The below changes to LocalSettings.php will override the default user preferences for anonymous visitors and users who have not customized their preferences.
Existing user accounts who had the (previous) default option and didn't set it explicitly (which means that it's not stored in the database) will then use the new default.
In the old preferences system, the change affects only anonymous visitors (if relevant) and new accounts.
Available preferences
The following user preferences are available for customization:
Name
Default
Description
Versions
User Profile
fancysig
0
If User uses a custom (raw) signature (0 or 1). If user has not set a custom signature, their signature is controlled by the contents of the wiki page mediawiki:Signature or mediawiki:Signature-anon. If user has specified a custom sig, the actual text of the signature is in the nickname option.
≥ 1.8
nickname
''
Actual text of the custom signature
≥ 1.23
enotifwatchlistpages
1
Email notification to editor if there are changes to a page the editor has on their watchlist. Only used if $wgEnotifWatchlist is set.
≥ 1.8
enotifusertalkpages
1
Email notification to editor if there are changes to the editor's talk page. Only used if $wgEnotifUserTalk is set.
≥ 1.8
enotifminoredits
0
Email notification to editor if there is a minor change to a watched page or user talk page, and the relevant option for sending emails on changes to watched page or user talk page is on. Only used if $wgEnotifWatchlist or $wgEnotifUserTalk are set.
Used for gender-correct addressing by the software. This information will be public. Options are: male, female, or unknown.
≥ 1.15
realname
Default “real name”. Real name is optional. If you choose to provide it, this will be used for giving you attribution for your work. Use $wgHiddenPrefs to disable the real name field.
language
User specific interface language, especially useful in conjunction with $wgHiddenPrefs.
This is not to set the wiki's default language. Use $wgLanguageCode instead.
Whether other users can send eMail to this user, if $wgEnableUserEmail is enabled.
≥ 1.16
quickbar
Quickbar location (only applies if using Cologne Blue or Classic skins). Options are: 0 - None, 1 - Fixed left, 2 - Fixed right, 3 - Floating left, 4 - Floating right, 5 (since 1.19) - Left/right depending on your language.
1.8 – 1.21
Skin
skin
false
Which skin to use. May be false to indicate that the site default (as defined in $wgDefaultSkin) should be used. Previously, numbers were used to designate skins. The only numerical values that are currently operative (as of MediaWiki 1.29) are 0, which means the default skin, and 2, which means Cologne Blue.
≥ 1.8
skin-responsive
1
Enable responsive mode. Adapt skin to available viewport area. (May have no effect on some skins).
≥ 1.37
Math
math
1
How to render in-line maths (contents of <math></math> tags). Only applies if $wgUseTeX is set. Options are: 0 - Always render PNG, 1 - Leave it as TeX (for text browsers)
1.8 – 1.30
Files
imagesize
2
Size to limit images on description pages to. Values correspond to the entries in $wgImageLimits. By default, 2 is 800*600.
≥ 1.8
thumbsize
5
Thumbnail size - Values correspond to the entries in $wgThumbLimits. By default, 5 is 300px.
≥ 1.8
Date and Time
date
'default'
Date format. Options:
'default': No preference
'mdy': 16:12, January 15, 2011
'dmy': 16:12, 15 January 2011
'ymd': 16:12, 2011 January 15
'ISO 8601': 2011-01-15T16:12:34
'persian': 15 Farvardin 1390 SH (Iranian Calender, Persia)
≥ 1.8
timecorrection
A fixed timezone offset or ZoneInfo zone, e.g.:
-9 (UTC minus 9 hours; will not adjust for Daylight Saving)
'ZoneInfo|-240|America/New_York' (tz database zone for NY; will adjust for Daylight Saving)
Editing
rows
25
Edit box size (rows) (deprecated in 1.29)
1.8 – 1.34
cols
80
Edit box size (columns) (deprecated in 1.29)
1.8 – 1.34
editsection
Enable section editing via [edit] links. Behaviour changed in 1.23: add .mw-editsection{display:none!important;} to site-wide or user CSS, see phab:T54811.
1.8 – 1.22
editsectiononrightclick
0
Enable section editing by right clicking on section titles (JavaScript)
≥ 1.8
editondblclick
0
Edit pages on double click (JavaScript)
≥ 1.13
showtoolbar
1
Show edit toolbar (requires javascript)
1.8 – 1.31
previewonfirst
0
Show preview when starting to edit
≥ 1.13
previewontop
1
Show preview before edit box
≥ 1.8
minordefault
0
Mark all edits minor by default
≥ 1.13
externaleditor
Use external editor by default
1.8 – 1.21
externaldiff
Use external diff by default
1.8 – 1.21
uselivepreview
0
forceeditsummary
0
Prompt user when entering a blank edit summary
editfont
'monospace'
Edit area font style. Options are: default (browser default), monospace, sans-serif, serif.
useeditwarning
1
Warn me when I leave an edit page with unsaved changes
Days to show in recent changes (cannot exceed $wgRCMaxAge)
rclimit
50
Maximum number of entries to display in recent changes (truncates rcdays)
hideminor
0
Hide minor edits from recent changes
shownumberswatching
1
Show the number of users, who are watching this page (on recent changes, watch list and article pages). Only used if $wgRCShowWatchingUsers is set.
usenewrc
1
Enhanced recent changes - javascript collapsible tree
hidepatrolled
0
Hide patrolled edits from recent changes
newpageshidepatrolled
0
Hide patrolled pages from new page list
hidecategorization
1
Hide categorization of pages
Watchlist
wlenhancedfilters-disable
0
Disable enhanced watchlist with JavaScript.
watchlistdays
7.0
Number of days to show in watchlist (cannot exceed $wgRCMaxAge)
extendwatchlist
1
Expand watchlist to show all applicable changes
wllimit
250
Number of edits to show in expanded watchlist (if 'extendwatchlist' == 1)
watchlisthideown
0
Hide my edits from the watchlist
watchlisthidebots
0
Hide bot edits from the watchlist
watchlisthideminor
0
Hide minor edits from the watchlist
watchcreations
1
Add pages the user creates and files they upload to their watchlist
watchrollback
0
Add pages where the user has performed a rollback to their watchlist
watchlisthideanons
0
Hide anonymous users' changes from the watchlist
watchlisthideliu
0
Hide logged-in users' changes from the watchlist
watchlisttoken
Token of watchlist
watchlisthidepatrolled
0
Hide patrolled edits from the watchlist
watchlistreloadautomatically
0
Reload the watchlist automatically whenever a filter is changed (JavaScript required)
watchlistunwatchlinks
0
Add direct unwatch/watch markers (×/+) to watched pages with changes (JavaScript required for toggle functionality)
watchlisthidecategorization
1
Hides changes to category membership
watchdefault
1
Add pages the user edits to their watchlist, checking the "Watch this page" by default on all edited pages.
This option can be disabled by editors in Preferences → Watchlist tab → Watched pages section and unchecking "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist"
watchmoves
0
Add pages the user moves to their watchlist
watchdeletion
0
Add pages the user deletes to their watchlist
watchuploads
1
Add new files the user uploads to their watchlist
Search
searchlimit
20
Hits per page
vector-simplesearch
Whether or not the Vector skin should use the simple search box (Options are 1 for true and 0 for false). (removed in 1.23)
ajaxsearch
Enables AJAX Search (Options are 1 for true and 0 for false)
Add 'searchnamespaces' to $wgHiddenPrefs to prevent users from customizing “namespaces to be searched by default” in their preferences (they will still be able to set which namespaces should be searched on Special:Search). Use $wgNamespacesToBeSearchedDefault to set which namespaces are enabled for searching by default.
Temporarily disable the visual editor while it is in beta
Notes:
New settings are added to MediaWiki periodically. Some of these settings have been added since $wgDefaultUserOptions was introduced in v1.4.0. Currently there is no documentation about when settings were added.
It is possible for extensions and language files to add extra toggles to the 'misc' tab. Languages that use this feature should have the setting described here. Extensions should add the information to their extension page.
This list is not up to date with the latest MediaWiki Version. List options with --list (see Manual:UserOptions.php).
Gadget options
gadget-$gname e.g. gadget-HotCat for MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat.js
Default values
Each language sets its own default values for the user preferences in its language file.
For example languages that read right-to-left will probably set the Quickbar to appear on the right, instead of on the left.
The values added to $wgDefaultUserOptions are overrides, i.e. if the value exists here then it will take precedence, but settings may be omitted from the array in which case the language's default value will be used.
In versions of MediaWiki prior to 1.8.0 the default value of this setting was simply an empty array, with the current language providing the default values.
From version 1.8.0 onwards, only the language-specific settings were overridden in the language file, so most settings are now explicitly set in DefaultSettings.php.
From version 1.19 (r91432), the overrides by the language files were removed because they didn't work, and the features that used them, like quickbar, have been done differently and better.
Examples
To disable section editing links by default (for new and anonymous users), set the following in LocalSettings.php:
$wgDefaultUserOptions['editsection']=0;
From version 1.23 onwards, the section editing links need to be disabled via site-wide or user CSS, see phab:T54811 for details on the change.
Add pages the user edits to their watchlist by default:
$wgDefaultUserOptions['watchdefault']=1;
If the preference is of type multiselect, things are a bit more complicated.
The key for each default user option is the concatenation of the preference key with the option key.
For example if the preference key is 'favoritecolors' and the option key is 'red', the default user option key would be 'favoritecolorsred'.
In this hypothetical scenario, if you wanted to have red and yellow selected by default, you would use:
If the preference is of type checkmatrix, things are even more complicated.
The key for each default user option is the concatenation of the preference key with the column key and row key, separated with hyphens.
For example if the preference key is 'favoritecars' and the column key is 'red' and the row key is 'corvette', the default user option key would be 'favoritecars-red-corvette'.
In this hypothetical scenario, if you wanted to have red Corvette and black Jetta selected by default, you would use:
