Template:POTD
Usage
Displays the English Wikipedia's current picture of the day (POTD) in a box of no more than 600 pixels wide, without the blurb (explanatory text), for use on user pages. To always display the current day's POTD, use {{POTD}}; to permanently feature a particular day's POTD, use {{POTD|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 |
Raising a flag over the Reichstag - Restoration.jpg |
{{POTD/[date]|size}} |
The size of the image, without the trailing px |
400 |
{{POTD/[date]|caption}} |
The image caption (blurb) | Raising a Flag over the Reichstag (Russian: Знамя Победы над Рейхстагом, romanized: Znamya Pobedy nad Reykhstagom, lit. 'Victory Banner over the Reichstag') is an iconic World War II photograph, taken during the Battle of Berlin on 2 May 1945 by Yevgeny Khaldei. The photograph was reprinted in thousands of publications and came to be regarded around the world as one of the most significant and recognizable images of World War II, but, owing to the secrecy of Soviet media, both the identity of photographer and the identities of the men in the picture were often disputed.
The Reichstag was seen as symbolic of, and at the heart of, Nazi Germany. It was arguably the most symbolic target in Berlin. After its capture on 2 May 1945, Khaldei scaled the now pacified Reichstag to take a picture. He was carrying with him a large flag, sewn from three tablecloths for this very purpose, by his uncle. The official story would later be that two hand-picked soldiers, Meliton Kantaria (Georgian) and Mikhail Yegorov (Russian), raised the Soviet flag over the Reichstag, However, according to Khaldei himself, when he arrived at the Reichstag, he simply asked the soldiers who happened to be passing by to help with the staging of the photoshoot; the one who was attaching the flag was 18-year-old Private Kovalev from Burlin, Kazakhstan; the two others were Abdulkhakim Ismailov from Dagestan and Leonid Gorychev (also mentioned as Aleksei Goryachev) from Minsk. |
{{POTD/[date]|title}} |
A link to the article the image represents | Raising a Flag over the Reichstag |
{{POTD/[date]|texttitle}} |
A linkless short caption, also useful as an alt attribute | Raising a Flag over the Reichstag |
{{POTD/[date]|credit}} |
The credit line of the image, including the genre (e.g. photograph, painting) | Photograph credit: Yevgeny Khaldei for TASS; restored by Adam Cuerden |
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/2025-05-02|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=2025-05-02}} or {{POTD|date=2025-05-02}}. Again, this system will only work for POTDs selected beginning January 1, 2007.