Help:-show classes

-show classes are a set of CSS classes that make content visible only to members of certain user groups. For instance, if you are autoconfirmed, these words are green ; while if you are not,  these words are. The -show classes are named in the format, where the group name is the technical name used by the software. They are initially defined in MediaWiki:Common.css, where they are set to visibility. Then, in the relevant group CSS page, the class's visibility is unhidden.

There exist also two "negative-rights" inverse -show classes, which reverse the above technique to make content visible only to people without these rights.

Like all CSS classes, the -show classes' display can be customized, including to make visible content that would normally be invisible to you. See for how to do this in under a minute.

Considerations
Unlike most things on MediaWiki, if something is available to members of one group, it is also available to groups which have the same permissions as that group. That is not the case with -show classes. Setting the class  and nothing else, for instance, will make content that extendedconfirmed users can see but admins (who have the extendedconfirmed permission through the sysop rights bundle, but are not members of the extendedconfirmed group) cannot. This means that administrators cannot read this line that says non-admins are cooler. Meaning admins can't read the hidden message right here.

One current edge-case is that confirmed users do not see anything inside an.

Note that while -show classes may have some applications for security through obscurity, the content within them is still sent to all users' devices, and can be viewed by others in a number of manners, as seen below.

Knowing which content on your page is in a -show class
It may be useful to know which content on your page is not visible to all users. To do so, you can add something like the following to your common.css—supposing for the purposes of this example that you are an extendedconfirmed new page reviewer: Change classes and CSS details as desired (or see ).

Seeing content in other groups' -show classes
This one's a bit more complicated, as you have to account for four different visibility settings. Supposing you want to see  and   content: You can combine this with the above, for instance by adding It is recommended to change a different CSS attribute than used in the above section's highlighter, so you can see if content is both visible to you and to some class you've made visible through this approach.

Easily generate a custom -show class style sheet
This includes five features:
 * 1) Group 0: Makes visible and highlights content for "negative-right" classes   and  . Defaults to using blue border.
 * 2) Group 1: Highlights content for "entry-level" classes ,  , and for non-admins  . Defaults to using light gray background.
 * 3) Group 2: Highlights content for all other groups you are in. Defaults to using khaki background.
 * 4) Group 3: Makes visible and highlights content for groups you are not in, and that are not redundant with groups you are in. Defaults to using orange border.
 * 5) Anomaly highlighter: Highlights anomalous class combinations like an   that is not paired with a.

To set this up:
 * 1) Copy the following template
 * 2) Go either to your common.css or to a standalone page like Special:MyPage/-show classes.css.
 * 3) Paste the template there
 * 4) Put "yes" for all user groups you're in according to the line right below your name in Special:Preferences.
 * 5) Optionally, use the config settings to opt out of any of the five features offered, or to customize styling.
 * 6) Click "". Ignore the warning about error.
 * 7) Consult /testcases to see if everything is to your liking.
 * 8) If you used a standalone page rather than your common.css, add   to the top of your common.css (ignoring the error warning and changing "-show classes.css" to the page name you've used, if different).