Help:Log

A log is an automatically generated list of actions of a certain type, showing when they were performed, who performed them, and what page or user they were performed on. Logs can record activity such as page deletions, page creations, page moves (renames), page protections, user account creations, blocks, and others. Logs can list actions done by a user, done to a user, or done to a page.

Viewing logs
A centralized list of most logs can be accessed by visiting Special:Log. From there you can adjust the filter settings to only see logs of a particular type, or to only see logs within a specified date or time, made by a specified user, or made to a specified user or page.

You can quickly access the log of actions relating to a particular page by going to the page history of that page and then selecting ''. You can quickly access the log of actions performed by a particular user by going to their userpage or user talk page and then selecting '' from the sidebar.

Using a log
Below is a screenshot of the deletion log from the English Wikipedia. The interface may differ slightly from this wiki, but the overall core features are the same.


 * 1) The type of log to display. By default, all public logs will be shown. In this case, it is set to only show the deletion log, which lists page deletions and undeletions.
 * 2) The Performer field lets you search the logs for entries that were performed by a specified user. Type the username of the user you want to look up the logs for.
 * 3) The Target field lets you search the logs for entries that were performed on a page or user. Type the name of the page you want to look up the logs for. If you want to look up the logs performed on a user, add User: (note the colon) to the start of your search query, then type in the username.
 * 4) The From date field can be used to show only the logs created on or before a specified date.
 * 5) The Tag filter allows you to show only logs that have been tagged with the specified name of the tag.
 * 6) Some logs will have additional filtering options to show only specific kinds of actions. In this case, the deletion log can be further filtered to show only page deletions, page undeletions, revision deletions, and the overwriting of redirects.
 * 7) The newest / oldest links let you quickly jump to the newest log entries or to the oldest log entries. The newer n / older n links take you to the next or previous page of entries. The blue numbers list the number of entries displayed on the page. You can choose to display 20, 50, 100, 250 or 500 entries at once.
 * 8) The date and time of the logged action. The time is UTC by default on ; registered users can change this in their preferences.
 * 9) The username or IP address of the user who performed the action. The talk link points to their user talk page, while the contribs link points to their user contributions page.
 * 10) The type of action performed.
 * 11) The name of the page or user that the action was performed on.
 * 12) When performing most actions, the user will be prompted to provide an optional summary or explanation of their actions, which will be shown here.
 * 13) The tags attached to the action, if applicable. Tags are usually automatically added to actions and are used for maintenance or tracking purposes.