diff --git src/wp-admin/css/forms.css src/wp-admin/css/forms.css
index 7cc0801..33c73db 100644
--- src/wp-admin/css/forms.css
+++ src/wp-admin/css/forms.css
@@ -925,6 +925,29 @@ table.form-table td .updated p {
 	vertical-align: middle;
 }
 
+.form-table.permalink-structure .available-shortcode-tags li {
+	float: left;
+	margin-right: 5px;
+}
+
+.form-table.permalink-structure .available-shortcode-tags button {
+	background: none;
+	border: 1px solid transparent;
+	padding: 0;
+	outline: none;
+}
+
+.form-table.permalink-structure .available-shortcode-tags button:focus {
+	border-color: #5b9dd9;
+	-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 2px rgba( 30, 140, 190, 0.8 );
+	box-shadow: 0 0 2px rgba( 30, 140, 190, 0.8 );
+}
+
+.form-table.permalink-structure .available-shortcode-tags code {
+	margin: 0;
+	cursor: pointer;
+}
+
 /*------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   21.0 - Network Admin
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
diff --git src/wp-admin/js/common.js src/wp-admin/js/common.js
index 43a8f09..95e1123 100644
--- src/wp-admin/js/common.js
+++ src/wp-admin/js/common.js
@@ -175,6 +175,54 @@ $('.contextual-help-tabs').delegate('a', 'click', function(e) {
 	panel.addClass('active').show();
 });
 
+/**
+ * Update custom permalink structure via buttons.
+ */
+
+var permalinkStructureFocused = false;
+
+// See if the permalink structure input field has had focus at least one
+$( '#permalink_structure' ).on( 'focus', function( event ) {
+	permalinkStructureFocused = true;
+	$( this ).off( event );
+})
+
+$( '.form-table.permalink-structure .available-shortcode-tags button' ).on( 'click', function() {
+	var $permalinkStructure     = $( '#permalink_structure' ),
+	    permalinkStructureValue = $permalinkStructure.val(),
+	    selectionStart          = $permalinkStructure[ 0 ].selectionStart,
+	    selectionEnd            = $permalinkStructure[ 0 ].selectionEnd,
+	    textToAppend            = $( this ).find( 'code' ).text(),
+	    textToAnnounce          = $( this ).attr( 'data-added' );
+
+	// Do not insert structure tag if already part of the structure.
+	if ( -1 !== permalinkStructureValue.indexOf( textToAppend ) ) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	// Input field never had focus, move selection to end of input.
+	if ( ! permalinkStructureFocused && 0 === selectionStart && 0 === selectionEnd ) {
+		selectionStart = selectionEnd = permalinkStructureValue.length;
+	}
+
+	$( '#custom_selection' ).prop( 'checked', true );
+
+	// Prepend and append slashes if necessary.
+	if ( '/' !== permalinkStructureValue.substr( 0, selectionStart ).substr( -1 ) ) {
+		textToAppend = '/' + textToAppend;
+	}
+
+	if ( '/' !== permalinkStructureValue.substr( selectionEnd, 1 ) ) {
+		textToAppend = textToAppend + '/';
+	}
+
+	// Insert structure tag at the specified position.
+	$permalinkStructure.val( permalinkStructureValue.substr( 0, selectionStart ) + textToAppend + permalinkStructureValue.substr( selectionEnd ) );
+
+	// Announce change to screen readers.
+	$( '#custom_selection_updated' ).text( textToAnnounce );
+} )
+
 $document.ready( function() {
 	var checks, first, last, checked, sliced, mobileEvent, transitionTimeout, focusedRowActions,
 		lastClicked = false,
diff --git src/wp-admin/options-permalink.php src/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
index 95c1a3e..935e8d7 100644
--- src/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
+++ src/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
@@ -206,6 +206,50 @@ $structures = array(
 		<td>
 			<code><?php echo get_option('home') . $blog_prefix; ?></code>
 			<input name="permalink_structure" id="permalink_structure" type="text" value="<?php echo esc_attr($permalink_structure); ?>" class="regular-text code" />
+			<div class="available-shortcode-tags hide-if-no-js">
+				<div id="custom_selection_updated" aria-live="assertive" class="screen-reader-text"></div>
+				<?php
+				$available_tags = array(
+					'%year%'     => __( 'The year of the post, four digits, for example 2004' ),
+					'%monthnum%' => __( 'Month of the year, for example 05' ),
+					'%day%'      => __( 'Day of the month, for example 28' ),
+					'%hour%'     => __( 'Hour of the day, for example 15' ),
+					'%minute%'   => __( 'Minute of the hour, for example 43' ),
+					'%second%'   => __( 'Second of the minute, for example 33' ),
+					'%post_id%'  => __( 'The unique ID of the post, for example 423' ),
+					'%postname%' => __( 'The sanitized post title (slug)' ),
+					'%category%' => __( 'Category slug. Nested sub-categories appear as nested directories in the URI.' ),
+					'%author%'   => __( 'A sanitized version of the author name.' ),
+				);
+
+				/**
+				 * Filters the list of available permalink structure tags on the Permalinks settings page.
+				 *
+				 * @since 4.7.0
+				 *
+				 * @param array $available_tags A key => value pair of available permalink structure tags.
+				 */
+				$available_tags = apply_filters( 'available_permalink_structure_tags', $available_tags );
+
+				if ( ! empty( $available_tags ) ) :
+					?>
+					<p><?php _e( 'Available tags:' ); ?></p>
+					<ul>
+						<?php
+						foreach ( $available_tags as $tag => $explanation ) {
+							$notification = esc_attr( sprintf( __( '%s added to permalink structure' ), $tag ) );
+							?>
+							<li>
+								<button type="button" data-added="<?php echo esc_attr( sprintf( __( '%s added to permalink structure' ), $tag ) ); ?>">
+									<code><?php echo $tag; ?></code><span class="screen-reader-text"><?php echo esc_html( $explanation ); ?></span>
+								</button>
+							</li>
+							<?php
+						}
+						?>
+					</ul>
+				<?php endif; ?>
+			</div>
 		</td>
 	</tr>
 </table>