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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 TIP (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.

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
Then when they are editing any other topic, they will get a 10 high edit box. However when they are editing their home topic, they will get a 20 high edit box. Local can be used wherever a preference needs to take a different value depending on where the current operation is being performed.

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 Help icon
  • %I% - IDEA! Idea icon
  • %M% - MOVED TO... Moved to icon
  • %N% - NEW New icon
  • %P% - REFACTOR Refactor icon
  • %Q% - QUESTION? Question icon
  • %S% - PICK Pick icon
  • %T% - TIP Tip icon
  • %U% - UPDATED Updated icon
  • %X% - ALERT! Alert icon
  • %Y% - DONE 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.

  • ALERT! Predefined variables can be overridden by preferences variables (except TOPIC and WEB)
  • ALERT! Plugins may extend the set of predefined variables (see individual plugin topics for details)
  • TIP 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-5.0.2, Tue, 03 May 2011, build 21156

ACTIVATEDPLUGINS -- list of currently activated plugins

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

ATTACHURL -- full URL for attachments in the current topic

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

AUTHREALM -- authentication realm

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

BB2 -- level 2 bullet with line break

BB3 -- level 3 bullet with line break

BB4 -- level 4 bullet with line break

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

BR -- line break

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

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

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

DISPLAYTIME -- display date and time

  • Syntax: %DISPLAYTIME%
  • Expands to: 2025-07-18 - 18:56
  • 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 18:56
  • 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
  • ALERT! 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). Useful to encode text properly in HTML input fields. type="url"
    type="html" As type="entity" except it also encodes \n and \r type="url"
  • Example: %ENCODE{"spaced name"}% expands to spaced%20name
  • ALERT! Notes:
    • Values of HTML input fields must be entity encoded.
      Example: <input type="text" name="address" value="%ENCODE{ "any text" type="entity" }%" />
    • 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.

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

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 ExamplePlugin
  • Syntax: %EXAMPLEVAR{"text" format="..."}%
  • Parameter text="..." - example text.
  • Parameter format="..." - format of report.
  • Example: %EXAMPLEVAR{"hello" format="| $topic: $summary |"}%
  • Related: ExamplePlugin

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

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 ""
  • Example: %FORMFIELD{"ProjectName" topic="Projects.SushiProject" default="(not set)" alttext="ProjectName field not found"}%
  • Related: METASEARCH, SEARCH, FormattedSearch, QuerySearch, SearchHelp

GMTIME -- GM time

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 2025-07-18T18:56:31Z
    $rcs RCS format timestamp 2025/07/18 18:56:31
    $http E-mail & http format timestamp Fri, 18 Jul 2025 18:56:31 GMT
    $epoch Number of seconds since 00:00 on 1st January, 1970 1752864991
  • Variables can be shortened to 3 characters
  • Example: %GMTIME{"$day $month, $year - $hour:$min:$sec"}% expands to 18 Jul, 2025 - 18:56:31
  • ALERT! 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

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

H -- help icon

HOMETOPIC -- home topic in each web

HTTP -- get HTTP headers

HTTP_HOST -- environment variable

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

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 Person %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="$name"
  • Examples:
    • %ICON{"flag-gray"}% returns: Gray flag
    • %ICON{"pdf"}% returns: PDF
    • %ICON{"smile.pdf"}% returns: PDF
    • %ICON{"/home/sweet/home.pdf"}% returns: PDF
    • %ICON{"http://twiki.org/doc/xhtml.xsl"}% returns: XSL (XML style sheet)
    • %ICON{"bubble" format="$description icon is defined in $web.$topic"}% returns: Speech bubble icon is defined in TWikiDocGraphics
  • Graphic samples: Arrow blue right arrowbright, Speech bubble bubble, Yes / Done choice-yes, Pointing hand hand
  • File type samples: Bitmap bmp, Microsoft Word file doc, GIF gif, Standard help file hlp, HTML html, Waveform sound file mp3, PDF pdf, PowerPoint ppt, Text txt, Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet xls, XML xml, Compressed Zip archive 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 http://poppy.dhis.org/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/arrowbright.gif
    • %ICONURL{"novel.pdf"}% returns http://poppy.dhis.org/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/pdf.gif
    • %ICONURL{"/queen/boheme.mp3"}% returns http://poppy.dhis.org/twiki/pub/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 /twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/locktopic.gif
    • %ICONURLPATH{"eggysmell.xml"}% returns /twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/xml.gif
    • %ICONURLPATH{"/doc/xhtml.xsl"}% returns /twiki/pub/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: $IF() of SpreadSheetPlugin

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.
    IDEA! 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
    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  
    PARONE="val 1"
      PARTWO="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 %PARONE% and %PARTWO% being defined within the included topic.  
  • 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

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

JQENDTABPANE -- end a JQuery tab pane

JQTAB -- start a JQuery tab within a tab pane

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

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

LOGINURL -- present a login link

LOGOUT -- present a full logout link to authenticated user

LOGOUTURL -- present a logout link

M -- moved to... icon

MAINWEB -- synonym for 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 pmmgma@gmail.com.
    • %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, 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
  • ALERT! Note: METASEARCH is deprecated in favour of the new and much more powerful query type search. See SEARCH and QuerySearch.

N -- "new" icon

NAVY -- start navy blue colored text

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).
    • ALERT! Note: This is deprecated. Do not use it. Use %STARTSECTION{type="templateonly"}% .. %ENDSECTION{type="templateonly"}% instead (see TWikiTemplates for more details).
  • Related: STARTSECTION, TWikiTemplates

NOTIFYTOPIC -- name of the notify 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

PINK -- start pink colored text

PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS -- list of plugin descriptions

  • Syntax: %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%
  • Expands to:
    • SpreadSheetPlugin (2011-04-06, $Rev: 20984 (2011-05-03) $): Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to TWiki tables or anywhere in topic text
    • CommentPlugin (2011-03-28, $Rev: 20818 (2011-05-03) $): Allows users to quickly post comments to a page without an edit/preview/save cycle
    • EditTablePlugin (5.1, $Rev: 20887 (2011-05-03) $): Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
    • HeadlinesPlugin (2.6, $Rev: 20889 (2011-05-03) $): Show headline news in TWiki pages based on RSS and ATOM news feeds from external sites
    • InterwikiPlugin (2010-07-12, $Rev: 20891 (2011-05-03) $): Link ExternalSite:Page text to external sites based on aliases defined in a rules topic
    • JQueryPlugin (2011-04-01, $Rev: 20836 (2011-05-03) $): jQuery JavaScript library for TWiki
    • PreferencesPlugin (2010-05-15, $Rev: 20898 (2011-05-03) $): Allows editing of preferences using fields predefined in a form
    • SlideShowPlugin (2010-12-28, $Rev: 20904 (2011-05-03) $): Create web based presentations based on topics with headings.
    • SmiliesPlugin (2010-09-20, $Rev: 20906 (2011-05-03) $): Render smilies as icons, like  :-) for smile or  :eek: for eek!
    • TablePlugin (1.2, $Rev: 20910 (2011-05-03) $): Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns
    • TagMePlugin (2010-06-12, 1.7): Tag wiki content collectively to find content by keywords
    • TinyMCEPlugin (2010-11-05, $Rev: 20914 (2011-05-03) $): Integration of TinyMCE with WysiwygPlugin
    • TwistyPlugin (1.6, $Rev: 20920 (2011-05-03) $): Twisty section JavaScript library to open/close content dynamically
    • WysiwygPlugin (2010-05-17, $Rev: 20922 (2011-05-03) $): Translator framework for Wysiwyg editors
  • Related: ACTIVATEDPLUGINS, FAILEDPLUGINS, PLUGINVERSION, TWikiPlugins, InstalledPlugins

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

PUBURL -- the base URL of attachments

PUBURLPATH -- the base URL path of attachments

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

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 Double quote (") (\" also works)
    $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="entity" />"}%
  • 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.
  • ALERT! 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=37;rev2=36
  • Related: QUERYPARAMS, URLPARAM

RED -- start red colored text

REDBG -- start red colored background section

REMOTE_ADDR -- environment variable

REMOTE_PORT -- environment variable

REMOTE_USER -- environment variable

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

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

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: .cgi
  • Related: SCRIPTNAME, SCRIPTURL, SCRIPTURLPATH

SCRIPTURL -- base URL of TWiki scripts

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

  • Syntax: %SCRIPTURL{"script"}%
  • Expands to: http://poppy.dhis.org/twiki/bin/script.cgi
  • Example: To get the authenticated version of the current topic you can write %SCRIPTURL{"viewauth"}%/%WEB%/%TOPIC% which expands to http://poppy.dhis.org/twiki/bin/viewauth.cgi/TWiki/TWikiVariables
  • Example: How to link to another topic with a URL parameter: [[%SCRIPTURL{view}%/%WEB%/MyQuery?food=sushi][Sushi]]
  • ALERT! 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

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
    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)
  • HELP 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

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 18:56
  • ALERT! 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

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

SESSION_VARIABLE -- get, set or clear a session variable

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

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
  • ALERT! 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 ' '
  • TIP 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"
  • ALERT! 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..
  • ALERT! 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, INCLUDE, NOP, STARTINCLUDE, STOPINCLUDE

STATISTICSTOPIC -- name of statistics 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

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"

  • Example:
    %TABLE{ tableborder="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="3" cellborder="0" }%
    | *A1* | *B1* |
    | A2 | B2 |
  • Related: See TablePlugin for more details

TEAL -- start teal colored text

TOC -- table of contents of current topic

  • Table of Contents. Shows a TOC that is generated automatically based on headings of the current topic. Headings in WikiSyntax ("---++ text") and HTML ("<h2>text</h2>") are taken into account. Any heading text after "!!" is excluded from the TOC; for example, write "---+!! text" if you do not want to list a header in the TOC. An abbreviated heading can be shown in the TOC, such as "---++ text!! this is excluded from TOC".
  • Syntax: %TOC%
  • Related: INCLUDE, TOC{"Topic"}

TOC{"Topic"} -- table of contents

  • Table of Contents. Shows a TOC that is generated automatically based on headings of a topic. Headings in WikiSyntax ("---++ text") and HTML ("<h2>text</h2>") are taken into account. Any heading text after "!!" is excluded from the TOC; for example, write "---+!! text" if you do not want to list a header in the TOC. An abbreviated heading can be shown in the TOC, such as "---++ text!! this is excluded from TOC".
  • Syntax: %TOC{"SomeTopic" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "TopicName" topic name Current topic
    web="Name" Name of web Current web
    depth="2" Limit depth of headings shown in TOC 6
    title="Some text" Title to appear at top of TOC none
  • Example: %TOC{depth="2"}%
  • Example: %TOC{"TWikiDocumentation" web="TWiki" title="Contents:"}%
  • Related: INCLUDE, TOC

TOPIC -- name of current topic

TOPICLIST{"format"} -- topic index of a web

  • List of all topics in a web. The "format" defines the format of one topic item. It may include variables: The $topic variable gets expanded to the topic name, $marker to marker parameter where topic matches selection, and $web to the name of the web, or any of the standard FormatTokens.
  • Syntax: %TOPICLIST{"format" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "format" Format of one line, may include $web (name of web), $topic (name of the topic), $marker (which expands to marker for the item matching selection only) "$topic"
    format="format" (Alternative to above) "$topic"
    separator=", " line separator "$n" (new line)
    marker="selected" Text for $marker if the item matches selection "selected"
    selection="TopicA, TopicB" Current value to be selected in list (none)
    web="Name" Name of web Current web
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{"   * $web.$topic"}% creates a bullet list of all topics
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{separator=", "}% creates a comma separated list of all topics
  • Example: %TOPICLIST{" <option>$topic</option>"}% creates an option list (for drop down menus)
  • Example: <select>%TOPICLIST{" <option $marker value='$topic'>$topic</option>" separator=" " selection="%TOPIC%"}%</select> creates an option list of web topics with the current topic selected
  • Related: SEARCH, WEBLIST

TOPICURL -- shortcut to viewing the current topic

TWIKIWEB -- synonym for SYSTEMWEB

TWISTY{ attributes } -- dynamically open and close sections of content

  • The %TWISTY{}% variable is handled by the TwistyPlugin.
  • Syntax: %TWISTY{}% ... %ENDTWISTY%
  • See plugin topic for explanation of variables and attributes
  • Example:
    %TWISTY{}%
    my twisty content
    %ENDTWISTY%
  • Related: TwistyPlugin, TwistyContrib

U -- "updated" icon

URLPARAM{"name"} -- get value of a URL parameter

  • Returns the value of a URL parameter.
  • Syntax: %URLPARAM{"name"}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "name" The name of a URL parameter required
    default="..." Default value in case parameter is empty or missing empty string
    newline="$br" Convert newlines in textarea to other delimiters. Variables $br (for <br /> tag), $n (for newline) are expanded. Other text is encoded based on encode parameter. no conversion
    encode="off" Turn off encoding. See important security note below encode="safe"
    encode="quote" Escape double quotes with backslashes (\"), does not change other characters; required when feeding URL parameters into other TWiki variables. This encoding does not protect against cross-site scripting. encode="safe"
    encode="moderate" Encode special characters into HTML entities for moderate cross-site scripting protection: "<", ">", single quote (') and double quote (") are encoded. Useful to allow TWiki variables in comment boxes. encode="safe"
    encode="safe" Encode special characters into HTML entities for cross-site scripting protection: "<", ">", "%", single quote (') and double quote (") are encoded. (this is the default)
    encode="entity" Encode special characters into HTML entities. See ENCODE for more details. encode="safe"
    encode="html" As encode="entity" except it also encodes newline (\n) and linefeed (\r) encode="safe"
    encode="url" Encode special characters for URL parameter use, like a double quote into %22 encode="safe"
    multiple="on"
    multiple="[[$item]]"     		If set, gets all selected elements of a <select multiple="multiple"> tag. A format can be specified, with $item indicating the element, e.g. multiple="Option: $item" first element
    separator=", " Separator between multiple selections. Only relevant if multiple is specified "\n" (newline)
  • Example: %URLPARAM{"skin"}% returns print for a .../view/TWiki/TWikiVariables?skin=print URL
  • ALERT! Notes:
    • IMPORTANT: There is a risk that this variable can be misused for cross-site scripting (XSS) if the encoding is turned off. The encode="safe" is the default, it provides a safe middle ground. The encode="entity" is more aggressive, but some TWiki applications might not work.
    • URL parameters passed into HTML form fields must be entity ENCODEd.
      Example: <input type="text" name="address" value="%URLPARAM{ "address" encode="entity" }%" />
    • Double quotes in URL parameters must be escaped when passed into other TWiki variables.
      Example: %SEARCH{ "%URLPARAM{ "search" encode="quotes" }%" noheader="on" }%
    • 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.
    • Watch out for TWiki internal parameters, such as rev, skin, template, topic, web; they have a special meaning in TWiki. Common parameters and view script specific parameters are documented at TWikiScripts.
    • If you have %URLPARAM{ in the value of a URL parameter, it will be modified to %<nop>URLPARAM{. This is to prevent an infinite loop during expansion.
  • Related: ENCODE, SEARCH, FormattedSearch, QUERYSTRING

USERINFO{"name"} -- retrieve details about a user

  • Syntax: %USERINFO%
  • Expands to: guest, TWikiGuest, (comma-separated list of the username, wikiusername, and emails)
  • With formatted output, using tokens $emails, $username, $wikiname, $wikiusername, $groups and $admin ($admin returns 'true' or 'false'):
    • Example: %USERINFO{ format="$username is really $wikiname" }%
    • Expands to: guest is really TWikiGuest
  • Retrieve information about another user:
    • Example: %USERINFO{ "TWikiGuest" format="$username is really $wikiname" }%
    • Expands to: guest is really TWikiGuest
    • Note: The parameter should be the wikiname of a user. Since TWiki 4.2.1, you can also pass a login name. You can only get information about another user if the {AntiSpam}{HideUserDetails} configuration option is not enabled, or if you are an admin. (User details are hidden in this TWiki)
  • Related: USERNAME, WIKINAME, WIKIUSERNAME, TWikiUserAuthentication, ChangeEmailAddress

USERNAME -- your login username

USERSWEB -- name of users web

  • The web containing individual user topics, TWikiGroups, and customised site-wide preferences.
  • Syntax: %USERSWEB%
  • Expands to: Main
  • Related: SYSTEMWEB

VAR{"NAME" web="Web"} -- get a preference value from another web

  • Syntax: %VAR{"NAME" web="Web"}%
  • Example: To get %WEBBGCOLOR% of the Main web write %VAR{"WEBBGCOLOR" web="Main"}%, which expands to #FFEFA6
  • Related: WEBPREFSTOPIC

VBAR -- vertical bar

WEB -- name of current web

  • %WEB% expands to the name of the web where the topic is located. If you are looking at the text of an included topic, it is the web where the included topic is located.
  • Syntax: %WEB%, expands to: TWiki
  • Syntax: %WEB{format="..."}%
  • Supported parameter:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    format="..." Format, may include tokens $web (the full web path), $parents (parent webs, if any), $current (current web without parent webs) "$web"
  • Example, assuming %WEB% is Engineering/TechPubs/Apps:
    %WEB{format="Parent webs: $parents, current web: $current"}% returns: Parent webs: Engineering/TechPubs, current web: Apps
  • Related: BASEWEB, INCLUDINGWEB, TOPIC

WEBLIST{"format"} -- index of all webs

  • List of all webs. Obfusticated webs are excluded, e.g. webs with a NOSEARCHALL = on preference variable. The "format" defines the format of one web item. The $name variable gets expanded to the name of the web, $qname gets expanded to double quoted name, $marker to marker where web matches selection.
  • Syntax: %WEBLIST{"format" ...}%
  • Supported parameters:
    Parameter: Description: Default:
    "format" Format of one line, may include $name (the name of the web), $qname (the name of the web in double quotes), $indentedname (the name of the web with parent web names replaced by indents, for use in indented lists), and $marker (which expands to marker for the item matching selection only) "$name"
    format="format" (Alternative to above) "$name"
    separator=", " Line separator "$n" (new line)
    web="" if you specify $web in format, it will be replaced with this ""
    webs="public" Comma separated list of webs, public expands to all non-hidden.
    NOTE: Administrators will see all webs, not just the public ones     		"public"
    marker="selected" Text for $marker if the item matches selection "selected"
    selection="%WEB%" Current value to be selected in list selection="%WEB%"
    subwebs="Sandbox" Show webs that are a sub-web of this one (recursivly) ""
    limit="30" Limit number of webs to show "" (all)
    overlimit="..." Message shown if over limit, such as: overlimit="   * [[%SYSTEMWEB%.SiteMap][More...]]" ""
  • Example: %WEBLIST{"   * [[$name.WebHome]]"}% - creates a bullet list of all webs.
  • Example: <form><select name="web"> %WEBLIST{"<option $marker value=$qname>$name</option>" webs="Trash, public" selection="%WEB%" separator=" "}% </select></form> - creates a dropdown of all public webs + Trash web, with the current web highlighted.
  • Related: TOPICLIST, SEARCH

WEBPREFSTOPIC -- name of web preferences topic

WHITE -- start white colored text

  • WHITE 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: %WHITE% white text %ENDCOLOR%
  • Expands to: white text  (shown with a gray background here)
  • 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

WIKIHOMEURL -- site home URL

  • DEPRECATED, please use %WIKILOGOURL% instead.
  • Syntax: %WIKIHOMEURL%
  • Expands to: /twiki/bin/view.cgi/Main/WebHome
  • Defined in: TWikiPreferences, default %SCRIPTURLPATH{"view"}%/%USERSWEB%/%HOMETOPIC%
  • ALERT! Note: For the top bar logo URL use %WIKILOGOURL% defined in WebPreferences instead.
  • Related: WIKILOGOURL, WIKITOOLNAME

WIKILOGOALT -- site logo tooltip message

WIKILOGOIMG -- site logo image URL

WIKILOGOURL -- site logo home URL

WIKINAME -- your Wiki username

WIKIPREFSTOPIC -- name of site-wide preferences topic

WIKITOOLNAME -- name of your TWiki site

WIKIUSERNAME -- your Wiki username with web prefix

WIKIUSERSTOPIC -- name of topic listing all registers users

  • Syntax: %WIKIUSERSTOPIC%
  • Expands to: TWikiUsers, with Main prefix renders as TWikiUsers
  • Related: WIKIUSERNAME

WIKIVERSION -- the version of the installed TWiki engine

X -- warning icon

Y -- "yes" icon

YELLOW -- start yellow colored text

  • YELLOW 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: %YELLOW% yellow text %ENDCOLOR%
  • Expands to: yellow 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

Deleted:
<
<

TWiki Meta Data

Additional topic data, program-generated or from TWikiForms, is stored embedded in the topic text using META: tags

Overview

By default, TWiki stores topics in files on disk, in a really simple and obvious directory structure. The big advantage of this approach is that it makes it really easy to manipulate topics from outside TWiki, and is also very safe; there are no complex binary indexes to maintain, and moving a topic from one TWiki to another is as simple as copying a couple of text files.

To keep eveything together in one place, TWiki uses a simple method for embedding additional data (program-generated or from TWikiForms) in topics. It does this using META: tags.

META: data includes program-generated info like FileAttachment and topic movement data, and user-defined TWikiForms info.

Meta Data Syntax

  • Format is the same as in TWikiVariables, except all fields have a key.
    • %META:<type>{key1="value1" key2="value2" ...}%

  • Order of fields within the meta variables is not defined, except that if there is a field with key name, this appears first for easier searching (note the order of the variables themselves is defined).

  • Each meta variable is on one line.

  • Values in meta-data are URL encoded so that characters such as \n can be stored.

Example of Format 
%META:TOPICINFO{version="1.6" date="976762663" author="LastEditorWikiName" format="1.0"}%
   text of the topic
%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName"
   by="TopicMoverWikiName" date="976762680"}%
%META:TOPICPARENT{name="NavigationByTopicContext"}%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Sample.txt" version="1.3" ... }%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Smile.gif" version="1.1" ... }%
%META:FORM{name="WebFormTemplate"}%
%META:FIELD{name="OperatingSystem" value="OsWin"}%
%META:FIELD{name="TopicClassification" value="PublicFAQ"}%

Meta Data Specifications

The current version of Meta Data is 1.0, with support for the following variables.

META:TOPICINFO

Key Comment
version Same as RCS version
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
author last to change topic, is the REMOTE_USER
format Format of this topic, will be used for automatic format conversion

META:TOPICMOVED

This is optional, exists if topic has ever been moved. If a topic is moved more than once, only the most recent META:TOPICMOVED meta variable exists in the topic, older ones are to be found in the rcs history.

%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName" by="talintj" date="976762680"}%

Key Comment
from Full name, i.e., web.topic
to Full name, i.e., web.topic
by Who did it, is the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

Notes:

  • at present version number is not supported directly, it can be inferred from the RCS history.
  • there is only one META:TOPICMOVED in a topic, older move information can be found in the RCS history.

META:TOPICPARENT

Key Comment
name The topic from which this was created, typically when clicking on a red-link, or by filling out a form. Normally just TopicName, but it can be a full Web.TopicName format if the parent is in a different Web.

META:FILEATTACHMENT

Key Comment
name Name of file, no path. Must be unique within topic
version Same as RCS revision
path Full path file was loaded from
size In bytes
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
user the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
comment As supplied when file uploaded
attr h if hidden, optional

Extra fields that are added if an attachment is moved:

Key Comment
movedfrom full topic name - web.topic
movedby the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
movedto full topic name - web.topic
moveddate integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

META:FORM

Key Comment
name A topic name - the topic represents one of the TWikiForms. Can optionally include the web name (i.e., web.topic), but doesn't normally

META:FIELD

Should only be present if there is a META:FORM entry. Note that this data is used when viewing a topic, the form template definition is not read.

Key Name
name Ties to entry in TWikiForms template, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title Full text from TWikiForms template
value Value user has supplied via form

Recommended Sequence

There is no absolute need for Meta Data variables to be listed in a specific order within a topic, but it makes sense to do so a couple of good reasons:

  • form fields remain in the order they are defined
  • the diff function output appears in a logical order

The recommended sequence is:

  • META:TOPICINFO
  • META:TOPICPARENT (optional)
  • text of topic
  • META:TOPICMOVED (optional)
  • META:FILEATTACHMENT (0 or more entries)
  • META:FORM (optional)
  • META:FIELD (0 or more entries; FORM required)

Viewing Meta Data in Page Source

When viewing a topic the Raw Text link can be clicked to show the text of a topic (i.e., as seen when editing). This is done by adding raw=on to URL. raw=debug shows the meta data as well as the topic data, ex: debug view for this topic

Rendering Meta Data

Meta Data is rendered with the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the view, preview and edit scripts.

You can render form fields in topic text by using the FORMFIELD variable. Example:
%FORMFIELD{"TopicClassification"}%
For details, see VarFORMFIELD.

Current support covers:

Variable usage: Comment:
%META{"form"}% Show form data, see TWikiForms.
%META{"formfield"}% Show form field value. Parameter: name="field_name". Example:
%META{ "formfield" name="TopicClassification" }%
%META{"attachments"}% Show attachments, except for hidden ones. Options:
all="on": Show all attachments, including hidden ones.
%META{"moved"}% Details of any topic moves.
%META{"parent"}% Show topic parent. Options:
dontrecurse="on": By default recurses up tree, at some cost.
nowebhome="on": Suppress WebHome.
prefix="...": Prefix for parents, only if there are parents, default "".
suffix="...": Suffix, only appears if there are parents, default "".
separator="...": Separator between parents, default is " > ".

Note: SEARCH can also be used to render meta data, see examples in FormattedSearch and SearchPatternCookbook.

Related Topics: DeveloperDocumentationCategory, UserDocumentationCategory

 

TWiki Forms

Add structure to content with forms attached to twiki topics. TWiki forms (with form fields) and formatted search are the base for building database applications.

Overview

By adding form-based input to freeform content, you can structure topics with unlimited, easily searchable categories. A form is enabled for a web and can be added to a topic. The form data is shown in tabular format when the topic is viewed, and can be changed in edit mode using edit fields, radio buttons, check boxes and list boxes. Many different form types can be defined in a web, though a topic can only have one form attached to it at a time.

Typical steps to build an application based on TWiki forms:

  1. Define a form template
  2. Enable the form for a web
  3. Add the form to a template topic
  4. Build an HTML form to create new topics based on that template topic
  5. Build a FormattedSearch to list topics that share the same form

Defining a Form

A Form Template specifies the fields in a form. A Form Template is simply a page containing a TWiki table, where each row of the table specifies one form field.

  1. Create a new topic with your form name: YourForm, ExpenseReportForm, InfoCategoryForm, RecordReviewForm, whatever you need.
  2. Create a TWiki table, with each column representing one element of an entry field: Name, Type, Size, Values, Tooltip message, and Attributes (see sample below).
  3. For each field, fill in a new line; for the type of field, select from the list.
  4. Save the topic (you can later choose to enable/disable individual forms).

Example:
| *Name* | *Type* | *Size* | *Values* | *Tooltip message* | *Attributes* |
| TopicClassification | select | 1 | NoDisclosure, PublicSupported, PublicFAQ | blah blah... |   |
| OperatingSystem | checkbox | 3 | OsHPUX, OsLinux, OsSolaris, OsWin | blah blah... |   |
| OsVersion | text | 16 | | blah blah... |   |

Name Type Size Values Tooltip message Attributes
TopicClassification select 1 NoDisclosure, PublicSupported, PublicFAQ blah blah...  
OperatingSystem checkbox 3 OsHPUX, OsLinux, OsSolaris, OsWin blah blah...  
OsVersion text 16   blah blah...  

See structure of a form for full details of what types are available and what all the columns mean.

You can also retrieve possible values for select, checkbox or radio types from other topics:

Example:

  • In the WebForm topic, define the form:
    Name Type Size Values Tooltip message Attributes
    TopicClassification select 1   blah blah...  
    OperatingSystem checkbox 3   blah blah...  
    OsVersion text 16   blah blah...  

    ALERT! Leave the Values field blank.

  • Then in the TopicClassification topic, define the possible values:
    | *Name*            |
    | NoDisclosure      |
    | Public Supported  |
    | Public FAQ        |
    Name
    NoDisclosure
    Public Supported
    Public FAQ

Field values can also be set using the result of expanding other TWiki variables. For example,

%SEARCH{"Office$" scope="topic" web="%USERSWEB%" nonoise="on" type="regex" format="$web.$topic" separator=", " }%

When used in the value field of the form definition, this will find all topic names in the Main web which end in "Office" and use them as the legal field values.

Enabling Forms by Web

Forms have to be enabled for each individual web. The WEBFORMS variable in WebPreferences is optional and defines a list of possible form templates.

Example:
  • Set WEBFORMS = BugForm, FeatureForm, Books.BookLoanForm
  • With WEBFORMS enabled, an extra button is added to the edit view. If the topic doesn't have a Form, an Add Form button appears at the end of the topic. If a Form is present, a Change button appears in the top row of the Form. The buttons open a screen that enables selection of a form specified in WEBFORMS, or the No form option.
  • You have to list the available form topics explicitly. You cannot use a SEARCH to define WEBFORMS.

Adding a form to a topic

  • Edit the topic and follow the "Add form" button to add a Form. This is typically done to a template topic, either to the WebTopicEditTemplate topic in a web, or a new topic that serves as an application specific template topic. Initial Form values can be set there.

  • Additionally a new topic can be given a Form using the formtemplate parameter in the (edit or save) URL. Initial values can then be provided in the URLs or as form values:
    • other than checkboxes: name, ex: ?BugPriority=1
    • checkbox: namevalue=1, ex: ?ColorRed=1.
      Boxes with a tick must be specified.
    • Example: This will add a textfield for the new topic name and a "Create"-Button to your topic. When the button is pressed, the topic editor will open with the form "MyForm" already attached to the new topic. 
          <form name="newtopic" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{"edit"}%/%WEB%/">
       <input type="hidden" name="formtemplate" value="MyForm" />
       New topic name <input type="text" name="topic" size="40" />
       <input type="submit" class="twikiSubmit" value="Create" />
    </form>
  • ALERT! 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="newtopic" action="%SCRIPTURLPATH{"save"}%/%WEB%/" method="post">
       .....
    </form>
  • HELP The edit and save scripts understand many more parameters, see TWikiScripts#edit and TWikiScripts#save for details.

  • ALERT! Note: Initial values will not be set in the form of a new topic if you only use the formtemplate parameter.

Changing a form

  • You can change a form definition, and TWiki will try to make sure you don't lose any data from the topics that use that form.

  • If you change the form definition, the changes will not take affect in a topic that uses that form until you edit and save it.

  • If you add a new field to the form, then it will appear next time you edit a topic that uses the form.

  • If you delete a field from the form, or change a field name, then the data will not be visible when you edit the topic (the changed form definition will be used). If you save the topic, the old data will be lost (though thanks to revision control, you can always see it in older versions of the topic)

  • If two people edit the same topic containing a form at exactly the same time, and both change fields in the form, TWiki will try to merge the changes so that no data is lost.

Structure of a Form Template

A Form Template specifies the fields in a form. A Form Template is simply a page containing a TWiki table, where each row of the table specifies one form field.

Each column of the table is one element of an entry field: Name, Type, Size, Values, Tooltip message, and Attributes.

The Name, Type and Size columns are required. Other columns are optional. The form must have a header row (e.g. | *Name* | *Type* | *Size* |).

Name column: Name is the name of the form field.

Type, Size, Value columns: Type, Size and Value describe the type, size and initial value for this field:

Type Description Size Value
text One-line text field Text box width in number of characters Initial (default) content
textarea Multi-line text box Columns x rows, such as 80x6; default is 40x5 Initial (default) content
label Read-only text label   Text of the label
checkbox One or more checkboxes that can be toggled individually Number of checkboxes shown per line Comma-space-separated list of item labels - can be a dynamic SEARCH
checkbox+buttons Like checkbox, adding [Set] and [Clear] buttons
radio Radio buttons, mutually exclusive; only one can be selected Number of radio buttons shown per line Comma-space-separated list of item labels - can be a dynamic SEARCH
select Select box, rendered as a picklist or a multi-row selector box depending on the size value • 1: Show a picklist
• Number > 1: Multi-row selector box of specified size
• Range e.g. 3..10: Multi-row selector box with variable size - the box will never be smaller than 3 items, never larger than 10, and will be 5 high if there are only 5 options 		Comma-space-separated list of options of the select box - can be a dynamic SEARCH
select+multi Like select, turning multi-select on, to allow Shift+Click and Ctrl+Click to select (or deselect) multiple items
select+values Like select, allowing definition of values that are different to the displayed text. For example:
| Field 9 | select+values | 3 | One, Two=2, Three=III | Various values formats |
shows
but the values of options Two and Three are 2 and III, respectively.
select+multi+values Combination of select+multi and select+values
date Single-line text box and a button next to it to pick a date from a popup calendar. The date can also be typed into the text box. The date format can be customized. Text box width in number of characters Initial (default) date

Tooltip message column: The Tooltip message will be displayed when the cursor is hovered over the field in edit view.

Attributes column: Attributes specifies special attributes for the field. Multiple attributes can be entered, separated by spaces.

  • An attribute H indicates that this field should not be shown in view mode. However, the field is available for editing and storing information.
  • An attribute M indicates that this field is mandatory. The topic cannot be saved unless a value is provided for this field. If the field is found empty during topic save, an error is raised and the user is redirected to an oops page. Mandatory fields are indicated by an asterisks next to the field name.

For example, a simple form just supporting entry of a name and a date would look as follows: 

| *Name* | *Type* | *Size* |
| Name   | text   | 80     |
| Date   | date   | 30     |

Field Name Notes:

  • Field names have to be unique.
  • A very few field names are reserved. If you try to use one of these names, TWiki will automatically append an underscore to the name when the form is used.
  • You can space out the title of the field, and it will still find the topic e.g. Aeroplane Manufacturers is equivalent to AeroplaneManufacturers.
  • If a label field has no name, it will not be shown when the form is viewed, only when it is edited.
  • Field names can in theory include any text, but you should stick to alphanumeric characters. If you want to use a non-wikiname for a select, checkbox or radio field, and want to get the values from another topic, you can use [[...]] links. This notation can also be used when referencing another topic to obtain field values, but a name other than the topic name is required as the name of the field.
  • Leading and trailing spaces are not significant.

Field Value Notes:

  • The field value will be used to initialize a field when a form is created, unless specific values are given by the topic template or query parameters. The first item in the list for a select or radio type is the default item. For label, text, and textarea fields the value may also contain commas. checkbox fields cannot be initialized through the form template.
  • Leading and trailing spaces are not significant.
  • Field values can also be generated through a FormattedSearch, which must yield a suitable table as the result.
  • Variables in the initial values of a form definition get expanded when the form definition is loaded.
    • If you want to use a | character in the initial values field, you have to precede it with a backslash, thus: \|.
    • You can use <nop> to prevent TWiki variables from being expanded.
    • The FormatTokens can be used to prevent expansion of other characters.

General Notes:

  • The topic definition is not read when a topic is viewed.
  • Form definition topics can be protected in the usual manner, using TWikiAccessControl, to limit who can change the form template and/or individual value lists. Note that view access is required to be able to edit topics that use the form definition, though view access to the form definition is not required to view a topic where the form has been used.

Values in Other Topics

As described above, you can also retrieve possible values for select, checkbox or radio types from other topics. For example, if you have a rows defined like this: 

| *Name*                 | *Type* | *Size* |
| AeroplaneManufacturers | select |        |
the TWiki will look for the topic AeroplaneManufacturers to get the possible values for the select.

The AeroplaneManufacturers topic must contain a table, where each row of the table describes a possible value. The table only requires one column, Name. Other columns may be present, but are ignored.

For example: 

| *Name* |
| Routan |
| Focke-Wulf |
| De Havilland |

Notes:

  • The Values column must be empty in the referring form definition.

Extending the range of form data types

You can extend the range of data types accepted by forms by using TWikiPlugins. All such extended data types are single-valued (can only have one value) with the following exceptions:

  • any type name starting with checkbox
  • any type name with +multi anywhere in the name
Types with names like this can both take multiple values.

Hints and Tips

Editing Just Form Data, Without Topic Text

In some cases you want to change only the form data. You have the option of hiding the topic text with two methods:

  • To display only the form whenever you edit a topic, set the preference variable EDITACTION to value form (see details).
  • To change the edit action in a URL, add a action=form parameter to the edit URL string, such as
    %SCRIPTURL{edit}%/%BASEWEB%/%BASETOPIC%?t=%SERVERTIME{$epoch}%;action=form (see details).

Build an HTML Form to Create New Form-based Topics

New topics with a form are created by simple HTML forms asking for a topic name. For example, you can have a SubmitExpenseReport topic where you can create new expense reports, a SubmitVacationRequest topic, and so on. These can specify the required template topic with its associated form. Template topics has more.

A Form Template specifies the fields in a form. A Form Template is simply a page containing a TWiki table, where each row of the table specifies one form field.

Searching for Form Data

TWiki Forms accept user-input data, stored as TWikiMetaData. Meta data also contains program-generated info about changes, attachments, etc. To find, format and display form and other meta data, see TWikiMetaData, FORMFIELD, SEARCH and METASEARCH variables in TWikiVariables, and TWiki Formatted Search.

Example
TWiki users often want to have an overview of topics they contributed to. With the $formfield parameter it is easy to display the value of a classification field next to the topic link: 
| *Topic* | *Classification* |
%SEARCH{"%USERSWEB%.UserName" scope="text" nosearch="on" nototal="on" order="modified" reverse="on"
format="|<b>[[$web.$topic][$topic]]</b> |<nop>$formfield(TopicClassification) |" web="Sandbox"}%

Searching forms this way is obviously pretty inefficient, but it's easy to do. If you want better performance, take a look at some of the structured wiki extensions that support higher performance searching e.g. TWiki:Plugins.DBCachePlugin.

Gotcha!

  • Some browsers may strip linefeeds from text fields when a topic is saved. If you need linefeeds in a field, make sure it is a textarea.

Line: 52 to 48
 

Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.MonitoringSiteActivity

Added:
>
>

File Attachments

Each topic can have one or more files of any type attached to it by using the Attach screen to upload (or download) files from your local PC. Attachments are stored under revision control: uploads are automatically backed up; all previous versions of a modified file can be retrieved.

What Are Attachments Good For?

File Attachments can be used to archive data, or to create powerful customized groupware solutions, like file sharing and document management systems, and quick Web page authoring.

Document Management System

  • You can use Attachments to store and retrieve documents (in any format, with associated graphics, and other media files); attach documents to specific TWiki topics; collaborate on documents with full revision control; distribute documents on a need-to-know basis using web and topic-level access control; create a central reference library that's easy to share with an user group spread around the world.

File Sharing

  • For file sharing, FileAttachments on a series of topics can be used to quickly create a well-documented, categorized digital download center for all types of files: documents; graphics and other media; drivers and patches; applications; anything you can safely upload!

Web Authoring

  • Through your Web browser, you can easily upload graphics (or sound files, or anything else you want to link to on a page) and place them on a single page, or use them across a web, or site-wide.
    • NOTE: You can also add graphics - any files - directly, typically by FTP upload. This requires FTP access, and may be more convenient if you have a large number of files to load. FTP-ed files can't be managed using browser-based Attachment controls. You can use your browser to create TWikiVariables shortcuts, like this %H% = HELP.

Uploading Files

  • Click on the Attach link at the bottom of the page. The Attach screen lets you browse for a file, add a comment, and upload it. The uploaded file will show up in the File Attachment table.
    • NOTE: The topic must already exist. It is a two step process if you want to attach a file to a non-existing topic; first create the topic, then add the file attachment.
    • Any type of file can be uploaded. Some files that might pose a security risk are renamed, ex: *.php files are renamed to *.php.txt so that no one can place code that would be read in a .php file.
    • The previous upload path is retained for convenience. In case you make some changes to the local file and want to upload it, again you can copy the previous upload path into the Local file field.
    • TWiki can limit the file size. This is defined by the %ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT% variable of the TWikiPreferences, currently set at 10000 KB.
      • ALERT! It's not recommended to upload files greater than a few hundred K through a browser. Large files can be extremely slow-loading, and often time out. Use an FTP site for large file uploads.
  • Automatic attachments:
    • When enabled, all files in a topic's attachment directory are shown as attachments to the topic - even if they were directly copied to the directory and never attached by using an 'Attach' link. This is a convenient way to quickly "attach" files to a topic without uploading them one by one; although at the cost of losing audit trail and version control.
    • To enable this feature, set the {AutoAttachPubFiles} configuration option.
    • NOTE: The automatic attachment feature can only be used by an administrator who has access to the server's file system.

Downloading Files

  • ALERT! NOTE: There is no access control on individual attachments. If you need control over single files, create a separate topic per file and set topic-level access restrictions for each.

Moving Attachment Files

An attachment can be moved between topics.

  • Click Manage on the Attachment to be moved.
  • On the control screen, select the new web and/or topic.
  • Click Move. The attachment and its version history are moved. The original location is stored as topic Meta Data.

Deleting Attachments

Move unwanted Attachments to web Trash, topic TrashAttachment.

Linking to Attached Files

  • Once a file is attached it can be referenced in the topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Sample.txt
    2. Edit topic and enter: %ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt
    3. Preview: %ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt text appears as: /twiki/pub/TWiki/FileAttachment/Sample.txt, a link to the text file.

  • To reference an attachment located in another topic, enter:
    • %PUBURLPATH%/%WEB%/OtherTopic/Sample.txt (if it's within the same web)
    • %PUBURLPATH%/Otherweb/OtherTopic/Sample.txt (if it's in a different web)

  • Attached HTML files and text files can be inlined in a topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Sample.txt
    2. Edit topic and write text: %INCLUDE{"%ATTACHURL%/Sample.txt"}%
      • Content of attached file is shown inlined.
      • Read more about INCLUDE in TWikiVariables

  • GIF, JPG and PNG images can be attached and shown embedded in a topic. Example:
    1. Attach file: Smile.gif
    2. Edit topic and write text: %ATTACHURL%/Smile.gif
    3. Preview: text appears as /twiki/pub/TWiki/FileAttachment/Smile.gif, an image.

File Attachment Contents Table

Files attached to a topic are displayed in a directory table, displayed at the bottom of the page, or optionally, hidden and accessed when you click Attach.

Topic attachments
I Attachment Action Size Date Who Comment
txttxt Sample.txt manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:37 TWikiContributor Just a sample
gifgif Smile.gif manage 0.1 K 22 Jul 2000 - 19:38 TWikiContributor Smiley face 
<--//twikiAttachments-->

File Attachment Controls

Clicking on a Manage link takes you to a new page that looks a bit like this (depending on what skin is selected):

Attach new file

Select a new local file to update attachment Sample.txt (UploadingUser)
Upload up to 10000 KB. 

<-- /twikiFormStep-->

Comment

Describe the file so other people know what it is. 

<-- /twikiFormStep-->

Properties

Images will be displayed, for other attachments a link will be created.

Attachments will not be shown in topic view page. 

<-- /twikiFormStep-->
<-- /twikiFormStep-->
<-- /twikiFormSteps-->
or Cancel
<--/patternTopicActions-->

  • The first table is a list of all attachments, including their attributes. An h means the attachment is hidden, it isn't listed when viewing a topic.

  • The second table is all the versions of the attachment. Click on View to see that version. If it's the most recent version, you'll be taken to an URL that always displays the latest version, which is usually what you want.
    • To change the comment on an attachment, enter a new comment and then click Change properties. Note that the comment listed against the specific version will not change, however the comment displayed when viewing the topic does change.
    • To hide/unhide an attachment, enable the Hide file checkbox, then click Change properties.

Known Issues

  • Unlike topics, attachments are not locked during editing. As a workaround, you can change the comment to indicate an attachment file is being worked on - the comment on the specific version isn't lost, it's there when you list all versions of the attachment.
  • Attachments are not secured by default. Anyone can read them if they know the name of the web, topic and attachment. Ask your TWiki administrator if TWiki is configured to secure attachments.

 

Managing Topics

Browser-based rename, move, and delete for individual topics

Overview

You can use browser-based controls to change a topic's name, move it to another TWiki web, or delete it to a hidden Trash web.

How to Rename/Move/Delete a Topic

  1. Click on [More topic actions] (bottom right of page) on the topic to be changed, then, in the new screen, on [Delete topic] or [Rename/move topic]. You can now rename and/or move/delete in one operation:
  2. To web: Select the target web if other than the current web.
  3. To topic: Enter the new topic name - default is current name
    ALERT! NOTE: You'll be warned if any of the topics to be affected are locked (being edited), or if there is a name conflict.
  4. Update links: Prevent updates by unchecking individual items on the list of referring links - these topics will NOT to be updated with the new name (by default, all referring links will be updated).
  5. Click on [Rename/Move]: the topic will be renamed and links to the topic updated as requested.
    • If any of the referring pages are locked then they will be listed: you can correct these later by again pressing [Rename/Move].
    • HELP There is a Put back feature that allows you to undo a Rename/Move/Delete - an instruction line and undo link will appear at the bottom of the modified topic. This allows you to revert from the last modification only.

Deleted Topics: How to Clear the Trash

Deleted topics are moved to a special Trash web - they are NOT physically erased from the server. All webs share Trash - in case of a name conflict with a topic already Trash, the user is alerted and asked to choose a new name.

The Trash web should be be cleared periodically, by archiving (saving) the text and RCS files if required (recommended), then deleting them from the Trash directory.

  • ALERT! This can only be done from on the server, not through the browser.
    • TIP Since simple FTP access to the Trash directory is all that's required for maintenance, it's possible to grant Trash admin privileges to multiple users, while strictly limiting server access.

Redirecting from an Old Topic

You can use TWikiMetaData to place a command in the WebTopicViewTemplate and WebTopicNonWikiTemplate that will indicate that a topic has been moved by searching for %META:TOPICMOVED{...}%. Customize something like this: 

%METASEARCH{type="topicmoved" web="%WEB%" topic="%TOPIC%" 
title="This topic used to exist and was moved to: "}%

How Rename/Move Works

  1. %SEARCH%, with a special template, finds and displays all occurrences of the topic name in other topics, site-wide. These referring links are by default automatically changed to the new topic and/or web name. This includes relevant TWikiMetaData definitions.
    • User can omit one or more topics from the update list by unchecking them.
    • <pre> and <verbatim> are honored - no changes are made to text within these areas.
  2. The topic is moved (if locks allow).
  3. References are changed (locks and permissions permitting).
  4. Any referring topics that can't be changed due to locks are listed - user can take note and change them at another time.

How Referring Topics Are Found

First, matching topics in the current web are listed - matches are to topic. Next, all webs (including the current one) are listed that match web.topic. All webs will be searched during rename, even if NOSEARCHALL is defined on a web, though access permissions will of course be honored.

Changed references are kept are as short as possible, ex: topic is used in preference to web.topic.

Effect of User Access Settings

User permissions affect the 'rename' functions in various ways. To rename a topic, you need all of VIEW, CHANGE and RENAME access to that topic. To alter referring topics, you need CHANGE access. See TWikiAccessControl for information on setting up access permissions.

Special Considerations

Consider carefully whether to make browser-based Rename/Move/Delete widely available, or to restrict it to an administrator/moderator group. Allowing all users to easily manipulate topics can be extremely useful in refactoring a busy web or site. However, there are at least two significant potential drawbacks to take into account:

  • When referring links are updated, the modified topics appear in WebChanges, creating the impression that editorial changes were made. This can undermine the usefulness of WebChanges.
  • Due to current limitations, fairly heavy use of Rename/Move/Delete functions can lead to an accumulation of minor technical problems (ex: broken links) and usability issues (ex: user confusion). If Rename... is used heavily, these negatives will obviously increase, in number and effect.

Ultimately, the size, objectives, and policies of your TWiki site, the real-world behavior of your user group, and most importantly, the initial TWiki site management leadership, will determine the most effective implementation of this feature, and the success of the site overall.

Known Issues

Rename/Move is fairly complicated due to the dynamic generation of links. Ideally, it would be possible to run the required part of rendering in a way that would allow identification of the text to be changed. Unfortunately, these hooks don't exist in TWiki at present. Instead, %SEARCH% is used with a special template to show the text to be changed, and the selected topics are then altered. One drawback is that search can show matches that will not be updated due to case differences. Other mismatches with actual rendered output are also possible as the approaches are so different.

The following shows some limitations of square bracket processing. 

[[Old Topic]]  => [[NewTopic][Old Topic]]
[[old topic]]  => [[NewTopic][old topic]]
[[old t opic]] => not changed
[[OldTopic]]   => [[NewTopic]]

Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory, AdminDocumentationCategory

Line: 60 to 59
 

Warning: Can't find topic TWiki.AppendixFileSystem

Added:
>
>

TWiki Meta Data

Additional topic data, program-generated or from TWikiForms, is stored embedded in the topic text using META: tags

Overview

By default, TWiki stores topics in files on disk, in a really simple and obvious directory structure. The big advantage of this approach is that it makes it really easy to manipulate topics from outside TWiki, and is also very safe; there are no complex binary indexes to maintain, and moving a topic from one TWiki to another is as simple as copying a couple of text files.

To keep eveything together in one place, TWiki uses a simple method for embedding additional data (program-generated or from TWikiForms) in topics. It does this using META: tags.

META: data includes program-generated info like FileAttachment and topic movement data, and user-defined TWikiForms info.

Meta Data Syntax

  • Format is the same as in TWikiVariables, except all fields have a key.
    • %META:<type>{key1="value1" key2="value2" ...}%

  • Order of fields within the meta variables is not defined, except that if there is a field with key name, this appears first for easier searching (note the order of the variables themselves is defined).

  • Each meta variable is on one line.

  • Values in meta-data are URL encoded so that characters such as \n can be stored.

Example of Format 
%META:TOPICINFO{version="1.6" date="976762663" author="LastEditorWikiName" format="1.0"}%
   text of the topic
%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName"
   by="TopicMoverWikiName" date="976762680"}%
%META:TOPICPARENT{name="NavigationByTopicContext"}%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Sample.txt" version="1.3" ... }%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="Smile.gif" version="1.1" ... }%
%META:FORM{name="WebFormTemplate"}%
%META:FIELD{name="OperatingSystem" value="OsWin"}%
%META:FIELD{name="TopicClassification" value="PublicFAQ"}%

Meta Data Specifications

The current version of Meta Data is 1.0, with support for the following variables.

META:TOPICINFO

Key Comment
version Same as RCS version
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
author last to change topic, is the REMOTE_USER
format Format of this topic, will be used for automatic format conversion

META:TOPICMOVED

This is optional, exists if topic has ever been moved. If a topic is moved more than once, only the most recent META:TOPICMOVED meta variable exists in the topic, older ones are to be found in the rcs history.

%META:TOPICMOVED{from="Codev.OldName" to="Codev.NewName" by="talintj" date="976762680"}%

Key Comment
from Full name, i.e., web.topic
to Full name, i.e., web.topic
by Who did it, is the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

Notes:

  • at present version number is not supported directly, it can be inferred from the RCS history.
  • there is only one META:TOPICMOVED in a topic, older move information can be found in the RCS history.

META:TOPICPARENT

Key Comment
name The topic from which this was created, typically when clicking on a red-link, or by filling out a form. Normally just TopicName, but it can be a full Web.TopicName format if the parent is in a different Web.

META:FILEATTACHMENT

Key Comment
name Name of file, no path. Must be unique within topic
version Same as RCS revision
path Full path file was loaded from
size In bytes
date integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970
user the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
comment As supplied when file uploaded
attr h if hidden, optional

Extra fields that are added if an attachment is moved:

Key Comment
movedfrom full topic name - web.topic
movedby the REMOTE_USER, not WikiName
movedto full topic name - web.topic
moveddate integer, unix time, seconds since start 1970

META:FORM

Key Comment
name A topic name - the topic represents one of the TWikiForms. Can optionally include the web name (i.e., web.topic), but doesn't normally

META:FIELD

Should only be present if there is a META:FORM entry. Note that this data is used when viewing a topic, the form template definition is not read.

Key Name
name Ties to entry in TWikiForms template, is title with all bar alphanumerics and . removed
title Full text from TWikiForms template
value Value user has supplied via form

Recommended Sequence

There is no absolute need for Meta Data variables to be listed in a specific order within a topic, but it makes sense to do so a couple of good reasons:

  • form fields remain in the order they are defined
  • the diff function output appears in a logical order

The recommended sequence is:

  • META:TOPICINFO
  • META:TOPICPARENT (optional)
  • text of topic
  • META:TOPICMOVED (optional)
  • META:FILEATTACHMENT (0 or more entries)
  • META:FORM (optional)
  • META:FIELD (0 or more entries; FORM required)

Viewing Meta Data in Page Source

When viewing a topic the Raw Text link can be clicked to show the text of a topic (i.e., as seen when editing). This is done by adding raw=on to URL. raw=debug shows the meta data as well as the topic data, ex: debug view for this topic

Rendering Meta Data

Meta Data is rendered with the %META% variable. This is mostly used in the view, preview and edit scripts.

You can render form fields in topic text by using the FORMFIELD variable. Example:
%FORMFIELD{"TopicClassification"}%
For details, see VarFORMFIELD.

Current support covers:

Variable usage: Comment:
%META{"form"}% Show form data, see TWikiForms.
%META{"formfield"}% Show form field value. Parameter: name="field_name". Example:
%META{ "formfield" name="TopicClassification" }%
%META{"attachments"}% Show attachments, except for hidden ones. Options:
all="on": Show all attachments, including hidden ones.
%META{"moved"}% Details of any topic moves.
%META{"parent"}% Show topic parent. Options:
dontrecurse="on": By default recurses up tree, at some cost.
nowebhome="on": Suppress WebHome.
prefix="...": Prefix for parents, only if there are parents, default "".
suffix="...": Suffix, only appears if there are parents, default "".
separator="...": Separator between parents, default is " > ".

Note: SEARCH can also be used to render meta data, see examples in FormattedSearch and SearchPatternCookbook.

Related Topics: DeveloperDocumentationCategory, UserDocumentationCategory

TWiki Text Formatting

These instructions are for contributors who prefer to use the Raw Edit over the default WYSIWYG editor. Working in TWiki is as easy as typing in text. You don't need to know HTML, though you can use it if you prefer. Links to topics are created automatically when you enter WikiWords. And TWiki shorthand gives you all the power of HTML with a simple coding system that takes no time to learn. It's all laid out below.

TWiki Editing Shorthand

Formatting Command: You write: You get:
Paragraphs:
Blank lines will create new paragraphs. 
1st paragraph

2nd paragraph

1st paragraph

2nd paragraph

Headings:
Three or more dashes at the beginning of a line, followed by plus signs and the heading text. One plus creates a top level heading, two pluses a second level heading, etc. The maximum heading depth is 6.

You can create a table of contents with the %TOC% variable. If you want to exclude a heading from the TOC, put !! after the ---+.

ALERT! Empty headings are allowed, but won't appear in the table of contents. 

---++ Sushi
---+++ Maguro
---+++!! Not in TOC

Sushi

Maguro

Not in TOC
Bold Text:
Words get shown in bold by enclosing them in * asterisks. 
*Bold*

Bold

Italic Text:
Words get shown in italic by enclosing them in _ underscores. 
_Italic_

Italic

Bold Italic:
Words get shown in bold italic by enclosing them in __ double-underscores. 
__Bold italic__

Bold italic

Fixed Font:
Words get shown in fixed font by enclosing them in = equal signs. 
=Fixed font=

Fixed font

Bold Fixed Font:
Words get shown in bold fixed font by enclosing them in double equal signs. 
==Bold fixed==

Bold fixed

TIP You can follow the closing bold, italic, or other (* _ __ = ==) indicator with normal punctuation, such as commas and full stops.

ALERT! Make sure there is no space between the text and the indicators. 

_This works_,
_this does not _

This works,
_this does not _

Verbatim (Literal) Text:
Surround code excerpts and other formatted text with <verbatim> and </verbatim> tags.
TIP verbatim tags disable HTML code. Use <pre> and </pre> tags instead if you want the HTML code within the tags to be interpreted.
ALERT! NOTE: Preferences variables (* Set NAME = value) are set within verbatim tags. 
<verbatim>
class CatAnimal {
  void purr() {
    <code here>
  }
}
</verbatim>

class CatAnimal {
  void purr() {
    <code here>
  }
}
Separator (Horizontal Rule):
Three or more three dashes at the beginning of a line.. 
-------

Bulleted List:
Multiple of three spaces, an asterisk, and another space.
HELP For all the list types, you can break a list item over several lines by indenting lines after the first one by at least 3 spaces. 
   * level 1
      * level 2
   * back on 1
   * A bullet
     broken over
     three lines
   * last bullet

  • level 1
    • level 2
  • back on 1
  • A bullet broken over three lines
  • last bullet
Numbered List:
Multiple of three spaces, a type character, a dot, and another space. Several types are available besides a number:
Type Generated Style Sample Sequence
1. Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4...
A. Uppercase letters A, B, C, D...
a. Lowercase letters a, b, c, d...
I. Uppercase Roman Numerals I, II, III, IV...
i. Lowercase Roman Numerals i, ii, iii, iv... 
   1. Sushi
   1. Dim Sum
   1. Fondue

   A. Sushi
   A. Dim Sum
   A. Fondue

   i. Sushi
   i. Dim Sum
   i. Fondue

  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum
  3. Fondue

  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum
  3. Fondue

  1. Sushi
  2. Dim Sum
  3. Fondue
Definition List:
Three spaces, a dollar sign, the term, a colon, a space, followed by the definition.

Deprecated syntax: Three spaces, the term with no spaces, a colon, a space, followed by the definition. 

   $ Sushi: Japan
   $ Dim Sum: S.F.

Sushi
Japan
Dim Sum
S.F.
Table:
Each row of the table is a line containing of one or more cells. Each cell starts and ends with a vertical bar '|'. Any spaces at the beginning of a line are ignored.
  • | *bold* | header cell with text in asterisks
  • |   center-aligned   | cell with at least two, and equal number of spaces on either side
  • |      right-aligned | cell with more spaces on the left
  • | 2 colspan || and multi-span columns with multiple |'s right next to each other
  • |^| cell with caret indicating follow-up row of multi-span rows
  • You can split rows over multiple lines by putting a backslash '\' at the end of each line
  • Contents of table cells wrap automatically as determined by the browser
  • Use %VBAR% or &#124; to add | characters in tables.
  • Use %CARET% or &#94; to add ^ characters in tables.
TIP The TablePlugin provides the |^| multiple-span row functionality and additional rendering features 
| *L* | *C* | *R* |
| A2 |  B2  |  C2 |
| A3 |  B3  |  C3 |
| multi span |||
| A5-7 |  5  |  5 |
|^| six | six |
|^| seven | seven |
| split\
  | over\
  | 3 lines |
| A9 |  B9  |  C9 |

L C R
A2 B2 C2
A3 B3 C3
multi span
A5-7 5 5
six six
seven seven
split over 3 lines
A9 B9 C9
WikiWord Links:
CapitalizedWordsStuckTogether (or WikiWords) will produce a link automatically if preceded by whitespace or parenthesis.
TIP If you want to link to a topic in a different web write Otherweb.TopicName.
To link to a topic in a subweb write Otherweb.Subweb.TopicName.
HELP The link label excludes the name of the web, e.g. only the topic name is shown. As an exception, the name of the web is shown for the WebHome topic.
ALERT! Dots '.' are used to separate webs and subwebs from topic names and therefore cannot be used in topic names.

It's generally a good idea to use the TWikiVariables %SYSTEMWEB% and %USERSWEB% instead of TWiki and Main. 

WebStatistics

Sandbox.WebNotify

Sandbox.WebHome

Sandbox.Subweb.TopicName

WebStatistics

WebNotify

Sandbox

TopicName

Anchors:
You can define a reference inside a TWiki topic (called an anchor name) and link to that. To define an anchor write #AnchorName at the beginning of a line. The anchor name must be a WikiWord of no more than 32 characters. To link to an anchor name use the [[MyTopic#MyAnchor]] syntax. You can omit the topic name if you want to link within the same topic. 
[[WikiWord#NotThere]]

[[#MyAnchor][Jump]]

#MyAnchor To here

WikiWord#NotThere

Jump

To here

Forced Links:
You can create a forced internal link by enclosing words in double square brackets.
Text within the brackets may contain optional spaces; the topic name is formed by capitalizing the initial letter and by removing the spaces; for example, [[text formatting FAQ]] links to topic TextFormattingFAQ. You can also refer to a different web and use anchors.
TIP To "escape" double square brackets that would otherwise make a link, prefix the leading left square bracket with an exclamation point. 
[[wiki syntax]]

[[Main.TWiki groups]]

escaped:
![[wiki syntax]]

wiki syntax

Main.TWiki groups

escaped: [[wiki syntax]]

Specific Links:
You can create a link where you specify the link text and the URL separately using nested square brackets [[reference][text]]. Internal link references (e.g. WikiSyntax) and URLs (e.g. http://TWiki.org/) are both supported. The rules described under Forced Links apply for internal link references.
TIP Anchor names can be added as well, to create a link to a specific place in a topic. 
[[WikiSyntax][wiki syntax]]

[[http://gnu.org][GNU]]

wiki syntax

GNU

Prevent a Link:
Prevent a WikiWord from being linked by prepending it with an exclamation point. 
!SunOS
SunOS
Disable Links:
You can disable automatic linking of WikiWords by surrounding text with <noautolink> and </noautolink> tags.
HELP It is possible to turn off all auto-linking with a NOAUTOLINK preferences setting. 
 <noautolink>
 RedHat & SuSE
 </noautolink>

RedHat & SuSE

Mailto Links:
E-mail addresses are linked automatically. To create e-mail links that have more descriptive link text, specify subject lines or message bodies, or omit the e-mail address, you can write [[mailto:user@domain][descriptive text]]. 
a@b.com

[[mailto:a@b.com]\
[Mail]]

[[mailto:?subject=\
Hi][Hi]]

a@b.com

Mail

Hi

Literal content:
TWiki generates HTML code from TWiki shorthand. Experts surround anything that must be output literally in the HTML code, without the application of TWiki shorthand rules, with <literal>..</literal> tags. ALERT! any HTML within literal tags must be well formed i.e. all tags must be properly closed before the end of the literal block. IDEA! TWiki Variables are expanded within literal blocks. 
<literal>
| Not | A | Table |
<literal>
| Not | A | Table |
Protected content:
Experts protect text from mangling by WYSIWYG editors using <sticky>..</sticky> tags. Sticky tags don't have any effect on normal topic display; they are only relevant when content has to be protected from a WYSIWYG editor (usually because it isn't well-formed HTML, or because it is HTML that WYSIWYG would normally filter out or modify). Protected content appears as plain text in the WYSIWYG editor. 
<sticky>
<div>
This div is required
</div>
</sticky>

This div is required

Using HTML, CSS and JavaScript

You can use most HTML tags in TWiki topics without a problem. This is useful where you want to add some content that is formatted in a way that is not supported using TWiki shorthand, for example, you can write <strike>deleted text</strike> to get deleted text.

There are a few usability and technical considerations to keep in mind:

  • On collaboration pages, it's better not to use HTML, but to use TWiki shorthand instead - this keeps the text uncluttered and easy to edit using the plaintext editor.
  • If you must use HTML, use XHTML 1.0 Transitional syntax.
  • Use <literal>..</literal> tags around blocks of HTML to avoid accidental interpretation of TWiki shorthand within the HTML.
  • ALERT! Script tags may be filtered out, at the discretion of your TWiki administrator.

Recommendations when pasting HTML from other sources (using the plain-text editor):

  • Copy only text between <body> and </body> tags.
  • Remove all empty lines. TWiki inserts <p /> paragraph tags on empty lines, which causes problems if done between HTML tags that do not allow paragraph tags, like for example between table tags.
  • Remove leading spaces. TWiki might interpret some text as lists.
  • Do not span a tag over more than one line. TWiki requires that the opening and closing angle brackets - <...> - of a HTML tag are on the same line, or the tag will be broken.
  • In your HTML editing program, save without hard line breaks on text wrap.

When using a WYSIWYG editor, you can just copy-paste directly into the editor, and the content will be converted to TWiki shorthand automatically when you save.

It is also possible to add Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript code to TWiki pages, which can be used to make TWiki application more interactive. To prevent TWiki from interpreting some text as markup, it can be enclosed in HTML-escaped <pre>-tags.

CSS Example: JavaScript Example: 
<!-- <pre> -->
<script language="javascript">
<!--
  // put your JavaScript code here
//-->
</script>
<!-- </pre> -->

<!-- <pre> -->
<style type="text/css">
  /* put your CSS code here */
</style>
<!-- </pre> -->

Hyperlinks

Being able to create links without any special formatting is a core TWiki feature, made possible with WikiWords and inline URLs.

Internal Links

  • GoodStyle is a WikiWord that links to the GoodStyle topic located in the current web.

  • NotExistingYet is a topic waiting to be written because it is a red-link. Create the topic by clicking on the link. (Try clicking, but then, Cancel - creating the topic would wreck this example!)

External Links

  • http://..., https://..., ftp://..., gopher://..., news://..., file://..., telnet://... and mailto:...@... are linked automatically.

  • E-mail addresses like name@domain.com are linked automatically.

  • [[Square bracket rules]] let you easily create non-WikiWord links.
    • You can also write [[http://yahoo.com Yahoo home page]] as an easier way of doing external links with descriptive text for the link, such as Yahoo home page.

TWiki Variables

TWiki Variables are names enclosed in percent signs that are that are expanded to some other text when the topic is displayed. For example, %TOPIC% is expanded to TWikiVariablesQuickStart. Some variables can take arguments in curly braces - for example, %INCLUDE{"OtherTopic" ARG="arg"}%.

Many TWiki variables are built-in, and others are predefined for your convenience. TWikiVariables describes how you can also define your own TWiki Variables at the entire site, individual web, or individual topic level. Variables are fully expanded before any of the TWiki text formatting rules are applied.

Commonly used variables:

  • %TOC% : Automatically generates a table of contents based on headings in a topic - see the top of this page for an example.
  • %WEB% : The current web, is TWiki.
  • %TOPIC% : The current topic name, is TWikiVariablesQuickStart.
  • %ATTACHURL% : The attachment URL of the current topic. Example usage: If you attach a file to a topic you can refer to it as %ATTACHURL%/image.gif to show the URL of the file or the image in your text.
  • %INCLUDE{"SomeTopic"}% : Server side include, includes another topic. The current web is the default web. Example: %INCLUDE{"TWiki.SiteMap"}%
  • %SEARCH{"sushi"}% : Inline search showing the search result embedded in a topic. FormattedSearch gives you control over formatting, used to create web-based applications.
  • Documentation Graphics: There are many graphics available to use in your topics. Use %ICON{"help"}%, %ICON{"tip"}%, and %ICON{"warning"}% to get: HELP, TIP, and ALERT!, respectively.
  • See all TWiki variables.

Tip, idea To "escape" a variable, prefix it with an exclamation mark. Write: !%SOMEVARIABLE% to get: %SOMEVARIABLE%.

TWikiPlugin Formatting Extensions

Plugins can extend the functionality of TWiki into many other areas. There are a huge number of TWiki plugins available from the Plugins web on TWiki.org.

Currently enabled plugins on this TWiki installation, as listed by %PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%:

  • SpreadSheetPlugin (2011-04-06, $Rev: 20984 (2011-05-03) $): Add spreadsheet calculation like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to TWiki tables or anywhere in topic text
  • CommentPlugin (2011-03-28, $Rev: 20818 (2011-05-03) $): Allows users to quickly post comments to a page without an edit/preview/save cycle
  • EditTablePlugin (5.1, $Rev: 20887 (2011-05-03) $): Edit TWiki tables using edit fields, date pickers and drop down boxes
  • HeadlinesPlugin (2.6, $Rev: 20889 (2011-05-03) $): Show headline news in TWiki pages based on RSS and ATOM news feeds from external sites
  • InterwikiPlugin (2010-07-12, $Rev: 20891 (2011-05-03) $): Link ExternalSite:Page text to external sites based on aliases defined in a rules topic
  • JQueryPlugin (2011-04-01, $Rev: 20836 (2011-05-03) $): jQuery JavaScript library for TWiki
  • PreferencesPlugin (2010-05-15, $Rev: 20898 (2011-05-03) $): Allows editing of preferences using fields predefined in a form
  • SlideShowPlugin (2010-12-28, $Rev: 20904 (2011-05-03) $): Create web based presentations based on topics with headings.
  • SmiliesPlugin (2010-09-20, $Rev: 20906 (2011-05-03) $): Render smilies as icons, like  :-) for smile or  :eek: for eek!
  • TablePlugin (1.2, $Rev: 20910 (2011-05-03) $): Control attributes of tables and sorting of table columns
  • TagMePlugin (2010-06-12, 1.7): Tag wiki content collectively to find content by keywords
  • TinyMCEPlugin (2010-11-05, $Rev: 20914 (2011-05-03) $): Integration of TinyMCE with WysiwygPlugin
  • TwistyPlugin (1.6, $Rev: 20920 (2011-05-03) $): Twisty section JavaScript library to open/close content dynamically
  • WysiwygPlugin (2010-05-17, $Rev: 20922 (2011-05-03) $): Translator framework for Wysiwyg editors

Check on current Plugin status and settings for this site in TWikiPreferences.

Common Editing Errors

TWiki formatting rules are fairly simple to use and quick to type. However, there are some things to watch out for, taken from the TextFormattingFAQ:

  • Q: Text enclosed in angle brackets like <filename> is not displayed. How can I show it as it is?
    • A: The '<' and '>' characters have a special meaning in HTML, they define HTML tags. You need to escape them, so write '&lt;' instead of '<', and '&gt;' instead of '>'.
      Example: Type 'prog &lt;filename&gt;' to get 'prog <filename>'.

  • Q: Why is the '&' character sometimes not displayed?
    • A: The '&' character has a special meaning in HTML, it starts a so called character entity, i.e. '&copy;' is the © copyright character. You need to escape '&' to see it as it is, so write '&amp;' instead of '&'.
      Example: Type 'This &amp; that' to get 'This & that'.

Related topics: WikiSyntax, WikiWord, WikiNotation, TextFormattingRules, TWikiEditingShorthand, TWikiRenderingShortcut, TWikiShorthand, TWikiVariablesQuickStart

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