Template:Pic of the day
Usage
Displays the English Wikipedia's current picture of the day (POTD) in a box of no more than 600 pixels wide, with the blurb (explanatory text), for use on user pages. To always display the current day's POTD, use {{Pic of the day}}; to permanently feature a particular day's POTD, use {{Pic of the day|date=[date]}}, where the [date] parameter can be given in any valid format.
It is also possible to create your own custom POTD layouts, in case the already-existing versions will not look good within your user page design. Mix and match the following components to make your own. This system will only work for POTDs selected beginning January 1, 2007. Be sure to replace [date] with an appropriate date value. For a dynamically updating version, use {{#time:Y-m-d}} (example: {{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|image}}).
| Template | Description | Renders as |
|---|---|---|
{{POTD/[date]|image}} |
The name of the image, without the File: prefix |
Earthrise over Compton crater -LRO full res - edit1.jpg |
{{POTD/[date]|size}} |
The size of the image, without the trailing px |
400 |
{{POTD/[date]|caption}} |
The image caption (blurb) | Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest and most massive of its four rocky planets. About 29 percent of Earth's surface is land, with the remaining 71 percent covered with water and much of Earth's polar regions covered in ice. Earth's interior is active with a solid-iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates Earth's magnetic field, and a convective mantle that drives plate tectonics. Earth formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. Within the first billion years of Earth's history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect Earth's atmosphere and surface. Since then, the combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, its physical properties and its geological history have allowed life to evolve and thrive, including more than 8 billion humans as of 2024. Earth is orbited by one permanent natural satellite, the Moon, which orbits Earth at a radius of 384,400 km (238,900 mi) and is roughly a quarter as wide as Earth. This photograph of Earth straddling the lunar horizon was taken in 2015 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter while located 134 km (83 mi) above the crater Compton, visible in the foreground. To capture the image, the spacecraft had to be rolled 67 degrees to its side, and slewed with the direction of travel to maximize the width of the lunar horizon, while traveling more than 1600 m/s (3600 mph) relative to the surface. |
{{POTD/[date]|title}} |
A link to the article the image represents | Earth |
{{POTD/[date]|texttitle}} |
A linkless short caption, also useful as an alt attribute | Earth |
{{POTD/[date]|credit}} |
The credit line of the image, including the genre (e.g. photograph, painting) | Photograph credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Arizona State University; edited by Bammesk |
There are two additional predefined layouts:
{{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|column}}: This has the image and caption above each other with no borders. Used on some of the Main Page alternatives and also suitable for user pages.{{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|row}}: This has the image and caption encapsulated in (usually) a single table row. This is the version used on the current Main Page.
It is also possible to permanently feature a POTD for a selected day. Just add a specific value for the date you want. For example, today's POTD is {{POTD/2025-01-01|image}}. Likewise, you can use date parameters with the other templates as well. If you like the pre-made formats, you can use date parameters there as well, like this: {{Pic of the day|date=2025-01-01}} or {{POTD|date=2025-01-01}}. Again, this system will only work for POTDs selected beginning January 1, 2007.