Help:Navigating Wikidata/User Options

This page provides information on some of the user options available to registered Wikidata users, as well as some tips for configuring settings in order to make the most of what Wikidata has to offer.

A registered user is a user who has signed up for an account and has logged into Wikidata and/or any of the Wikimedia projects (via the unified login). If you have turned on two-factor authentication, you may be asked to enter a token as part of logging in to your account.

Please note that the user options outlined on this page are only available to those who have already created a user account for Wikidata. While creating a user account is not necessary in order to contribute to the project, it is encouraged. Creating an account is easy and free, and does not require your name or any personal details. It is also possible to login with your username and password you use already in any Wikimedia project via SUL, which provides a unified user login for all projects.

Language settings

The Preferences menu for Wikidata

The ULS (here for the English language) is found at the top of the page

The "In other languages" section of an item page

Babel user information
en-0 This user has no knowledge of English (or understands it with considerable difficulty). en-1 This user has basic knowledge of English. en-2 This user has intermediate knowledge of English. en-3 This user has advanced knowledge of English. en-4 This user has near native speaker knowledge of English. en-5 This user has professional knowledge of English. en-N This user has a native understanding of English.
Users by language

There are many reasons why you might want to customize your language settings. For instance, you may want to view Wikidata in a specific dialect which is a distinct variety of a language (Canadian English and Brazilian Portuguese are considered dialects of English and Portuguese). If you know multiple languages, you may want to view and add information about items—such as labels, descriptions, and aliases—in all the languages you understand while editing Wikidata.

You can set your language preferences in one of three ways: via the "Preferences" link in user options, by using the Universal Language Selector, or through the Babel extension (#babel template).

Language fallback chain

Only the Universal Language Selector and Babel extension allow you to specify a language fallback chain. The fallback chain refers to Wikidata's systematic way of displaying content to you when it is not available in your primary language of preference. For example, if you have indicated that you know language X, Y, Z, but a page is not available in X or Y, you will automatically be provided with a Z version of the page. You can view your current language fallback chain at Special:MyLanguageFallbackChain. Note that level 0 for a language still adds it to the language fallback chain.

Features which use the user's language fallback chain:

• Item lists on special pages like Special:Search, Special:AllPages, Special:WhatLinksHere
• Item links in edit summaries (e.g. history, diffs)
• The set of languages listed in the "In more languages" section on item pages

Features which use the default language fallback chains:

• HTML page title and H1 heading on item pages
• Claims with the data type "item" displayed on item pages
• {{Q}} template
• API call wbgetentities with parameter languagefallback=1

Preferences menu

This option is the easiest and best for users who will be reading and editing Wikidata in one language only.

You can update your language settings by clicking on the "Preferences" link at the top of any page. You can also reach the Preferences menu (when logged in) by visiting Special:Preferences. On the first tab titled "User profile," scroll down to the "Internationalisation" section. Select your preferred language from the drop-down menu and hit "Save" at the bottom of the page to save your settings. Dialects of languages are available for selection, however, full translations of site pages may not exist for them; if you would like to read and edit Wikidata in a dialect, it is therefore recommended that you use one of the other language setting options in order to state your language fallback chain.

Universal Language Selector

This option is best for users who will be contributing to Wikidata in a language that is not fully supported by the default Wikidata input settings and/or their native keyboard.

You can access the Universal Language Selector (ULS) by clicking on the following icon found at the top of any page: . The ULS provides a mechanism for configuring your language settings for both the Wikidata interface and your input methods (i.e. you will be able to type text in languages not directly supported by your keyboard). For more information, see the ULS extension page.