Wikipedia:Motto of the day

Motto of the day...

“ Because read-only is for the birds ”

Nominate one!

The Motto of the Day (MOTD) is a project dedicated to creating and displaying a daily unofficial Wikipedia motto included on various user pages. It is an effort to laugh a bit at ourselves, celebrate our achievements, and foster a sense of community. Mottos can be humorous or serious, but must reflect the community or purpose of Wikipedia. Nominate new mottos here.

The templates

To get the Motto of the Day, just place one of the following templates anywhere you like on your user or user talk page. User:Cremepuff222/RandomMotto, Template:Motd Cquote and Template: Random Motto display tables because the Template:Cquote2 which is used cannot handle tables. Do not place them in tables if you don't want the template to divide itself into visible rows and columns.

Template	What you see	Pros	Cons
{{Motd framed}}	Motto of the day... “ Because read-only is for the birds ” Nominate one!	The main template: the one displayed at the Community Portal	Borders may clash if page already has borders
{{Motd}}	Today's motto... Because read-only is for the birds Nominate one today!	Stands out	Cannot handle bold or italic text
{{Motd plain}}	Today's motto... Because read-only is for the birds	Can handle all styles of text	None
{{Motd big}}	Today's motto... Because read-only is for the birds	Can handle all styles of text	Makes intentionally small text normal
{{Motd bold}}	Today's motto... Because read-only is for the birds Nominate a motto today!	Can handle italic text	Cannot handle bold text
{{Motd cquote}}	“ Because read-only is for the birds ” — Today's Motto of the Day	Can handle all styles of text	Has trouble handling tables
{{Random Motto}}	“ Today's motto: Because read-only is for the birds Because read-only is for the birds ”	Auto-adjusts to fit where it is placed.	Squashes itself if motto is long.
{{MOTD banner}}	Motto of the Day, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Because read-only is for the birds	Bright background. Draws attention to itself.	None
{{User:Download/RandomMotto}}	November 24's motto of the day... Wikipedia:Motto of the day/November 24, 2024 → Next mottoBecause read-only is for the birds	Generates a random motto for each page visit	Can produce redlinks
{{User:Cremepuff222/RandomMotto}}	Because read-only is for the birds — Today's Motto of the day Next mottoBecause read-only is for the birds	Generates a random motto for each page visit	Has trouble handling tables; can produce redlinks
{{User:DannyQuack/Userboxes/Motto}}	Today's motto... Because read-only is for the birds Nominate one today!	Fits in small spaces; useful for columns; random message	Is a userbox and cannot be formatted; can produce redlinks
{{User:Oxguy3/myboxes/MOTD}}	Because read-only is for the birds	Looks like a userbox; fits in small spaces; useful for columns	Cannot be formatted
{{User:Killeroid/MOTD}}	Today's motto: Because read-only is for the birds	Bright background. Draws attention to itself.	None
{{User:Secret Saturdays/MottoBox}}	The wise editors at Wikipedia have one thing to say to you: "Because read-only is for the birds"	useful for columns	It's considered too big for a userbox. It expands depending on the length of the quote.
{{User:Hi878/Random MotD}}	Because read-only is for the birds	Bright background. Draws attention to itself. Generates a random motto for each page visit.	Can produce redlinks.
{{User:Hi878/Random and Today's MotD}}	Today's motto: Because read-only is for the birds Because read-only is for the birds	Bright background. Draws attention to itself. Generates a random motto for each page visit, and shows the current.	Can produce redlinks.
{{User:titusfox/MOTD}}	MOTDBecause read-only is for the birds	Very Simple.	May be too long to be a userbox when the motto is long.

You may also add the completely unformatted motto of the day by using {{Wikipedia:Motto of the day/{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTDAY}}, {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}. This allows you to create your own formatting.

Coordination, feedback, and questions

Every user is welcome to help coordinate the updating of MOTD. Any general inquiries and comments about the project are welcome at Wikipedia talk:Motto of the day.

Have an idea for a new motto?

Place your suggestions on the nominations page for review and consideration. Follow the instructions there for the correct procedure on how to do this.

Frequent contributors or supporters of the project

Templates

Typing {{User MOTD}} in your Userbox area produces

This user frequently contributes to the Motto of the Day. Do you?

and adds the page to Category:Wikipedians who contribute to Motto of the day.

There is also an icon that you can use. Typing {{User:Hi878/MotD Icon}} will create an icon in the corner of your userpage showing your support for MotD. It uses {{topicon}} so it would be positioned the same way as any other icon.

To be on a list without using one of these, you may want to visit the Participants page.

Invite new users

To invite new users, add the template {{subst:MOTD Invite}} to their talk page.

Barnstar

Motto of the Day even has its own barnstar award. To give it to someone who has contributed greatly to the project, simply use the template below:

{{subst:MOTD Barnstar|Your message here. ~~~~}}

...and you’ll get this:

		The MOTD Barnstar
		Your message here. ~~~~

Motto Shop

If you want to get a motto to live by on Wikipedia, try out our Motto Shop!