 January 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by Morlithiel to last version by Patrick)
 * 05:38, 1 January 2005 User:Morlithiel (→User data)
 * 00:56, 30 December 2004 User:Patrick (Note that some contain internal links, with the name of a page in the interface language project but without the corresponding prefix; therefore these links in general do not work.)
 * 00:51, 30 December 2004 User:Patrick (→Interface language - Note that some contain internal links, which in the other project in general do not work.)
 * 00:44, 30 December 2004 User:Patrick (One can specify an interface language. It shows the default messages, not those in the MediaWiki namespace.)
 * 23:58, 29 December 2004 User:Patrick (Confusingly in the category "Recent changes and stub display", one can specify a limit on the size of images on image description pages.)
 * 03:18, 5 December 2004 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 205.162.164.3 to last version by Patrick)
 * 01:28, 5 December 2004 User:205.162.164.3 (→<>Sweetness <>)
 * 20:55, 20 November 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format - a link to a section with a variable date format has to in a fixed date format, which works only for users for whom the formats match.)
 * 05:15, 20 November 2004 User:Gangleri (→Date format - link adjusted)
 * 22:17, 13 November 2004 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 4.29.198.37 to last version by Patrick)
 * 16:53, 13 November 2004 User:4.29.198.37 (→Skin)
 * 14:19, 13 November 2004 User:Patrick (This option does not show a^{b^c} correctly! It shows the c at base level, which is not just a matter of being ugly, but it makes formulas wrong!. A workaround is to add "\,\!": a^{b^{\,\!c}}. With)
 * 15:57, 2 November 2004 User:Patrick m (→Date format)
 * 15:54, 2 November 2004 User:Patrick (Conversely, when you want to be able to use links like w:November_2004#November_1.2C_2004, in the calendar at the upper right of that page]], or links elsewhere to the section about this day (if t)
 * 14:59, 2 November 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format -Note that using this date formatting feature in section headers complicates section linking.)
 * 16:29, 1 November 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 15:42, 1 November 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format -*2001-01-15)
 * 06:48, 29 October 2004 User:Jean-Christophe Chazalette m (Reverted edits by 221.194.206.191 to last version by 213.113.164.143)
 * 05:41, 29 October 2004 User:221.194.206.191
 * 02:05, 25 October 2004 User:213.113.164.143 (→QuickBar settings - language fix)
 * 19:51, 21 October 2004 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 213.31.197.132 to last version by Patrick)
 * 09:58, 21 October 2004 User:213.31.197.132
 * 04:54, 26 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Recent changes and stub display - Threshold for stub display: see Stub feature.)
 * 07:17, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m ({{handbook sidebar|reader toc}})
 * 01:22, 16 September 2004 User:63.194.210.74 (→Password)
 * 07:42, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick
 * 07:34, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick
 * 07:27, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Search etc.)
 * 07:21, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick
 * 07:13, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Time)
 * 07:11, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Editing)
 * 07:09, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Textbox and Time)
 * 07:07, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 06:58, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick
 * 06:56, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Rendering math -MathML if possible (experimental))
 * 06:54, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Rendering math)
 * 06:51, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick
 * 06:44, 15 September 2004 User:Patrick (→User data, search, etc.)
 * 08:03, 11 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Notes)
 * 23:21, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Notes)
 * 22:19, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Notes)
 * 21:16, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Your nickname - if you show your username as an image, or with letters replaced by special characters, even if the name is still readable, searching a talk page for your username will fail)
 * 21:11, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 09:40, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→User data, search, etc.)
 * 09:38, 5 September 2004 User:Patrick (see also Namespaces searched)
 * 21:37, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Browser preferences - rm sentence, in view of css)
 * 21:36, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Providing your own CSS)
 * 21:31, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Notes)
 * 21:28, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (If you want to change your username, it is recommended that you do this retroactively in the sense that your previous user contributions are recorded under the new name.)
 * 21:17, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 21:12, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 21:10, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 20:55, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 17:51, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 17:50, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 17:38, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Your nickname)
 * 17:29, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Your nickname - To avoid retroactivity, use a new image or template name.)
 * 14:14, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Your nickname)
 * 14:13, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Your nickname)
 * 14:12, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (Note that changes in the images and templates are retroactive, which may on one hand may be confusing, but on the other hand, to rectify annoying signatures, may be convenient.)
 * 13:35, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Your nickname -{{wp|(for|, see | Wikipedia:Username#Signatures)}})
 * 13:24, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Your nickname)
 * 13:01, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→User data, search, etc. -drawing excessive attention to yourself may create the impression that you find yourself more important than other people)
 * 02:10, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→Date format)
 * 02:06, 4 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Date format)
 * 22:18, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (Dynamic dates.)
 * 16:29, 31 August 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 16:27, 31 August 2004 User:Patrick (→User data, search, etc. -*Search in these namespaces by default:shows a list of all namespaces, allowing one to select which ones are searched by default)
 * 12:33, 25 August 2004 User:202.42.189.82 (→Textbox and Time)
 * 12:22, 25 August 2004 User:202.42.189.82 (→Rendering math)
 * 10:37, 25 August 2004 User:Patrick (Links to articles (i.e. pages in the main namespace which are not redirects) with fewer characters than the amount you may specify here (e.g. 500, 1000, etc.) will be displayed in a different color (a)
 * 08:12, 25 August 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 10:49, 21 August 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 10:39, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 10:37, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options - BUG: the example on the preferences page wrongly uses selector class="internal" for the question mark)
 * 10:21, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 10:13, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options -An internal link to a non-existing pages is automatically a link to the edit page.)
 * 10:06, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options - By default the link label of b and b is "b", just like for links to existing pages. Alternatively the link label is a question mark inserted after "b". The appear)
 * 11:19, 7 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - There are differences in the HTML code the system produces (but probably not in the page body))
 * 10:32, 7 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - There are differences in the HTML code the system produces, and also different style sheets are used.)
 * 04:47, 7 August 2004 User:Charm m (sp)
 * 04:46, 7 August 2004 User:Charm m (change broken &#9737; to O to match other items)
 * 10:19, 6 August 2004 User:80.128.151.144 (→Password - btw, picture should be updated someday)
 * 06:08, 30 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - misc)
 * 22:19, 26 July 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 08:28, 26 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - See also Help:User style,)
 * 08:25, 26 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - what was called Standard is here in the preferences called Classic (not to be confused with the even older Nostalgia), but the system still uses "standard" in the naming of css files.)
 * 15:49, 24 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 11:14, 20 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→User data, search, etc.)
 * 11:08, 20 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→E-mail, search, etc.)
 * 09:21, 18 July 2004 User:168.209.97.34 (Link to Changing username and Account deletion, instead of saying it's impossible.)
 * 21:42, 11 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 15:38, 10 July 2004 User:Patrick (This option determines whether a title attribute is put in link anchors in the HTML code. The result depends on the browser: putting the mouse pointer over a link often displays this title in a hover)
 * 14:14, 10 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 14:12, 10 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options -the page name with prefix in the case of an interwiki link)
 * 14:01, 10 July 2004 User:Patrick (page name in the case of an internal link and the URL in the case of an external link. This feature can be turned off by this option (the title attribute in the link anchor in the HTML code is dispens)
 * 10:48, 9 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Miscellaneous options)
 * 10:44, 9 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options - However, one can then not distinguish between a single word being link or a phrase of more than one word, without pointing at the words with the cursor. Also, remember that)
 * 10:35, 9 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Miscellaneous options -Internal links to pages which do not yet exist currently appear on your browser like this: the weather in London). Normally, this is underlined and in red. You may optio)
 * 14:52, 8 July 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 14:07, 8 July 2004 User:Dori m (Reverted edits by 203.143.32.131 to last version by 203.143.10.134)
 * 12:50, 8 July 2004 User:203.143.32.131 (→Password)
 * 12:49, 8 July 2004 User:203.143.10.134 (→Password)
 * 06:02, 2 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - To use the full width of the screen for the main text, use Classic without quickbar or Nostalgia. The drawback is that links are missing to the special pages and your user page, respective)
 * 05:28, 2 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins -complications depending on the browser. In Internet Explorer the quickbar overlaps the main text and a vertical line which is intended to separate the two, crosses the main text. In some ot)
 * 04:57, 2 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - Whether Classic with a quickbar is suitable in a large font depends on the project, specifically on the length of the longest word in the quickbar. If that does not fit in the designated w)
 * 16:04, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→QuickBar - The QuickBar must be enabled to allow you access to some features such as moving (renaming) a page, and in the case of Classic, also to arrive at the Special Pages, unless you type the)
 * 15:59, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Skins)
 * 15:50, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - In Cologne Blue some of the links are only accessible through  the Special Pages link.)
 * 15:30, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→QuickBar)
 * 15:28, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→QuickBar - This selection only works in Classic and Cologne Blue. In Monobook there is a left panel anyway, in Nostalgia there is none anyway.)
 * 15:22, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - In Monobook the width of the panel on the left is dependent on the font size. Therefore, with a large font, the width of the main part of the page is smaller than with other skins.)
 * 15:14, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→E-mail, search, etc.)
 * 15:07, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - Cologne Blue has a fixed font size unless one specifies in the browser "ignore font sizes specified in the webpage"; even then the line height is fixed; therefore this skin is hardly suita)
 * 14:59, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - more)
 * 14:32, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins)
 * 13:38, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Skins)
 * 13:37, 1 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - what was called Standard is now called Classic, not to be confused with the even older Nostalgic.)
 * 11:29, 19 June 2004 User:Patrick (→Skins - misc)
 * 13:49, 15 June 2004 User:Patrick (→E-mail, search, etc. - signing, rephrased a bit)
 * 15:13, 12 June 2004 User:81.56.65.67 (Typo: than -> then)
 * 23:16, 8 June 2004 User:66.160.71.58
 * 09:39, 2 June 2004 User:203.134.183.154 (Disambiguated Perth link.)
 * 03:04, 1 June 2004 User:203.87.147.139 (→Textbox and Time)
 * 12:59, 31 May 2004 User:Patrick (The font size in the edit box is independent of the font size of the other text. It can be changed with something like:)
 * 12:54, 31 May 2004 User:Patrick (→Providing your own CSS - See also User styles.)
 * 06:58, 29 May 2004 User:RedWolf (→Textbox and Time - link cities and countries to en:)
 * 06:44, 29 May 2004 User:RedWolf m (→Textbox and Time - linkage)
 * 21:00, 25 May 2004 User:193.29.77.111
 * 08:53, 23 May 2004 User:JeLuF (→Providing your own CSS)
 * 20:56, 22 May 2004 User:195.234.132.218 (→Textbox and Time - + Kiev)
 * 13:10, 7 May 2004 User:Dittaeva (=Miscellaneous options= explained "Justify paragraphs" with text from www.wikitravel.org/en/article/Wikitravel:User_preferences_help)
 * 23:02, 14 April 2004 User:Jroes m (arrow, shortening of next page link)
 * 21:51, 14 April 2004 User:Jroes m (Added a link to the next page in the guide)
 * 00:39, 27 March 2004 User:Timwi m (rv vandalism)
 * 13:16, 26 March 2004 User:212.23.3.153
 * 01:48, 14 March 2004 User:Borislav m (+bg:)
 * 06:47, 12 March 2004 User:Db48x (a trick!)
 * 16:42, 26 February 2004 User:Mrdice m (added third screenshot of standard skin)
 * 16:24, 26 February 2004 User:Mrdice (added links to screenshots of skins)
 * 10:59, 6 February 2004 User:134.173.58.243 (fix link)
 * 18:36, 3 February 2004 User:68.37.132.74 (fixed order of misc option descriptions)
 * 08:45, 30 January 2004 User:Angela (Show edit box toolbar)
 * 08:40, 30 January 2004 User:Angela (add in extra timezones from en)
 * 09:14, 16 January 2004 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 09:13, 16 January 2004 User:Daniel Mayer
 * 22:39, 19 December 2003 User:Dori (adding signature trick)
 * 17:25, 19 December 2003 User:MinutiaeMan (Added text for "Remember password" item in "Miscellaneous options.")
 * 22:31, 26 November 2003 User:69.2.166.212 ('Threshold for stub display' reworded)
 * 19:22, 13 November 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m (lang links)
 * 19:19, 13 November 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (updating from EnWikipedia:User preferences help)
 * 09:47, 23 September 2003 User:Patrick (rm confusing link to special pages on meta, while special pages on any wiki are explained.)
 * 09:20, 23 September 2003 User:Patrick (Logging in and setting preferences are done separately on each wiki. You may find it convenient to specify the same preferences on each wiki that you use, but this is not necessary.)
 * 01:39, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 01:38, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 03:54, 31 August 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 03:54, 31 August 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 03:51, 31 August 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (converted)
 * 02:46, 31 August 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (en.wikipedia version to start this off)

Need to revise
We need to revise this help ... it was transwikied in 2005 and since then some featured has been added (mail confirmation etc.)--Aphaia 07:13, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Help talk:Preferences


text:
Help:Printable

Printers
If you use the default skin ("Monobook"), MediaWiki uses Cascading Style Sheets in order to specify the style and layout of the printable version of a page. In modern browsers, the print function of the browser should automatically select this style sheet when you print an article -- hence the "Print" command of your web browser is normally all you need to know.

If you are using other, older skins such as the "Standard" skin, you can get a printable version of a page using the "Printable version" link, or by adding the text "&printable=yes" to the URL, e.g.

http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Help:Template&printable=yes

You create a URL to the printable version of the current page with:

which displays:

Screen
To view a print optimized version of a page one can provide "&printable=yes" in the URL, e.g.

http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Help:Template&printable=yes

This does not work with Monobook and Myskin (hence it also does not work when not logged in). The other skins have a link to this URL. Printing an ordinary page should also automatically print this version, even though it is not on the screen. To see it on the screen, use the Print Preview feature of your browser. However, this is not quite the same: depending on your print settings, it may include page numbers, etc.

CSS
http://meta.wikimedia.org/style/wikiprintable.css :

/* MediaWiki print stylesheet */

body { color: #000000; background: #ffffff; }

/* MSIE/Win doesn't understand 'inherit' */ a, a.external, a.new, a.stub { color: black ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; }	margin: 0 ! important; }
 * 1) article {

/* Continue ... */ a, a.external, a.new, a.stub { color: inherit ! important; text-decoration: inherit ! important; }

/* Hide ugly UI stuff */ .editsection, .toctoggle { display: none; }
 * 1) quickbar, #topbar, #footer, #siteNotice,

/* */	position: relative; margin: inherit ! important; }
 * 1) article {

/* Show some stuff */ .urlexpansion { display: inline ! important; }

.printfooter { border-top: solid 1px black; display: block ! important; }

/* Old stuff, fixme: .bodytext { } a.CBlink { color: #0000AA; text-decoration: none; font-size: 12pt; } a.interwiki, a.external { color: #3333BB; text-decoration: none; } h1.pagetitle { padding-bottom: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } i.link, u.link { color: #000066; } p.subtitle { padding-top: 0; margin-top: 0; }

title: Help:Printable


text:
Help talk:Printable

Meta:Help:Printable authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Printable =
 * 08:12, 27 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 11:55, 18 October 2005 User:145.221.24.42
 * 16:42, 20 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 20:57, 19 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→CSS)
 * 11:02, 19 April 2005 User:AnyFile (Added languages link via template)
 * 16:27, 17 April 2005 User:AnyFile (hc -> hcen, added it)
 * 11:44, 9 March 2005 User:Sysy (creating a printable link using variables.)
 * 16:18, 19 February 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 222.108.87.157 to last version by YebisYa)
 * 15:03, 19 February 2005 User:222.108.87.157 (→Screen)
 * 02:59, 27 January 2005 User:YebisYa m (There were two "hc" tags. One was deleted.)
 * 02:21, 18 November 2004 User:Patrick (about viewing on the screen)
 * 22:20, 17 November 2004 User:Eloquence
 * 06:44, 29 October 2004 User:Jean-Christophe Chazalette m (Reverted edits by 221.194.206.191 to last version by AaronPeterson)
 * 04:42, 29 October 2004 User:221.194.206.191
 * 05:48, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m (
 * 08:44, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 08:35, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (However, this is not quite the same: depending on your print settings, it may include page numbers, etc.)
 * 08:16, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (To see it on the screen, use the Print Preview feature of your browser.)
 * 08:10, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (Oddly, this does not work with Monobook and Myskin (hence it also does not work when not logged in). The other skins have a link to this URL.)
 * 07:55, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (misc)
 * 07:45, 3 September 2004 User:Patrick (when giving an example of a url, do not hide it)
 * 05:02, 3 September 2004 User:Aaron m
 * 05:00, 3 September 2004 User:Aaron m
 * 13:38, 23 July 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 13:37, 23 July 2004 User:Patrick (gives a printable version, apparently only when logged in. Other skins than Monobook have a link to this URL. Printing an ordinary page should also automatically print this version, even though it is)
 * 13:21, 23 July 2004 User:Patrick (css)

title: Help talk:Printable


text:
Help:Random page

Clicking this link will take you to a random page in the wiki's main article namespace. Pages such as redirects will be omitted.

title: Help:Random page


text:
Help talk:Random page

Meta:Help:Random page authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Random page =
 * 08:12, 27 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 03:43, 25 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 09:12, 21 April 2005 User:AnyFile (fixed link to h:f, h:h)
 * 14:38, 20 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 20:58, 19 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 16:33, 17 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 07:46, 10 April 2005 User:Silsor (Clicking this link will take you to a random page in the wiki's main article namespace. Pages such as redirects will be omitted.)
 * 16:23, 23 December 2004 User:65.101.116.100
 * 16:22, 23 December 2004 User:65.101.116.100
 * 16:22, 23 December 2004 User:65.101.116.100
 * 16:22, 23 December 2004 User:65.101.116.100
 * 07:48, 24 November 2004 User:24.145.233.160

title: Help talk:Random page


text:
Help:Reader

This is help for readers of mediawiki content.

title: Help:Reader


text:
Help talk:Reader

Meta:Help:Reader authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Reader =
 * 06:04, 20 November 2005 User:Korg m (Reverted edits by 141.89.53.123 to last version by 64.45.226.33)
 * 12:16, 18 November 2005 User:141.89.53.123 (→MediaWiki Reader Handbook)
 * 09:24, 2 September 2005 User:64.45.226.33 (Page was blank, so I changed it back to previous version.)
 * 18:41, 28 August 2005 User:Desbest
 * 21:13, 20 April 2005 User:TheDJ (Remove old header table)
 * 06:45, 7 February 2005 User:YebisYa (The "handbook note" upstaged by "Hh" is replaced by "MediaWiki links".)
 * 06:37, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson (*Help:Moderator added a sidebar that links this lone toc with the other related ones)
 * 05:45, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m
 * 05:43, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m

title: Help talk:Reader


text:
Help:Recent changes

The Recent Changes page in MediaWiki lets you see the most recent edits made to pages in your MediaWiki project. Using this page, users can monitor and review the work of other users, allowing mistakes to be corrected and vandalism to be eliminated. There is a link to the Recent Changes page at the top of each page and in the sidebar of each page. You can also create a link to the page as Special:Recentchanges.

Understanding Recent Changes
With the default preferences, the bulk of the page consists of fifty lines, one for each edit, looking like this:
 * (diff) (hist) . . MediaWiki User's Guide: Editing mathematical formulae; 10:06 . . 128.214.14.50 (Talk) (Add examples)
 * (diff) (hist) . . N MediaWiki User's Guide; 10:06 . . Brion VIBBER (Talk) (New page)
 * (diff) (hist) . . Endnotes moved to Footnotes; 10:05 . . Maveric149 (Talk)

This indicates three edits: the first by a user who is not logged in, to MediaWiki User's Guide: Editing mathematical formulae; the second by Brion VIBBER to MediaWiki User's Guide; and the third by Maveric149 to Endnotes.

From left to right:
 * "diff" links to the diff-page for this edit; it is not available for new pages, or for page moves
 * The "hist" link corresponds to the Page history link on the edited page: it shows not just this edit but also older and newer ones. For page moves, the hist link leads to the history of the new page title
 * A bold m indicates that the user marked the edit "minor". Only logged in users can mark edits minor, to avoid abuse.
 * A bold N indicates that the page is "new", i.e., previously did not exist. It is possible for a change to possess both the "minor" and "new" indicators; this is typically used for new redirects.
 * The next link is a link to the current version of the page in question.
 * 10:06 refers to the time in UTC. You can change the time to your time zone using your preferences - see how to set preferences.
 * For logged in users, the next link is a link to their user homepage (as usual with internal links, the view page if the page exists, the edit page if it does not, the two being styled differently). For users who are not logged in, the link is to their User Contributions.
 * Finally, there is a link to the user's talk page (the same remarks regarding existence apply).
 * For page moves, a link is given to both the old and new title.

Preferences
Logged in users can set preferences to adjust the way that Recent Changes looks. For help in doing this, see how to log in and how to set preferences. The options that affect recent changes are:

 * Hide minor edits in recent changes - this hides all edits that have been marked as minor by logged in users;
 * Enhanced Recent Changes - with this option enabled, multiple edits are grouped together. This option uses JavaScript, and won't work in every browser (see Browser issues with MediaWiki). See Help:Enhanced recent changes
 * Number of recent changes. You may select the number of changes which will be shown by default on the Recent Changes page. Once on that page, links are provided for other options. In the case of Enhanced Recent Changes this number of changes includes those that are initially hidden.

Top of Recent Changes page
The content of MediaWiki:Recentchanges is what appears at the top of Special:Recentchanges. It can be edited when necessary. MediaWiki talk:Recentchanges is for discussing what might go on it.

Viewing new changes starting from a particular time
If you have loaded the recent changes at, for example, 09:45 Feb 25, 2003, it gives a link "Show new changes starting from 09:45 Feb 25, 2003", giving you the changes you have not seen yet. In order to use this link later, after you have used the browser window for other things, or if you switch off the computer in between, you can instruct your browser to bookmark it (with Internet Explorer: right-click on the link and choose "add to favorites"). Alternatively, you can save the page with recent changes.

To get the new changes without one of these preparations, use (in this case, if the time above is UTC+1):

http://textbook.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Recentchanges&from=20030802064526

(format yyyymmddhhmmss, UTC time).

You can copy this URL to the address bar and change date and time.

The "Number of titles in recent changes" set as preference is applicable.

This feature can not be used in conjunction with "hide logged in users" (see below) unless the URL is modified manually.

Hiding logged in users from recent changes
Special:Recentchanges/hideliu is a version of recent changes that only shows changes by users who have not logged in. This can be useful for those watching out for vandalism. Features such as viewing changes starting from a particular time can be used with the hideliu feature, but only by manually altering the URL to add  &hideliu=1 to it. For example, clicking the time (as described in the section above) may take you to the url
 * http://textbook.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Recentchanges&from=20030802064526

You would need to change this to read
 * http://textbook.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Special:Recentchanges&from=20030802064526&hideliu=1

in order to view the recent changes without logged in users starting from this time.

Restriction on number of edits; alternatives
A maximum of 5000 edits can be obtained, currently on the English Wikipedia covering ca. 3 hours (use "limit=5000").

Checking changes for a longer period are restricted:
 * watched pages: (use "My watchlist" in combination with "Revision history"). This runs less smoothly: on the English Wikipedia it often does not work ("database error" or "sorry, we have a problem").
 * pages that are linked from a given page (use "Related changes" in combination with "Revision history")
 * newly created pages (use "Newly created articles", then view the current version, or, if desired, also the revision history).
 * individual pages (use "Revision history") and individual users (use "User contributions" in combination with "Revision history").
 * namespace filter in the "Recent changes" (since MediaWiki 1.5) lets users see recent changes for the given namespace.

See also below.

Edit records that are changed or lost
After a page has been renamed (moved), earlier edits, including the original creation of the page, are shown in Recent Changes etc. under the new name.

After a page has been deleted, earlier edits, including the original creation of the page, are not shown in Recent Changes etc.

In this Recent Changes differs from a real log of editing events (the latter in the sense that something that has happened can not be changed afterwards). Compare Historical revisionism.

However, some edit lines are in Recent Changes (as long as it lasts) but no longer in edit histories, watchlists, Related Changes or User Contributions: when moving a page over a redirect, the creation of that redirect is only in Recent Changes (and only if that was recent enough, of course). In particular this applies in the case of re-renaming a page back to its original name, and subsequent renamings back and forth.

Bots
Bots can be hidden from recent changes by adding &hidebots=0 to the url. It is possible for sysops to mark some edits as bot edits, thereby preventing them displaying in the default recent changes. See Help:Reverting for more information on this.

Patrolling edits
See Help:Patrolled edit

Other MediaWiki features showing lines about edits
(see also Help:Edit summary).

Revision history (also called page history)
Every line represents one edit to the given page and the version resulting from it
 * "last" is similar to "diff", explained above
 * "cur" gives the difference between this version and the current one (i.e., excluding the edit shown by pressing the "last" next to it), which is the cumulation of all later edits, including those which are not in this revision history because they were made after loading this page
 * the date and time link to the version of that day and time, except that in the first line, which is about the latest edit at the time of loading this revision history, the date and time link to the current version, hence with the changes made after this revision history was loaded;

The "cur" and "last" features are similar to those in Enhanced Recent Changes, except for "cur" in the first line: it is not linked in the revision history, while in the Enhanced Recent Changes it gives the differences corresponding to the last edit; just after loading the revision history this is the same as the "cur" link of the second line gives, but if there have been edits after loading it is different.

title: Help:Recent changes


text:
Help talk:Recent changes

Meta:Help:Recent changes authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Recent changes =
 * 08:12, 27 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 03:37, 25 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed capitalization of template name.)
 * 00:25, 25 November 2005 User:Patrick m
 * 18:29, 17 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed hyperlinks that break when this page is copied to other projects.)
 * 00:48, 26 October 2005 User:67.84.116.2
 * 18:57, 19 October 2005 User:134.109.132.160 (revert (vand))
 * 15:28, 19 October 2005 User:205.221.131.177
 * 04:09, 12 October 2005 User:Dbl2010 m (revert)
 * 04:08, 12 October 2005 User:203.166.96.235
 * 00:19, 26 August 2005 User:Mindspillage m (rv test edits)
 * 23:45, 25 August 2005 User:217.21.39.131 (→Preferences)
 * 23:44, 25 August 2005 User:217.21.39.131 (→Preferences)
 * 23:43, 25 August 2005 User:217.21.39.131 (→Understanding Recent Changes)
 * 19:06, 23 August 2005 User:Yuuki Mayuki (→Hiding logged in users from recent changes - hidelui -> hideliu)
 * 19:24, 22 August 2005 User:Dungodung (added an alternative)
 * 19:42, 27 July 2005 User:Dineshjk m (→put missing bracket)
 * 07:05, 18 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Understanding Recent Changes - update)
 * 01:42, 7 July 2005 User:65.96.63.233 (added parentheses for clarity)
 * 00:59, 8 June 2005 User:203.24.100.133 (→Understanding Recent Changes)
 * 00:55, 8 June 2005 User:203.24.100.133 (→Understanding Recent Changes)
 * 19:32, 30 April 2005 User:Patrick (Meta-specific (in template to hide in other projects): Meta:Recentchanges/All languages)
 * 16:44, 20 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 08:55, 20 April 2005 User:Patrick
 * 06:55, 20 April 2005 User:Shizhao
 * 07:32, 23 March 2005 User:Patrick m (→Patrolling Edits)
 * 02:12, 23 March 2005 User:Astronouth7303 (→Bots)
 * 02:02, 19 January 2005 User:YebisYa (Links to "Other languages" are put into the "help contents" box)
 * 19:28, 19 December 2004 User:Goobergunch m (→Top of Recent Changes page)
 * 09:40, 14 November 2004 User:Patrick (→Restriction on number of edits; alternatives)
 * 09:35, 14 November 2004 User:Patrick (on the English Wikipedia it often does not work ("database error" or "sorry, we have a problem");)
 * 02:59, 14 November 2004 User:Patrick (→Restriction on number of edits; alternatives -update)
 * 06:44, 29 October 2004 User:Jean-Christophe Chazalette m (Reverted edits by 221.194.206.191 to last version by Patrick)
 * 04:43, 29 October 2004 User:221.194.206.191
 * 19:18, 24 October 2004 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by Lysdexia to last version by Patrick)
 * 11:02, 23 October 2004 User:Lysdexia (→Revision history (also called page history))
 * 10:54, 23 October 2004 User:Lysdexia m (→Understanding Recent Changes)
 * 19:30, 18 October 2004 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 203.199.51.149 to last version by Patrick)
 * 08:25, 18 October 2004 User:203.199.51.149
 * 08:19, 18 October 2004 User:203.199.51.149
 * 11:41, 30 September 2004 User:Patrick (==Edit records that are changed or lost==)
 * 11:39, 30 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Lines about edits of pages that have later been renamed (moved) or deleted)
 * 11:30, 30 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Lines about edits of pages that have later been renamed (moved) or deleted)
 * 11:26, 30 September 2004 User:Patrick (However, some edit lines are in Recent Changes (as long as it lasts) but no longer in edit histories, watchlists, Related Changes or User Contributions: when [[Help:Renaming_%28moving%29_a_page#Moving)
 * 08:36, 24 September 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 05:51, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m (moved those to the top, it works better)
 * 05:50, 23 September 2004 User:AaronPeterson m (
 * 03:52, 31 August 2004 User:172.145.132.5 (→Understanding Recent Changes)
 * 08:40, 7 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Understanding Recent Changes - style-independent description)
 * 08:24, 7 August 2004 User:Patrick m (→Lines about edits of pages that have later been renamed (moved) or deleted)
 * 21:03, 25 May 2004 User:193.29.77.111
 * 01:03, 15 April 2004 User:Jroes m (Added a link to the next page in the guide)
 * 23:38, 29 January 2004 User:Angela m (reorder)
 * 23:36, 29 January 2004 User:Angela (merge some from the en:wikipedia version of this page)
 * 23:30, 29 January 2004 User:Angela (update : page moves now look different in RC & add hideliu feature)
 * 15:13, 19 January 2004 User:Patrick ((see also en:Wikipedia:Edit_summary#Places_where_the_edit_summary_appears).)
 * 09:23, 16 January 2004 User:Daniel Mayer
 * 01:29, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m (<-MediaWiki User's Guide)
 * 01:21, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 01:20, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 01:19, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (converted)
 * 01:02, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (en.wikipedia version)

title: Help talk:Recent changes


text:
Help talk:Redirect to special page demo

Meta:Help:Redirect to special page demo authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Redirect to special page demo =
 * User:Patrick

title: Help talk:Redirect to special page demo


text:
Help:Redirect

For policy on the use and abuse of redirects on the English Wikipedia see w:Wikipedia:Redirect.

See also: PageRedirect, Disinfopedia: redirect policy

What is a redirect?
A redirect is a page with no other content than something of the form

 * 1) REDIRECT link in internal link style

If the link is to an existing page in the same project, going to the redirect (by means of a link, the URL, or the Go button) results in the new page, just like following the link, except that the browser shows the original URL, and the new page shows a redirection message below the title. (To get the canonical URL in your browser's address bar, click the article tab.)

For example, if somebody goes to: Help:Redirection, then they will end up at this page instead, and the top of the page will look like:

  Help:Redirect  (Redirected from Help:Redirection) (etc)

If the link is to a non-existing page in the same project, or to a page in another project, one simply arrives at the redirect page.

As a simple way to avoid problems with infinite recursion, if the redirect target is another redirect page, the second redirect is not applied.

When a page called for inclusion is a redirect page, the redirect target is included instead, with the same parameters, without any redirect message. Again, a double redirect does not work.

Purposes of a redirect

 * Finding a page
 * Conveniently going to a page
 * Conveniently linking indirectly to a page, without the need for a Piped link. For this purpose, making the stem (the common first part) of a collection of strongly related terms a redirect reduces the need for having many redirects. E.g. categor can be used for category, categories, categorical. Note that having the other redirects anyway is even better; also a piped link is in some respects even better than relying on a redirect, see Comparison with piped link.
 * Allowing a link title independent of the final link target; one creates a page whose name is the desired link title, and which redirects to the desired target page. See e.g. w:Template:Ft, containing ft, with the page 30.48 cm redirecting to Foot (unit of length). The link title "30.48 cm" informs in the hover box about the unit "ft" even without following the link to the article about this unit. See also hover box for another technique with a similar result.

Due to redirects, after renamings and merges, old URLs in links, bookmarks, search engines, etc., still lead to the appropriate page.

The move tool
When a page is renamed/moved with the Renaming (moving) a page function, a redirect is automatically created from the old to the new name, and also one for the corresponding talk page.

If the new page name is occupied by a redirect with only one edit in its history, it is replaced by the page being moved. If the redirect has more than one history entry, then it must either be deleted by an administrator or moved to another name. This move will leave behind a new redirect with no edit history, which can then be replaced by the desired page move. It might be desirable to delete the moved redirect.

Creating a redirect
If you're creating a new redirect, start a new page, write #REDIRECT pagename (or #redirectpagename ) at the top of the page, where pagename is the name of the target page. Here is an example. If you're replacing an existing page with a redirect, for example after merging a duplicate page, go to the page, edit it, and replace the existing text with #REDIRECT pagename.

Extra text after the #REDIRECT command and link, on the same line, can serve as explanatory text. It is only shown when viewing the redirect page itself.

Extra lines of text are automatically deleted on Save (not yet on Preview).

The page will not redirect if there is anything on the page before the redirect. Also, there must be no spaces between the # and the REDIRECT. Consider copying the #REDIRECT pagename text into the edit summary so that people know that you have created a redirect.

After you create a redirect, you get sent to a page with the string "&redirects=no" in the URL. Thus the just created redirect page is shown, not the page to which it redirects. To see your redirect working, use your address bar to delete that part of the URL. Alternatively, create a link on another page to your redirect, and then follow that link.

When creating new redirects, bear in mind that creating too many redirects can clutter up the search results page, which can hinder users. Also, don't spend too much time creating redirects - often it's more important to spend time improving the quality of the target page. A piped link is another way to make a link to a page with a name which does not occur in the first page.

A code like %70 in a redirect disables it, although the link works from the redirect page.

Changing a redirect
Click on a link to the redirect page. Then look for the " " link at the top of the page you've been redirected to. You will be taken to a page looking something like:

  Pagename  From project name ...
 * 1) REDIRECT  target page

Then click Edit this page. You can then either change the target of the redirect, or replace the redirect with a brand new page.

Another way to do the same thing: Go to the target page, and click "What links here". This will show you all the back-links from that page, including redirects. To change a redirect, click on it, and then click on Edit this page as above.

The redirect page shows the canonical form of the target, unlike its preview page, which renders the link in the usual way, compare with the preview of.

Deleting a redirect
Administrators can delete redirects in the same way as any other page. There may be project-specific guidelines on when this is appropriate.

Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages
Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages have been disabled, try e.g. Help:Interwiki redirect demo and Help:Redirect to special page demo.

Use direct interwiki links (or direct links to Special pages) without redirect, or a soft redirect (non-automatic): a page with "See ...", e.g. w:Wikipedia:Enhanced Recent Changes.

A redirect to an anchor
An example of this: This is not possible. You will still be redirected to definitions but you will not be sent to the #G anchor. This feature will probably not be implemented in the future: reportedly it is difficult to implement in a satisfactory way, see 218. (Note: if you view the redirecting article itself, where the redirect appears as a link (definitions#G), the link does work to redirect to the correct anchor.)
 * 1) REDIRECT definitions

A redirect to a page in the image or category namespace
On Meta and Wikipedia a redirect to an image page or to a category shows the editable text only. To get the full page after being redirected, use the link "Image", or "Category", respectively.

On Commons a redirect to a category gives the full page, but not the subcategories and pages in the redirect page (if that is also a category).

Images linking to a page
An image can link to a page of choice instead of the image description page by putting a redirect as "image description". The actual image description then has to be put on the Talk page.

For clarity it may be useful to add a text near the image, which can be made a link to the same page. Thus clicking on the text and on the image has the same effect.

However, when arriving at the target page, not only is the message (Redirected from Image:xxxxx.xxx) displayed, but so is the image itself.

If the main function of the image is just being a symbol for the link, then, before uploading, give it a name describing that function rather than describing the image itself.

See e.g. the two images on wikibooks:Main Page:Français.

See also Help:Navigational image.

Detecting links to redirects
Specifying a very high value as threshold in the stub feature allows indication of links having a redirect as target: while other links to  the main namespace are all marked as stub, they are not (however, links to other namespaces look the same, they are also not marked as stub). This can be useful for clean-up work involving bypassing redirects.

One may want to change the setting only temporarily, if one normally uses the stub feature in the regular way, and/or because section linking does not work on "stubs", unless external link style is used.

Redirect and/or link to non-existing page
When B is a subtopic of A, and B does not have its own page, or at least not with additional info, there are the following possibilities:

 * redirect B to A, use the backlink to go from A to B (disadvantage: not very inviting to create a new content page B; inconvenient if A has many backlinks)
 * link A to B ("red link") as invitation or preparation for creating page B; use the backlink to go from B to A (disadvantage: not obvious for newbie, much less convenient than automatic redirect, especially if B has many backlinks)
 * both (indirect self-link on A) - after applying the link from A through B back to A, use the link in the redirect message to go from A to B (for detecting a redirect see above; the method is useful for temporary use during clean-up, but not for permanent use; also, there is no distinction between a redirect back, and an onward redirect) (disadvantage, as far as not yet mentioned: not obvious for newbie)
 * ditto but with a soft redirect from B to A, i.e. a page only containing something like "See A"; one can see at A that B is very short using the stub  feature (disadvantages: a soft redirect is non-standard; people who do not know about its reason may change it in a regular redirect; is a little less convenient than automatic redirect; requires stub feature setting)
 * B is a redirect, link from A to B with "redirect=no", or link to B's edit page, e.g. Template and start page Template, respectively.

In the 3rd and 4th case, especially if A has a list of links to pages B, one can mark the links with more info, e.g. by bolding, and explain the marking.

title: Help:Redirect


text:
Help talk:Redirect

Meta:Help:Redirect authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Redirect =
 * 01:27, 16 November 2005 User:Uncle G (Fixed hyperlinks that break when this page is copied to other projects.)
 * 15:21, 28 September 2005 User:68.72.179.14 (→A redirect to an anchor)
 * 13:09, 15 September 2005 User:SV Resolution m (rv)
 * 08:08, 15 September 2005 User:81.213.172.21
 * 16:48, 4 September 2005 User:Cspurrier (rv spam)
 * 16:47, 4 September 2005 User:80.82.51.183 (→Deleting a redirect)
 * 21:56, 12 August 2005 User:Sasa Stefanovic m (fixed link)
 * 01:38, 1 August 2005 User:Angela m (fix link)
 * 10:47, 14 July 2005 User:Patrick (→A redirect to an anchor - reportedly it is difficult to implement in a satisfactory way, see bugzilla:218.)
 * 09:49, 13 July 2005 User:Mikez m (despam)
 * 09:20, 13 July 2005 User:221.237.215.48 (→The move tool)
 * 21:32, 7 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page - Wikipedia:Red link)
 * 07:01, 2 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages)
 * 07:00, 2 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages - update)
 * 06:55, 2 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Purposes of a redirect -See also hover box for another technique with a similar result.)
 * 06:44, 2 July 2005 User:Patrick (update: rm bit about interwiki redirect)
 * 03:23, 2 July 2005 User:Jnc (→What is a redirect? - Convert example to one which works both here and on en:Wiki:)
 * 03:23, 2 July 2005 User:Jnc (→What is a redirect? - Convert example to one which works both here and on en:Wiki:)
 * 03:16, 2 July 2005 User:Jnc (→What is a redirect? - Remove link which doesn't work when this page is copied to en:Wikipedia:)
 * 13:09, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 13:05, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 12:57, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 12:49, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 12:35, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page - there is no distinction between a redirect back, and an onward redirect)
 * 12:34, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 12:29, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick m (→Detecting links to redirects)
 * 12:27, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (One may want to change the setting only temporarily, because one normally uses the stub feature in the regular way, and/or because section linking does not work on "stubs", unless external link style)
 * 12:23, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick m (→Detecting links to redirects)
 * 12:21, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick m (→Detecting links to redirects)
 * 12:18, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (By specifying a very high value as threshold (perhaps only temporarily), the stub feature allows indication of links having a redirect as target: they are not marked as stub (however, links to non)
 * 12:05, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick m (→Redirect and/or link to non-existing page)
 * 12:04, 1 July 2005 User:Patrick (In the 3rd and 4th case, especially if A has a list of links to pages B, one can mark the links with more info, e.g. by bolding, and explain the marking.)
 * 07:39, 30 June 2005 User:Patrick m (→Creating a redirect)
 * 03:45, 30 June 2005 User:Uncle G (→Creating a redirect - Fixed links)
 * 22:29, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick m (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 22:27, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 22:23, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 22:19, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 22:14, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 14:03, 29 June 2005 User:Patrick (→See also -*Detecting links to redirects using the stub feature.)
 * 22:02, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 21:54, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page -i.e. a page only containing something like "See <nowiki></nowiki>A".)
 * 21:40, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (Another solution is to make B a soft redirect to A. One can see at A that B is very short using the stub feature.)
 * 21:35, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 15:42, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 15:37, 28 June 2005 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 02:04, 20 June 2005 User:Angela (remove POV. It does no harm to redirect to sections)
 * 05:25, 6 June 2005 User:139.168.158.226 (→Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages)
 * 08:32, 26 May 2005 User:Patrick (→Double redirects - rm dup)
 * 08:32, 26 May 2005 User:Patrick m (→What is a redirect?)
 * 08:30, 26 May 2005 User:Patrick (When a page called for inclusion is a redirect page, the redirect target is included instead, with the same parameters, without any redirect message. Again, a double redirect does not work.)
 * 21:39, 25 May 2005 User:Patrick m (→How do I delete a redirect?)
 * 15:58, 19 May 2005 User:24.226.139.68 (Porn Spam)
 * 15:08, 18 May 2005 User:85.100.29.124
 * 19:39, 15 May 2005 User:Patrick m (Reverted edits by 81.214.97.127 to last version by 69.203.149.103)
 * 17:47, 15 May 2005 User:81.214.97.127
 * 16:00, 27 April 2005 User:69.203.149.103 (→How to get canonical URL)
 * 11:53, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→Changing a redirect)
 * 11:52, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick (→Changing a redirect - compare with the preview of .)
 * 11:36, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick (→Creating a redirect - A code like %70 in a redirect disables it, although the link works from the redirect page.)
 * 11:34, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick (→How do I change a redirect? - The redirect page shows the canonical form of the target, unlike its preview page, which renders the link in the usual way.)
 * 11:32, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick m (→How do I create a redirect?)
 * 11:30, 25 April 2005 User:Patrick (→How do I change a redirect?)
 * 23:00, 21 April 2005 User:TheDJ (h:h and h:f)
 * 17:28, 20 April 2005 User:AnyFile
 * 11:13, 30 March 2005 User:Patrick (Update: interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages seem to have been disabled, try e.g. Help:Interwiki redirect demo and Help:Redirect to special page demo.)
 * 11:06, 30 March 2005 User:Patrick (→Interwiki redirects and redirects to Special pages -Update: interwiki redirects seem to have been disabled, try e.g. Help:Interwiki redirect demo.)
 * 08:35, 16 March 2005 User:Patrick m
 * 08:35, 16 March 2005 User:Patrick m
 * 08:31, 16 March 2005 User:Patrick (rv my accidental deletion)
 * 16:59, 16 February 2005 User:Patrick m
 * 16:41, 16 February 2005 User:Patrick (no localurl, because X at the end is more convenient)
 * 12:12, 12 February 2005 User:Patrick (→A redirect to a page in the image or category namespace)
 * 11:37, 12 February 2005 User:Patrick (On Commons a redirect to a category gives the full page, but not the subcategories and pages in the redirect page (if that is also a category).)
 * 11:53, 7 February 2005 User:Patrick (A redirect to an image page or to a category shows the editable text only! To get the full page after being redirected, use the link "Image", or "Category", respectively.)
 * 11:37, 29 January 2005 User:Patrick (→Images linking to a page - See also Help:Navigational image.)
 * 04:17, 7 January 2005 User:68.192.118.69 (Making desc. of anchored redirects match "How to edit a page")
 * 06:22, 25 October 2004 User:Jnc m (→How do I delete a redirect? -  Refer to Meta admin page)
 * 13:55, 7 September 2004 User:24.4.252.96 (→What is a redirect?)
 * 10:44, 7 September 2004 User:PhilHibbs (Moving on top of a pre-existing redirect)
 * 13:46, 2 September 2004 User:Patrick m (→How do I create a redirect?)
 * 13:44, 2 September 2004 User:Patrick (Extra text after the #REDIRECT command and link, on the same line, can serve as explanatory text, which only sees when viewing the redirect page itself.Extra lines of text are [[Help:Automatic con)
 * 15:36, 1 September 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 15:23, 1 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 15:21, 1 September 2004 User:Patrick (→Redirect or link to edit page)
 * 15:00, 1 September 2004 User:Patrick (If one really wants both, one could make a link like Write article about redirection.)
 * 14:53, 1 September 2004 User:Patrick (When B is a subtopic of A, and B does not have its own article, one may be tempted to do the following:)
 * 15:13, 15 August 2004 User:Goatmilk
 * 22:02, 13 August 2004 User:Patrick (de,)
 * 21:40, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (in projects that allow embedding images in external link style.)
 * 21:20, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 21:19, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Images linking to a page -See e.g. the two images on wikibooks:Main Page:Français.)
 * 17:02, 12 August 2004 User:Odbo255 (notes regarding image redirection, added navigable images)
 * 13:38, 12 August 2004 User:Patrick (→Purposes of a redirect - Allowing a link title independent of the eventual link target; one creates a page whose name is the desired link title, and which redirects to the desired target page. See)
 * 12:11, 21 July 2004 User:Patrick (and with underscores for spaces.))
 * 12:02, 21 July 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 12:00, 21 July 2004 User:Patrick (''(To go to an interwiki redirect click http://meta.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=X&redirect=no and change the page name (here X) in the address bar of the browser. Type it in canonical form, i.e.)
 * 12:10, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→How do I change a redirect? -Here on Meta, go to http://meta.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Redirection&redirect=no and change the page name (here Redirection) in the address bar of the browser.)
 * 11:18, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→How do I create a redirect? - Extra text on the page after the #REDIRECT command and link is automatically deleted on Save (not yet on Preview).)
 * 11:09, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→The move tool)
 * 11:05, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick m (→Renamings and merges)
 * 11:01, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Double redirects - apparently recursion is disabled within the same project only)
 * 10:48, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→Renamings and merges - rephrase)
 * 10:31, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick m
 * 10:26, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→What is a redirect? - just like following the link, except that the browser shows the original URL, and the new page shows a redirection message below the title.)
 * 10:18, 6 July 2004 User:Patrick (→What is a redirect? - misc)
 * 12:18, 24 June 2004 User:Patrick (→Purposes of a redirect -Comparison with piped link.)
 * 12:11, 24 June 2004 User:Patrick (→See also - Wikipedia:Redirects_for_deletion#When_should_we_delete_a_redirect.3F)
 * 11:53, 24 June 2004 User:Patrick (==Purposes of a redirect==)
 * 22:16, 14 June 2004 User:Robin Patterson m (→How do I create a redirect? - "MediaWiki User's Guide: Piped link" rather than "...piped link" restores "dead" link!)
 * 21:01, 25 May 2004 User:193.29.77.111
 * 00:40, 15 April 2004 User:Jroes m (Added a link to the next page in the guide)
 * 14:57, 23 March 2004 User:PenguiN42 m (fixed broken link)
 * 02:16, 6 March 2004 User:Jnc m (Fix my broken fix to broken links, argh.)
 * 02:09, 6 March 2004 User:68.231.240.62 (Fix broken links)
 * 12:13, 13 December 2003 User:Menchi m (simplify interln)
 * 08:33, 13 December 2003 User:Grin (interlang.. why don't fix them all..? -- I did.)
 * 07:04, 13 December 2003 User:217.232.11.109 (de: corrected)
 * 15:15, 10 December 2003 User:Grin (not just the 'pedia but other projects too. i think. maybe. who knows?)
 * 15:13, 10 December 2003 User:Grin (fix old interwiki syntax, re brion in talk page)
 * 11:46, 14 November 2003 User:195.194.2.253 (a page that links-->a link on another page )
 * 03:00, 9 October 2003 User:Patrick m
 * 02:58, 9 October 2003 User:Patrick m (fix link)
 * 23:10, 8 October 2003 User:142.177.74.111 (disinfopedia redirect policy link)
 * 10:36, 8 October 2003 User:Patrick (ft If the main function of the image is just being a symbol for the link, then, before uploading, give it a name describing that function rather than describing the image itself.)
 * 10:24, 8 October 2003 User:Patrick (misc)
 * 10:14, 8 October 2003 User:Patrick (rm controversial)
 * 10:12, 8 October 2003 User:Patrick (ft An image can link to a page of choice instead of the image description page by putting a redirect as "image description". The actual image description then has to be put on the Talk page.)
 * 10:08, 8 October 2003 User:Patrick (For clarity it may be useful to add a text near the image, which can be made a link to the same page. Thus clicking on the text and on the image has the same effect.; update file name)
 * 20:40, 7 October 2003 User:Patrick (An image can link to a page of choice instead of the image description page by putting a redirect as "image description", e.g. two images on the Main Page of http://wikibooks.org/)
 * 20:30, 7 October 2003 User:Patrick (There are plans to adjust the software so as to reduce the complcations.)
 * 19:50, 7 October 2003 User:Patrick (The page "Image Textbookicons.png – go to redirect-to-Special page itself" on Wikibooks: http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Image_Textbookicons.png_%E2%80%93_go_to_redirect-to-Special_page_itself.)
 * 11:47, 5 October 2003 User:Patrick m
 * 11:37, 5 October 2003 User:Patrick (Another example is Be bold - go to interwiki redirect page itself.)
 * 11:18, 5 October 2003 User:Patrick (Alternatively a page like en:Wikipedia:What it thinks it is - go to redirect page itself can additionally be made, a redirect page to en:Wikipedia:What it thinks it is which is an interwiki re)
 * 13:09, 4 October 2003 User:81.79.40.41 (*Redirected user pages considered harmful)
 * 12:24, 4 October 2003 User:Patrick (To avoid these problems, consider direct interwiki links without redirect, or a "non-automatic redirect": a page with "See ...", e.g. en:Wikipedia:Enhanced Recent Changes. This requires an ext)
 * 12:03, 4 October 2003 User:Patrick (To avoid these problems, consider a direct interwiki link, or a non-automatic redirect: a page with "See ...". If you use an interwiki redirect anyway, put on the page to which the redirect po)
 * 11:50, 4 October 2003 User:Patrick (*Redirects in search results - proposed software changes.)
 * 14:55, 3 October 2003 User:MyRedDice (See also: MeatBall:PageRedirect)
 * 14:55, 3 October 2003 User:MyRedDice (inter-wiki redirects)
 * 14:37, 3 October 2003 User:MyRedDice (trim)
 * 14:35, 3 October 2003 User:MyRedDice (remove en-specific)
 * 09:12, 2 October 2003 User:Patrick (For policy on the use and abuse of redirects on the English Wikipedia see en:Wikipedia:Redirect.)
 * 09:06, 2 October 2003 User:Patrick (As a simple way to avoid problems with infinite recursion, in the case one is redirected to another redirect page, the second redirect is not applied.)
 * 11:07, 29 September 2003 User:Patrick (It is also possible, but controversial, to set up redirects between MediaWiki wikis, such as Wikipedia. Simply prefix )
 * 11:01, 29 September 2003 User:Patrick (The same applies to redirects to Special pages.)
 * 11:53, 27 September 2003 User:Patrick ((for projects outside Wikimedia the "w/" is not always used).)
 * 11:31, 27 September 2003 User:Patrick (project domain name)
 * 16:30, 26 September 2003 User:MyRedDice m (short form)
 * 23:33, 23 September 2003 User:Jerzy m (Fixed internal reference to own name)
 * 11:30, 23 September 2003 User:Patrick (transferred to here changes in corr wp page)
 * 03:11, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer m
 * 03:08, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (converted)
 * 02:31, 7 September 2003 User:Daniel Mayer (en.wikipedia version)

title: Help talk:Redirect


text:
Help talk:Redirection

Meta:Help:Redirection authors and history
= From Meta:Help talk:Redirection =
 * User:129.42.208.182 (a redirect, ironically)

title: Help talk:Redirection


text:
Help:Related changes

The "Related changes" feature lists all recent changes (before MediaWiki 1.5: only the last) in each article linked to from the current page, but not more than the number specified in the preferences. Its header is "Recent changes" with subheader "(to pages linked from "xxx")".

This feature can be used to set up custom-watchlist-like functionality. It behaves like a watchlist which would contain every page linked to from the current page, but with the important difference that all changes are listed, not just the last one. On the other hand, Related Changes does not automatically include talk pages; to watch also the corresponding talk pages, links to them also have to be in the page on which Related Changes is applied.

Options
The option "Hide minor edits" that can be set in the preferences applies among other things to Related Changes.

See also hide minor edits.

Caveats
Note that for links to redirects, only a change in the redirect is given, not a change in the target article. In this regard a direct link to the target article is superior.

The "Related changes" feature neither lists changes in images or sound files nor in image description pages (regardless of which of the three linking methods (image, :image or media) is used.

When applying the feature to a subpage, the automatic link to the parent page is ignored, i.e., changes in the parent page are not listed unless there is also an explicit link to it.

title: Help:Related changes