Foswiki Site-Level Preferences

This topic defines site-level settings that apply to all users and webs on this TWikiSite.

ALERT! NOTE: Don't edit this topic, changes will be lost on the next TWiki upgrade. Define new site-level settings, or overload below settings in Main.SitePreferences

Preference settings local to your site should be set in Main.SitePreferences (this topic is pointed to by {LocalSitePreferences}, which is set by the admin in the configure interface). Settings in Main.SitePreferences will override settings in this topic, and should be used for defining custom settings and variables.

Read more on how to set Preferences Variables.

Default Web Preferences

ALERT! NOTE: These are just defaults; don't change them here. Instead, add them to the WebPreferences topic in each web

  • List of selected topics in a web (used in menus)

  • Web-specific background color: (is overwritten by web preferences)
    • Set WEBBGCOLOR = #FFD8AA

  • List this web in the SiteMap:
    • If yes, set SITEMAPLIST to on, do not set NOSEARCHALL, and add the "what" and "use to..." description for the site map. Make sure to list only links that include the name of the web, e.g. System.Topic links.
    • Set SITEMAPLIST = on
    • Set SITEMAPWHAT = Describe what this web does

  • Copyright notice:
    • Set WEBCOPYRIGHT = This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platformCopyright © 2008-2024 by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
      Ideas, requests, problems regarding Foswiki? Send feedback

  • Simplified Copyright notice for the WebRss feed (don't use any special characters, html tags, entities, wiki markup or WikiWords)
    • Set WEBRSSCOPYRIGHT = Copyright 2024 by contributing authors

  • Exclude web from a web="all" search: (Set to on for hidden webs; is overwritten by web preferences) Note it is much better to use TWikiAccessControls in individual webs to control who can and can't view the contents of a web. NOSEARCHALL is retained for compatibility, but you should avoid using it.
    • Set NOSEARCHALL =
  • Prevent automatic linking of WikiWords and acronyms (if set to on); link WikiWords (if empty); can be overwritten by web preferences:
    • Set NOAUTOLINK =
    • Note: Use the [[...][...]] syntax to link topics in case you disabled WikiWord linking. The <noautolink> ... </noautolink> syntax can be used to prevents links within a block of text.
  • If you use non WikiWords for topic names (for example "Expenses" or "Mighty1") and if you use bracket notation to link to those topics, it is useful to turn of all warnings (like: "WARNING: This topic name is not recommended because it will not be linked automatically") and checkboxes ("Allow non WikiWord for the new topic name"). Can be overwritten by web preferences. Set to on to activate:
    • Set HIDE_NON_WIKI_WORD_WARNINGS =

  • Warn if %INCLUDE{}% of topic fails: Fail silently if empty or off. Output warning message (defined in templates/oopsalerts.tmpl) if set to on. Otherwise output specific text (use $topic for topic). You can override this in web preferences, or by using a warn="..." parameter with %INCLUDE{}% :
    • Set INCLUDEWARNING = on

  • Generated Table of Contents (TOC) settings
    • The first header level to appear in the TOC:
      • Set TOC_MIN_DEPTH =
        • If not set: 1
        • Possible values: 1 to 6
    • The last header level to appear in the TOC:
      • Set TOC_MAX_DEPTH =
        • If not set: 6
        • Possible values: 1 to 6
        • Can be overridden by depth parameter of variable TOC
    • The default TOC title:
      • Set TOC_TITLE =
        • If not set: nothing
        • Possible values: any string, for example On this page:
        • Can be overridden by title parameter of variable TOC
    • Do not show a TOC if the topic it contains is included in another topic:
      • Set TOC_HIDE_IF_INCLUDED =
        • If not set: included TOC is shown
        • Possible values: on or nothing

Default User Settings

ALERT! NOTE: They are typically redefined in topics of individual TWikiUsers

  • Show tool-tip topic info on mouse-over of WikiWord links. Setting can be on, off, or customized. An empty setting or off setting disables the tool-tips (for better performance). The setting can contain $summary to show the topic summary, $date for the last change date, $rev for the revision, $username for the login name of the last editor, $wikiname for the WikiName, $wikiusername for Main.WikiName, $topic for the topic name, and $web for the web name
    • Set LINKTOOLTIPINFO = off
    • #Set LINKTOOLTIPINFO = $username - $date - $rev: $summary

  • Horizontal size of text edit box: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set EDITBOXWIDTH = 70

  • Vertical size of text edit box: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set EDITBOXHEIGHT = 22

  • Style of text edit box. Set to width: 99% for full window width (default; this will overwrite the EDITBOXWIDTH setting), or width: auto to disable. This setting works for IE and some other recent browsers. (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set EDITBOXSTYLE = width:99%

  • Default state of the Force New Revision (ForceNewRevision) check box in preview. Check box is initially checked if Set FORCENEWREVISIONCHECKBOX = checked="checked", or unchecked if empty: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set FORCENEWREVISIONCHECKBOX =

  • Default state of the Minor Changes, Don't Notify (DontNotify) check box in preview. Check box is initially checked if Set DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX = checked="checked", or unchecked if empty: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set DONTNOTIFYCHECKBOX =

  • Default state of the link check box in the attach file page. Checkbox is initially checked if Set ATTACHLINKBOX = checked="checked", or unchecked if empty (Set ATTACHLINKBOX =). If checked, a link is created to the attached file at the end of the topic: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • Set ATTACHLINKBOX =

  • Format of file link when the link check box is checked: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • HELP NOTE: Keyword $name gets expanded to filename; $comment to comment; \t to tab (3 spaces for bullets).
      * Set ATTACHEDFILELINKFORMAT = \n   * [[%ATTACHURL%/$name][$name]]: $comment

  • Format of images when the link check box is checked: (can be overwritten by user preferences)
    • HELP NOTE: Keyword $name gets expanded to filename; $comment to comment; $width to width of image; $height to height of image; $size to width="..." height="..." attribute of img tag; \t to tab and \n to linefeed. Use 3 leading spaces for bullets.
      * Set ATTACHEDIMAGEFORMAT = \n   * $comment: <br />\n     <img src="%ATTACHURLPATH%/$name" alt="$name" $size />

TWiki Platform Settings

  • TWiki site name:
    • Set WIKITOOLNAME = TWiki

  • Image, URL and alternate tooltip text of the logo for this installation: you should change these settings for your site, or they can be overwridden in WebPreferences for individual webs by defining these variables there.

  • Home page of this site. This is DEPRECATED, please use %WIKILOGOURL% instead.
    • Set WIKIHOMEURL = /foswiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome

  • List of Foswiki webs - on the first line of the upper toolbar (to add a new web, see ManagingWebs and SiteMap):
    • Set WIKIWEBLIST = Main  |  System  |  Sandbox
    • TIP NOTE: To automatically list all non-hidden webs in alphabetical order, use the %WEBLIST{}% variable instead:
      Main | Sandbox | System

  • Maximum size of FileAttachments in KB, 0 for no limit:
    • Set ATTACHFILESIZELIMIT = 10000

  • Broadcast message for skins supporting a %BROADCASTMESSAGE% at the top of the page: (IMPORTANT: Set to empty message if not used; #Comment out unused messages)
    • Set BROADCASTMESSAGE =
    • #Set BROADCASTMESSAGE = NOTE: Edit and Attach will be disabled today between 05:00 PM and 06:00 PM PDT (00:00 to 01:00 GMT) for a scheduled Foswiki maintenance.

Search Settings

  • Default type for search, one of: keyword (for search engine like syntax), regex (for RegularExpression search), or literal (for verbatim search)
    • Set SEARCHDEFAULTTYPE = keyword
  • Default for %SEARCH{}% variable, one of: keyword, regex, or literal
    • Set SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE = literal
  • Stop words, e.g., common words and characters to exclude from a keyword search:
    • Set SEARCHSTOPWORDS = a, all, am, an, and, any, as, at, b, be, by, c, d, e, for, from, g, h, how, i, i'm, i.e., in, is, isn't, it, it's, its, j, k, l, m, n, o, of, on, or, p, q, r, s, t, that, that's, the, this, to, u, v, w, was, wasn't, what, what's, when, where, who, who's, will, with, x, y, z

E-mail Settings

  • 'Mail this topic' mailto: link - can be included in topics, templates or skins

  • 'Mail this topic' link text
    • Set MAILTHISTOPICTEXT = Send a link to this page

HTTP-EQUIV Settings

  • TIP NOTE: Changing cache behaviour with these settings should not be necessary and may cause cache-related problems (e.g. TWiki:Codev.BackFromPreviewLosesText or TWiki:Codev.RefreshEditPage). These settings do not affect proxy caches.
  • NOTE: The current values of these preferences are not displayed in view mode (values are <link>-tags).

  • http-equiv meta tags for view, rdiff, attach, search* scripts:
    • #Set HTTP_EQUIV_ON_VIEW =
    • Set HTTP_EQUIV_ON_VIEW =

  • http-equiv meta tags for edit script:
    • Set HTTP_EQUIV_ON_EDIT =

  • http-equiv meta tags for preview script:
    • Set HTTP_EQUIV_ON_PREVIEW =

Skin Settings

  • Skin overriding the default TWiki templates: (can be overwritten by WebPreferences and user preferences)
    • Set SKIN = tagme, topmenu, pattern

PatternSkin

  • Default TWiki styles
    • Set TWIKILAYOUTURL = /foswiki/pub/System/PatternSkin/layout.css
    • Set TWIKISTYLEURL = /foswiki/pub/System/PatternSkin/style.css
    • Set TWIKICOLORSURL = /foswiki/pub/System/PatternSkin/colors.css

  • Custom overriding styles (enabled pr. default but empty, to prevent browsers from fetching %USERLAYOUTURL%-style URLs)
    • Set USERLAYOUTURL =
    • Set USERSTYLEURL =
    • Set USERCOLORSURL =

  • PatternSkin header settings
    • Set WEBHEADERART = /foswiki/pub/System/PatternSkin/TWiki_header.gif
    • #Set WEBHEADERBGCOLOR = #faf8f0

Skin Icons

Legacy Support

  • Support for legacy "EDITTOPIC", used to be hard-coded, now replaced by TMPL:P conditional instantiation
    • Set EDITURL = /foswiki/bin/edit/System/TWikiPreferences?t=1730788766
    • Set EDITTOPIC = Edit

Plugins Settings

Rendering Shortcuts Settings

  • Line break and bullet with different levels of indentation:
    • Set BB =
    • Set BB2 =
        •
    • Set BB3 =
          •
    • Set BB4 =
            •

  • Line break: Note that the setting has an intentional trailing space
    • Set BR =

  • Bullet sign:
    • Set BULLET = •

  • Vertical caret symbol:
    • Set CARET = ^

  • Vertical bar / pipe symbol:
    • Set VBAR = |

  • Hint: Above shortcuts are useful in TWiki tables where you cannot use newlines

  • Graphics used in TWiki documentation - view all images in TWikiDocGraphics, SiteDocGraphics. (There are various ways to set up common icons as text variables. This is simply one quick approach.):
    • Set H = HELP
    • Set I = IDEA!
    • Set M = MOVED TO...
    • Set N = NEW
    • Set P = REFACTOR
    • Set Q = QUESTION?
    • Set S = PICK
    • Set T = TIP
    • Set U = UPDATED
    • Set X = ALERT!
    • Set Y = DONE

  • Colored text: (see more StandardColors)
    You type: %RED% red text %ENDCOLOR% and %GREEN% green text %ENDCOLOR%
    You get: red text and 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%, such as %RED% some text %ENDCOLOR% %GREEN% more text %ENDCOLOR%.
    • %YELLOW% looks like this
    • %ORANGE% looks like this
    • %RED% looks like this
    • %PINK% looks like this
    • %PURPLE% looks like this
    • %TEAL% looks like this
    • %NAVY% looks like this
    • %BLUE% looks like this
    • %AQUA% looks like this
    • %LIME% looks like this
    • %GREEN% looks like this
    • %OLIVE% looks like this
    • %MAROON% looks like this
    • %BROWN% looks like this
    • %BLACK% looks like this
    • %GRAY% looks like this
    • %SILVER% looks like this
    • %WHITE% looks like this (with gray background)
    • The following settings define the colors: (they are enclosed in verbatim tags to avoid incorrect nesting of XHTML tags)
      * Set YELLOW = <span style="color: #ffff00">
      * Set ORANGE = <span style="color: #ff6600">
      * Set RED = <span style="color: #ff0000">
      * Set PINK = <span style="color: #ff00ff">
      * Set PURPLE = <span style="color: #800080">
      * Set TEAL = <span style="color: #008080">
      * Set NAVY = <span style="color: #000080">
      * Set BLUE = <span style="color: #0000ff">
      * Set AQUA = <span style="color: #00ffff">
      * Set LIME = <span style="color: #00ff00">
      * Set GREEN = <span style="color: #008000">
      * Set OLIVE = <span style="color: #808000">
      * Set MAROON = <span style="color: #800000">
      * Set BROWN = <span style="color: #996633">
      * Set BLACK = <span style="color: #000000">
      * Set GRAY = <span style="color: #808080">
      * Set SILVER = <span style="color: #c0c0c0">
      * Set WHITE = <span style="color: #ffffff">
      * Set ENDCOLOR = </span>

  • Colored background: (see more StandardColors)        
    You type: %REDBG% red background %ENDBG% %GREENBG% green background %ENDBG%
    You get:
    red background
    green background
    • Note: These background colors are block level elements, e.g. take up a whole row of text by default. Useful to set background colors in cells of TWiki tables.
    • %YELLOWBG% looks like this
    • %ORANGEBG% looks like this
    • %REDBG% looks like this
    • %PINKBG% looks like this
    • %PURPLEBG% looks like this
    • %TEALBG% looks like this
    • %NAVYBG% looks like this
    • %BLUEBG% looks like this
    • %AQUABG% looks like this
    • %LIMEBG% looks like this
    • %GREENBG% looks like this
    • %OLIVEBG% looks like this
    • %MAROONBG% looks like this
    • %BROWNBG% looks like this
    • %BLACKBG% looks like this
    • %GRAYBG% looks like this
    • %SILVERBG% looks like this
    • %WHITEBG% looks like this
    • The following settings define the background colors: (they are enclosed in verbatim tags to avoid incorrect nesting of XHTML tags)
      * Set YELLOWBG = <div style="background-color: #ffff80; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set ORANGEBG = <div style="background-color: #ffbb80; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set REDBG = <div style="background-color: #ff8080; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set PINKBG = <div style="background-color: #ff80ff; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set PURPLEBG = <div style="background-color: #dd99dd; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set TEALBG = <div style="background-color: #80c0c0; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set NAVYBG = <div style="background-color: #8080c0; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set BLUEBG = <div style="background-color: #8080ff; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set AQUABG = <div style="background-color: #80ffff; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set LIMEBG = <div style="background-color: #80ff80; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set GREENBG = <div style="background-color: #99cc99; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set OLIVEBG = <div style="background-color: #c0c080; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set MAROONBG = <div style="background-color: #c08080; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set BROWNBG = <div style="background-color: #bb9988; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set BLACKBG = <div style="background-color: #000000; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set GRAYBG = <div style="background-color: #a0a0a0; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set SILVERBG = <div style="background-color: #c0c0c0; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set WHITEBG = <div style="background-color: #ffffff; padding:0 3px 0 3px">
      * Set ENDBG = </div>

Miscellaneous Settings

  • Preference for the editor, default is raw editor, The options could be rawedit, wysiwyg.
    • #Set EDITMETHOD = wysiwyg
    • Set EDITMETHOD = rawedit

  • Format of a NewWikiWord link:
  • Note that $text is the topic link text, $topic is the name of the new topic, and $web is the name of the web for the new topic. Values for the 3 are taken from the link syntax [[$web.$topic][$text]]. For normal plain WikiWord links $text and $topic are the same. The value of $web is the current web unless the link is in the format $web.$topic.
    • default setting:
      • Set NEWLINKFORMAT = $text
    • alternative setting:
      • #Set NEWLINKFORMAT = $text

  • PreviewBackground image:
    • Set PREVIEWBGIMAGE = /foswiki/pub/System/PreviewBackground/preview2bg.gif

  • User-friendly synonyms for system webs
    • Set DOCWEB = System

Security Settings

  • Only TWiki administrators are allowed to change this topic:
  • Disable WYSIWYG editor for this preferences topic only:
    • Local TINYMCEPLUGIN_DISABLE = on

Creating New Preference Variables

You can introduce new VARIABLES and use them in your topics and templates. There is no need to change the TWiki engine (Perl scripts).
  • A preference is defined in a TWikiShorthand bullet item: [3 spaces] * [space] Set NAME = value
    Example (as a nested bullet item, indented 6 spaces):
    • Set WEBBGCOLOR = #FFFFC0
  • Preferences are used as TWikiVariables by enclosing the name in percent signs: %. Example:
    • When you write variable %WEBBGCOLOR%, it gets expanded to #FFD8AA .

  • ALERT! The sequential order of the preference settings is significant. Define preferences that use other preferences FIRST. For example, set WEBCOPYRIGHT before WIKIWEBMASTER since the copyright notice uses the TWiki administrator e-mail address.
  • ALERT! In order to protect your custom variables from being overwritten when upgrading the System.TWikiPreferences topic, it is recommended that custom variables are defined in Main.TWikiPreferences.

Protected System Settings

The following settings are declared final to protect them as read only. These are system variables that should never be attempted set or altered in any preference topic or topic settings.

  • Set FINALPREFERENCES = WEB, TOPIC

Note: Can't edit? View raw topic

ALERT! NOTE: Don't edit this topic, changes will be lost on the next TWiki upgrade. Define new site-level settings, or overload above settings in Main.SitePreferences
Topic revision: r2 - 28 Mar 2012, JongeunLee
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