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To change MediaWiki’s menus, buttons and system messages, choose a language in the Language Settings panel or in Special:Preferences, then save the setting. Logged-in users normally get a persistent account preference. Visitors without an account can append ?uselang=xx to a page URL for a request-level override, while administrators can install the LanguageSelector extension to offer a language menu to anonymous visitors.
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What the interface-language setting changes
MediaWiki has separate language layers. The interface layer contains software-generated text: navigation labels, tabs, buttons, links, preference headings, warnings and other system messages. Changing this layer can turn Edit, Talk, login controls and administrative messages into the selected language.
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The setting normally does not translate the article or page body you are reading. Page content has its own language metadata and may be written in a different language from your interface. Language variants and content-language settings are separate as well. If your goal is to read an article in another language, use the wiki’s content-language or interlanguage features rather than changing the interface preference.
Universal Language Selector (ULS) may also expose web-font and keyboard/input-method controls. Those controls affect how characters are displayed or entered; they are independent of the display-language choice.
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Change the language with Universal Language Selector
On Wikimedia projects and many other installations, the normal route for a signed-in user is the ULS Language Settings panel. The exact location depends on the wiki’s skin and whether the site displays interlanguage links.
- Sign in. On Wikimedia wikis, the interface-language selector is generally available to logged-in users. A private or self-hosted wiki may restrict ULS or use a different skin.
- Open Language Settings. Look in the sidebar’s language area. On a wiki without interlanguage links, the entry may instead be in the personal toolbar or user menu.
- Open the Display or Language section. ULS can show several settings, so select the section that controls the language used for interface messages.
- Choose a language. Pick one from the short list. If it is not shown, open the extended list or use the search control. The available choices are determined by that wiki and any enabled extensions.
- Apply or confirm. Save the selection or confirm it in the panel. The page should reload with the selected interface messages.
The Universal Language Selector FAQ describes this function directly: “The language used to display the MediaWiki interface messages can be changed using the Language Settings panel of ULS.” If the panel is absent, use the preference route below or check the troubleshooting section.
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Use Special:Preferences instead
Every MediaWiki installation exposes a preferences page, although administrators can customize its tabs and labels. This route is useful when the language selector is difficult to find or when you want to review the account setting directly.
- Open
Special:Preferenceson the wiki. You can type it after the wiki’s base URL or select Preferences from the user menu. - Open the User profile, Internationalisation or similarly named section. The wording varies by MediaWiki version, skin and installed extensions.
- Find the field for the interface or display language.
- Select the language you want. Use the expanded list if the initial choices do not include it.
- Save the page, or use the confirmation control shown beside the field. Reload another page to verify that its controls use the new language.
MediaWiki’s preferences help documentation summarizes the route as: “From your preferences you can select what language you would like the interface to be in.” This setting belongs to your account, so it follows you when you sign in on another device that can use the same wiki account.
The preference is specific to the wiki account and does not automatically change the language of other wikis you visit. If you use several independent MediaWiki sites, check each site’s preferences separately. A skin can also rename or relocate the preference tab, so search the page for terms such as language, display language or internationalisation when the expected heading is not visible.
Temporarily switch language without logging in
An anonymous visitor can override the interface language for a single request by adding the uselang query parameter to a page URL. For example:
https://example.org/wiki/Main_Page?uselang=deReplace de with the language code you need and replace the example host and page with the wiki you are visiting. The parameter changes UI messages generated for that request; it does not translate the page body and it does not create an account preference.
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This technique is especially useful on login and account-creation pages, where no saved preference is available. Remove the parameter to return to the wiki’s normal language. Whether a wiki remembers the choice beyond the current request depends on the wiki and its extensions, so treat the URL form as a request-level override rather than a guaranteed permanent setting.
The special value qqx is intended for diagnostics. It replaces many interface strings with their MediaWiki system-message IDs, helping an administrator identify which message is untranslated or misconfigured. It is not a normal reading language.
A URL override is also useful for sharing a language-specific view temporarily: the recipient can open the complete URL without changing an account setting. Because the code is part of the address, browser history, bookmarks and copied links may preserve it. Delete the parameter when you want the wiki’s ordinary language behavior again. If a page already has query parameters, append &uselang=de rather than adding a second question mark.
Provide a language menu for anonymous visitors (administrators)
If a self-hosted wiki needs a visible language chooser for logged-in and logged-out users, an administrator can deploy the LanguageSelector extension. This is a site configuration change, not a user preference.
Install and load the extension
- Place the LanguageSelector extension directory in the wiki’s
extensions/directory, following the extension’s version-compatible deployment instructions. - Open
LocalSettings.phpand add this line:
wfLoadExtension( 'LanguageSelector' );- Configure the language codes offered to visitors and the extension’s detection behavior in
LocalSettings.phpif the default choices do not match your site. - Log in as an administrator and open
Special:Version. Confirm that LanguageSelector appears in the installed extensions list. - Test the selector while logged in and while logged out, using a private browsing window if necessary. Check navigation, login pages, cached pages and any custom skins.
Understand browser detection and cookies
LanguageSelector can use the browser’s Accept-Language header and cookies for anonymous visitors. That behavior interacts with page caching and reverse proxies. A cache can serve one visitor’s language-specific response to another visitor, or hide a newly selected cookie value, if it is not configured to vary or bypass responses appropriately.
Before enabling the feature site-wide, test the detection mode with the wiki’s actual caching stack. Verify that two browsers with different language preferences receive the expected interface, that changing the cookie takes effect, and that logged-in account preferences still win where intended. If the results are inconsistent, adjust cache and proxy rules or choose a detection mode that does not depend on per-visitor state.
LanguageSelector is therefore an operational choice, not simply a visual menu. Decide which language codes should be offered, whether browser detection is appropriate, and how anonymous cookies should interact with account preferences. Record the chosen configuration so another administrator can reproduce the behavior when the wiki, skin or caching layer is upgraded.
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Choose the right method
| Method | Who can use it | Persistence | Scope | Dependencies and recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ULS Language Settings | Normally logged-in users on wikis with ULS | Saved with the user account | Interface messages | Skin placement and enabled ULS features; reopen the panel and choose another language to reverse it |
Special:Preferences |
Users with an account and access to preferences | Saved with the user account | Interface messages | Preference-tab names vary; select a different language and save |
?uselang=xx |
Any visitor who can open the URL | Request-level override; persistence depends on the wiki and extensions | Interface messages for that request | Requires a valid language code; delete the parameter to remove the override |
| LanguageSelector extension | Configured by administrators for anonymous and logged-in visitors | Site configuration, plus any browser detection or cookie behavior | Interface messages exposed by the extension | Requires deployment, configuration and cache/proxy testing; disable or reconfigure the extension to revert site behavior |
Use the first two methods when one person needs a durable setting, the URL method when no login or no permanent change is wanted, and the extension when the site itself must expose a chooser. The methods can coexist: a visitor may arrive with an Accept-Language header, use a cookie-based selector, or sign in and then receive the account preference. Administrators should define which source has priority and test that priority rather than assuming every installation behaves identically.
Why the article is still in the old language
A successful interface change affects software-generated labels, not the prose stored in the page revision. That separation is intentional: a German interface can display an English article, and an English interface can display a page written in Japanese. To change the page itself, open a language edition, use an available translation workflow, or view a page variant supported by that wiki. Changing uselang or the account preference alone cannot perform that translation.
Page language, content language and language variants can also be set independently by the wiki or by the page. Those settings govern indexing, variant conversion and content behavior; they are not alternate names for the interface-language preference.
Troubleshoot a missing or ineffective selector
The Language Settings entry is missing
- Confirm whether you are logged in. Many Wikimedia installations expose the selector primarily to signed-in users.
- Check both the sidebar language area and the personal toolbar or user menu. A skin can move the entry.
- Look for
Special:Preferences. The wiki may provide the account preference without enabling ULS. - On a self-hosted site, ask an administrator whether ULS or LanguageSelector is installed and enabled.
The language you need is not listed
- Open the selector’s extended list or search field rather than relying on the short list.
- Check the wiki’s policy. An administrator or extension may intentionally restrict the languages offered.
- Try the appropriate language code with
uselangif the wiki supports that code but does not expose it in the menu.
The menus changed, but some strings did not
Translations are not necessarily complete for every system message. Use ?uselang=qqx on the affected page to expose message IDs, then give the IDs and page context to the wiki administrator or translator. A missing translation is different from a failed preference.
The anonymous choice keeps resetting
This is most often an interaction between LanguageSelector cookies, browser-language detection and caching. Test with a private window, inspect whether the selection cookie is being stored, and review reverse-proxy and page-cache rules. A cache that ignores the cookie can continue returning the default language even though the selector appears to accept the change.
Characters appear as empty squares (“tofu”)
The ULS FAQ calls these boxes “tofu.” They usually mean that the device lacks a font containing the selected script’s glyphs. Enable an available web font through ULS, install a suitable local font, or ask the administrator whether the wiki’s font configuration covers that script. Changing the interface language alone cannot create missing glyphs.
The URL override has no visible effect
- Check the parameter spelling: it must be
uselang, followed by a language code. - Make sure the code is supported by that MediaWiki installation.
- Test a page containing obvious interface controls, such as a login or edit page.
- Clear a conflicting URL parameter or open a fresh private window if a cookie or cached response is masking the request.
The setting works on one skin but not another
Skin placement and skin-provided messages can differ. Check the same account on the site’s default skin, then test the custom skin separately. If core controls change but a custom navigation label does not, report the component and message context to the administrator; the remaining text may be supplied by that skin or another extension.
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The administrator cannot tell whether the extension loaded
Open Special:Version while logged in with administrative access and look for LanguageSelector in the installed-extension list. If it is absent, verify the directory location, the wfLoadExtension line and compatibility with the wiki version before investigating browser behavior. Once it appears there, repeat tests in authenticated and anonymous sessions.
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Verify the result on more than one type of page. A normal article tests navigation and tabs; a preference or login page tests account and authentication messages; an edit page tests editor controls and warnings. If only one skin or one extension remains in the old language, the untranslated text may belong to that component rather than to MediaWiki core.
For administrators, test three states separately: a logged-in account with a saved preference, an anonymous browser with a selected cookie, and a browser whose Accept-Language header differs from both. This separates account settings from detection and cache behavior.
Also test a direct URL containing uselang, then remove the parameter and reload. This confirms that the request override is being honored and that it is not being mistaken for an account preference. Repeat after clearing cookies so a previous anonymous choice does not conceal the default behavior.
Revert or switch again
For an account preference, reopen Language Settings or Special:Preferences, select another language and save. For a URL override, remove ?uselang=... from the address or open the page’s normal URL. Administrators can change the LanguageSelector configuration, disable the extension, and then verify the resulting behavior in Special:Version and in both authenticated and anonymous sessions.
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Use ULS or Special:Preferences for a durable, personal interface-language choice; use uselang for a quick anonymous or diagnostic override; and use LanguageSelector only when you administer the wiki and need a visitor-facing menu. None of these methods automatically translates the article text.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change MediaWiki’s interface language without logging in?
Yes. Add a supported language code to the page URL, such as ?uselang=de. This changes interface messages for that request and does not create a saved account preference.
Why did the menus change but the article remain in English?
Interface messages and page content are separate language layers. The preference changes labels, buttons and system text; it does not translate the prose stored in the page.
Where is the language selector if I cannot see it?
Check the sidebar language area, the personal toolbar and the user menu. If ULS is unavailable, open Special:Preferences and look under User profile, Internationalisation or a similarly named section.
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How do I make a language menu available to anonymous visitors?
A wiki administrator can install and load the LanguageSelector extension, configure its offered languages in LocalSettings.php, and test browser detection, cookies, caches and reverse proxies.
What does uselang=qqx do?
It exposes MediaWiki system-message IDs instead of ordinary interface strings. Administrators and translators use it to identify an untranslated or misconfigured message.
Why does an anonymous language choice keep resetting?
LanguageSelector cookies, browser-language detection and page caching can conflict. Test cookie storage and review cache and reverse-proxy rules so a cached response does not hide the selected language.
Why do some characters appear as boxes after I switch languages?
Those boxes, often called “tofu,” usually indicate that the device lacks a font containing the selected script. Enable an available ULS web font or install a suitable local font.
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For an account, choose another language in Language Settings or Special:Preferences. For a URL override, remove the uselang parameter. Administrators can reconfigure or disable LanguageSelector.
The Bottom Line
For your own persistent setting, use ULS or Special:Preferences. For a one-time anonymous change, append ?uselang=xx. Administrators who need a public chooser can deploy LanguageSelector, but must test cookie, browser-detection and cache behavior. These controls translate MediaWiki’s interface, not the article text.
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