---
title: "Featured links block placeholders"
slug: "featured-links-block-placeholders"
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:07Z
canonical: "totara.help/featured-links-block-placeholders"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Featured links block placeholders

When adding or editing a [**Featured links** block](/19/docs/featured-links-block) you can add a range of user placeholders, which will be replaced with the relevant information for the logged-in user viewing the block. For example, you could add a welcome message to a dashboard using a **Featured links** block and include the **User First name** placeholder, e.g. 'Welcome to Totara [user:first_name]!'. When a user views the dashboard, they'll see their own name inserted into the message, e.g. 'Welcome to Totara Carly!'.

Below is a table showing all of the available user placeholders that you can use in the **Featured links** block.

| **Placeholder title** | **Placeholder syntax** | **Placeholder meaning** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| User First name | [user:first_name] | The user's first name. |
| User Surname | [user:last_name] | The user's last name. |
| User Full name | [user:full_name] | The user's full name. |
| User Full name (with link) | [user:full_name_link] | The user's full name with a link to their profile. |
| User Username | [user:username] | The user's username. |
| User ID number | [user:id_number] | The user's ID number. |
| User Address | [user:address] | The user's address. |
| User Description | [user:description] | The user's description (as listed in their profile). |
| User Institution | [user:institution] | The user's institution. |
| User Language | [user:language] | The user's language. |
| User Skype ID | [user:skype] | The user's Skype ID. |
| User Phone | [user:phone1] | The user's phone number. |
| User Mobile phone | [user:phone2] | The user's mobile phone number. |
| User URL | [user:url] | The user's URL. |
| User Email address | [user:email_address] | The user's email address. |
| User City/town | [user:city] | The user's town or city. |
| User Country | [user:country] | The user's country. |
| User Department | [user:department] | The user's department. |
| User First name - phonetic | [user:first_name_phonetic] | Phonetic spelling of the user's first name. |
| User Surname - phonetic | [user:last_name_phonetic] | Phonetic spelling of the user's last name. |
| User Middle name | [user:middle_name] | The user's middle name. |
| User Alternate name | [user:alternate_name] | An alternate name the user is known by. |
| User timezone | [user:timezone] | The user's time zone. |

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