TWiki Webmaster Reference (ver. 01 Sep 2001)

This page contains all documentation topics as one long and complete reference sheet. Use the extended menu below to jump directly to sections. Doubleclick anywhere on-screen to return to the top of the page.

(You can also browse the TWiki reference as individual pages from the full topics menu.)

Note: Read the most up to date version of this document at http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki/TWikiDocumentation

Related Topics: TWikiSite, TWikiHistory, TWikiPlannedFeatures, TWikiEnhancementRequests

TWiki Access Control

Restricting read and write access to topics and webs, by Users and groups

TWiki Access Control allows you restrict access to single topics and entire webs, by individual user and by user Groups. Access control, combined with TWikiUserAuthentication, lets you easily create and manage an extremely flexible, fine-grained privilege system.

Tip: TWiki:TWiki.TWikiAccessControlSupplement on TWiki.org has additional documentation on access control.

An Important Control Consideration

Open, freeform editing is the essence of WikiCulture - what makes TWiki different and often more effective than other collaboration tools. For that reason, it is strongly recommended that decisions to restrict read or write access to a web or a topic are made with great care - the more restrictions, the less Wiki in the mix. Experience shows that unrestricted write access works very well because:

• Peer influence is enough to ensure that only relevant content is posted.
• Peer editing - the ability for anyone to rearrange all content on a page - keeps topics focused.
• In TWiki, content is transparently preserved under revision control:
  • Edits can be undone by the administrator (per default a member of TWikiAdminGroup; see #ManagingGroups).
  • Users are encouraged to edit and refactor (condense a long topic), since there's a safety net.

• Create broad-based Groups (for more and varied input), and...
• Avoid creating view-only Users (if you can read it, you should be able to contribute to it).

Permissions settings of the webs on this TWiki site

Web	Sitemap	VIEW		CHANGE		RENAME
	Listed	DENY	ALLOW	DENY	ALLOW	DENY	ALLOW
Main	on
TWiki	on				TWikiAdminGroup		TWikiAdminGroup
IVOA	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
IVOA.PDL1RFC	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
IVOA.PhotDM1	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
IVOA.Spectral2	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
IVOA.SpectralDM2	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
Know	on			GuestUserGroup		GuestUserGroup	TWikiAdminGroup
Sandbox	on

Please Note:

• A blank in the the above table may mean either the corresponding control is absent or commented out or that it has been set to a null value. The two conditions have dramatically different and possibly opposed semantics.
• TWikiGuest is the guest account - used by unauthenticated users.
• The TWiki web must not deny view to TWikiGuest; otherwise, people will not be able to register.

Note: Above table comes from SitePermissions

Authentication vs. Access Control

Authentication: Identifies who a user is based on a login procedure. See TWikiUserAuthentication.

Access control: Restrict access to content based on users and groups once a user is identified.

Users and Groups

Access control is based on the familiar concept of Users and Groups. Users are defined by their WikiNames. They can then be organized in unlimited combinations by inclusion in one or more user Groups. For convenience, Groups can also be included in other Groups.

Managing Users

A user can create an account in TWikiRegistration. The following actions are performed:

• WikiName and encrypted password are recorded using the password manager if authentication is enabled.
• A confirmation e-mail is sent to the user.
• A user profile page with the WikiName of the user is created in the Main web.
• The user is added to the TWikiUsers topic.

The default visitor name is TWikiGuest. This is the non-authenticated user.

Managing Groups

The following describes the standard TWiki support for groups. Your local TWiki may have an alternate group mapping manager installed. Check with your TWiki administrator if you are in doubt.

Groups are defined by group topics located in the Main web. To create a new group, visit TWikiGroups and enter the name of the new group ending in Group into the "new group" form field. This will create a new group topic with two important settings:

• Set GROUP = < list of Users and/or Groups >
• Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = < list of Users and/or Groups >

The GROUP setting is a comma-separated list of users and/or other groups. Example:

• Set GROUP = SomeUser, OtherUser, SomeGroup

The ALLOWTOPICCHANGE setting defines who is allowed to change the group topic; it is a comma delimited list of users and groups. You typically want to restrict that to the members of the group itself, so it should contain the name of the topic. This prevents users not in the group from editing the topic to give themselves or others access. For example, for the MarketingGroup topic write:

• Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = MarketingGroup

Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you have a real bullet. (In raw edit it is three or six spaces, an asterisk, and an extra space in front of any access control rule.)

The Super Admin Group

A number of TWiki functions (for example, renaming webs) are only available to administrators. Administrators are simply users who belong to the SuperAdminGroup. This is a standard user group, the name of which is defined by {SuperAdminGroup} setting in configure. The default name of this group is the TWikiAdminGroup. The system administrator may have chosen a different name for this group if your local TWiki uses an alternate group mapping manager but for simplicity we will use the default name TWikiAdminGroup in the rest of this topic.

You can create new administrators simply by adding them to the TWikiAdminGroup topic. For example,

• Set GROUP = RobertCailliau, TimBernersLee

Restricting Access

You can define who is allowed to read or write to a web or a topic. Note that some plugins may not respect access permissions.

• Restricting VIEW blocks viewing and searching of content. When you restric VIEW to a topic or web, this also restricts INCLUDE and Formatted SEARCH from showing the content of the topics.
• Restricting CHANGE blocks creating new topics, changing topics or attaching files.
• Restricting RENAME prevents renaming of topics within a web.

Note that there is an important distinction between CHANGE access and RENAME access. A user can CHANGE a topic, but thanks to version control their changes cannot be lost (the history of the topic before the change is recorded). However if a topic or web is renamed, that history may be lost. Typically a site will only give RENAME access to administrators and content owners.

Controlling access to a Web

You can define restrictions on who is allowed to view a TWiki web. You can restrict access to certain webs to selected Users and Groups, by:

• authenticating all webs and restricting selected webs: Topic access in all webs is authenticated, and selected webs have restricted access.
• authenticating and restricting selected webs only: Provide unrestricted viewing access to open webs, with authentication and restriction only on selected webs.

• You can define these settings in the WebPreferences topic, preferable towards the end of the topic:
  • Set DENYWEBVIEW = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set DENYWEBCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWWEBCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set DENYWEBRENAME = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWWEBRENAME = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >

For example, set this to restrict a web to be viewable only by the MarketingGroup:

• Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = Main.MarketingGroup

If your site allows hierarchical webs, then access to sub-webs is determined from the access controls of the parent web, plus the access controls in the sub-web. So, if the parent web has ALLOWWEBVIEW set, this will also apply to the subweb. Also note that you will need to ensure that the parent web's FINALPREFERENCES does not include the access control settings listed above. Otherwise you will not be able override the parent web's access control settings in sub-webs.

Creation and renaming of sub-webs is controlled by the WEBCHANGE setting on the parent web (or ROOTCHANGE for root webs). Renaming is additionally restricted by the setting of WEBRENAME in the web itself.

Note: If you restrict access to the Main, make sure to add the TWikiRegistrationAgent so that users can register. Example:

• Set ALLOWWEBCHANGE = TWikiAdminGroup, TWikiRegistrationAgent

Note: For Web level access rights Setting any of these settings to an empty value has the same effect as not setting them at all. Please note that the documentation of TWiki 4.0 and earlier versions of TWiki 4.1 did not reflect the actual implementation, e.g. an empty ALLOWWEBVIEW does not prevent anyone from viewing the web, and an an empty DENYWEBVIEW does not allow all to view the web.

Controlling access to a Topic

• You can define these settings in any topic, preferable towards the end of the topic:
  • Set DENYTOPICVIEW = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set DENYTOPICCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set DENYTOPICRENAME = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWTOPICRENAME = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >

For example, set this to restrict a topic to be viewable only by the MarketingExecGroup:

• Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = Main.MarketingExecGroup

Remember when opening up access to specific topics within a restricted web that other topics in the web - for example, the WebLeftBar - may also be accessed when viewing the topics. The message you get when you are denied access should tell you what topic you were not permitted to access.

Be careful with empty values for any of these.

• Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW =
  This means the same as not setting it at all. (This was documented wrong in versions 4.0.X, 4.1.0 and 4.1.1)

• Set DENYTOPICVIEW =
  Since TWiki 4.0 this means do not deny anyone the right to view this topic. If DENYTOPICVIEW is set to an empty value anyone has access even if ALLOWTOPICVIEW or ALLOWWEBVIEW is defined. This allows to have very restrictive default access rights to an entire web and still allow individual topics to have more open access.

The same rules apply to ALLOWTOPICCHANGE/DENYTOPICCHANGE and APPLYTOPICRENAME/DENYTOPICRENAME. Setting ALLOWTOPICCHANGE or ALLOWTOPICRENAME to en empty value means the same as not defining it. Setting DENYTOPICCHANGE or DENYTOPICRENAME to an empty value means that anyone can edit or rename the topic.

If the same setting is defined multiple times the last one overrides the previous. They are not OR'ed together.

The setting to an empty has caused confusion and great debate and it has been decided that the empty setting syntax will be replaced by something which is easier to understand in a later version of TWiki. A method to upgrade will be provided. Please read the release notes carefully when you upgrade.

See "How TWiki evaluates ALLOW/DENY settings" below for more on how ALLOW and DENY interacts.

Securing File Attachments

By default, TWiki does not secure file attachments. Without making the following changes to the twiki.conf file, it is possible for anyone who has access to the server to gain access to an attachment if they know the attachment's fully qualified path, even though access to the topic associated with the attachment is secured. This is because attachments are referred to directly by Apache, and are not by default delivered via TWiki scripts. This means that the above instructions for controlling to topics do not apply to attachments unless you make the changes as described below.

An effective way to secure attachments is to apply the same access control settings to attachments as those applied to topics. This security enhancement can be accomplished by instructing the webserver via Apache's mod_rewrite module to redirect accesses to attachments via the TWiki viewfile script, which honors the TWiki access controls settings to topics.

The preferred method to secure attachments is by editing the twiki.conf file to include:

    ScriptAlias /twiki/bin/ /filesystem/path/to/twiki/bin/
    Alias /twiki/pub/       /filesystem/path/to/twiki/pub/

    RewriteEngine on
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/+twiki/+pub/+(TWiki|Sandbox)/+.+
    RewriteRule ^/+twiki/+pub/+(.*)$  /twiki/bin/viewfile/$1 [L,PT]

Notes:

• You can use TWiki:TWiki/ApacheConfigGenerator to generate the Apache config file for TWiki.
• You will need to restart your Apache server after this change.
• Images embedded in topics will load slower since attached images will also be delivered by the viewfile script. The TWiki web and Sandbox web are excluded for performance reasons.
• As an alternative to editing the twiki.conf file used by Apache, you can make the same change directly to the .htaccess file in the /twiki/bin directory.
• The viewfile script sets the mime type based upon file name suffix. Unknown types are served as text/plain which can result in corrupt files.

Controlling who can manage top-level webs

Top level webs are a special case, because they don't have a parent web with a WebPreferences. So there has to be a special control just for the root level.

• You can define these settings in the Main.TWikiPreferences topic, preferable towards the end of the topic:
  • Set DENYROOTCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >
  • Set ALLOWROOTCHANGE = < comma-delimited list of Users and Groups >

How TWiki evaluates ALLOW/DENY settings

When deciding whether to grant access, TWiki evaluates the following rules in order (read from the top of the list; if the logic arrives at PERMITTED or DENIED that applies immediately and no more rules are applied). You need to read the rules bearing in mind that VIEW, CHANGE and RENAME access may be granted/denied separately.

1. If the user is an administrator
   • access is PERMITTED.
2. If DENYTOPIC is set to a list of wikinames
   • people in the list will be DENIED.
3. If DENYTOPIC is set to empty ( i.e. Set DENYTOPIC = )
   • access is PERMITTED i.e no-one is denied access to this topic.
     Attention: Use this with caution. This is deprecated and will likely change in the next release.
4. If ALLOWTOPIC is set
   1. people in the list are PERMITTED
   2. everyone else is DENIED
5. If DENYWEB is set to a list of wikinames
   • people in the list are DENIED access
6. If ALLOWWEB is set to a list of wikinames
   • people in the list will be PERMITTED
   • everyone else will be DENIED
7. If you got this far, access is PERMITTED

Access control and INCLUDE

ALLOWTOPICVIEW and ALLOWTOPICCHANGE only applies to the topic in which the settings are defined. If a topic A includes another topic B, topic A does not inherit the access rights of the included topic B.

Examples: Topic A includes topic B

• If the included topic B has ALLOWTOPICCHANGE set to block editing for a user, it does not prevent editing the including topic A.
• If the included topic B has ALLOWTOPICVIEW set to block view for a user, the user can still view topic A but he cannot see the included topic B. He will see a message No permission to view B

Access Control quick recipes

Restrict Access to Whole TWiki Site

For a firewalled TWiki, e.g. an intranet wiki or extranet wiki, you want to allow only invited people to access your TWiki. In this case, enable user authentication with ApacheLogin and lock down access to the whole twiki/bin and twiki/pub directories to all but valid users. In the Apache .htaccess file or the appropriate .conf file, replace the <FilesMatch "(attach|edit|... section with this:

<FilesMatch ".*">
       require valid-user
</FilesMatch>

If needed, you can further restrict access to selected webs with ALLOWWEBVIEW and other access control settings.

Note: With this configuration, someone with access to the site needs to register new users.

Authenticate all Webs and Restrict Selected Webs

Use the following setup to authenticate users for topic viewing in all webs and to restrict access to selected webs. Requires TWikiUserAuthentication to be enabled.

1. Set require valid-user on your view script in .htaccess or the appropriate Apache .conf file. As of 4.x, this looks like: FilesMatch "(attach|edit|manage|rename|save|view|upload|mail|logon|.*auth).*" (normally view is not in that list).
2. Restrict view access to selected Users and Groups. Set one or both of these variables in its WebPreferences topic:
   • Set DENYWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
   • Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
   • Note: DENYWEBVIEW is evaluated before ALLOWWEBVIEW. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYWEBVIEW list, or not in the ALLOWWEBVIEW list. Access is granted if DENYWEBVIEW and ALLOWWEBVIEW are not defined.
3. If you still want public users to be able to register automatically follow TWiki:TWiki.RegisterOnViewRestrictedSite.

Authenticate and Restrict Selected Webs Only

Use the following setup to provide unrestricted viewing access to open webs, with authentication only on selected webs. Requires TWikiUserAuthentication to be enabled.

1. Restrict view access to selected Users and Groups. Set one or both of these variables in its WebPreferences topic:
   • Set DENYWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
   • Set ALLOWWEBVIEW = < list of Users and Groups >
   • Note: DENYWEBVIEW is evaluated before ALLOWWEBVIEW. Access is denied if the authenticated person is in the DENYWEBVIEW list, or not in the ALLOWWEBVIEW list. Access is granted if DENYWEBVIEW and ALLOWWEBVIEW are not defined.

Hide Control Settings

Tip: To hide access control settings from normal browser viewing, you can put them into the topic preference settings by clicking the link Edit topic preference settings under More topic actions menu. Preferences set in this manner are not visible in the topic text, but take effect nevertheless. Access control settings added as topic preference settings are stored in the topic meta data and they override settings defined in the topic text.

Alternatively, place them in HTML comment markers, but this exposes the access setting during ordinary editing.

<!--
   * Set DENYTOPICCHANGE = Main.SomeGroup
-->

Obfuscating Webs

Another way of hiding webs is to keep them hidden by not publishing the URL and by preventing the all webs search option from accessing obfuscated webs. Do so by enabling the NOSEARCHALL variable in WebPreferences:

• Set NOSEARCHALL = on

This setup can be useful to hide a new web until content its ready for deployment, or to hide view access restricted webs.

Note: Obfuscating a web without view access control is very insecure, as anyone who knows the URL can access the web.

Read-only Skin Mode

It is possible to turn the PatternSkin and TopMenuSkin into read-only mode by removing the edit and attach controls (links and buttons). This is mainly useful if you have TWiki application pages or dashboards where you do not want regular users to change content. The read-only skin mode is not a replacement for access control; you can use it in addition to access control. Details at PatternSkinCustomization#ReadOnlySkinMode.

TWiki Templates

Definition of the templates used to render all HTML pages displayed in TWiki

Overview

Templates are plain text with embedded template directives that tell TWiki how to compose blocks of text together, to create something new.

There are two types of template:

• Master Templates: Define the HTML used to display TWiki pages.
• Template Topics: Define default text when you create a new topic

Tip: TWiki:TWiki.TWikiTemplatesSupplement on TWiki.org has supplemental documentation on TWiki templates.

Master Templates

Master templates are also used in the definition of TWikiSkins.

Master templates are stored as text files with the extension .tmpl. They are usually HTML with embedded template directives. The directives are expanded when TWiki wants to generate a user interface screen.

How Template Directives Work

• Directives are of the form %TMPL:<key>% and %TMPL:<key>{"attr"}%.
• Directives:
  • %TMPL:INCLUDE{"file"}%: Includes a template file. The file is found as described below.
  • %TMPL:DEF{"block"}%: Define a block. All text between this and the next %TMPL:END% directive is removed and saved for later use with %TMPL:P.
  • %TMPL:END%: Ends a block definition.
  • %TMPL:P{"var"}%: Includes a previously defined block.
  • %{...}%: is a comment.
• Two-pass processing lets you use a variable before or after declaring it.
• Templates and TWikiSkins work transparently and interchangeably. For example, you can create a skin that overloads only the twiki.tmpl master template, like twiki.print.tmpl, that redefines the header and footer.
• Use of template directives is optional: templates work without them.
• NOTE: Template directives work only for templates: they do not get processed in normal topic text.

TMPL:P also supports simple parameters. For example, given the definition %TMPL:DEF{"x"}% x%P%z%TMPL:END% then %TMPL:P{"x" P="y"}% will expand to xyz.

Note that parameters can simply be ignored; for example, %TMPL:P{"x"}% will expand to x%P%z.

Any alphanumeric characters can be used in parameter names. You are highly recommended to use parameter names that cannot be confused with TWikiVariables.

Note that three parameter names, context, then and else are reserved. They are used to support a limited form of "if" condition that you can use to select which of two templates to use, based on a context identifier:

%TMPL:DEF{"link_inactive"}%<input type="button" disabled value="Link>%TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"link_active"}%<input type="button" onclick="link()" value="Link" />%TMPL:END%
%TMPL:P{context="inactive" then="inactive_link" else="active_link"}% for %CONTEXT%

Finding Templates

The master templates shipped with a twiki release are stored in the twiki/templates directory. As an example, twiki/templates/view.tmpl is the default template file for the twiki/bin/view script.

You can save templates in other directories as long as they are listed in the {TemplatePath} configuration setting. The {TemplatePath} is defined in the Miscellaneous section of the configure page.

You can also save templates in user topics (IF there is no possible template match in the templates directory). The {TemplatePath} configuration setting defines which topics will be accepted as templates.

Templates that are included with an explicit '.tmpl' extension are looked for only in the templates/ directory. For instance %TMPL:INCLUDE{"example.tmpl"}% will only return templates/example.tmpl, regardless of {TemplatePath} and SKIN settings.

The out-of-the-box setting of {TemplatePath} supports the following search order to determine which template file or topic to use for a particular script or %TMPL:INCLUDE{"script"}% statement. The skin path is set as described in TWikiSkins.

1. templates/web/script.skin.tmpl for each skin on the skin path
   • this usage is supported for compatibility only and is deprecated. Store web-specific templates in TWiki topics instead.
2. templates/script.skin.tmpl for each skin on the skin path
3. templates/web/script.tmpl
   • this usage is supported for compatibility only and is deprecated. Store web-specific templates in TWiki topics instead.
4. templates/script.tmpl
5. The TWiki topic aweb.atopic if the template name can be parsed into aweb.atopic
6. The TWiki topic web.SkinSkinScriptTemplate for each skin on the skin path
7. The TWiki topic web.ScriptTemplate
8. The TWiki topic %SYSTEMWEB%.SkinSkinScriptTemplate for each skin on the skin path
9. The TWiki topic %SYSTEMWEB%.ScriptTemplate

• script refers to the script name, e.g view, edit
• Script refers to the same, but with the first character capitalized, e.g View
• skin refers to a skin name, e.g dragon, pattern. All skins are checked at each stage, in the order they appear in the skin path.
• Skin refers to the same, but with the first character capitalized, e.g Dragon
• web refers to the current web

For example, the example template file will be searched for in the following places, when the current web is Thisweb and the skin path is print,pattern:

1. templates/Thisweb/example.print.tmpl deprecated; don't rely on it
2. templates/Thisweb/example.pattern.tmpl deprecated; don't rely on it
3. templates/example.print.tmpl
4. templates/example.pattern.tmpl
5. templates/Thisweb/example.tmpl deprecated; don't rely on it
6. templates/example.tmpl
7. Thisweb.PrintSkinExampleTemplate
8. Thisweb.PatternSkinExampleTemplate
9. Thisweb.ExampleTemplate
10. TWiki.PrintSkinExampleTemplate
11. TWiki.PatternSkinExampleTemplate
12. TWiki.ExampleTemplate

Template names are usually derived from the name of the currently executing script; however it is also possible to override these settings in the view and edit scripts, for example when a topic-specific template is required. Two preference variables can be used to override the templates used:

• VIEW_TEMPLATE sets the template to be used for viewing a topic
• EDIT_TEMPLATE sets the template for editing a topic.

Tip: If you want to override existing templates, without having to worry that your changes will get overwritten by the next TWiki update, change the {TemplatePath} so that another directory, such as the %USERSWEB% appears at the front. You can then put your own templates into that directory or web and these will override the standard templates. (Note that such will increase the lookup time for templates by searching your directory first.)

TMPL:INCLUDE recursion for piecewise customisation, or mixing in new features

If there is recursion in the TMPL:INCLUDE chain (eg twiki.classic.tmpl contains %TMPL:INCLUDE{"twiki"}%, the templating system will include the next twiki.SKIN in the skin path. For example, to create a customisation of pattern skin, where you only want to over-ride the breadcrumbs for the view script, you can create only a view.yourlocal.tmpl:

%TMPL:INCLUDE{"view"}%
%TMPL:DEF{"breadcrumb"}% We don't want any crumbs %TMPL:END%

The default {TemplatePath} will not give you the desired result if you put these statements in the topic Thisweb.YourlocalSkinViewTemplate. The default {TemplatePath} will resolve the request to the template/view.pattern.tmpl, before it gets to the Thisweb.YourlocalSkinViewTemplate resolution. You can make it work by prefixing the {TemplatePath} with: $web.YourlocalSkin$nameTemplate.

Default master template

twiki.tmpl is the default master template. It defines the following sections.

Template Topics

The second type of template in TWiki are template topics. Template topics define the default text for new topics. There are four types of template topic:

When you create a new topic using the edit script, TWiki locates a topic to use as a content template according to the following search order:

1. A topic name specified by the templatetopic CGI parameter
   • if no web is specified, the current web is searched first and then the TWiki web
2. WebTopicEditTemplate in the current web
3. WebTopicEditTemplate in the Main web
4. WebTopicEditTemplate in the TWiki web

Variable Expansion

TWikiVariables located in template topics get expanded as follows when a new topic is created.

1. Default variable expansion

The following variables used in a template topic automatically get expanded when new topic is created based on it:

2. Preventing variable expansion

In a template topic, embed text that you do not want expanded inside a %STARTSECTION{type="templateonly"}% ... %ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}% section. For example, you might want to write this in the template topic:

%STARTSECTION{type="templateonly"}%
This template can only be changed by:
   * Set ALLOWTOPICCHANGE = Main.TWikiAdminGroup
%ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}%

%NOP% can be used to prevent expansion of TWiki variables that would otherwise be expanded during topic creation. For example, escape %SERVERTIME% with %SER%NOP%VERTIME%.

3. Control over variable expansion

You can forcefully expand TWikiVariables by placing them inside a type="expandvariables" section in the template topic, such as:

 ...  

Example:

If you have the following content in a template topic:

   * %SYSTEMWEB%.ATasteOfTWiki - view a short introductory presentation on TWiki for beginners
   * %SYSTEMWEB%.WelcomeGuest - starting points on TWiki
   * %SYSTEMWEB%.TWikiUsersGuide - complete TWiki documentation
   * Sandbox.%HOMETOPIC% - try out TWiki on your own
   * Sandbox.%TOPIC%Sandbox - just for me

you will get this raw text in new topics based on that template topic:

   * TWiki.ATasteOfTWiki - view a short introductory presentation on TWiki for beginners
   * TWiki.WelcomeGuest - starting points on TWiki
   * TWiki.TWikiUsersGuide - complete TWiki documentation
   * Sandbox.WebHome - try out TWiki on your own
   * Sandbox.JimmyNeutronSandbox - just for me

Specifying a Form

When you create a new topic based on a template, you often want the new topic to have a form attached to it. You can attach a form to the template topic, in which case it will be copied into the new topic.

Sometimes this isn't quite what you want, as it copies all the existing data from the template topic into the new topic. To avoid this and use the default values specified in the form definition instead, you can use the formtemplate CGI parameter to the edit script to specify the name of a form to attach.

See TWikiScripts for information about all the other parameters to edit.

Automatically Generated Topic Names

For TWiki applications it is useful to be able to automatically generate unique topicnames, such as BugID0001, BugID0002, etc. You can add AUTOINC<n> to the topic name in the edit and save scripts, and it will be replaced with an auto-incremented number on topic save. <n> is a number starting from 0, and may include leading zeros. Leading zeros are used to zero-pad numbers so that auto-incremented topic names can sort properly. Deleted topics are not re-used to ensure uniqueness of topic names. That is, the auto-incremented number is always higher than the existing ones, even if there are gaps in the number sequence.

Examples:

• BugAUTOINC0 - creates topic names Bug0, Bug1, Bug2, ... (does not sort properly)
• ItemAUTOINC0000 - creates topic names Item0000, Item0001, Item0002, ... (sorts properly up to 9999)
• DocIDAUTOINC10001 - start with DocID10001, DocID10002, ... (sorts properly up to 99999; auto-links)

Example link to create a new topic:

[[%SCRIPTURLPATH{edit}%/%WEB%/BugIDAUTOINC00001?templatetopic=BugTemplate;topicparent=%TOPIC%;t=%SERVERTIME{"$day$hour$min$sec"}%][Create new item]]

Template Topics in Action

Here is an example for creating new topics (in the Sandbox web) based on a specific template topic and form:

The above form asks for a topic name. A hidden input tag named templatetopic specifies ExampleTopicTemplate as the template topic to use. Here is the HTML source of the form:

<form name="new" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{edit}%/Sandbox/">
   * New example topic: 
     <input type="text" name="topic" value="ExampleTopicAUTOINC0001" size="30" />
     <input type="hidden" name="templatetopic" value="ExampleTopicTemplate" />
     <input type="hidden" name="topicparent" value="%TOPIC%" />
     <input type="hidden" name="onlywikiname" value="on" />
     <input type="hidden" name="onlynewtopic" value="on" />
     <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" value="Create" />
</form>

Note: You can create a topic in one step, without going through the edit screen. To do that, specify the save script instead of the edit script in the form action. When you specify the save script you have to use the "post" method. Example:

<form name="new" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{save}%/Sandbox/" method="post">
    ...
</form>

The edit and save scripts understand many more parameters, see TWikiScripts#edit and TWikiScripts#save for details.

TIP: You can use the %WIKIUSERNAME% and %DATE% variables in your topic templates to include the signature of the person creating a new topic. The variables are expanded into fixed text when a new topic is created. The standard signature is:
-- %WIKIUSERNAME% - %DATE%

Using Absolute vs Relative URLs in Templates

When you use TWikiVariables such as %PUBURL% and %PUBURLPATH% in templates you should be aware that using %PUBURL% instead of %PUBURLPATH% puts absolute URLs in the produced HTML. This means that when a user saves a TWiki page in HTML and emails the file to someone outside a company firewall, the receiver has a severe problem viewing it. It is therefore recommended always to use the %PUBURLPATH% to refer to images, CSS, Javascript files etc so links become relative. This way browsers just give up right away and show a usable html file.

Related Topics: TWikiSkins, TWikiForms, TWikiScripts, DeveloperDocumentationCategory, AdminDocumentationCategory

TWiki Skins

Skins overlay regular templates to give different looks and feels to TWiki screens.

Overview

TWiki uses TWikiTemplates files as the basis of all the screens it uses to interact with users. Each screen has an associated template file that contains the basic layout of the screen. This is then filled in by the code to generate what you see in the browser.

TWiki ships with a default set of template files that give a very basic, CSS-themable, look-and-feel. TWiki also includes support for skins that can be selected to give different, more sophisticated, look and feels. A default TWiki installation will usually start up with the PatternSkin already selected. Skins may also be defined by third parties and loaded into a TWiki installation to give more options. To see how TWiki looks when no skin is selected, view this topic with a non-existant skin.

Topic text is not affected by the choice of skin, though a skin can be defined to use a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet), which can sometimes give a radically different appearance to the text.

Relevant links on TWiki.org:

• TWiki:TWiki.TWikiSkinsSupplement - tip: supplemental documentation on TWiki skins
• TWiki:Plugins.SkinPackage - list of all contributed skin packages
• TWiki:Plugins.SkinDevelopment - discussion and feedback on contributed skins
• TWiki:Plugins.SkinBrainstorming - open forum for new skin ideas
• TWiki:Plugins.SkinPackageHowTo - template to create a new skin package

See other types of extensions: TWikiAddOns, TWikiContribs, TWikiPlugins

Changing the default TWiki skin

TWiki default ships with the skin PatternSkin activated. You can set the skin for the whole site, a single web or topic, or for each user individually, by setting the SKIN variable to the name of a skin. If the skin you select doesn't exist, then TWiki will pick up the default templates.

Defining Skins

You may want to define your own skin, for example to comply with corporate web guidelines, or because you have a aesthetic vision that you want to share. There are a couple of places you can start doing this.

The TWikiTemplates files used for skins are located in the twiki/templates directory and are named according to the skin: <scriptname>.<skin>.tmpl. Skin files may also be defined in TWiki topics - see TWikiTemplates for details.

To start creating a new skin, copy the default TWikiTemplates (like view.tmpl), or copy an existing skin to use as a base for your own skin. You should only need to copy the files you intend to customise, as TWiki can be configured to fall back to another skin if a template is not defined in your skin. Name the files as described above (for example view.myskin.tmpl.

If you use PatternSkin as your starting point, and you want to modify the layout, colors or even the templates to suit your own needs, have a look first at the topics PatternSkinCustomization and PatternSkinCssCookbook.

For your own TWiki skin you are encouraged to show a small 80x31 pixel logo at the bottom of your skin:

<a href="http://twiki.org/"><img src="%PUBURL%/%SYSTEMWEB%/TWikiLogos/T-logo-80x15.gif" alt="This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platform" width="80" height="15" title="This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platform" border="0" /></a>

The standard TWiki skins show the logo in the %WEBCOPYRIGHT% variable.

Note: Two skin names have reserved meanings; text skin, and skin names starting with rss have hard-coded meanings.

The following template files are used for TWiki screens, and are referenced in the TWiki core code. If a skin doesn't define its own version of a template file, then TWiki will fall back to the next skin in the skin path, or finally, to the default version of the template file.

(Certain template files are expected to provide certain TMPL:DEFs - these are listed in sub-bullets)

• addform - used to select a new form for a topic
• attachagain - used when refreshing an existing attachment
• attachnew - used when attaching a new file to a topic
• attachtables - defines the format of attachments at the bottom of the standard topic view
  • ATTACH:files:footer, ATTACH:files:header, ATTACH:files:row, ATTACH:versions:footer, ATTACH:versions:header, ATTACH:versions:row
• changeform - used to change the form in a topic
• changes - used by the changes script
• edit - used for the edit screen
• form
• formtables - used to defined the format of forms
  • FORM:display:footer, FORM:display:header, FORM:display:row
• login - used for loggin in when using the TemplateLoginManager
  • LOG_IN, LOG_IN_BANNER, LOG_OUT, LOGGED_IN_BANNER, NEW_USER_NOTE, UNRECOGNISED_USER
• moveattachment - used when moving an attachment
• oopsaccessdenied - used to format Access Denied messages
  • no_such_topic, no_such_web, only_group, topic_access
• oopsattention - used to format Attention messages
  • already_exists, bad_email, bad_ver_code, bad_wikiname, base_web_missing, confirm, created_web, delete_err, invalid_web_color, invalid_web_name, in_a_group, mandatory_field, merge_notice, missing_action, missing_fields, move_err, missing_action, no_form_def, no_users_to_reset, notwikiuser, oversized_upload, password_changed, password_mismatch, problem_adding, remove_user_done, rename_err, rename_not_wikiword, rename_topic_exists, rename_web_err, rename_web_exists, rename_web_prerequisites, reset_bad, reset_ok, save_error, send_mail_error, thanks, topic_exists, unrecognized_action, upload_name_changed, web_creation_error, web_exists, web_missing, wrong_password, zero_size_upload
• oopschangelanguage - used to prompt for a new language when internationalisation is enabled
• oopsgeneric - a basic dialog for user information; provides "ok" button only
• oopslanguagechanged - used to confirm a new language when internationalisation is enabled
• oopsleaseconflict - used to format lease Conflict messages
  • lease_active, lease_old
• preview - used for previewing edited topics before saving
• rdiff - used for viewing topic differences
• registernotify - used by the user registration system
• registernotifyadmin - used by the user registration system
• rename - used when renaming a topic
• renameconfirm - used when renaming a topic
• renamedelete - used when renaming a topic
• renameweb - used when renaming a web
• renamewebconfirm - used when renaming a web
• renamewebdelete - used when renaming a web
• searchbookview - used to format inline search results in book view
• searchformat - used to format inline search results
• search - used by the search CGI script
• settings
• view - used by the view CGI script
• viewprint - used to create the printable view

twiki.tmpl is a master template conventionally used by other templates, but not used directly by code.

Note: Make sure templates do not end with a newline. Any newline will expand to an empty <p /> in the generated html. It will produce invalid html, and may break the page layout.

Partial customisation, or adding in new features to an existing skin

You can use recusion in the TMPL:INCLUDE chain (eg twiki.classic.tmpl contains %TMPL:INCLUDE{"twiki"}%, the templating system will include the next twiki.SKIN in the skin path. For example, to create a customisation of pattern skin, where you only want to remove the edit & WYSIWYG buttons from view page, you create only a view.yourlocal.tmpl:

%TMPL:INCLUDE{"view"}%
%TMPL:DEF{"edit_topic_link"}%%TMPL:END%
%TMPL:DEF{"edit_wysiwyg_link"}%%TMPL:END%

Because ClassicSkin and the default templates use the same Template definition names, you can over-ride the edit links in them (or any skin derived from them) using the same view.yourlocal.tmpl (just set SKIN=yourlocal,classic either in TWikiPreferences for globally, or a Web's Webname.WebPreferences for a particular web)

Variables in Skins

You can use template variables, TWikiVariables, and other predefined variables to compose your skins. Some commonly used variables in skins:

The Jump Box and Navigation Box

The default skins include a Jump Box, to jump to a topic.

The box also understands URLs, e.g. you can type http://www.google.com/ to jump to an external web site. The feature is handy if you build a skin that has a select box of frequently used links, like Intranet home, employee database, sales database and such. A little JavaScript gets into action on the onchange method of the select tag to fill the selected URL into the "Go" box field, then submits the form.

Here is an example form that has a select box and the Jump Box for illustration purposes. You need to have JavaScript enabled for this to work:

Note: Redirect to a URL only works if it is enabled in configure (Miscellaneous, {AllowRedirectUrl}).

Using Cascading Style Sheets

CSS files are gererally attachments to the skin topic that are included in the the skin templates - in the case of PatternSkin in the template styles.pattern.tmpl.

• To see how CSS is used in the default TWiki skin, see: PatternSkin
• If you write a complete new skin, this is the syntax to use in a template file:

<style type='text/css' media='all'>@import url('%PUBURLPATH%/%SYSTEMWEB%/MySkin/mystyle.css');</style>

Attachment Tables

The format of standard attachment tables is defined through the use of special TWiki template macros which by default, are defined in the attachtables.tmpl template using the %TMPL:DEF macro syntax described in TWikiTemplates. These macros are:

The format of tables of file versions in the Upload screen can also be changed, using the macros:

The ATTACH:row macros are expanded for each file in the attachment table, using the following special tags:

Packaging and Publishing Skins

See TWiki:Plugins/SkinPackagingHowTo and TWiki:Plugins/SkinDeveloperFAQ

Browsing Installed Skins

You can try out all installed skins in the TWikiSkinBrowser.

Activating Skins

TWiki uses a skin search path, which lets you combine skins additively. The skin path is defined using a combination of TWikiVariables and URL parameters.

TWiki works by asking for a template for a particular function - for example, 'view'. The detail of how templates are searched for is described in TWikiTemplates, but in summary, the templates directory is searched for a file called view.skin.tmpl, where skin is the name of the skin e.g. pattern. If no template is found, then the fallback is to use view.tmpl. Each skin on the path is searched for in turn. For example, if you have set the skin path to local,pattern then view.local.tmpl will be searched for first, then view.pattern.tmpl and finally view.tmpl.

The basic skin is defined by a SKIN setting:

• Set SKIN = catskin, bearskin

You can also add a parameter to the URL, such as ?skin=catskin,bearskin:

• https://wiki.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiSkins?skin=catskin,bearskin

Setting SKIN (or the ?skin parameter in the URL) replaces the existing skin path setting, for the current page only. You can also extend the existing skin path as well, using covers.

• Set COVER = ruskin

This pushes a different skin to the front of the skin search path (so for our example above, that final skin path will be ruskin, catskin, bearskin). There is also an equivalent cover URL parameter. The difference between setting SKIN vs. COVER is that if the chosen template is not found (e.g., for included templates), SKIN will fall back onto the next skin in line, or the default skin, if only one skin was present, while COVER will always fall back onto the current skin.

An example would be invoking the printable mode, which is achieved by applying ?cover=print. The view.print.tmpl simply invokes the viewprint template for the current skin which then can appropriately include all other used templates for the current skin. Where the printable mode be applied by using SKIN, all skins would have the same printable appearance.

The full skin path is built up as follows: SKIN setting (or ?skin if it is set), then COVER setting is added, then ?cover.

Hard-Coded Skins

The text skin is reserved for TWiki internal use.

Skin names starting with rss also have a special meaning; if one or more of the skins in the skin path starts with 'rss' then 8-bit characters will be encoded as XML entities in the output, and the content-type header will be forced to text/xml.

Related Topics: TWikiSkinBrowser, AdminDocumentationCategory, DeveloperDocumentationCategory, TWiki:TWiki.TWikiSkinsSupplement

-- Contributors: TWiki:Main.PeterThoeny, TWiki:Main.MikeMannix, TWiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie

TWiki Variables

Special text strings expand on the fly to display user data or system info

TWikiVariables are text strings - %VARIABLE% or %VARIABLE{ parameter="value" }% - that expand into content whenever a topic is rendered for viewing. There are two types of variables:

1. Preferences variables: Can be defined and changed by the user
2. Predefined variables: Defined by the TWiki system or by plugins (for example, the SpreadSheetPlugin introduces a %CALC{}% variable)

Using Variables

To use a variable type its name. For example,

• type %T% to get (a preferences variable)
• type %TOPIC% to get TWikiVariables (a predefined variable)
• type %CALC{ "$UPPER(Text)" }% to get TEXT (a variable defined by a plugin)

Note:

• To leave a variable unexpanded, precede it with an exclamation point, e.g. type !%TOPIC% to get %TOPIC%
• Variables are expanded relative to the topic they are used in, not the topic they are defined in
• Type %ALLVARIABLES% to get a full listing of all variables defined for a particular topic

Variable Names

Variable names must start with a letter. The following characters can be letters, numbers and the underscore '_'. You can use both upper-case and lower-case letters and you can mix the characteres. E.g. %MYVAR%, %MyVar%, %My2ndVar%, and %My_Var% are all valid variable names. Variables are case sensitive. %MyVAR% and %MYVAR% are not the same variable.

By convention all settings, predefined variables and variables used by plugins are always UPPER-CASE.

Preferences Variables

Unlike predefined variables, preferences variables can be defined by the user in various places.

Setting Preferences Variables

You can set variables in all the following places:

1. system level in TWiki.TWikiPreferences
2. plugin topics (see TWikiPlugins)
3. local site level in Main.TWikiPreferences
4. user level in individual user topics in Main web
5. web level in WebPreferences of each web
6. topic level in topics in webs
7. session variables (if sessions are enabled)

Settings at higher-numbered levels override settings of the same variable at lower numbered levels, unless the variable was included in the setting of FINALPREFERENCES at a lower-numbered level, in which case it is locked at the value it has at that level.

If you are setting a variable and using it in the same topic, note that TWiki reads all the variable settings from the saved version of the topic before it displays anything. This means you can use a variable anywhere in the topic, even if you set it somewhere inconspicuous near the end. But beware: it also means that if you change the setting of a variable you are using in the same topic, preview will show the wrong thing, and you must save the topic to see it correctly.

The syntax for setting variables is the same anywhere in TWiki (on its own TWiki bullet line, including nested bullets):
[multiple of 3 spaces] * [space] Set [space] VARIABLENAME [space] = [space] value

Examples:

   * Set VARIABLENAME1 = value
      * Set VARIABLENAME2 = value

Spaces between the = sign and the value will be ignored. You can split a value over several lines by indenting following lines with spaces - as long as you don't try to use * as the first character on the following line.

Example:

   * Set VARIABLENAME = value starts here
     and continues here

Whatever you include in your variable will be expanded on display, exactly as if it had been entered directly.

Example: Create a custom logo variable

• To place a logo anywhere in a web by typing %MYLOGO%, define the Variable on the web's WebPreferences topic, and upload a logo file, ex: mylogo.gif. You can upload by attaching the file to WebPreferences, or, to avoid clutter, to any other topic in the same web, e.g. LogoTopic. Sample variable setting in WebPreferences:

      * Set MYLOGO = %PUBURL%/%WEB%/LogoTopic/mylogo.gif

You can also set preferences variables on a topic by clicking the link Edit topic preference settings under More topic actions. Use the same * Set VARIABLENAME = value syntax. Preferences set in this manner are not visible in the topic text, but take effect nevertheless.

Parameterized Variables (Macros)

It is possible to pass parameters to TWiki variables. This is called a macro in a programming language.

To define a parameterized variable, set a variable that contains other variables, such as:

   * Set EXAMPLE = Example variable using %DEFAULT%, %PARAM1% and %PARAM2%
   * Set DEMO = Demo using %DEFAULT{ default="(undefined)" }%,
                %PARAM1{ default="(undefined)" }% and %PARAM2{ default="(undefined)" }%

A special %DEFAULT% variable denotes the default (nameless) parameter of the calling variable. Variables optionally may list a default="..." parameter that gets used in case the calling variable does not specify that parameter.

To use a parameterized variable (or call a macro), add parameters within the curly brackets, such as:

   * %EXAMPLE{ "foo" PARAM1="bar" PARAM2="baz" }%
   * %DEMO{ "demo" PARAM2="parameter 2" }% -- note that PARAM1 is missing

• %EXAMPLE{ "foo" PARAM1="bar" PARAM2="baz" }%
• %DEMO{ "demo" PARAM2="parameter 2" }% -- note that PARAM1 is missing

Parameters in the variable definition are expanded using the following sequence:

1. Parameter from variable call. In above example, %PARAM1% gets expanded to bar.
2. Session variable and preferences settings

Example

Define variables:

   * Set DRINK = red wine
   * Set FAVORITE = My %DEFAULT{default="favorite"}% dish is %DISH{default="steak"}%,
                    my %DEFAULT{default="favorite"}% drink is %DRINK%.

Use Variables:

%FAVORITE{ DISH="Sushi" DRINK="Sake" }%

%FAVORITE{}%

%FAVORITE{ "preferred" }%

<--
Defined in INCLUDE: 

 Set EXAMPLE = Example variable using favorite, (undefined) and (undefined)
 
 Set DEMO = Demo using favorite,                (undefined) and (undefined)
 
 Set DRINK = red wine
 
 Set FAVORITE = My favorite dish is steak,                    my favorite drink is %DRINK%.
 
-->

Access Control Variables

These are special types of preferences variables to control access to content. TWikiAccessControl explains these security settings in detail.

Local values for variables

Certain topics (a users home topic, web site and default preferences topics) have a problem; variables defined in those topics can have two meanings. For example, consider a user topic. A user may want to use a double-height edit box when they are editing their home topic - but only when editing their home topic. The rest of the time, they want to have a normal edit box. This separation is achieved using Local in place of Set in the variable definition. For example, if the user sets the following in their home topic:

   * Set EDITBOXHEIGHT = 10
   * Local EDITBOXHEIGHT = 20

Use this powerful feature with great care! %ALLVARIABLES% can be used to get a listing of the values of all variables in their evaluation order, so you can see variable scope if you get confused.

Frequently Used Preferences Variables

The following preferences variables are frequently used. They are defined in TWikiPreferences#Miscellaneous_Settings:

• %BB% - line break and bullet combined
• %BB2% - level 2 bullet with line break
• %BB3% - level 3 bullet with line break
• %BB4% - level 4 bullet with line break
• %BR% - line break
• %BULLET% - bullet sign
• %CARET% - caret symbol
• %VBAR% - vertical bar
• %H% - Help icon
• %I% - Idea icon
• %M% - Moved to icon
• %N% - New icon
• %P% - Refactor icon
• %Q% - Question icon
• %S% - Pick icon
• %T% - Tip icon
• %U% - Updated icon
• %X% - Alert icon
• %Y% - Done icon
• %RED% text %ENDCOLOR% - colored text (also %YELLOW%, %ORANGE%, %PINK%, %PURPLE%, %TEAL%, %NAVY%, %BLUE%, %AQUA%, %LIME%, %GREEN%, %OLIVE%, %MAROON%, %BROWN%, %BLACK%, %GRAY%, %SILVER%, %WHITE%)
• %REDBG% text %ENDBG% - colored background (also %YELLOWBG%, %ORANGEBG%, %PINKBG%, %PURPLEBG%, %TEALBG%, %NAVYBG%, %BLUEBG%, %AQUABG%, %LIMEBG%, %GREENBG%, %OLIVEBG%, %MAROONBG%, %BROWNBG%, %BLACKBG%, %GRAYBG%, %SILVERBG%, %WHITEBG%)

There are additional useful preferences variables defined in TWikiPreferences, in Main.TWikiPreferences, and in WebPreferences of every web.

Predefined Variables

Most predefined variables return values that were either set in the configuration when TWiki was installed, or taken from server info (such as current username, or date and time). Some, like %SEARCH%, are powerful and general tools.

• Predefined variables can be overridden by preferences variables (except TOPIC and WEB)
• Plugins may extend the set of predefined variables (see individual plugin topics for details)
• Take the time to thoroughly read through ALL preference variables. If you actively configure your site, review variables periodically. They cover a wide range of functions, and it can be easy to miss the one perfect variable for something you have in mind. For example, see %INCLUDINGTOPIC%, %INCLUDE%, and the mighty %SEARCH%.

Search predefined variables

List of all predefined variables

This TWiki: - TWiki-6.1.0, Mon, 16 Jul 2018, build 30610

ACTIVATEDPLUGINS -- list of currently activated plugins

• Syntax: %ACTIVATEDPLUGINS%
• Expands to: SpreadSheetPlugin, BackupRestorePlugin, ColorPickerPlugin, CommentPlugin, DatePickerPlugin, EditTablePlugin, HeadlinesPlugin, InterwikiPlugin, JQueryPlugin, PreferencesPlugin, RedirectPlugin, SetGetPlugin, SlideShowPlugin, SmiliesPlugin, TWikiSheetPlugin, TablePlugin, TagMePlugin, TinyMCEPlugin, TwistyPlugin, WatchlistPlugin, WysiwygPlugin
• Related: PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS, FAILEDPLUGINS, PLUGINVERSION, TWikiPlugins, InstalledPlugins

ADDTOHEAD -- add HTML to the HTML head section of the current page

• Useful for TWiki applications to add custom CSS or JavaScript to the HTML head section of a topic. Supplied TWiki variables will be expanded. %ADDTOHEAD{}% expands in-place to an empty string, unless there is an error in which case the variable expands to an error string.
• Syntax: %ADDTOHEAD{ "..." text="..." }%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Comment:
  "..."	ID of the head block, such as "MY_CSS"	Optional but recommended
  text="..."	HTML text to add to the head section	Mutually exclusive with topic=""
  topic="Web.TopicName"	Name of topic that contains the full HTML text to add to the head section, such as topic="Main.MyCssTopic"	Mutually exclusive with text=""
  requires="..., ..."	Comma-separated list of other IDs this one depends on	Optional

• Example: %ADDTOHEAD{ "MYBOX_CSS" text="<style type=\"text/css\"> .myBox { height: 22px; background-color: #AFB3C5; } </style>" }%

ALLVARIABLES -- list of currently defined TWikiVariables

• Syntax: %ALLVARIABLES%
• Expands to: a table showing all defined TWikiVariables in the current context

AQUA -- start aqua colored text

• AQUA is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %AQUA% aqua text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: aqua text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

ATTACHURL -- full URL for attachments in the current topic

• Syntax: %ATTACHURL%
• Expands to: https://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/TWiki/VarATTACHURL
• Example: If you attach a file you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif
• Related: ATTACHURLPATH, PUBURL, PUBURLPATH, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH, FileAttachments

ATTACHURLPATH -- path of the attachment URL of the current topic

• Syntax: %ATTACHURLPATH%
• Expands to: /internal/TWiki/VarATTACHURLPATH
• Related: ATTACHURL, PUBURL, PUBURLPATH, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH, FileAttachments

AUTHREALM -- authentication realm

• String defined as {AuthRealm} in configure. This is used in certain password encodings, and in login templates as part of the login prompt.
• Syntax: %AUTHREALM%
• Expands to: Enter your LoginName. (Typically First name and last name, no space, no dots, capitalized, e.g. JohnSmith, unless you chose otherwise). Visit TWikiRegistration if you do not have one.
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, LOGIN, LOGOUT, SESSION_VARIABLE

BASETOPIC -- base topic where an INCLUDE started

• The name of the topic where a single or nested INCLUDE started - same as %TOPIC% if there is no INCLUDE
• Syntax: %BASETOPIC%
• Related: BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDE, TOPIC

BASEWEB -- base web where an INCLUDE started

• The web name where the includes started, e.g. the web of the first topic of nested includes. Same as %WEB% in case there is no include.
• Syntax: %BASEWEB%
• Syntax: %BASEWEB{format="..."}% -- see WEB for format documentation
• Related: BASETOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, INCLUDE, WEB

BB -- bullet with line break

• Line break and bullet without indentation.
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BB%
• Expands to:
  •
• Related: BB2, BB3, BB4, BR, BULLET, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

BB2 -- level 2 bullet with line break

• Line break and bullet, level 2.
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BB2%
• Expands to:
    •
• Related: BB, BB3, BB4, BR, BULLET, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

BB3 -- level 3 bullet with line break

• Line break and bullet, level 3.
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BB3%
• Expands to:
      •
• Related: BB, BB2, BB4, BR, BULLET, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

BB4 -- level 4 bullet with line break

• Line break and bullet, level 4.
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BB4%
• Expands to:
        •
• Related: BB, BB2, BB3, BR, BULLET, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

BLACK -- start black colored text

• BLACK is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %BLACK% black text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: black text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

BLUE -- start blue colored text

• BLUE is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %BLUE% blue text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: blue text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

BR -- line break

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BR%
• Expands to:
  
• Related: BB, BB2, BB3, BB4, BULLET, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

BROWN -- start brown colored text

• BROWN is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %BROWN% brown text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: brown text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

BULLET -- bullet sign

• Bullet sign, useful to create a bullet list in a TWiki table, such as | %BULLET% One %BB% Two %BB% Three |
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %BULLET%
• Expands to: •
• Related: BB, BB2, BB3, BB4, BR, CARET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

CALC{"formula"} -- add spreadsheet calculations to tables and outside tables

• The %CALC{"formula"}% variable is handled by the SpreadSheetPlugin. There are around 80 formulae, such as $ABS(), $EXACT(), $EXISTS(), $GET()/$SET(), $IF(), $LOG(), $LOWER(), $PERCENTILE(), $TIME(), $VALUE().
• Syntax: %CALC{"formula"}%
• Examples:
  • %CALC{"$SUM($ABOVE())"}% returns the sum of all cells above the current cell
  • %CALC{"$EXISTS(Web.SomeTopic)"}% returns 1 if the topic exists
  • %CALC{"$UPPER(Collaboration)"}% returns COLLABORATION
• Related: IF, IfStatements, SpreadSheetPlugin

CARET -- caret symbol

• The caret variable can be used in TWiki tables.
• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %CARET%
• Expands to: ^
• Related: BB, BB2, BB3, BB4, BR, BULLET, VBAR, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts

COMMENT{ attributes } -- insert an edit box into the topic to easily add comments.

• A %COMMENT% without parameters shows a simple text box.
• A %COMMENT{}% can handle the following parameters:

  Parameter	Description	Default
  type	This is the name of the template to use for this comment. Comment templates are defined in a TWiki template - see customization. If this attribute is not defined, the type is whatever is defined by COMMENTPLUGIN_DEFAULT_TYPE, either in this topic or in your WebPreferences.	"below"
  default	Default text to put into the textarea of the prompt.
  target	Name of the topic to add the comment to	the current topic
  location	Regular expression specifying the comment location in the target topic. Read carefully the CommentPlugin documentation!
  mode	For compatibility with older versions only, synonymous with type
  nonotify	Set to "on" to disable change notification for target topics	"off"
  noform	Set to "on" to disable the automatic form that encloses your comment block - remember to insert <form> tags yourself! See CommentPluginExamples#noform for an example.	"off"
  nopost	Set to "on" to disable insertion of the posted text into the topic.	"off"
  remove	Set to "on" to remove the comment prompt after the first time it is clicked.	"off"
  button	Button label text	"Add comment"

• See CommentPlugin for more information
• Related: HIDE, TWikiForms

DATE -- signature format date

• Syntax: %DATE%
• Expands to: 2025-05-09
• Date format defined as {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day
• Note: When used in a template topic, this variable will be expanded when the template is used to create a new topic. See TWikiTemplates#TemplateTopicsVars for details.
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME{"format"}, SERVERTIME

DISPLAYTIME -- display date and time

• Syntax: %DISPLAYTIME%
• Expands to: 2025-05-09 - 02:52
• Date part of the format is displayed as defined by the {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day. The time is shown as hh:mm (24 hour clock)
• Related: DISPLAYTIME{"format"}, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

DISPLAYTIME{"format"} -- formatted display time

• Formatted time - either GMT or Local server time, depending on {DisplayTimeValues} setting in configure, default $year-$mo-$day. Same format qualifiers as %GMTIME%
• Syntax: %DISPLAYTIME{"format"}%
• Supported variables: $seconds, $minutes, $hours, $day, $wday, $dow, $month, $mo, $year, $ye, $tz, $iso, $rcs, $http, $epoch
• Example: %DISPLAYTIME{"$hou:$min"}% expands to 02:52
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

EDITACTION -- Selects an edit template

• EDITACTION defined in a topic or preference setting will define the use of an editaction template instead of the standard edit. If EDITACTION is defined as text, then hide the form. If EDITACTION is defined as form hide the normal text area and only edit the form.
• Syntax: Set EDITACTION = text|form
• Expands to: %EDITACTION%
• Related: TWikiScripts#edit
• When EDITACTION is defined as text or form the Edit and Edit Raw buttons simply add ;action=text or ;action=form to the URL for the edit script. If you have defined EDITACTION in a topic setting or preference setting you can still edit the topic content or the form by removing the ;action=form or ;action=text from the edit URL in the browser and reload.

EDITTABLE{ attributes } -- edit TWiki tables using edit fields and other input fields

• The %EDITTABLE{}% variable is handled by the EditTablePlugin
• Syntax: %EDITTABLE{ attributes }%

• Supported attributes:

  Attribute	Comment	Default
  header	Specify the header format of a new table like "|*Food*|*Drink*|". Useful to start a table with only a button	(no header)
  format	The format of one column when editing the table. A cell can be a text input field, or any of these edit field types: • Text input field (1 line):   | text, <size>, <initial value> | • Textarea input field:   | textarea, <rows>x<columns>, <initial value> | • Drop down box:   | select, <size>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc* |   * only one item can be selected • Radio buttons:   | radio, <size*>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc |   * size indicates the number of buttons per line in edit mode • Checkboxes:   | checkbox, <size*>, <option 1>, <option 2>, etc |   * size indicates the number of checkboxes per line in edit mode • Fixed label:   | label, 0, <label text> | • Row number:   | row, <offset> | • Date:   | date, <size>, <initial value>, <DHTML date format*> |   * see Date Field Type	"text, 16" for all cells
  changerows	Rows can be added and removed if "on" Rows can be added but not removed if "add" Rows cannot be added or removed if "off"	CHANGEROWS plugin setting
  quietsave	Quiet Save button is shown if "on", hidden if "off"	QUIETSAVE plugin setting
  include	Other topic defining the EDITTABLE parameters. The first %EDITTABLE% in the topic is used. This is useful if you have many topics with the same table format and you want to update the format in one place.	(none)
  helptopic	Topic name containing help text shown below the table when editing a table. The %STARTINCLUDE% and %STOPINCLUDE% variables can be used in the topic to specify what is shown.	(no help text)
  headerislabel	Table header cells are read-only (labels) if "on"; header cells can be edited if "off" or "0"	"on"
  editbutton	Set edit button text, e.g. "Edit this table"; set button image with alt text, e.g. "Edit table, %PUBURL%/%SYSTEMWEB%/TWikiDocGraphics/edittopic.gif"; hide edit button at the end of the table with "hide" (Note: Button is automatically hidden if an edit button is present in a cell)	EDITBUTTON plugin setting
  buttonrow	Set to top to put the edit buttons above the table.	bottom
  javascriptinterface	Use javascript to directly move and delete row without page refresh. Enable with "on", disable with "off".	JAVASCRIPTINTERFACE plugin setting

• Example:
  %EDITTABLE{ format="| text, 20 | select, 1, one, two, three |" changerows="on" }%
| *Name* | *Type* |
| Foo | two |
• Related: See EditTablePlugin for more details

ENCODE{"string"} -- encodes a string to HTML entities

• Encode "special" characters to HTML numeric entities. Encoded characters are:
  • all non-printable ASCII characters below space, except newline ("\n") and linefeed ("\r")
  • HTML special characters "<", ">", "&", single quote (') and double quote (")
  • TWiki special characters "%", "[", "]", "@", "_", "*", "=" and "|"
• Syntax: %ENCODE{"string"}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "string"	String to encode	required (can be empty)
  type="url"	Encode special characters for URL parameter use, like a double quote into %22	(this is the default)
  type="quotes"	Escape double quotes with backslashes (\"), does not change other characters. This type does not protect against cross-site scripting.	type="url"
  type="moderate"	Encode special characters into HTML entities for moderate cross-site scripting protection: "<", ">", single quote (') and double quote (") are encoded. Useful to allow TWiki variables in comment boxes.	type="url"
  type="safe"	Encode special characters into HTML entities for cross-site scripting protection: "<", ">", "%", single quote (') and double quote (") are encoded.	type="url"
  type="entity"	Encode special characters into HTML entities, like a double quote into &#034;. Does not encode newline (\n) or linefeed (\r).	type="url"
  type="html"	Encode special characters into HTML entities. In addition to type="entity", it also encodes space, \n and \r. Useful to encode text properly in HTML input fields.	type="url"

• Example: %ENCODE{"spaced name"}% expands to spaced%20name
• Notes:
  • Values of HTML input fields should encoded as "html".
    Example: <input type="text" name="address" value="%ENCODE{ "any text" type="html" }%" />
  • Double quotes in strings must be escaped when passed into other TWiki variables.
    Example: %SEARCH{ "%ENCODE{ "string with "quotes"" type="quotes" }%" noheader="on" }%
  • Use type="moderate", type="safe" or type="entity" to protect user input from URL parameters and external sources against cross-site scripting (XSS). type="entity" is the safest mode, but some TWiki applications might not work. type="safe" provides a safe middle ground, type="moderate" provides only moderate cross-site scripting protection.

• Related: FORMFIELD, QUERYPARAMS, URLPARAM

ENDBG -- end background color section

• ENDBG is a rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of background colors.
• Syntax: %REDBG% red background %ENDBG%
• Expands to:
  red background
• Note: %<color>BG% section must end with %ENDBG%. If you want to switch from one background color to another one you first need to end the active background color with %ENDBG%, such as %REDBG% some text %ENDBG% %GREENBG% more text %ENDBG%.
• Related: VarENDCOLOR, VarREDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

ENDCOLOR -- end colored text

• ENDCOLOR is a rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %RED% red text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: red text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: VarENDBG, VarAQUA, VarBLACK, VarBLUE, VarBROWN, VarGRAY, VarGREEN, VarLIME, VarMAROON, VarNAVY, VarOLIVE, VarORANGE, VarPINK, VarPURPLE, VarRED, VarSILVER, VarTEAL, VarWHITE, VarYELLOW, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

ENDSECTION{"name"} -- marks the end of a named section within a topic

• Syntax: %ENDSECTION{"name"}%
• Syntax: %ENDSECTION{type="include"}%
• Syntax: %ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}%
• Syntax: %ENDSECTION{type="expandvariables"}%
• Supported parameter:

  Parameter:	Description:
  "name"	Name of the section.
  type="..."	Type of the section being terminated; supported types "section", "include", "templateonly", "expandvariables"

• If the STARTSECTION is named, the corresponding ENDSECTION must also be named with the same name. If the STARTSECTION specifies a type, then the corresponding ENDSECTION must also specify the same type. If the section is unnamed, ENDSECTION will match with the nearest unnamed %STARTSECTION% of the same type above it.
• Related: ENDSECTION, INCLUDE, STARTINCLUDE, STARTSECTION, STOPINCLUDE

ENV{"varname"} -- inspect the value of an environment variable

• Returns the current value of the environment variable in the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) environment. This is the environment that the TWiki scripts run in on the web server.
• Note: For security reasons, only those variables whose names match the regular expression in {AccessibleENV} in the Security Settings/Miscellaneous section of configure can be displayed. Any other variable will just be shown as an empty string, irrespective of its real value.
• Example: %ENV{MOD_PERL}% displays as: not set
• If a variable is undefined (as against being set to the empty string) it will be returned as not set.
• Related: HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER

EXAMPLEVAR -- example variable

• The %EXAMPLEVAR{}% variable is handled by the EmptyPlugin
• Syntax: %EXAMPLEVAR{"text" format="..."}%
• Parameter text="..." - example text.
• Parameter format="..." - format of report.
• Example: %EXAMPLEVAR{"hello" format="| $topic: $summary |"}%
• Related: EmptyPlugin

FAILEDPLUGINS -- debugging for plugins that failed to load, and handler list

• Syntax: %FAILEDPLUGINS%
• Expands to: See TWikiPlugins#FAILEDPLUGINS
• Related: PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS, ACTIVATEDPLUGINS, PLUGINVERSION, TWikiPlugins, InstalledPlugins

FORMFIELD{"fieldname"} -- renders a field in the form attached to some topic

• Syntax: %FORMFIELD{"fieldname"}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "fieldname"	The name of a TWiki form field	required
  topic="..."	Topic where form data is located. May be of the form Web.TopicName	Current topic
  format="..."	Format string. Variable $value expands to the field value, $title to the raw field name, $name to the field name, $attributes to the attributes, $type to the form field type, $size to the size, and $definingTopic to the form definition topic.	"$value"
  default="..."	Text shown when no value is defined for the field	""
  alttext="..."	Text shown when field is not found in the form	""
  newline="$br"	Convert newlines in textarea to other delimiters. Variable $br expands to <br /> tag, and $n to a newline. Other text is encoded based on encode parameter.	no conversion
  encode="html"	Encode special characters into HTML entities. If a FORMFIELD is passed into an HTML form field it should be encoded as "html". Additional encodings available: encode="quote", encode="moderate", encode="safe", encode="entity" and encode="url". See ENCODE for details.	"" (no encoding)

• Example: %FORMFIELD{"ProjectName" topic="Projects.SushiProject" default="(not set)" alttext="ProjectName field not found"}%
• Example: <input type="text" name="Address" value="%FORMFIELD{ "Address" encode="html" }%" />
• Related: ENCODE, METASEARCH, SEARCH, FormattedSearch, QuerySearch, SearchHelp

GET{"name"} -- get a variable

• Get the value of a named variable, previously set with %SET{}%. The %SET{}% and %GET{}% variables are handled by the SetGetPlugin.
• Syntax: %GET{ "name" default="..." }%
• Supported attributes:

  Attribute	Comment	Default
  "name"	Name of variable.	(required)
  default="..."	Text shown if variable is not found.	"" (empty string)

• Example: %GET{"lunch"}% returns Sushi if the following has been previously set:
  %SET{ "lunch" value="Sushi" default="undecided" }% - see more examples
• Related: IF, SET, SETGETDUMP, SetGetPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin#FuncGET

GMTIME -- GM time

• Syntax: %GMTIME%
• Expands to: 2025-05-09 - 02:52
• Date format defined as {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day
• Note: When used in a template topic, this variable will be expanded when the template is used to create a new topic. See TWikiTemplates#TemplateTopicsVars for details.
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME{"format"}, SERVERTIME

GMTIME{"format"} -- formatted GM time

• Syntax: %GMTIME{"format"}%
• Supported variables:

  Variable:	Unit:	Example
  $seconds	seconds	59
  $minutes	minutes	59
  $hours	hours	23
  $day	day of month	31
  $wday	day of the Week (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat)	Thu
  $dow	day of the week (Sun = 0)	2
  $week	number of week in year (ISO 8601)	34
  $month	short name of month	Dec
  $mo	2 digit month	12
  $year	4 digit year	1999
  $ye	2 digit year	99
  $tz	either "GMT" (if set to gmtime), or offset such as "-0700" (if set to servertime)	GMT
  $iso	ISO format timestamp	2025-05-09T02:52:21Z
  $rcs	RCS format timestamp	2025/05/09 02:52:21
  $http	E-mail & http format timestamp	Fri, 09 May 2025 02:52:21 GMT
  $epoch	Number of seconds since 00:00 on 1st January, 1970	1746759141

• Variables can be shortened to 3 characters
• Example: %GMTIME{"$day $month, $year - $hour:$min:$sec"}% expands to 09 May, 2025 - 02:52:21
• Note: When used in a template topic, this variable will be expanded when the template is used to create a new topic. See TWikiTemplates#TemplateTopicsVars for details.
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, REVINFO, SERVERTIME

GRAY -- start gray colored text

• GRAY is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %GRAY% gray text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: gray text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

GREEN -- start green colored text

• GREEN is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %GREEN% green text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: green text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

GROUPS -- a formatted list of groups

• Expands to a formatted list of user groups in your TWiki.
• Syntax: %GROUPS%
• The variable is intended to be used in TWikiGroups, to allow a group listing for various user mapping managers.
• Related: REMOTE_USER, USERINFO, USERNAME, WIKIUSERNAME, WIKIUSERSTOPIC

H -- help icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %H%
• Expands to:
• Related: I, ICON, M, N, P, Q, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

HEADLINES{"url"} -- show RSS and ATOM feeds in TWiki pages

• The %HEADLINES{"url"}% variable is handled by the HeadlinesPlugin.
• Syntax: %HEADLINES{ "http://..." }%
• Parameters: (all but the first one are optional)

  "..."	Source of RSS or ATOM feed; this can be a URL (starting with http) or a web.topic location for internal feeds
  refresh="60"	Refresh rate in minutes for caching feed; "0" for no caching
  limit="12"	Maximum number of items shown
  header="..."	Header. May include these variables: - $channeltitle, $title: title of channel (channel.title) - $channellink, $link: link of channel (channel.link) - $channeldescription, $description: description (channel.description) - $channeldate, $date: publication date of the channel (channel.pubDate) - $rights: copyrights of the channel (channel.copyright) - $imagetitle: title text for site (image.title) - $imagelink: link for site (image.link) - $imageurl: URL of image (image.url) - $imagedescription: description of image (image.description)
  format="..."	Format of one item. May include these variables: - $title: news item title (item.title) - $link: news item link (item.link) - $description: news item description (item.description) - $date: the publication date (item.pubDate, item.date) - $category: the article category (item.category)
  Details

• Example: %HEADLINES{ "http://slashdot.org/slashdot.rdf" header="*[[$link][$title]]:* $description" format="$t* [[$link][$title]]" limit="4" }% shows the latest Slashdot news in bullet list format
• Related: HeadlinesPlugin

HIDE -- hide content in topic view

• Text inside the HIDE is removed when viewing the topic. This can be used to remove large amounts of text from being sent to the browser, such as the user list in Main.TWikiUsers if there are many thousands of users.
• Syntax: %HIDE{ any text }%
• Expands to: (empty string)
• Notes:
  • Using HIDE is not a replacement for access control, because edit and raw view still show the content.
  • Variables inside HIDE still get expanded because variables execute inside out, e.g. you can't use it to speed up slow variables.
  • <!-- HTML comments --> also hide content from the user, but unlike HIDE, HTML comments are sent to the browser.
• Related: NOP, STARTINCLUDE

HOMETOPIC -- home topic in each web

• Syntax: %HOMETOPIC%
• Expands to: WebHome, renders as WebHome
• Related: NOTIFYTOPIC, STATISTICSTOPIC, TOPIC

HTTP -- get HTTP headers

• Called with the name of an HTTP header field, returns its value. Capitalization and the use of hyphens versus underscores are not significant.
• Syntax: %HTTP%
• Syntax: %HTTP{"Header-name"}%
• Examples:

  %HTTP%
  %HTTP{"Accept-language"}%
  %HTTP{"User-Agent"}%	Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)

• Note: You can see the HTTP headers your browser sends to the server on a number of sites e.g. http://www.ericgiguere.com/tools/http-header-viewer.html
• Related: HTTPS, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER

HTTP_HOST -- environment variable

• Syntax: %HTTP_HOST%
• Expands to: wiki.ivoa.net
• Related: ENV, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER

HTTPS -- get HTTPS headers

• The same as %HTTP% but operates on the HTTPS environment variables present when the SSL protocol is in effect. Can be used to determine whether SSL is turned on.
• Syntax: %HTTPS%
• Syntax: %HTTPS{"Header-name"}%
• Related: HTTP, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER

I -- idea icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %I%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, ICON, M, N, P, Q, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

ICON{"name"} -- small documentation graphic or icon of common attachment types

• Generates the HTML img tag of a small graphic image attached to TWikiDocGraphics. Images typically have a 16x16 pixel size. You can select a specific image by name, or you can give a full file path or URL, in which case the type of the file will be used to select one of a collection of common file type icons.
• Syntax: %ICON{"name"}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "name"	Name of icon	required
  format="..."	Format of icon. Supported variables (with %ICON{"person"}% example): • $name - name of icon (person) • $type - type of icon (gif) • $filename - icon filename (person.gif) • $web - web where icon is defined (TWiki) • $topic - topic where icon is defined (TWikiDocGraphics) • $description - icon description (Person) • $width - width of icon ('16') • $height - height of icon ('16') • $img - full img tag of icon (<img src="... />) • $info - icon tag with usage info in title • $url - URL of icon (http://example.com/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/person.gif) • $urlpath - URL path of icon (/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/person.gif)	format="$img"
  default="else"	Alternate icon if named icon is not defined	default="$name"

• Examples:
  • %ICON{"flag-gray"}% returns:
  • %ICON{"pdf"}% returns:
  • %ICON{"smile.pdf"}% returns:
  • %ICON{"/home/sweet/home.pdf"}% returns:
  • %ICON{"http://twiki.org/doc/xhtml.xsl"}% returns:
  • %ICON{"bubble" format="$description icon is defined in $web.$topic"}% returns: Speech bubble icon is defined in TWikiDocGraphics
• Graphic samples: arrowbright, bubble, choice-yes, hand
• File type samples: bmp, doc, gif, hlp, html, mp3, pdf, ppt, txt, xls, xml, zip
• Related: ICONURL, ICONURLPATH, TWikiPreferences, FileAttachments, TWikiDocGraphics

ICONURL{"name"} -- URL of small documentation graphic or icon

• Generates the full URL of a TWikiDocGraphics image, which TWiki renders as an image. The related %ICON{"name"}% generates the full HTML img tag. Specify image name or full filename (see ICON for details on filenames.)
• Syntax: %ICONURL{"name"}%
• Examples:
  • %ICONURL{"arrowbright"}% returns https://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/arrowbright.gif
  • %ICONURL{"novel.pdf"}% returns https://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/pdf.gif
  • %ICONURL{"/queen/boheme.mp3"}% returns https://wiki.ivoa.net/internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/wav.gif
• Related: ICONURLPATH, ICON, TWikiPreferences, FileAttachments, TWikiDocGraphics

ICONURLPATH{"name"} -- URL path of small documentation graphic or icon

• Generates the URL path of a TWikiDocGraphics image, typically used in an HTML img tag. Specify image name or full filename (see ICON for details on filenames.)
• Syntax: %ICONURLPATH{"name"}%
• Examples:
  • %ICONURLPATH{"locktopic"}% returns /internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/locktopic.gif
  • %ICONURLPATH{"eggysmell.xml"}% returns /internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/xml.gif
  • %ICONURLPATH{"/doc/xhtml.xsl"}% returns /internal/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/xsl.gif
• Related: ICONURL, ICON, TWikiPreferences, FileAttachments, TWikiDocGraphics

IF{"condition" ...} -- simple conditionals

• Evaluate a condition and show one text or another based on the result. See details in IfStatements
• Syntax: %IF{"CONDITION" then="THEN" else="ELSE"}% shows "THEN" if "CONDITION" evaluates to TRUE, otherwise "ELSE" will be shown
• Example: %IF{"defined FUNFACTOR" then="FUNFACTOR is defined" else="FUNFACTOR is not defined"}% renders as FUNFACTOR is not defined
• Related: GET, SET, IfStatements, $IF() of SpreadSheetPlugin, QuerySearch

INCLUDE{"page"} -- include other topic or web page

• Merges the content of a specified page into the current one before rendering.
• Syntax: %INCLUDE{"page" ...}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "SomeTopic"	The name of a topic located in the current web, i.e. %INCLUDE{"WebNotify"}%
  "Web.Topic"	A topic in another web, i.e. %INCLUDE{"TWiki.SiteMap"}%
  "http://..."	A full qualified URL, i.e. %INCLUDE{"http://twiki.org:80/index.html"}%. Supported content types are text/html and text/plain. if the URL resolves to an attachment file on the server this will automatically translate to a server-side include.
  pattern="..."	Include a subset of a topic or a web page. Specify a RegularExpression that scans from start ('^') to end and contains the text you want to keep in parenthesis, e.g., pattern="^.*?(from here.*?to here).*". IncludeTopicsAndWebPages has more.	none
  headingoffset="2"	Adjust the level of headings in the included topic. A "2" or "+2" increases the level by two, e.g. a ---+ H1 turns into a ---+++ H3. Positive and negative values are supported. Adjusted min and max levels are H1 and H6, respectively.	no adjustment
  hidetoc="on"	Remove %TOC% in included content. Useful to show table of contents in individual topics, while suppressing them if included in a big master document.	TOC_HIDE_IF_ INCLUDED setting
  rev="2"	Include a previous topic revision; N/A for URLs	top revision
  raw="on"	When a page is included, normally TWiki will process it, doing the following: 1) Alter relative links to point back to originating host, 2) Remove some basic HTML tags (html, head, body, script) and finally 3) Remove newlines from HTML tags spanning multiple lines. If you prefer to include exactly what is in the source of the originating page set this to on. raw="on" is short for disableremoveheaders="on", disableremovescript="on", disableremovebody="on", disablecompresstags="on" and disablerewriteurls="on".	disabled
  literal="on"	While using the raw option will indeed include the raw content, the included content will still be processed and rendered like regular topic content. To disable parsing of the included content, set the literal option to "on".	disabled
  disableremoveheaders="on"	Bypass stripping headers from included HTML (everything until first </head> tag)	disabled
  disableremovescript="on"	Bypass stripping all <script> tags from included HTML	disabled
  disableremovebody="on"	Bypass stripping the </body> tag and everything around over and below it	disabled
  disablecompresstags="on"	Bypass replacing newlines in HTML tags with spaces. This compression step rewrites unmatched <'s into &lt; entities unless bypassed	disabled
  disablerewriteurls="on"	Bypass rewriting relative URLs into absolute ones	disabled
  warn="off"	Warn if topic include fails: Fail silently (if off); output default warning (if set to on); else, output specific text (use $topic for topic name)	%INCLUDEWARNING% preferences setting
  section="name"	Includes only the specified named section, as defined in the included topic by the STARTSECTION and ENDSECTION variables. Nothing is shown if the named section does not exists. section="" is equivalent to not specifying a section
  PARAMONE="val 1" PARAMTWO="val 2"	Any other parameter will be defined as a variable within the scope of the included topic. The example parameters on the left will result in %PARAMONE% and %PARAMTWO% being defined within the included topic. A default value for a variable can be specified in the included topic in case the corresponding parameter is not specified, such as %PARAMONE{ default="..." }%

• Security Considerations:
  • The ability to INCLUDE arbitrary URLs, such as %INCLUDE{"http://www.google.com/"}% is turned off by default. To turn this on, ask your TWiki administrator to enable the {INCLUDE}{AllowURLs} flag in the Security setup section of configure.
  • JavaScript in included web pages is filtered out as a security precaution per default. Disable filtering with raw or disableremovescript parameter.
• Examples: See IncludeTopicsAndWebPages
• Related: BASETOPIC, BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, STARTINCLUDE, STOPINCLUDE, STARTSECTION, ENDSECTION, TOC, IncludeTopicsAndWebPages, ParameterizedVariables

INCLUDINGTOPIC -- name of topic that includes current topic

• The name of the topic that includes the current topic - same as %TOPIC% in case there is no include
• Syntax: %INCLUDINGTOPIC%
• Related: BASETOPIC, INCLUDINGWEB, INCLUDE, TOPIC

INCLUDINGWEB -- web that includes current topic

• The web name of the topic that includes the current topic - same as %WEB% if there is no INCLUDE.
• Syntax: %INCLUDINGWEB%
• Syntax: %INCLUDINGWEB{format="..."}% -- see WEB for format documentation
• Related: BASEWEB, INCLUDINGTOPIC, INCLUDE, WEB

JQENDTAB -- end a JQuery tab within a tab pane

• This variable is handled by the JQueryPlugin. For description see JQTABPANE
• Syntax: %JQTABPANE% %JQTAB{"Tab 1}% ... %JQENDTAB% %JQTAB{"Tab 2}% ... %JQENDTAB% ... %JQENDTABPANE%
• Example: See JQTABPANE
• Related: JQENDTABPANE, JQTAB, JQTABPANE, JQueryPlugin

JQENDTABPANE -- end a JQuery tab pane

• This variable is handled by the JQueryPlugin. For description see JQTABPANE
• Syntax: %JQTABPANE% %JQTAB{"Tab 1}% ... %JQENDTAB% %JQTAB{"Tab 2}% ... %JQENDTAB% ... %JQENDTABPANE%
• Example: See JQTABPANE
• Related: JQENDTAB, JQTAB, JQTABPANE, JQueryPlugin

JQTAB -- start a JQuery tab within a tab pane

• This variable is handled by the JQueryPlugin. For description see JQTABPANE
• Syntax: %JQTABPANE% %JQTAB{"Tab 1}% ... %JQENDTAB% %JQTAB{"Tab 2}% ... %JQENDTAB% ... %JQENDTABPANE%
• Supported parameter:

  Parameter:	Description:	Comment:
  "..."	Name of tab, shown as tab label	Required, no default

• Example: See JQTABPANE
• Related: JQENDTAB, JQENDTABPANE, JQTABPANE, JQueryPlugin

JQTABPANE -- start a JQuery tab pane

• Create nice looking horizontal tab panes in TWiki topics. Write a sequence of %JQTAB{"..."}% and %JQENDTAB% pairs, and enclose them in %JQTABPANE% and %JQENDTABPANE%. Tab panes can be nested, e.g. within one tab you can add another tab pane. These variable are handled by the JQueryPlugin.
• Syntax: %JQTABPANE% %JQTAB{"Tab 1}% ... %JQENDTAB% %JQTAB{"Tab 2}% ... %JQENDTAB% ... %JQENDTABPANE%
• Example:
  %JQTABPANE%
%JQTAB{"Tab 1"}%
Tab 1 content...
%JQENDTAB%
%JQTAB{"Tab 2"}%
Tab 2 content...
%JQENDTAB%
%JQENDTABPANE%
• Related: JQENDTAB, JQENDTABPANE, JQTAB, JQueryPlugin

LANGUAGE -- current user's language

• Returns the language code for the language used as the current user. This is the language actually used by TWiki Internationalization (e.g. in user interface).
• The language is detected from the user's browser, unless some site/web/user/session-defined setting overrides it:
  • If the LANGUAGE preference is set, it's used as user's language instead of any language detected from the browser.
  • Avoid defining LANGUAGE at a non per-user way, so each user can choose his/her preferred language.
• Related: LANGUAGES

LANGUAGES -- list available TWiki languages

• List the languages available (as PO files) to TWiki. Those are the languages in which TWiki's user interface is available.
• Syntax: %LANGUAGES{...}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  format	format for each item. See below for variables available in the format string.	"   * $langname"
  separator	separator between items.	"\n" (newline)
  marker="selected"	Text for $marker if the item matches selection	"selected"
  selection="%LANGUAGE%"	Current language to be selected in list	(none)

• format variables:

  Variable	Meaning
  $langname	language's name, as informed by the translators
  $langtag	language's tag. Ex: en, pt-br, etc.

• Example: <select>%LANGUAGES{format="<option $marker value='$langtag'>$langname</option>" selection="%LANGUAGE%"}%</select> creates an option list of the available languages with the current language selected

LIME -- start lime colored text

• LIME is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %LIME% lime text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: lime text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

LOCALSITEPREFS -- web.topicname of site preferences topic

• The full name of the local site preferences topic. These local site preferences overload the system level preferences defined in TWiki.TWikiPreferences.
• Syntax: %LOCALSITEPREFS%
• Expands to: Main.TWikiPreferences, renders as TWikiPreferences

LOGIN -- present a full login link to non-authenticated user

• Present a login link only to users that are not logged in
• Syntax: %LOGIN%
• Expand to: Log In
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, LOGINURL, LOGOUT, LOGOUTURL, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SESSION_VARIABLE

LOGINURL -- present a login link

• Present a login link, regardless of the state of login
• Syntax: %LOGINURL%
• Expand to: /twiki/bin/login/TWiki/TWikiDocumentation?origurl=/twiki/bin/rdiff/TWiki/TWikiDocumentation%3frev1%3d25%26rev2%3d24
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, LOGIN, LOGOUT, LOGOUTURL, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SESSION_VARIABLE

LOGOUT -- present a full logout link to authenticated user

• Present a logout link only to logged in users
• Syntax: %LOGOUT%
• Expand to:
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, LOGIN, LOGINURL, LOGOUTURL, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SESSION_VARIABLE

LOGOUTURL -- present a logout link

• Present a logout link, regardless of the state of login
• Syntax: %LOGOUTURL%
• Expand to: /twiki/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiDocumentation?logout=1
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, LOGIN, LOGINURL, LOGOUT, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SESSION_VARIABLE

M -- moved to... icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %M%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, N, P, Q, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

MAINWEB -- synonym for USERSWEB

• Deprecated. Please use %USERSWEB% instead.
• Related: SYSTEMWEB, USERSWEB

MAKETEXT -- creates text using TWiki's I18N infrastructure

• Syntax: %MAKETEXT{"string" args="..."}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter	Description	Default
  "text" or string="text"	The text to be displayed.	none
  args="param1, param2"	a comma-separated list of arguments to be interpolated in the string, replacing the [_N] placeholders in it.	none

• Examples:
  • %MAKETEXT{string="Notes:"}%
    expands to
    Notes:
  • %MAKETEXT{"If you have any questions, please contact [_1]." args="%WIKIWEBMASTER%"}%
    expands to
    If you have any questions, please contact ivoadoc@ivoa.net.
  • %MAKETEXT{"Did you want to [[[_1]][reset [_2]'s password]]?" args="%SYSTEMWEB%.ResetPassword,%WIKIUSERNAME%"}%
    expands to
    Did you want to reset Main.TWikiGuest's password?
• Notes:
  • TWiki will translate the string to the current user's language only if it has such string in its translation table for that language.
  • Ampersands (&) followed by one letter (one of a...z, A...Z -- say, X) in the translatable string will be translated to <span class='twikiAccessKey'>X</span>. This is used to implement access keys. If you want to write an actual amperstand that stays just before a letter, write two consecutive amperstands (&&): they will be transformed in just one.
  • Translatable string starting with underscores (_) are reserved. You must not use translatable phrases starting with an underscore.
  • Make sure that the translatable string is constant. Specially, do not include %VARIABLES% inside the translatable strings (since they will get expanded before the %MAKETEXT{...}% itself is handled).

MAROON -- start maroon colored text

• MAROON is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %MAROON% maroon text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: maroon text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

META -- displays meta-data

• Provided mainly for use in templates, this variable generates the parts of the topic view that relate to meta-data (attachments, forms etc.) The formfield item is the most likely to be useful to casual users.
• Syntax: %META{ "item" ...}%
• Parameters:

  Item	Options	Description
  "formfield"	name="...": name of the field. The field value can be shortened as described in FormattedSearch for $formfield. newline="...": by default, each newline character will be rewritten to <br /> to allow metadata that contains newlines to be used in tables, etc. $n indicates a newline character. bar="...": by default, each vertical bar is rewritten to an HTML entity so as to not be mistaken for a table separator. topic="...": Get meta info of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"; default "%BASEWEB%.%BASETOPIC%".	Show a single form field
  "form"	topic="...": Get meta info of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"; default "%BASEWEB%.%BASETOPIC%".	Generates the table showing the form fields. See Form Templates
  "attachments"	all="on" to show hidden attachments. title="..." to show a title - only if attachments are displayed. template="..." to use a custom template for the rendering of attachments; default attachtables is used. topic="...": Get meta info of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"; default "%BASEWEB%.%BASETOPIC%".	Generates the list of attachments
  "moved"	topic="...": Get meta info of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"; default "%BASEWEB%.%BASETOPIC%".	Details of any topic moves
  "parent"	dontrecurse="on": By default recurses up tree, this has some cost. nowebhome="on": Suppress WebHome. prefix="...": Prefix that goes before parents, but only if there are parents, default "". format="...": Format string used to display each parent topic where $web expands to the web name, and $topic expands to the topic name; default: "[[$web.$topic][$topic]]" suffix="...": Suffix, only appears if there are parents; default "". separator="...": Separator between parents; default " > ". topic="...": Get meta info of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"; default "%BASEWEB%.%BASETOPIC%".	Generates the parent link

• Attention: The base topic, not the current topic, is used if %META{}% is placed in an included topic. Add a topic="%WEB%.%TOPIC%" parameter if you need meta info of the current topic.
• Note: Formatting tokens can be used for newline, prefix, format, suffix and separator options, such as separator="$n   * "
• Related: METASEARCH, PARENTTOPIC, SEARCH, FormattedSearch

METASEARCH -- special search of meta data

• Syntax: %METASEARCH{...}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  type="topicmoved"	What sort of search is required? "topicmoved" if search for a topic that may have been moved "parent" if searching for topics that have a specific parent i.e. its children "field" if searching for topics that have a particular form field value (use the name and value parameters to specify which field to search)	Required
  web="%WEB%"	Wiki web to search: A web, a list of webs separated by whitespace, or all webs.	Current web
  topic="%TOPIC%"	The topic the search relates to, for topicmoved and parent searches	All topics in a web
  name	form field to search, for field type searches. May be a regular expression (see SEARCH).
  value	form field value, for field type searches. May be a regular expression (see SEARCH).
  title="Title"	Text that is prefixed to any search results	empty
  format="..."	Custom format results. Supports same format strings as SEARCH. See FormattedSearch for usage, variables & examples	Results in table
  default="none"	Default text shown if no search hit	Empty

• Example: %METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%
• Example: You may want to use this in WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate:
  %METASEARCH{type="parent" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" title="Children: "}%
• Example: %METASEARCH{type="field" name="Country" value="China"}%
• Related: SEARCH, META
• Note: METASEARCH is deprecated in favour of the new and much more powerful query type search. See SEARCH and QuerySearch.

N -- "new" icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %N%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, M, P, Q, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

NAVY -- start navy blue colored text

• NAVY is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %NAVY% navy text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: navy text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

NOP -- template text not to be expanded in instantiated topics

• Syntax: %NOP%
  • In normal topic text, expands to <nop>, which prevents expansion of adjacent variables and wikiwords
  • When the topic containing this is used as a template for another topic, it is removed.
• Syntax: %NOP{...}% deprecated
  • In normal topic text, expands to whatever is in the curly braces (if anything).
  • Note: This is deprecated. Do not use it. Use %STARTSECTION{type="templateonly"}% .. %ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}% instead (see TWikiTemplates for more details).
• Related: HIDE, STARTSECTION, TWikiTemplates

NOTIFYTOPIC -- name of the notify topic

• Syntax: %NOTIFYTOPIC%
• Expands to: WebNotify, renders as WebNotify
• Related: HOMETOPIC, STATISTICSTOPIC, TOPIC

OLIVE -- start olive green colored text

• OLIVE is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %OLIVE% olive text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: olive text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

ORANGE -- start orange colored text

• ORANGE is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %ORANGE% orange text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: orange text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

P -- pencil icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %P%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, M, N, Q, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

PARENTTOPIC -- parent of current topic

• Syntax: %PARENTTOPIC% or %PARENTTOPIC{ format="..." topic="..." }%
• Expands to: TWikiVariables, renders as TWikiVariables
• Parameters:

  Item	Description	Default
  format="..."	Format string used to display parent topic, where $web expands to the web name, and $topic expands to the topic name. Additional formatting tokens can be used.	"$topic" (topic name)
  topic="..."	Get parent of "Topic" or "Web.Topic"	"%WEB%.%TOPIC%" (current topic)

• Related: META, METASEARCH, TOPIC

PINK -- start pink colored text

• PINK is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %PINK% pink text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: pink text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS -- list of plugin descriptions

• Syntax: %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%
• Expands to:
  • SpreadSheetPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30478 (2018-07-16) $): Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to TWiki tables or anywhere in topic text
  • BackupRestorePlugin (2021-03-19, $Rev: 30914 (2021-03-19) $): Administrator utility to backup, restore and upgrade a TWiki site
  • ColorPickerPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30442 (2018-07-16) $): Color picker, packaged for use in TWiki forms and TWiki applications
  • CommentPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30530 (2018-07-16) $): Quickly post comments to a page without an edit/preview/save cycle
  • DatePickerPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30446 (2018-07-16) $): Pop-up calendar with date picker, for use in TWiki forms, HTML forms and TWiki plugins
  • EditTablePlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30448 (2018-07-16) $): Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
  • HeadlinesPlugin (2018-07-13, $Rev: 30560 (2018-07-16) $): Show headline news in TWiki pages based on RSS and ATOM news feeds from external sites
  • InterwikiPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30454 (2018-07-16) $): Write ExternalSite:Page to link to a page on an external site based on aliases defined in a rules topic
  • JQueryPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30456 (2018-07-16) $): jQuery JavaScript library for TWiki
  • PreferencesPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30528 (2018-07-16) $): Allows editing of preferences using fields predefined in a form
  • RedirectPlugin (2015-12-02, $Rev: 29697 (2015-12-03) $): Create a redirect to another topic or website
  • SetGetPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30472 (2018-07-16) $): Set and get variables and JSON objects in topics, optionally persistently across topic views
  • SlideShowPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30474 (2018-07-16) $): Create web based presentations based on topics with headings.
  • SmiliesPlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30476 (2018-07-16) $): Render smilies as icons, like  :-) for or  :eek: for
  • TWikiSheetPlugin (2018-07-15, $Rev: 30604 (2018-07-16) $): Add TWiki Sheet spreadsheet functionality to TWiki tables
  • TablePlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30480 (2018-07-16) $): Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns
  • TagMePlugin (2018-07-05, $Rev: 30482 (2018-07-16) $): Tag wiki content collectively or authoritatively to find content by keywords
  • TinyMCEPlugin (2021-06-09, $Rev: 31045 (2021-06-09) $): Integration of the Tiny MCE WYSIWYG Editor
  • TwistyPlugin (2018-07-06, $Rev: 30497 (2018-07-16) $): Twisty section JavaScript library to open/close content dynamically
  • WatchlistPlugin (2018-07-10, $Rev: 30536 (2018-07-16) $): Watch topics of interest and get notified of changes by e-mail
  • WysiwygPlugin (2018-07-06, $Rev: 30528 (2018-07-16) $): Translator framework for WYSIWYG editors
• Related: ACTIVATEDPLUGINS, FAILEDPLUGINS, PLUGINVERSION, TWikiPlugins, InstalledPlugins

PLUGINVERSION -- the version of a TWiki Plugin, or the TWiki Plugins API

• Syntax: %PLUGINVERSION{"name"}% to get the version of a specific plugin
• Example: %PLUGINVERSION{"InterwikiPlugin"}% expands to $Rev: 30454 (2018-07-16) $
• Syntax: %PLUGINVERSION% to get the version of the API
• Expands to: 6.10
• Related: WIKIVERSION, ACTIVATEDPLUGINS, FAILEDPLUGINS, PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS, TWikiPlugins, InstalledPlugins

PUBURL -- the base URL of attachments

• Syntax: %PUBURL%
• Expands to: https://wiki.ivoa.net/internal
• Example: You can refer to a file attached to another topic with %PUBURL%/%WEB%/OtherTopic/image.gif
• Related: ATTACHURL, ATTACHURLPATH, PUBURLPATH, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH, FileAttachments

PUBURLPATH -- the base URL path of attachments

• Syntax: %PUBURLPATH%
• Expands to: /internal
• Related: ATTACHURL, ATTACHURLPATH, PUBURL, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH, FileAttachments

PURPLE -- start purple colored text

• PURPLE is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %PURPLE% purple text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: purple text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

Q -- question icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %Q%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, M, N, P, S, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

QUERYPARAMS -- show paramaters to the query

• Expands the parameters to the query that was used to display the page.
• Syntax: %QUERYPARAMS{...}%
• Parameters:
  • format="..." format string for each entry, default $name=$value
  • separator="..." separator string, default separator="$n" (newline)
  • encode="..." the encoding to apply to parameter values; see ENCODE for a description of the available encodings. If this parameter is not given, no encoding is performed.

    <-- Note: encoding="..." works too but has been deprecated in Item6621 -->

• The following escape sequences are expanded in the format string:

  Sequence:	Expands To:
  $name	Name of the parameter
  $value	String value of the parameter. Multi-valued parameters will have a "row" for each value.
  $n or $n()	New line. Use $n() if followed by alphanumeric character, e.g. write Foo$n()Bar instead of Foo$nBar
  $nop or $nop()	Is a "no operation". This variable gets removed; useful for nested search
  $quot or \"	Double quote (")
  $percnt	Percent sign (%)
  $dollar	Dollar sign ($)
  $lt	Less than sign (<)
  $gt	Greater than sign (>)

• Example: %QUERYPARAMS{format="<input type='hidden' name='$name' value='$value' encoding="html" />"}%
• See also QUERYSTRING, URLPARAM

QUERYSTRING -- full, unprocessed string of parameters to this URL

• String of all the URL parameters that were on the URL used to get to the current page. For example, if you add ?name=Samantha;age=24;eyes=blue to this URL you can see this in action. This string can be appended to a URL to pass parameter values on to another page.
• Note: URLs built this way are typically restricted in length, typically to 2048 characters. If you need more space than this, you will need to use an HTML form and %QUERYPARAMS%.
• Syntax: %QUERYSTRING%
• Expands to: rev1=25;rev2=24
• Related: QUERYPARAMS, URLPARAM

RED -- start red colored text

• RED is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %RED% red text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: red text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

REDBG -- start red colored background section

• REDBG is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of background colors.
• Syntax: %REDBG% red background %ENDBG%
• Expands to:
  red background
• Note: %REDBG% area must end with %ENDBG%.
• Related: ENDBG, RED, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

REDIRECT{"url"} -- create a redirect to another topic or website

• The %REDIRECT{}% variable is handled by the RedirectPlugin.
• Syntax: %REDIRECT{"TopicName"}%
• Examples:
  • %REDIRECT{"ExampleTopic"}% redirects to the ExampleTopic topic
  • %REDIRECT{"OtherWeb.ExampleTopic"}% redirects to the OtherWeb.ExampleTopic topic
  • %REDIRECT{"http://twiki.org/"}% redirects to http://twiki.org/
• Category: AdministrationVariables, LinkingAndNavigationVariables
• Related: RedirectPlugin

REMOTE_ADDR -- environment variable

• Syntax: %REMOTE_ADDR%
• Expands to: 18.216.78.190
• Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_PORT, REMOTE_USER

REMOTE_PORT -- environment variable

• Syntax: %REMOTE_PORT%
• Expands to:
• Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_USER

REMOTE_USER -- environment variable

• Syntax: %REMOTE_USER%
• Expands to:
• Related: ENV, HTTP_HOST, REMOTE_ADDR, REMOTE_PORT, USERNAME, WIKINAME, WIKIUSERNAME

RENDERLIST -- render bullet lists in a variety of formats

• The %RENDERLIST% variable is handled by the RenderListPlugin
• Syntax: %RENDERLIST%
• Syntax: %RENDERLIST{ "org" focus="Sales.WestCoastTeam" }%
• Example:
  %RENDERLIST{ "org" }%
   * [[Eng.WebHome][Engineering]]
      * [[Eng.TechPubs][Tech Pubs]]
   * [[Sales.WestCoastTeam][Sales]]
      * [[Sales.EastCoastTeam][East Coast]]
      * [[Sales.WestCoastTeam][West Coast]]
• Related: RenderListPlugin

REVINFO -- revision information of current topic

• Syntax: %REVINFO%
• Expands to: r3 - 2010-12-29 - 23:23:37 - TWikiContributor
• Date format defined as {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day
• Related: REVINFO{"format"}

REVINFO{"format"} -- formatted revision information of topic

• Syntax: %REVINFO{"format"}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "format"	Format of revision information, see supported variables below	"r1.$rev - $date - $wikiusername"
  web="..."	Name of web	Current web
  topic="..."	Topic name	Current topic
  rev="5"	Specific revison number. Old RCS format "1.5" is also supported.	Latest revision

• Supported variables in format:

  Variable:	Unit:	Example
  $web	Name of web	Current web
  $topic	Topic name	Current topic
  $rev	Revison number. Add prefix r to get the usual r5 format	5
  $username	Login username of revision	jsmith
  $wikiname	WikiName of revision	JohnSmith
  $wikiusername	WikiName with Main web prefix	Main.JohnSmith
  $date	Revision date. Actual date format defined as {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day	2010-12-31
  $time	Revision time	23:24:25
  $iso	Revision date in ISO date format	2006-09-22T06:24:25Z
  $min, $sec, etc.	Same date format qualifiers as GMTIME{"format"}

• Example: %REVINFO{"$date - $wikiusername" rev="1.1"}% returns revision info of first revision
• Related: GMTIME{"format"}, REVINFO

S -- red star icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %S%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, M, N, P, Q, T, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

SCRIPTNAME -- name of current script

• The name of the current script is shown, including script suffix, if any (for example viewauth.cgi)
• Syntax: %SCRIPTNAME%
• Expands to: rdiff
• Related: SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH

SCRIPTSUFFIX -- script suffix

• Some TWiki installations require a file extension for CGI scripts, such as .pl or .cgi
• Syntax: %SCRIPTSUFFIX%
• Expands to:
• Related: SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH

SCRIPTURL -- base URL of TWiki scripts

• Syntax: %SCRIPTURL%
• Expands to: https://wiki.ivoa.net/twiki/bin
• Note: The edit script should always be used in conjunction with ?t=%GMTIME{"$epoch"}% to ensure pages about to be edited are not cached in the browser
• Related: PUBURL, SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL{"script"}, SCRIPTURLPATH, TWikiScripts

SCRIPTURL{"script"} -- URL of TWiki script

• Syntax: %SCRIPTURL{"script"}%
• Expands to: https://wiki.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/script
• Example: To get the authenticated version of the current topic you can write %SCRIPTURL{"viewauth"}%/%WEB%/%TOPIC% which expands to https://wiki.ivoa.net/twiki/bin/viewauth/TWiki/TWikiVariables
• Example: How to link to another topic with a URL parameter: [[%SCRIPTURL{view}%/%WEB%/MyQuery?food=sushi][Sushi]]
• Note: In most cases you should use %SCRIPTURLPATH{"script"}% instead, as it works with URL rewriting much better
• Related: PUBURL, SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH, SCRIPTURLPATH{"script"}, TWikiScripts

SCRIPTURLPATH -- base URL path of TWiki scripts

• As %SCRIPTURL%, but doesn't include the protocol and host part of the URL
• Syntax: %SCRIPTURLPATH%
• Expands to: /twiki/bin
• Note: The edit script should always be used in conjunction with ?t=%GMTIME{"$epoch"}% to ensure pages about to be edited are not cached in the browser
• Related: PUBURLPATH, SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH{"script"}

SCRIPTURLPATH{"script"} -- URL path of TWiki script

• As %SCRIPTURL{"script"}%, but doesn't include the protocol and host part of the URL
• Syntax: %SCRIPTURLPATH{"script"}%
• Expands to: /twiki/bin/script
• Related: PUBURLPATH, SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTSUFFIX, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURL{"script"}, SCRIPTURLPATH

SEARCH{"text"} -- search content

• Inline search, shows a search result embedded in a topic
• Syntax: %SEARCH{"text" ...}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  "text"	Search term. Is a keyword search, literal search, regular expression search, or query, depending on the type parameter. SearchHelp has more	required
  search="text"	(Alternative to above)	N/A
  web="Name" web="Main, Know" web="all"	Comma-separated list of webs to search. You can specifically exclude webs from an all search using a minus sign - for example, web="all,-Secretweb". The special word all means all webs that do not have the NOSEARCHALL variable set to on in their WebPreferences. Note that TWikiAccessControls are respected when searching webs; it is much better to use them than NOSEARCHALL.	Current web
  topic="WebPreferences" topic="*Bug"	Limit search to topics: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. Note this is a list of topic names and must not include web names.	All topics in a web
  excludetopic="Web*" excludetopic="WebHome, WebChanges"	Exclude topics from search: A topic, a topic with asterisk wildcards, or a list of topics separated by comma. Note this is a list of topic names and must not include web names.	None
  scope="topic" scope="text" scope="all"	Search topic name (title); the text (body) of topic; or all (title and body)	"text"
  type="keyword" type="word" type="literal" type="regex" type="query"	Control how the search is performed when scope="text" or scope="all" keyword: use Google-like controls as in soap "web service" -shampoo; searches word parts: using the example, topics with "soapsuds" will be found as well, but topics with "shampoos" will be excluded word: identical to keyword but searches whole words: topics with "soapsuds" will not be found, and topics with "shampoos" will not be excluded literal: search for the exact string, like web service regex: use a RegularExpression search like soap;web service;!shampoo; to search on whole words use \bsoap\b query: query search of form fields and other meta-data, like (Firstname='Emma' OR Firstname='John') AND Lastname='Peel'	%SEARCHVAR- DEFAULTTYPE% preferences setting (literal)
  order="topic" order="created" order="modified" order="editby" order=  "formfield(name)"	Sort the results of search by the topic names, topic creation time, last modified time, last editor, or named field of TWikiForms. The sorting is done web by web; if you want to sort across webs, create a formatted table and sort it with TablePlugin's initsort. Note that dates are sorted most recent date last (i.e at the bottom of the table).	Sort by topic name
  limit="all" limit="16"	Limit the number of results returned. This is done after sorting if order is specified	All results
  date="..."	limits the results to those pages with latest edit time in the given time interval.	All results
  reverse="on"	Reverse the direction of the search	Ascending search
  casesensitive="on"	Case sensitive search	Ignore case
  bookview="on"	BookView search, e.g. show complete topic text	Show topic summary
  nonoise="on"	Shorthand for nosummary="on" nosearch="on" nototal="on" zeroresults="off" noheader="on" noempty="on"	Off
  nosummary="on"	Show topic title only	Show topic summary
  nosearch="on"	Suppress search string	Show search string
  noheader="on"	Suppress default search header Topics: Changed: By: , unless a header is explicitly specified	Show default search header, unless search is inline and a format is specified (Cairo compatibility)
  nototal="on"	Do not show number of topics found	Show number
  zeroresults="off"	Suppress all output if there are no hits	zeroresults="on", displays: "Number of topics: 0"
  noempty="on"	Suppress results for webs that have no hits.	Show webs with no hits
  headingoffset="2"	Adjust the level of headings in text of topics found, taking effect in $text and $pattern() of a FormattedSearch. A "2" or "+2" increases the level by two, e.g. a ---+ H1 turns into a ---+++ H3. Positive and negative values are supported. Adjusted min and max levels are H1 and H6, respectively.	no adjustment
  header="..." format="..." footer="..."	Custom format results: see FormattedSearch for usage, variables & examples	Results in table
  expandvariables="on"	Expand variables before applying a FormattedSearch on a search hit. Useful to show the expanded text, e.g. to show the result of a SpreadSheetPlugin %CALC{}% instead of the formula	Raw text
  multiple="on"	Multiple hits per topic. Each hit can be formatted. The last token is used in case of a regular expression ";" and search	Only one hit per topic
  nofinalnewline="on"	If on, the search variable does not end in a line by itself. Any text continuing immediately after the search variable on the same line will be rendered as part of the table generated by the search, if appropriate.	off
  recurse="on"	Recurse into subwebs, if subwebs are enabled.	off
  separator=", "	Line separator between search hits	"$n" (Newline)
  newline="%BR%"	Line separator within a search hit. Useful if you want to put multi-line content into a table cell, for example if the format="" parameter contains a $pattern() that captures more than one line, or contains a $formfield() that returns a multi-line textfield.	"$n" (Newline)

• Example: %SEARCH{"wiki" web="Main" scope="topic"}%
• Example with format: %SEARCH{"FAQ" scope="topic" nosearch="on" nototal="on" header="| *Topic: * | *Summary: * |" format="| $topic | $summary |"}% (displays results in a table with header - details)
• Hint: If the TWiki:Plugins.TablePlugin is installed, you may set a %TABLE{}% variable just before the %SEARCH{}% to alter the output of a search. Example: %TABLE{ tablewidth="90%" }%
• Related: FORMFIELD, METASEARCH, TOPICLIST, WEBLIST, FormattedSearch, QuerySearch, SearchHelp, SearchPatternCookbook, RegularExpression

SERVERTIME -- server time

• Syntax: %SERVERTIME%
• Expands to: 2025-05-09 - 04:52
• Date format defined as {DefaultDateFormat} in configure, default $year-$mo-$day
• Note: When used in a template topic, this variable will be expanded when the template is used to create a new topic. See TWikiTemplates#TemplateTopicsVars for details.
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME{"format"}

SERVERTIME{"format"} -- formatted server time

• Same format qualifiers as %GMTIME%
• Syntax: %SERVERTIME{"format"}%
• Supported variables: $seconds, $minutes, $hours, $day, $wday, $dow, $month, $mo, $year, $ye, $tz, $iso, $rcs, $http, $epoch
• Example: %SERVERTIME{"$hou:$min"}% expands to 04:52
• Note: When used in a template topic, this variable will be expanded when the template is used to create a new topic. See TWikiTemplates#TemplateTopicsVars for details.
• Related: DISPLAYTIME, GMTIME, SERVERTIME

SESSIONID -- unique ID for this session

• Syntax: %SESSIONID%
• Expand to: 758bb0b54f68a30b2ce3bdd058969da1
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, AUTHREALM, SESSIONVAR, LOGIN, LOGOUT, SESSION_VARIABLE

SESSIONVAR -- name of CGI and session variable that stores the session ID

• Syntax: %SESSIONVAR%
• Expand to: TWIKISID
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication, AUTHREALM, SESSIONID, LOGIN, LOGOUT, SESSION_VARIABLE

SESSION_VARIABLE -- get, set or clear a session variable

• Session variables are stored in a personal "persistent memory space" that is not lost until the web browser is closed
• Syntax: %SESSION_VARIABLE{"name"}% - read a session variable
• Syntax: %SESSION_VARIABLE{"name" set="value"}% - set a session variable
• Syntax: %SESSION_VARIABLE{"name" clear=""}% - clear a session variable
• Special read-only session variables:
  • %SESSION_VARIABLE{"AUTHUSER"}% - user ID, current value:
  • %SESSION_VARIABLE{"SESSION_REQUEST_NUMBER"}% - number of pages accessed by current user since login, current value:
• Related: TWikiUserAuthentication#Sessions, AUTHREALM, GET, LOGIN, LOGOUT, SESSIONID, SESSIONVAR, SET

SET{"name" value="..."} -- set a variable

• Set a named variable that can be retrieved later with %GET{}%. No output is shown, e.g. %SET{}% resolves to an empty string. The %SET{}% and %GET{}% variables are handled by the SetGetPlugin.
• Syntax: %SET{ "name" value="..." remember="1" }%
• Supported attributes:

  Attribute	Comment	Default
  "name"	Name of variable. Alphanumeric characters, dashes and underscores can be used.	(required)
  value="..."	Value of variable. Escape double quotes with backslash.	(required, may be empty)
  remember="1"	If set, the variable will be stored persistently so that it can be used later in any TWiki topic. See important notes.	"0"

• Example: %SET{"lunch" value="Sushi"}% - see more examples.
• Related: GET, IF, SETGETDUMP, SetGetPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin#FuncSET

SETGETDUMP{...} -- dump persistent variables

• Dump persistent key/values previously set with %SET{}%. The %SETGETDUMP{}%, %SET{}%, and %GET{}% variables are handled by the SetGetPlugin.
• Syntax: %SETGETDUMP{ format="..." separator="..." }%
• Supported attributes:

  Attribute	Comment	Default
  format="..."	Format output using variables $key and $value	"key: $key, value: $value <br />"
  separator="..."	String used for separating entries	"\n"

• Example: %SETGETDUMP{"| $key | $value |" separator="$n"}% - see more examples.
• Related: GET, IF, SET, SetGetPlugin, SpreadSheetPlugin#FuncSET

SILVER -- start silver colored text

• SILVER is one of the rendering shortcut settings predefined in TWikiPreferences. See the section rendering shortcut settings in that topic for a complete list of colors.
• Syntax: %SILVER% silver text %ENDCOLOR%
• Expands to: silver text
• Note: %<color>% text must end with %ENDCOLOR%. If you want to switch from one color to another one you first need to end the active color with %ENDCOLOR%, e.g. write %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
• Related: ENDCOLOR, REDBG, TWikiPreferences rendering shortcuts, StandardColors

SLIDESHOWEND -- end slideshow

• The %SLIDESHOWEND% variable is handled by the SlideShowPlugin
• Syntax: %SLIDESHOWEND%
• Example: See SLIDESHOWSTART
• Related: SLIDESHOWSTART, SlideShowPlugin

SLIDESHOWSTART -- convert a topic with headings into a slideshow

• The %SLIDESHOWSTART% variable is handled by the SlideShowPlugin
• Syntax: %SLIDESHOWSTART%
• Syntax: %SLIDESHOWSTART{ template="MyOwnSlideTemplate" }%
• Example:
  %SLIDESHOWSTART%
---++ Sample Slide 1
    * Bullet 1
    * Bullet 2
---++ Sample Slide 2
    * Bullet 1
    * Bullet 2
%SLIDESHOWEND%
• Related: SLIDESHOWEND, SlideShowPlugin

SPACEDTOPIC -- topic name, spaced and URL-encoded deprecated

• The current topic name with added URL-encoded spaces, for use in regular expressions that search for backlinks to the current topic
• Syntax: %SPACEDTOPIC%
• Expands to: Var%20*SPACEDTOPIC
• Note: This is a deprecated variable. It can be duplicated with %ENCODE{%SPACEOUT{"%TOPIC%" separator=" *"}%}%
• Related: SPACEOUT, TOPIC, ENCODE

SPACEOUT{"string"} -- renders string with spaces inserted in sensible places

• Inserts spaces after lower case letters that are followed by a digit or a capital letter, and after digits that are followed by a capital letter.
• Useful for spacing out WikiWords
• Syntax: %SPACEOUT{ "%TOPIC%" }%
• Expands to: TWiki Variables
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default:
  separator	The separator to put between words e.g. %SPACEOUT{"DogsCatsBudgies" separator=", "}% -> Dogs, Cats, Budgies	' '

• Hint: Spaced out WikiWords are not automatically linked. To SPACEOUT a WikiWord but preserve the link use "double bracket" format. For example, [[WebHome][%SPACEOUT{"WebHome"}%]] expands to Web Home
• Related: SPACEDTOPIC, $PROPERSPACE() of SpreadSheetPlugin

STARTINCLUDE -- start position of topic text if included

• If present in included topic, start to include text from this location up to the end, or up to the location of the %STOPINCLUDE% variable. A normal view of the topic shows everything exept the %STARTINCLUDE% variable itself.
• Note: If you want more than one part of the topic included, use %STARTSECTION{type="include"}% instead
• Syntax: %STARTINCLUDE%
• Related: ENDSECTION, INCLUDE, STARTSECTION, STOPINCLUDE

STARTSECTION -- marks the start of a section within a topic

• Section boundaries are defined with %STARTSECTION{}% and %ENDSECTION{}%.
• Sections may be given a name to help identify them, and/or a type, which changes how they are used.
  • type="section" - the default, used for a generic section, such as a named section used by INCLUDE.
  • type="include" - like %STARTINCLUDE% ... %STOPINCLUDE% except that you can have as many include blocks as you want (%STARTINCLUDE% is restricted to only one).
  • type="templateonly" - start position of text to be removed when a template topic is used. Use this to embed text that you do not want expanded when a new topic based on the template topic is created. TWikiTemplates has more.
  • type="expandvariables" - start position where TWikiVariables get expanded when a new topic is created. Normally only certain variables get expanded when a new topic based on the template topic is created. All variables get expanded within a "expandvariables" section. TWikiTemplates has more.
• Syntax: %STARTSECTION{"name"}% ................... %ENDSECTION{"name"}%
• Syntax: %STARTSECTION{type="include"}% ........... %ENDSECTION{type="include"}%
• Syntax: %STARTSECTION{type="templateonly"}% ...... %ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}%
• Syntax: %STARTSECTION{type="expandvariables"}% ... %ENDSECTION{type="expandvariables"}%
• Supported parameters:

  Parameter:	Description:	Default
  "name"	Name of the section. Must be unique inside a topic.	Generated name
  type="..."	Type of the section; type "section", "include", "templateonly", or "expandvariables"	"section"

• Note: If a section is not given a name, it will be assigned one. Unnamed sections are assigned names starting with _SECTION0 for the first unnamed section in the topic, _SECTION1 for the second, etc..
• Note: You can define nested sections. Do not overlap sections. Use named sections to make sure that the correct START and ENDs are matched. Section markers are not displayed when a topic is viewed.
• Related: ENDSECTION, HIDE, INCLUDE, NOP, STARTINCLUDE, STOPINCLUDE

STATISTICSTOPIC -- name of statistics topic

• Syntax: %STATISTICSTOPIC%
• Expands to: WebStatistics, renders as WebStatistics
• Related: HOMETOPIC, NOTIFYTOPIC, TOPIC

STOPINCLUDE -- end position of topic text if included

• If present in included topic, stop to include text at this location and ignore the remaining text. A normal view of the topic shows everyting exept the %STOPINCLUDE% variable itself.
• Syntax: %STOPINCLUDE%
• Related: ENDSECTION, INCLUDE, STARTINCLUDE, STARTSECTION

SYSTEMWEB -- name of TWiki documentation web

• The web containing all documentation and default preference settings
• Syntax: %SYSTEMWEB%
• Expands to: TWiki
• Related: USERSWEB

T -- tip icon

• Type: Preference variable - TWikiRenderingShortcut.
• Syntax: %T%
• Expands to:
• Related: H, I, ICON, M, N, P, Q, S, U, X, Y, TWikiDocGraphics

TABLE{ attributes } -- control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns

• The %TABLE{}% variable is handled by the TablePlugin
• Syntax: %TABLE{ attributes }%

• Supported attributes:

  Argument	Comment	Default value	Example
  sort	Set table sorting by clicking headers "on" or "off".	unspecified	sort="on"
  initsort	Column to sort initially ("1" to number of columns).	unspecified	initsort="2"
  initdirection	Initial sorting direction for initsort, set to "up" (descending) or "down" (ascending).	unspecified	initdirection="up"
  disableallsort	Disable all sorting, both initsort and header sort. This is mainly used by plugins such as the EditTablePlugin to disable sorting in a table while editing the table.	unspecified	disableallsort="on"
  headerbg	Header cell background colour.	"#6b7f93"	headerbg="#999999"
  headerbgsorted	Header cell background colour of a sorted column.	the value of headerbg	headerbgsorted="#32596c"
  headercolor	Header cell text colour.	"#ffffff"	headercolor="#0000cc"
  databg	Data cell background colour, a comma separated list. Specify "none" for no colour, that is to use the colour/background of the page the table is on.	"#edf4f9,#ffffff"	databg="#f2f2f2,#ffffff"
  databgsorted	Data cell background colour of a sorted column; see databg.	the values of databg	databgsorted="#d4e8e4,#e5f5ea"
  datacolor	Data cell text colour, a comma separated list.	unspecified	datacolor="#0000CC, #000000"
  tableborder	Table border width (pixels).	"1"	tableborder="2"
  tableframe	Table frame, set to "void" (no sides), "above" (the top side only), "below" (the bottom side only), "hsides" (the top and bottom sides only), "lhs" (the left-hand side only), "rhs" (the right-hand side only), "vsides" (the right and left sides only), "box" (all four sides), "border" (all four sides).	unspecified	tableframe="hsides"
  tablerules	Table rules, set to "none" (no rules), "groups" (rules will appear between row groups and column groups only), "rows" (rules will appear between rows only), "cols" (rules will appear between columns only), "all" (rules will appear between all rows and columns).	unspecified	tablerules="rows"
  cellpadding	Cell padding (pixels).	"0"	cellpadding="0"
  cellspacing	Cell spacing (pixels).	"0"	cellspacing="3"
  cellborder	Cell border width (pixels).	unspecified	cellborder="0"
  valign	Vertical alignment of cells and headers, set to "top", "middle", "bottom" or "baseline".	unspecified	valign="top"
  headervalign	Vertical alignment of header cells; overrides valign.	unspecified	headervalign="top"
  datavalign	Vertical alignment of data cells; overrides valign.	unspecified	datavalign="top"
  headeralign	Header cell alignment, one value for all columns, or a comma separated list for different alignment of individual columns. Set to "left", "center", "right" or "justify". Overrides individual cell settings.	unspecified	headeralign="left,right"
  dataalign	Data cell alignment, one value for all columns, or a comma separated list for different alignment of individual columns. Set to "left", "center", "right" or "justify". Overrides individual cell settings.	unspecified	dataalign="center"
  tablewidth	Table width: Percentage of window width, or absolute pixel value.	unspecified	tablewidth="100%"
  columnwidths	Column widths: Comma delimited list of column widths, percentage or absolute pixel value.	unspecified	columnwidths="80%,20%"
  headerrows	Number of header rows to exclude from sort. (will be rendered in a HTML thead section)	"1"	headerrows="1"
  footerrows	Number of footer rows to exclude from sort. (will be rendered in a HTML tfoot section)	"0"	footerrows="1"
  id	Unique table identifier string, used for targeting a table with CSS.	tableN (where N is the table order number on the page)	id="userTable"
  summary	Table summary used by screenreaders: A summary of what the table presents. It should provide an orientation for someone who listens to the table.	unspecified	summary="List of subscribed users"
  caption	Table caption: A title that will be displayed just above the table.	unspecified	caption="Users"