Help:Special pages

Note: When you edit this page, you agree to release your contribution under the CC0. See Public Domain Help Pages for more info.

Special pages - Help

Special pages are pages that are created by the software on demand. They are located in their own namespace (Special) and are not editable directly as other pages.

Some special pages depend on the preferences that have been set by a user, e.g., the number of titles which is displayed on a user's watchlist.

Special pages also take parameters, e.g., Special:Log/block takes you to the log of block users.

To view a directory of all special pages, use Special:SpecialPages.

Editing Special namespace pages

The Special: namespace stands for special pages generated by MediaWiki. There is no matching talk space. The special pages are not made up of wikitext and are therefore not editable like other pages might be.

They usually contain system messages from MediaWiki namespace, which are editable by interface administrators.

The ampersand character (&) is not allowed.

Linking, transcluding, or redirecting to a special page

You can link a special page as you would do for any other internal page; e.g. [[Special:Diff|see diff page]]. Some special pages can take a parameter value after a slash character; e.g. [[Special:Diff/6372234]] takes a user to the 6372234 revision ID of this page.

Some special pages are transcludable, and some other ones are not. For example, you may transclude the list of recent changes with {{Special:RecentChanges}}. But, transcluding {{Special:Random}} gives Special:Random.

You cannot create a redirection towards a special page: it will display a link towards the page instead of a direct redirect to it. However, some special pages have built-in aliases which redirect to them.

Links containing URL query strings

Since the ampersand (&) is not allowed, you can't create a standard link with &action=edit or &redirect=no in the URL query string.

Page name alias and localization

Unlike other namespaces, the first heading of pages in the Special: namespace is not consistent with the page name in the URL. The Special: prefix is not displayed, and the heading text may vary a bit from the page name.

Each special page has a default English name, but it may also have aliases, i.e. other special page names which redirect to it. Besides, on non-English wikis (i.e. $wgLanguageCode different from “en”), special page names are localized, and English names are aliases which redirect to the localized page name.

The localized aliases only work in one language per wiki, in addition to English ones; e.g. Italian special page names only work on Italian wikis. Multilingual wikis with Translate extension only support English names.

The Special: namespace prefix itself may be localized depending on the wiki content language.

For example, in each project's language, the word used for "Special" in special page names like Special:Statistics is different. Here is the equivalent term in each language:

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

List of special pages

Special:SpecialPages shows a list of almost all special pages on a wiki. It is often linked in the toolbox on the side panel.

This list: view · talk · edit

This list only includes special pages provided by MediaWiki core itself. Special pages provided by extensions are documented on the extension page.

By role

General information

Special:AllMessages: This lists and allows editing of all system messages used on MediaWiki.
Special:SpecialPages: A list of popular tools and functions for managing and navigating the wiki.
Special:Statistics: Displays site statistics such as the number of content pages, edits, users, etc.
Special:Version: Shows the version of the software and details about installed extensions, skins, etc.

Lists of pages

Special:AllPages: Lists all MediaWiki pages in a specified namespace from a given starting point. A user can specify a starting point as a parameter, like Special:AllPages/T (for pages in the main namespace starting with "T"), or Special:AllPages/Template: (for pages in the Template namespace starting from the beginning). The listing order follows alphabetical order.
Special:Categories: This shows an alphabetical list of categories and the number of pages in each.
Special:ListFiles: This lists uploaded images and files, sortable by size or date.
- Special:ListFiles/Example: Lists files that have been uploaded by User:Example.
Special:ListRedirects: This lists all redirect pages.
Special:PagesWithProp: This lists the pages that make use of a certain page property.
Special:PrefixIndex: This lists all pages in a specified namespace that start with a given prefix. It's useful for finding subpages. For example, Special:PrefixIndex/User:Example.
Special:ProtectedPages: This lists pages that are protected from editing.
Special:ProtectedTitles: This lists titles that are protected from being created.

Special Tools

Special:ApiHelp: This provides help documentation for the MediaWiki API.
Special:ApiSandbox: An interactive interface to test MediaWiki API requests.
Special:ComparePages: This compares the differences between two pages.
Special:Diff: This displays the differences between two revisions of a page. For example, Special:Diff/6469269 shows the changes between version 6469269 and the previous version of the same page. Special:Diff/6469269/6473798 compares version 6469269 in Help:Table caption with version 6473798 in Help:Self link. This can also compare two versions of the same page.
Special:Export: This export pages as an XML file containing wikitext and metadata.
Special:MIMESearch: This searches for files by media type.
Special:MovePage: To rename/move a page to a new title.
Special:Random: This redirects you to a random page in the main namespace. A parameter can be passed to specify other namespaces, such as Special:Random/Talk.
Special:RandomInCategory: This redirects you to a randomly selected page within a particular category in any namespace.
Special:RandomRedirect: This redirects you to a random page.
Special:RandomRootpage: This redirects you to a random root page, excluding sub-pages.
Special:Search: This enables you to search pages MediaWiki.
Special:Upload: To upload a file to the wiki.
Special:WhatLinksHere: This lists all pages (including transclusions and redirects) that link to a given page. A parameter can be passed to it. For example, Special:WhatLinksHere/Main Page.

Latest changes made

Special:Log: A combined display of various public logs. The log type, user, and page can be specified. Supported parameters are "block", "delete", "protect", and "upload". For example, Special:Log/block displays the entire block log.
Special:NewFiles: A gallery of recently added files.
Special:NewPages: This displays new pages with creation date, time, size, creator, and first edit summary.
Special:RecentChanges: This lists the recent edits in the project. Changes to pages watched appear bold.
Special:RecentChangesLinked: This lists recent changes in pages linked from a selected page or category. Changes to pages watched appear bold. A parameter can be passed to it. For example, Special:RecentChangesLinked/Help:Links.
Special:Tags: A list of tags that edits can be marked with.

Users

Special:ActiveUsers: This lists users who have been active in the last 30 days.
Special:BlockList: This lists all blocked IP addresses and usernames.
Special:Contributions: This displays contributions from a specific user or all new users. A parameter can be passed to it. For example, Special:Contributions/Example.
Special:EmailUser: This allows you to email another user.
Special:ListGroupRights: This displays the rights assigned to different user groups.
Special:ListUsers: This lists all registered users, filterable by group and other criteria.

Personal

Special:ChangeEmail: To change or remove your email address.
Special:ChangeCredentials: To change your password.
Special:ConfirmEmail: To confirm your email address or see the date the email was confirmed.
Special:Contributions: To view the contributions of all user's.
- Special:MyContributions: To view your contributions.
Special:CreateAccount: To create a new account
Special:EditWatchlist and Special:EditWatchlist/raw: To edit your watchlist.
Special:MyPage: This links to your user page.
Special:MyTalk: This links to your talk page.
Special:MyUploads: To view a list of files you have uploaded.
Special:Notifications: To access your notifications page.
Special:Preferences: To view and modify your settings.
Special:ResetTokens: To reset your token.
Special:UserLogin: A login page to MediaWiki.
Special:UserLogout: A logout page of your account.
Special:Watchlist: To see recent changes to the pages you are watching.

Maintenance

Special:BrokenRedirects: This lists redirects that lead to non-existent pages.
Special:DoubleRedirects: This lists redirects that point to another redirect.
Special:FileDuplicateSearch: Checks for duplicate files.
Special:ListDuplicatedFiles: This lists all duplicated files on Wikipedia.
Special:LongPages: This lists pages in the main namespace by size in decreasing order.
Special:MostLinkedFiles: This lists files that are linked from the most pages.
Special:ShortPages: This lists pages in the main namespace by size in increasing order.
Special:UncategorizedFiles: This lists files without category tags.
Special:UncategorizedPages: This lists pages without category tags (note: updates may not be immediate).
Special:UncategorizedTemplates: This lists templates without category tags.
Special:UnusedCategories: This lists unused categories.
Special:UnusedFiles: This lists files that are not used.
Special:UnusedTemplates: This lists templates that are not transcluded.
Special:WantedCategories: This lists categories with members but no category page.
Special:WantedFiles: This lists missing image files and other files.
Special:WithoutInterwiki: This lists pages without links to other languages.
Special:AncientPages: This displays a list of old pages, sorted based on the oldest first.
Special:DeadendPages: This lists pages that do not have any outgoing links to other pages within the wiki.
Special:FewestRevisions: This lists pages with few revisions
Special:LonelyPages: This lists pages with no links in them.
Special:MostCategories: This lists pages with a large number of categories.
Special:MostLinkedCategories: This lists the categories with the highest number of pages.
Special:MostLinkedPages: This lists pages with the most incoming links from other pages.
Special:MostRevisions: This lists pages with the highest number of edits. It's updated monthly, on the 11th and 25th of every month.
Special:MostTranscludedPages or Special:MostLinkedTemplates: This lists the templates that are transcluded the most pages, excluding transclusions via a redirect.
Special:UncategorizedCategories: This lists all category pages that do not have a parent category or are not part of a larger category hierarchy. It's updated monthly, on the 19th of every month.
Special:WantedPages: This lists non-existent pages that have been linked from other pages, indicating needed content.
Special:WantedTemplates: This lists non-existent templates that have been used on other pages, indicating missing templates that need to be created. It's updated monthly, on the 20th of every month.

Miscellaneous

Special:Badtitle: The error message shown when attempting to access a page with an invalid title or with an incorrectly linked interwiki prefix.
Special:BlankPage: This displays a blank page.
Special:BookSources: This enables you to search for book sources by ISBN.
Special:ExpandTemplates: This expands wikitext by recursively expanding templates, parser functions, and variables.
Special:FilePath: This returns the complete path for a file.
Special:LinkSearch: This allows you to search for external links.
Special:Permalink/Oldid: This links to a specific version of a wiki page.
Special:Random: This redirects you to a random page.
Special:Redirect: This redirects you by file, user, page, or revision ID.

Restricted

The below pages are accessible only to users with a particular privilege level.

Special:Block: It's used by administrators to block or unblock users, IP addresses, and IP addresses ranges.
Special:DeletedContributions: It's viewable by administrators to see deleted contributions.
Special:Import: It's used by administrators and importers to import pages.
Special:LockDB and Special:UnlockDB: It's used by developers to toggle the database between read/write and read-only modes.
Special:Undelete: It's used by administrators to undelete pages.
Special:UnwatchedPages: This shows unwatched pages, available to administrators.
Special:UserRights: This displays user rights and allows administrators to assign and remove user access rights.

By alphabetical order

A

Special:AbuseLog: This displays a log of all edits triggered by the abuse filters.
Special:ActiveUsers: This lists all users who have been active recently.
Special:AllMessages: This displays all system messages used by the wiki.
Special:AllMyUploads: This lists all files uploaded by you.
Special:AllPages: This lists all pages in the wiki.
Special:AncientPages: This lists pages that have not been edited for a long time.
Special:ApiHelp: Provides help and documentation for the MediaWiki API.
Special:ApiSandbox: Allows you to test and interact with the MediaWiki API.
Special:AutoblockList: This displays a list of active autoblocks on the wiki.

B

Special:BlankPage: This displays a blank page.
Special:Block: Blocks a user from editing.
Special:BlockList: This lists all blocked users.
Special:BookSources: This finds book sources using a 10-13-digit ISBN.
Special:BotPasswords: Creates passwords for bots.
Special:BrokenRedirects: This lists broken redirects.
Special:BrokenLinks: This redirects to Special:WantedPages, showing wanted pages.

C

Special:Categories: This displays all categories on the wiki.
Special:ChangeContentModel: This allows template editors and administrators to change the content model of a page.
Special:ChangeCredentials: This facilitates changing credentials, typically passwords.
Special:ChangeEmail: This enables changing or removing email addresses associated with an account.
Special:ChangePassword: This provides functionality for changing passwords.
Special:ComparePages: Compares the differences between two pages.
Special:ConfirmEmail: Confirms the email address associated with an account.
Special:Contribs: This redirects to Special:Contributions, listing a user's contributions.
Special:Contributions: This lists the contributions made by a user.
Special:CreateAccount: This allows users to create new accounts.

D

Special:DeadendPages: This lists pages without outgoing links, known as dead-end pages.
Special:DeletedContributions: This displays contributions made by deleted users.
Special:Diff: This shows the difference between two versions of a MediaWiki page.
Special:DoubleRedirects: This lists pages that redirect to other redirect pages, known as double redirects.

E

Special:Edit and Special:EditPage: This redirects to ?action=edit, allowing you to edit a page.
Special:EditTags: Manages edit tags.
Special:EditWatchlist: Edits your watchlist.
Special:EmailUser: Allows you send an email to a user.
Special:ExpandTemplates: This expands templates.
Special:Export: Exports pages.

F

Special:FewestRevisions: This lists pages with the fewest revisions.
Special:FileDuplicateSearch: Searches for duplicate files.
Special:FilePath: This redirects to a file.
Special:FileList: This redirects to Special:ListFiles, displaying a list of files.

G

Special:GoToInterwiki: Allows you to navigate to another project using a valid project prefix.

H

Special:History: Alias for Special:PageHistory

I

Special:Import: Allows administrators, importers, and transwiki importers to import pages.
Special:Info: This redirects to Special:PageInfo.
Special:InvalidateEmail: Invalidates an email address. Parameter required.

L

Special:LinkAccounts: Allows users to link accounts.
Special:LinkSearch: This conducts an external link search.
Special:ListAdmins: This redirects to Special:ListUsers/sysop, listing administrators.
Special:ListBots: This redirects to Special:ListUsers/bot, listing bots.
Special:ListDuplicatedFiles: This lists files with duplicates.
Special:ListGrants: This displays grants.
Special:ListGroupRights: This lists user group rights.
Special:ListRedirects: This is a list of redirects.
Special:ListUsers: This lists all users.
Special:LockDB: Locks the database, disabling write access.
Special:Log: This displays all public logs.
Special:LonelyPages: This lists orphaned pages.
Special:LongPages: This lists long pages.
Special:Login: This redirects to Special:UserLogin, initiating the login process.
Special:Logout: This redirects to Special:UserLogout, initiating the logout process.

M

Special:MediaStatistics: This displays statistics about uploaded file types.
Special:MergeHistory: Merges page histories.
Special:MIMESearch: Conducts a MIME search.
Special:MostCategories: This lists pages with the most categories.
Special:MostInterwikis: This lists pages with the most interwikis.
Special:MostLinkedCategories: This lists the most linked-to categories.
Special:MostLinkedFiles: This lists the most linked-to files.
Special:MostLinkedPages: This lists the most linked-to pages.
Special:MostRevisions: This lists pages with the most revisions.
Special:MostTranscludedPages: This lists the most transcluded pages.
Special:MovePage: Allows moving a page. Example: Special:MovePage/Main page.
Special:MyContributions: This redirects to Special:Contributions, listing the current user's contributions.
Special:MyLanguage: This redirects to the page named after the slash in the user's interface language. Example: Special:MyLanguage/Example.
Special:MyPage: This redirects to your user page.
Special:MyTalk: This redirects to the talk page of the active user.
Special:MyUploads: This lists uploads of the active user.

N

Special:NewFiles: Shows a gallery of new files.
Special:NewPages: This lists new pages.
Special:Nuke: Performs a mass deletion of pages.

O

Special:OrphanedPages: Alias for Special:LonelyPages

P

Special:PageHistory: Redirects to ?action=history, which displays the history of a specific page. For example, Special:History/Example shows the history of the page named "Example".
Special:PageInfo: Provides information for a page.
Special:PasswordReset: Allows users to reset their password.
Special:PermanentLink: Provides a link to a specific version of a wiki page.
Special:Preferences: Accesses user preferences.
Special:PrefixIndex: This lists all pages with a given prefix.
Special:ProtectedPages: This lists protected pages.
Special:ProtectedTitles: This lists protected titles.
Special:Purge: Refreshes a page.

Q

R

Special:Random: This redirects to a random page.
Special:RandomInCategory: This redirects to a random page in a specified category.
Special:RandomRedirect: This redirects to a random redirect page.
Special:RandomRootpage: This redirects to a random root page.
Special:RecentChanges: This displays recent changes.
Special:RecentChangesLinked: This displays related changes.
Special:Redirect: This redirects by file, user, page, revision, or log ID.
Special:RemoveCredentials: Removes credentials.
Special:RenameUser: Locally renames a user. Available only to stewards and used extremely rarely.
Special:ResetTokens: Resets tokens allowing access to certain private data associated with your account.
Special:RevisionDelete: This is used to delete revisions.
Special:RunJobs: This initiates the running of jobs.

S

Special:Search: Initiates a search.
Special:ShortPages: This lists short pages.
Special:SpecialPages: This lists special pages.
Special:Statistics: This displays statistics.

T

Special:Tags: This displays tags that the software may mark an edit or logged action with, and their meanings.
Special:TrackingCategories: This lists tracking categories automatically populated by the MediaWiki software.

U

Special:Unblock: Unblocks a user.
Special:UncategorizedCategories: This lists uncategorized categories.
Special:UncategorizedFiles: This lists uncategorized files.
Special:UncategorizedPages: This lists uncategorized pages.
Special:UncategorizedTemplates: This lists uncategorized templates.
Special:UnconnectedPages: This lists pages not connected to data items.
Special:Undelete: Searches deleted pages and allows viewing and restoring of deleted pages.
Special:UnlinkAccounts: Unlinks accounts.
Special:UnlockDB: Opposite of LockDB, unlocks the database, enabling write access.
Special:UnusedCategories: This lists unused categories.
Special:UnusedFiles: This lists unused files.
Special:UnusedTemplates: This lists unused templates.
Special:Upload: Uploads a file.
Special:Uploads: This redirects to Special:ListFiles, listing uploaded files.
Special:UploadStash: This displays files that are uploaded or in the process of uploading (upload stash).
Special:UserLogin: Initiates the login process.
Special:UserLogout: Initiates the logout process.
Special:UserRights: Manages user groups.
Special:UserGroupRights: This redirects to Special:ListGroupRights.
Special:UserList: This redirects to Special:ListUsers, listing users.

V

Special:Version: This displays the version of MediaWiki in use, installed extensions, authors, and other relevant information.

W

Special:WantedCategories: This lists the most red-linked categories.
Special:WantedFiles: This lists the most red-linked images.
Special:WantedPages: This lists the most red-linked articles.
Special:WantedTemplates: This lists the most red-linked templates.
Special:Watchlist: This displays the watchlist.
Special:WhatLinksHere: Shows what pages link to the current page.
Special:WithoutInterwiki: This lists pages without language links.