Manual:Page table

The page table can be considered the "core of the wiki".

Each page in a MediaWiki installation has an entry here which identifies it by title and contains some essential metadata.

It was first introduced in r6710, in MediaWiki 1.5.

The text of the page itself is stored in the  table.

To retrieve the text of an article, MediaWiki first searches for page_title in the page table.

Then, page_latest is used to search the  table for , and  is obtained in the process.

The value obtained for <tvar|text_id></> is used to search for <tvar|old_id></> in the text table to retrieve the text.

When a page is deleted, the revisions are moved to the <tvar|archive></> table.

page_id
Uniquely identifying primary key.

This value is preserved across edits and renames.

Page IDs do not change when pages are moved, but they may change when pages are deleted and then restored.

As of MediaWiki 1.27, the historical page ID is persisted in the archive table, and restored pages attempt to reclaim their old page ID.

MediaWiki offers a number of relevant tools:


 * The page ID of any page (except special pages) can be looked up in the "page information" link from the Tools menu.


 * The magic word <tvar|1></> can be used to return the page id of a page.


 * The special page Special:Redirect can be used to access pages via their page IDs. For example, <tvar|1>Special:Redirect/page/</>, redirects to the present page.

For example, <tvar|1>[///w/index.php?curid= /w/index.php?curid=]</> will load the present page.
 * index.php accepts the parameter <tvar|1> </> to access pages via their page IDs.

There are also many API features that either return the page ID or use it as an input.

For example, for the present page,, see https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php?action=query&prop=info&titles=Manual:Page%20table and https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php?action=query&prop=info&pageids=10501.

This field can be accessed by,  , etc.

page_namespace
A page name is broken into a namespace and a title.

The namespace keys are UI-language-independent constants, defined in.

This field contains the number of the page's namespace.

The values range from 0 to 15 for the standard namespaces, and from 100 to 2147483647 for custom namespaces.

page_title
The sanitized page title, without the namespace, with a maximum of 255 characters (binary).

It is stored as text, with spaces replaced by underscores.

The real title shown in articles is just this title with underscores (_) converted to spaces.

For example, a page titled "Talk:Foo Bar" would have "Foo_Bar" in this field.

page_restrictions
Comma-separated set of permission keys indicating who can move or edit the page.

Edit and move sections are separated by a colon (e.g., "edit=autoconfirmed,sysop:move=sysop").

page_counter
Number of times the page has been viewed.

This feature was completely removed in MediaWiki 1.25, following a request for comment.

Even before that, many sites including Wikimedia projects disabled it to increase performance; see <tvar|1></> for details.

page_is_redirect
A value of   here indicates the article is a redirect; it is   in all other cases.

page_is_new
This field stores whether the page is a new, meaning it either has only one revision or has not been edited since being restored, even if there is more than one revision.

If the field contains a value of  , then it indicates that the page is a new; otherwise, it is  .

links are not displayed if the page is new, since there is nothing to roll back to.

page_random
Random decimal value, between 0 and 1, used for Special:Random (see <tvar|1></> for more details).

Generated by <tvar|1></>.

Around 2005, a bug caused these random values to be non-uniform. Since the field is set at page creation, wikis that have existed for a long time might still have some of these erroneous values. See T208909.

page_touched
This timestamp is updated whenever the page changes in a way requiring it to be re-rendered, invalidating caches.

Aside from editing, this includes permission changes, creation or deletion of linked pages, and alteration of contained templates.

Set to <tvar|1></> at the time of page creation.

page_links_updated
This timestamp is updated whenever a page is re-parsed and it has all the link tracking tables updated for it.

This is useful for de-duplicating expensive backlink update jobs.

Set to the default value of NULL when the page is created by WikiPage::insertOn.

page_latest
This is a foreign key to rev_id for the current revision.

It may be 0 during page creation.

It needs to link to a revision with a valid, or there will be the "The revision #0 of the page named 'Foo' does not exist" error when one tries to view the page.

Can be obtained via.

page_len
Uncompressed length in bytes of the page's current source text.

This however, does not apply to images which still have records in this table.

Instead, the uncompressed length in bytes of the  for the file is used as the latter is in the   field.

The  class in   has two methods, viz.,   and   that are responsible for populating these details.

page_content_model
Content model, see CONTENT_MODEL_XXX constants.

Comparable to <tvar|1></>.

page_lang
Page content language.

Set to the default value of NULL at the time of page creation.

Schema summary
++-+--+-+++ ++-+--+-+++ ++-+--+-+++
 * Field             | Type                | Null | Key | Default        | Extra          |
 * page_id           | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL           | auto_increment |
 * page_namespace    | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL           |                |
 * page_title        | varbinary(255)      | NO   |     | NULL           |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob            | NO   |     | NULL           |                |
 * page_is_redirect  | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0              |                |
 * page_is_new       | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0              |                |
 * page_random       | double unsigned     | NO   | MUL | NULL           |                |
 * page_touched      | binary(14)          | NO   |     |                |                |
 * page_links_updated | varbinary(14)      | YES  |     | NULL           |                |
 * page_latest       | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL           |                |
 * page_len          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL           |                |
 * page_content_model | varbinary(32)      | YES  |     | NULL           |                |
 * page_lang         | varbinary(35)       | YES  |     | NULL           |                |

++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++
 * Field             | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id           | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace    | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title        | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob            | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter      | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect  | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new       | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random       | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched      | binary(14)          | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_links_updated | varbinary(14)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest       | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_content_model | varbinary(32)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_lang         | varbinary(35)       | YES  |     | NULL    |                |

++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++
 * Field             | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id           | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace    | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title        | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob            | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter      | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect  | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new       | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random       | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched      | binary(14)          | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_links_updated | varbinary(14)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest       | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_content_model | varbinary(32)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |

++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++ ++-+--+-+-++
 * Field             | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id           | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace    | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title        | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob            | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter      | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect  | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new       | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random       | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched      | binary(14)          | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest       | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_content_model | varbinary(32)      | YES  |     | NULL    |                |

+---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++
 * Field            | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace   | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title       | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob           | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter     | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new      | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random      | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched     | binary(14)          | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest      | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len         | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |

+---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++
 * Field            | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id          | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace   | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title       | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob           | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter     | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new      | tinyint(3) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random      | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched     | binary(14)          | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest      | int(10) unsigned    | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len         | int(10) unsigned    | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |

+---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++ +---+-+--+-+-++
 * Field            | Type                | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
 * page_id          | int(8) unsigned     | NO   | PRI | NULL    | AUTO_INCREMENT |
 * page_namespace   | int(11)             | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_title       | varchar(255) binary | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_restrictions | tinyblob           | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_counter     | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_redirect | tinyint(1) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_is_new      | tinyint(1) unsigned | NO   |     | 0       |                |
 * page_random      | real unsigned       | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |
 * page_touched     | char(14) binary     | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_latest      | int(8) unsigned     | NO   |     | NULL    |                |
 * page_len         | int(8) unsigned     | NO   | MUL | NULL    |                |

Indices
+---++-+--+--+---+-+--++--++-+---+ +---++-+--+--+---+-+--++--++-+---+ +---++-+--+--+---+-+--++--++-+---+
 * Table | Non_unique | Key_name                   | Seq_in_index | Column_name      | Collation | Cardinality | Sub_part | Packed | Null | Index_type | Comment | Index_comment |
 * page |          0 | PRIMARY                     |            1 | page_id          | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          0 | name_title                  |            1 | page_namespace   | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          0 | name_title                  |            2 | page_title       | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          1 | page_random                 |            1 | page_random      | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          1 | page_len                    |            1 | page_len         | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          1 | page_redirect_namespace_len |            1 | page_is_redirect | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          1 | page_redirect_namespace_len |            2 | page_namespace   | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |
 * page |          1 | page_redirect_namespace_len |            3 | page_len         | A         |           0 |     NULL | NULL   |      | BTREE      |         |               |

Listing pages and relations with other essential tables
The following code will select the most recent versions of all articles from core tables: [page, revision, text]:

Other important considerations:


 * to find undeleted pages add <tvar|1> </>
 * to find pages in namespace>Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Namespace</>|namespace 0 add <tvar|1> </>
 * to find pages that are not redirects add <tvar|1> </>

These additional statements can be added either as conditions to a Where statement or as conditions on the appropriate Inner Join statement.

Deleting pages with their relationships in <tvar|text>text</> and <tvar|revision>revision</> tables
The following shows the steps to run to help you delete pages and their children from the main pages in the <tvar|page>page</>, <tvar|revision>revision</> and <tvar|text>text</> tables.

Listing all related table keys

Deleting from database the rows

You should have a result set like this

<pre style="overflow:auto;"> +--+--+--+ +--+--+--+ +--+--+--+ 1 row in set (0.07 sec)
 * page                                            | revision                                         | text                                             |
 * IN(5530,5528,5529,5530,5529,5528,5532,5532,5532) | IN(9918,9921,9917,9919,9920,9916,9922,9915,9923) | IN(9918,9921,9917,9919,9920,9916,9922,9915,9923) |

Replace the concatenated id in the following query

After, you can do some cleanup using this maintenance script: