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m pointing certain links to pages on MetaWiki and the English Wikipedia, and fixing links to English Wikipedia project pages
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'''Special pages''' are pages generated by the software on demand for special purposes, usually related to project maintenance. They are found in the <code>Special:</code> [[Meta:Namespaces|namespace]], a virtual namespace whose pages lack corresponding talk pages. They are not written in [[Help:Formatting|wikitext]] and cannot be directly edited but elements of their pages can sometimes be edited through corresponding pages in the [[Help:System message|MediaWiki namespace]]. If you make a normal redirect to a special page, the redirect will not be immediately followed (though special pages can be targets of [[soft redirect]]s), and directly creating any pages beginning with the <code>Special:</code> prefix is also not possible.
'''Special pages''' are pages generated by the software on demand for special purposes, usually related to project maintenance. They are found in the <code>Special:</code> [[Meta:Namespaces|namespace]], a virtual namespace whose pages lack corresponding talk pages. They are not written in [[Help:Formatting|wikitext]] and cannot be directly edited but elements of their pages can sometimes be edited through corresponding pages in the [[Help:System message|MediaWiki namespace]]. If you make a normal redirect to a special page, the redirect will not be immediately followed (though special pages can be targets of [[soft redirect]]s), and directly creating any pages beginning with the <code>Special:</code> prefix is also not possible.


Special pages often take [[w:parameter (computer programming)|parameter]]s. Sometimes these can be supplied after a slash (as in [[Special:Log/block]]); in other cases an index.php call is used; for example https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&days=3&limit=10. Also, the content of most special pages depends on preferences that have been set by the user, e.g. classic or enhanced Recent Changes, the number of titles in Recent Changes and the watchlist, etc.
Special pages often take parameters. Sometimes these can be supplied after a slash (as in [[Special:Log/block]]); in other cases an index.php call is used; for example https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&days=3&limit=10. Also, the content of most special pages depends on preferences that have been set by the user, e.g. classic or enhanced Recent Changes, the number of titles in Recent Changes and the watchlist, etc.


A directory of special pages ''available for the current user'' can be accessed from [[Special:SpecialPages]], which is found in the sidebar of every page on Wikipedia in the Tools section.
A directory of special pages ''available for the current user'' can be accessed from [[Special:SpecialPages]], which is found in the sidebar of every page on Wikipedia in the Tools section.
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==== Page listings ====
==== Page listings ====
* [[Special:AllPages]]: allows the user to access a portion of an alphabetical list of all Wikipedia pages in a specified namespace. A starting point can be given as a parameter, e.g. [[Special:AllPages/T]] (pages in the main namespace, from "T"), [[Special:AllPages/Template:]] (pages in the Template: namespace, from the start). For the order in which pages are listed, see [[w:Help:Alphabetical order]].
* [[Special:AllPages]]: allows the user to access a portion of an alphabetical list of all Wikipedia pages in a specified namespace. A starting point can be given as a parameter, e.g. [[Special:AllPages/T]] (pages in the main namespace, from "T"), [[Special:AllPages/Template:]] (pages in the Template: namespace, from the start). For the order in which pages are listed, see alphabetical order.
* [[Special:Categories]]: shows an alphabetical list of categories, with numbers of members.
* [[Special:Categories]]: shows an alphabetical list of categories, with numbers of members.
* [[Special:CategoryTree]]: displays categories in a tree structure.
* [[Special:CategoryTree]]: displays categories in a tree structure.
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* [[Special:Export]] (Export pages): produces an XML file containing the wikitext and metadata of either the current version only, or all revisions, of one or more pages, specified in the form of a list; the XML file is in the format required for Special:Import; exporting is typically done either in preparation of applying the latter at another MediaWiki project, or for searching within old page revisions. See [[Help:Export]].
* [[Special:Export]] (Export pages): produces an XML file containing the wikitext and metadata of either the current version only, or all revisions, of one or more pages, specified in the form of a list; the XML file is in the format required for Special:Import; exporting is typically done either in preparation of applying the latter at another MediaWiki project, or for searching within old page revisions. See [[Help:Export]].
* [[Special:Gadgets]]: lists gadgets that users can enable in their preferences.
* [[Special:Gadgets]]: lists gadgets that users can enable in their preferences.
* [[Special:MIMESearch]]: filters files for [[w:media type|media type]].
* [[Special:MIMESearch]]: filters files for media type.
* [[Special:MovePage]]: for moving (renaming) a page (see [[Help:Moving a page]]). The page must be given as a parameter.
* [[Special:MovePage]]: for moving (renaming) a page (see [[Help:Moving a page]]). The page must be given as a parameter.
* [[Special:Nearby]]: to see a list of articles around you (articles near your geographical location).
* [[Special:Nearby]]: to see a list of articles around you (articles near your geographical location).
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* [[Special:Log]] (All public logs): combined display of various logs. The type of log, user and page affected can be specified. Parameters "block", "delete", "protect" and "upload" are available. e.g. [[Special:Log/block]] displays the block log directly. For more information, see [[w:Help:Log]].
* [[Special:Log]] (All public logs): combined display of various logs. The type of log, user and page affected can be specified. Parameters "block", "delete", "protect" and "upload" are available. e.g. [[Special:Log/block]] displays the block log directly. For more information, see [[w:Help:Log]].
* [[Special:NewFiles]] (Gallery of new files): gallery of new uploaded files.
* [[Special:NewFiles]] (Gallery of new files): gallery of new uploaded files.
* [[Special:NewPages]]: newest pages with creation date and time, current size, user who created the page, and first edit summary, in reverse order of creation. See [[w:Wikipedia:New pages patrol]].
* [[Special:NewPages]]: newest pages with creation date and time, current size, user who created the page, and first edit summary, in reverse order of creation.
* Special:ProblemChanges (Tagged pending changes): tagged pending changes. (deprecated in 2021; see [[phab:T277883]])
* Special:ProblemChanges (Tagged pending changes): tagged pending changes. (deprecated in 2021; see [[phab:T277883]])
* [[Special:RecentChanges]]: lists the latest edits in the project. Changes to watched pages appear bold. See [[Help:Recent changes]].
* [[Special:RecentChanges]]: lists the latest edits in the project. Changes to watched pages appear bold. See [[Help:Recent changes]].
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* [[Special:BlockList]] (Blocked users): blocked IPs and usernames.
* [[Special:BlockList]] (Blocked users): blocked IPs and usernames.
* [[Special:Contributions]] (User contributions): enables listing of a user's contributions, or all new users' contributions. The user can be supplied as a parameter, e.g. [[Special:Contributions/Example]]. See [[Help:User contributions]].
* [[Special:Contributions]] (User contributions): enables listing of a user's contributions, or all new users' contributions. The user can be supplied as a parameter, e.g. [[Special:Contributions/Example]]. See [[Help:User contributions]].
* [[Special:EmailUser]]: e.g. [[Special:EmailUser/Example]]. For emailing users, see [[w:Wikipedia:Emailing users]].
* [[Special:EmailUser]]: e.g. [[Special:EmailUser/Example]].
* [[Special:ListGroupRights]] (User group rights): shows the rights assigned to user groups.
* [[Special:ListGroupRights]] (User group rights): shows the rights assigned to user groups.
* [[Special:ListUsers]] (Users): lists all registered users. Can be filtered by group (e.g. administrators) and other criteria. Note that [[Special:ListAdmins]] redirects to [[Special:ListUsers/sysop]].
* [[Special:ListUsers]] (Users): lists all registered users. Can be filtered by group (e.g. administrators) and other criteria. Note that [[Special:ListAdmins]] redirects to [[Special:ListUsers/sysop]].
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* [[Special:ShortPages]]: pages in the main namespace, with size (of the wikitext excluding that of templates used) in bytes, in order of increasing size.
* [[Special:ShortPages]]: pages in the main namespace, with size (of the wikitext excluding that of templates used) in bytes, in order of increasing size.
* [[Special:UncategorizedFiles]]: images and other files without category tags (see above).
* [[Special:UncategorizedFiles]]: images and other files without category tags (see above).
* [[Special:UncategorizedPages]]: pages without category tags. Note that after adding a tag to a page, refreshing this page does not immediately reflect the change. Note also that [[Special:UncategorizedCategories]] is disabled; use [[w:Wikipedia:Database reports/Uncategorized categories]] instead.
* [[Special:UncategorizedPages]]: pages without category tags. Note that after adding a tag to a page, refreshing this page does not immediately reflect the change. Note also that [[Special:UncategorizedCategories]] is disabled.
* [[Special:UncategorizedTemplates]]: templates without category tags (see above).
* [[Special:UncategorizedTemplates]]: templates without category tags (see above).
* [[Special:UnusedCategories]]
* [[Special:UnusedCategories]]
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* [[Special:Badtitle]]: The error message shown when attempting to access a page with an invalid title or with an incorrectly linked [[Help:Interwiki linking|interwiki]] prefix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%23 (%23 represents the number sign, which is unsupported) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meatball:WikiPedia (meatball: cannot be directly linked in the URL) for examples. Note that this special page was intentionally and by design a red link.
* [[Special:Badtitle]]: The error message shown when attempting to access a page with an invalid title or with an incorrectly linked [[Help:Interwiki linking|interwiki]] prefix. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%23 (%23 represents the number sign, which is unsupported) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meatball:WikiPedia (meatball: cannot be directly linked in the URL) for examples. Note that this special page was intentionally and by design a red link.
* [[Special:BlankPage]]: a blank page.
* [[Special:BlankPage]]: a blank page.
* [[Special:BookSources]]: search sources for a book by inputting the book's [[w:ISBN|ISBN]] number.
* [[Special:BookSources]]: search sources for a book by inputting the book's ISBN number.
* [[Special:Captcha]] (CAPTCHA help): shows "Captcha" help.
* [[Special:Captcha]] (CAPTCHA help): shows "Captcha" help.
* [[Special:Cite]] (Cite This Page): generates bibliographic citations, in several formats, for citing a Wikipedia article as a reference.
* [[Special:Cite]] (Cite This Page): generates bibliographic citations, in several formats, for citing a Wikipedia article as a reference.

Revision as of 22:39, 29 May 2023

Special pages are pages generated by the software on demand for special purposes, usually related to project maintenance. They are found in the Special: namespace, a virtual namespace whose pages lack corresponding talk pages. They are not written in wikitext and cannot be directly edited but elements of their pages can sometimes be edited through corresponding pages in the MediaWiki namespace. If you make a normal redirect to a special page, the redirect will not be immediately followed (though special pages can be targets of soft redirects), and directly creating any pages beginning with the Special: prefix is also not possible.

Special pages often take parameters. Sometimes these can be supplied after a slash (as in Special:Log/block); in other cases an index.php call is used; for example https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&days=3&limit=10. Also, the content of most special pages depends on preferences that have been set by the user, e.g. classic or enhanced Recent Changes, the number of titles in Recent Changes and the watchlist, etc.

A directory of special pages available for the current user can be accessed from Special:SpecialPages, which is found in the sidebar of every page on Wikipedia in the Tools section.

Modifying special pages

Although special pages are not themselves editable, they generally contain standard text which is modifiable (although only by administrators). To find the right portion of text, append ?uselang=qqx to the special page URL, or append &uselang=qqx instead if the URL already contains a ?. This will reveal message names in parentheses. Then, go to that name in the MediaWiki namespace. For example, Special:BookSources?uselang=qqx reveals "(booksources-summary)", so MediaWiki:Booksources-summary is used on that page. To propose a modification, leave an {{edit fully-protected}} request on the talk page of the relevant MediaWiki page. An administrator will make the change if it seems appropriate.

Available special pages

By function

General information

Page listings

Tools

Latest changes

  • Special:AbuseFilter (Edit filter management): a set of tools for detecting problematic edits. See AbuseFilter.
  • Special:AbuseLog (Edit filter log): the log generated by the Abuse Filter.
  • Special:AdvancedReviewLog or Special:QualityOversight: listed recent approvals and deprecations of pending revisions. (deprecated in 2022; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:ConfiguredPages (deprecated in 2022; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:Log (All public logs): combined display of various logs. The type of log, user and page affected can be specified. Parameters "block", "delete", "protect" and "upload" are available. e.g. Special:Log/block displays the block log directly. For more information, see w:Help:Log.
  • Special:NewFiles (Gallery of new files): gallery of new uploaded files.
  • Special:NewPages: newest pages with creation date and time, current size, user who created the page, and first edit summary, in reverse order of creation.
  • Special:ProblemChanges (Tagged pending changes): tagged pending changes. (deprecated in 2021; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:RecentChanges: lists the latest edits in the project. Changes to watched pages appear bold. See Help:Recent changes.
  • Special:RecentChangesLinked (Related changes): enables listing of the most recent changes in pages linked from a selected page, or belonging to a selected category. Changes to watched pages appear bold. The page can be supplied as a parameter, e.g. Special:RecentChangesLinked/Lesotho. See Help:Related changes.
  • Special:ReviewedPages (deprecated in 2021; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:ReviewedVersions (deprecated in 2021; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:Stabilization or Special:Stabilisation (deprecated in 2022; see phab:T277883)
  • Special:Tags: lists the tags with which edits may be marked. See w:Wikipedia:Tags.
  • Special:UnreviewedPages (deprecated in 2022; see phab:T277883)

Users

Global users
  • Special:CentralAuth (Global account information): global user statistics through the unified login or SUL (single user login). e.g. Special:CentralAuth/Jimbo Wales.
  • Special:GlobalBlockList (List of globally blocked IP addresses): all IP addresses with global blocks.
  • Special:GlobalGroupPermissions (Global group management): lists the rights associated with global user groups. Also lists the members of global user groups, and allows for management of rights.
  • Special:GlobalUsers (Global accounts list): lists users across all Wikimedia wikis, along with global user group membership, and whether their account exists locally on English Wikipedia. Can also be filtered by global user groups.

Personal

Maintenance

Miscellaneous

Restricted

The following pages can be accessed only by users with certain privileges.

Infrequently updated

The following special pages are updated on a less regular schedule. Some of these pages may have analogues on cloud services.

Alphabetical order

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Linking and transcluding

To create a link to a special page:

It can take a label:

  • [[Special:PrefixIndex/HMS|All HMSs]] → All HMSs

To present the list on a page, transclude the name:

  • {{Special:PrefixIndex/HMS}}

However, some pages cannot be transcluded and would produce only a wikilink (e.g., {{Special:Random}} → Special:Random). When non-existent pages are linked or transcluded, a red link is produced (e.g., Special:RedLinkExample).[lower-alpha 1]

More information on transcludable special pages can be found at w:Help:Transclusion#Special pages.

Links containing URL query strings

Main article: w:Help:Link#Links containing URL query strings

Because the ampersand character (&) is disallowed, it is not possible to create an ordinary link containing &action=edit or &redirect=no in the URL query string.

Special pages in other languages

The term in the site language equivalent to the English word "Special" and the special page name in English (e.g. "Special:Statistics") is used in each project, for example:

  • "Especial:Estadísticas" in Spanish
  • "Speciaal:Statistieken" in Dutch
  • "Spécial:Statistiques" in French
  • "Spezial:Statistik" in German

These also appear in the URLs. The English word "Special" and the special page name in English (e.g. "Special:Statistics") always works, even on foreign-language sites, but non-English equivalents don't work on English-language projects, nor on other-language project besides the language edition one is on.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ MediaWiki:Nospecialpagetext is the message displayed for non-existent special pages. However, Special:Badtitle is peculiar as it has actual viewable content but is a red link, which is because this special page was intentionally and by design to be considered non-existent (unlike all other valid page names.) See phab:T262959 for more details.

References

  1. ↑ w:Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions/Archive 18#Volunteer-initiated extension to be deployed to Wikimedia sites
  2. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/ancientpages.pp
  3. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/deadendpages.pp
  4. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/fewestrevisions.pp
  5. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#4
  6. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#9
  7. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#14
  8. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/mostlinked.pp
  9. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/mostrevisions.pp
  10. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#19
  11. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#24
  12. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/wantedpages.pp
  13. ↑ https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/plugins/gitiles/operations/puppet/+/0c69e0e8cdcdf4cf25a29aebe9ae87eb2eabf700/modules/profile/manifests/mediawiki/maintenance/updatequerypages/enwiki/cronjob.pp#29

External links

Old logs on Meta, until Dec 2004:

Help contents
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Starting a new page · Advanced editing · Editing FAQ · Export · Import · Shortcuts · Edit conflict · Page size
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Links · URL ·  · Footnotes
Style and formatting
Wikitext examples · CSS · Reference card · HTML in wikitext · Formula · Lists · Table · Sorting · Colors · Images and file uploads
Fixing mistakes
Show preview · Reverting edits
Advanced functioning
Expansion · Template · Advanced templates · Parser function · Parameter default · Magic words · System message · Substitution · Array · Calculation · Transclusion
Others
Special characters · Renaming (moving) a page · Preparing a page for translation · Talk page · Signatures · Sandbox · Legal issues for editors
Other languages:
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