 | This page is ahow-to guide detailing a practice or process on the English Wikipedia. |
This page explains how to create theFootnotes section for Wikipedia articles. In this context, the word "Footnotes" refers to the Wikipedia-specific manner of documenting an article's sources and providing tangential information, and should not be confused with the general concept offootnotes. This how-to does not cover the formatting of citations within the Footnotes section, which is reviewed inCiting sources.
Footnotes are used most commonly to provide:
The use of Footnotes is only one of several options for providing source information in the article. Other systems of inline citation, includingShortened footnotes andParenthetical referencing, may be used at the editor's discretion in accordance with the guideline onVariation in citation methods.
Only certain types of material on the English Wikipedia are required to have an inline citation. There isno requirement to provide a citation for every sentence, because multiple sentences may be supported by the same footnote. For advice on which material should be cited, see the guidelines onWhen you must use inline citations, theGood article criteria andWhen to cite. For advice on how to organize and format bibliographic citations, see the guideline onCiting sources and examples ofCitation templates.
Footnotes are created using theCite.php software extension. This extension adds the HTML-like elements<ref>...</ref>,<references /> and<references>...</references>. The elements are also used in a number of templates; for example, it is becoming more common to use{{reflist}} rather than<references /> as it can style the reference list.
ଛାଞ୍ଚ:VE documentationThe Footnotes system shows two elements on the page:
This is a footnote marker.[୧]
To create the footnote marker, determine the point in the page content where the marker is desired and enter the markup with the citation or note inside the<ref>...</ref> tags. For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is page content.<ref>LibreOffice For Starters, First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref>{{reflist}} | |
The content inside the<ref>...</ref> will show in the reference list. The ref tags can be added anywhere a citation or note is needed. There must be content inside the tags, else an error will show.
Ref tags should follow any punctuation (usually a period), not precede it; seeWP:REFPUNC. There should be no space between the punctuation and the tag:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
...text.<ref>Content of the reference</ref>{{reflist}} | |
...text<ref>Content of the reference</ref>.{{reflist}} | |
...text. <ref>Content of the reference</ref>{{reflist}} | |
The content of the ref tags can be formatted using most wikimarkup or HTML markup, although techniques such as thepipe trick andtemplate substitution will not work in footnotes. For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is page content.<ref>''LibreOffice For Starters'', First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref>{{reflist}} | |
The ref tag content may also contain an internal or external link:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is page content.<ref>''[http://www.example.org LibreOffice For Starters]'', First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref>{{reflist}} | This is page content.[୧]
|
URLs must begin with a supportedURI scheme.http:// andhttps:// will be supported by all browsers; however,ftp://,gopher://,irc://,ircs://,mailto: andnews: may require a plug-in or an external application and should normally be avoided.IPv6 host-names are currently not supported.
If URLs incitation template parameters contain certain characters, then they will not display and link correctly. Those characters need to bepercent-encoded. For example, a space must be replaced by%20. To encode the URL, replace the following characters with:
| Character | space | " | ' | < | > | [ | ] | { | | | } |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encoding | %20 | %22 | %27 | %3C | %3E | %5B | %5D | %7B | %7C | %7D |
Single apostrophes do not need to be encoded; however, unencoded multiples will be parsed as italic or bold markup. Single curly closing braces also do not need to be encoded; however, an unencoded pair will be parsed as the double closing braces for the template transclusion.
Once any number of footnotes have been inserted into the content, the reference list must be generated. For the basic reference list, add{{reflist}} wherever the list is desired. Once the page is saved and viewed, the footnotes will be automatically generated and numbered and the reference list will be generated. The main reference list is placed in a separate section, usually titled "References", "Notes" or the like.
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is page content.<ref>''LibreOffice For Starters'', First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref>==References=={{reflist}} | |
Notes
|close= parameter; that bug has been fixed and the|close= parameter may safely be removed.<references /> may be seen instead of{{reflist}}. This is valid, but<references /> does not offer the advanced features of{{reflist}}.You can cite the same source more than once on a page by using named footnotes. The syntax to define a named footnote is:
<ref name="name">content</ref>To invoke the named footnote:
<ref name="name" />| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is page content.<ref name=manchester2002>''LibreOffice for Starters'', First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref> This is more content.<ref name=manchester2002 />{{reflist}} | |
The actual name used can be almost anything, but it is recommended that it have a connection to the citation or note. A common practice is to use the author-year or publisher-year for the reference name. This helps editors remember the name, by associating it with the information that is visible to the reader.
Note that the footnote labels are incremented in the order they are used, and that they use the same label when reused, thus the labels can seem out of order:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This is starter content.<ref name=manchester2002>''LibreOffice for Starters'', First Edition, Flexible Minds, Manchester, 2002, p. 18</ref> This is expert content.<ref name=lexington2004>''OpenOffice for Experts'', Lexington, 2004, p. 18</ref> And more starter content.<ref name=manchester2002 /> And more expert content.<ref name=lexington2004 />{{reflist}} | |
When using both names andgroups, the syntax is:
<ref name=name group=groupname>Content</ref>Care should be taken when deleting references to avoid creating a cite error. SeeAvoiding common mistakes
When using{{reflist}}, the list can be split into columns.
By setting the width in em, the number of columns will automatically be adjusted to the width of the display.
For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name.</ref>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name.</ref>==References=={{reflist|20em}} | |
There is no hard rule on the column width to use, but some major practices include:
Some or all of the footnotes can also be defined within the reference section/list, and invoked in the page content. This keeps those citations in one central location and avoids cluttering the text (and any infobox). This is purely a source code change – the actual display of the citation in the text to a reader is unaffected. For a more detailed evaluation of this method, seeWP:LDRHOW. The syntax is:
{{reflist|refs=<ref name=name1>Content</ref><ref name=name2>Content</ref><ref name=name...n>Content</ref>}}or, alternatively,
<references><ref name=name1>Content</ref><ref name=name2>Content</ref><ref name=name...n>Content</ref></references>
The footnote markers are included as usual for a named footnote. For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.<ref name=LazyDog />Amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes.<ref name=Jukeboxes />How razorback-jumping frogs can level six piqued gymnasts.<ref name=JumpingFrogs />==References=={{reflist|refs=<ref name=Jukeboxes>This is the jukeboxes reference.</ref><ref name=LazyDog>This is the lazy dog reference.</ref><ref name=JumpingFrogs>This is the jumping frogs reference.</ref>}} | |
The references will be numbered, and appear in the output,in the order that they are first referred to in the content, regardless of their order within the list. All references in reference list must be referenced in the content, otherwise an error message will be shown.
Explanatory notes may need to be referenced. Because of limitations in theCite.php software, reference tags cannot be nested; that is, a set of<ref>...</ref> tags cannot be placed inside another pair of<ref>...</ref> tags. Attempting to do so will result in a cite error.
The template{{refn}} may be used to nest references. The markup is:
{{refn|name=name|group=group|content}} wherename andgroup are optional. The content may include<ref> tags.The other templates listed below inPredefined groups are variants of{{refn}} that include a styled group and have a matching styled reference list template.
Example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{refn|group=nb|A footnote.<ref>A reference for the footnote.</ref>}}==Notes=={{reflist|group=nb}}==References=={{reflist}} | |
The use of the magic word#tag:ref is valid, but the sequence of parameters is invariant and nonintuitive.{{refn}} and its variants use this markup internally.
{{#tag:ref|refcontent|name=name|group=groupname}}Sometimes it is useful to group the footnotes into separate lists, for example to separate explanatory notes from references, or to list references for tables, image captions, infoboxes and navboxes. The sequence of footnote labels is independent in each group.
The syntax to define a footnote with a group is:
<ref group=groupname>Content</ref>The footnote marker group namemust be enclosed in quotes if the group name includes a space, else a cite error will occur, otherwise quotes are optional.
The syntax for the reference list with a group is:
{{reflist|group=groupname}}The reference list group name does not need to be enclosed in quotes.
Example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
This part of the text requires clarification,<ref group=note>Listed separately from the citation</ref> whereas the entire text is cited.<ref>Citation.</ref> And this needs even more clarification.<ref group=note>Another note</ref>==Notes=={{reflist|group=note}}==References=={{reflist}} | |
Note that the footnote labels in the reference list show only the numbers and not the group name.
When using both names andgroups, the syntax is:
<ref name=name group=groupname>Content</ref>For the repeated note:
<ref name=name group=groupname />There are several predefined groups that can have a styled reference list such that the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the footnote in the reference list. These predefined groups and reference lists have templates that make the markup simpler and also allow a standard reference to be inserted, so that an explanatory note can have a reference.
| Group name | Footnote marker template or markup | Reference list template | Sample labels |
|---|---|---|---|
| none | <ref>...</ref> | {{reflist}} | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| none | {{refn}} for nested references | {{reflist}} | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| lower-alpha | {{efn}} | {{notelist}} | a b c d e f g h i j |
| upper-alpha | {{efn-ua}} | {{notelist-ua}} | A B C D E F G H I J |
| lower-roman | {{efn-lr}} | {{notelist-lr}} | i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x |
| upper-roman | {{efn-ur}} | {{notelist-ur}} | I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X |
| lower-greek[a] | {{efn-lg}} | {{notelist-lg}} | α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ |
{{efn}} supports|name= and|group=, which work the same as the parameters in<ref>. Do not enclose values in quotes.{{notelist}} supports the column parameter,|refs= and|group= which work the same as the parameters in{{reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|Footnote3}}{{notelist}} | |
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn-lr|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn-lr|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn-lr|Footnote3}}{{notelist-lr}} | |
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|name=fn1|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|name=fn1}}{{notelist}} | |
Issues
{{efn}} is used.|group= in{{reflist}} or<references /> does not exactly match one of the predefined values; use{{efn}} or variant as|group= will not be needed.|group= in{{reflist}} or<references /> is enclosed by quotes; use{{efn}} or variant as|group= will not be needed.{{reflist}} is indented with the: markup.<references /> is used instead of{{reflist}}{{navbox}} or one of the variants and the style is set tobodyclass=hlist; to resolve this, replace the style withlistclass=hlist.A page with<ref> tags but no reference list markup used to display an error, except on talk and user pages. In recent versions of Wikipedia, the error no longer appears; instead an automatically generated reference list (AGRL) is displayed at the bottom of the page.
Compared to the reference lists on properly formatted pages, an AGRL can be confusing to both readers and editors. But it is easily corrected by adding reference list markup such as the following. Add it at the position where the reference list would normally appear.
==References=={{reflist}}On talk pages, the{{reflist-talk}} template can be used to add a reference list to a specific discussion.
Suppose you would like to cite one book, but different facts appear on different pages. You would like to cite the book again and again, but point each fact to the proper page. Suppose one fact is on page 8, a different fact on page 12, a third fact on page 18, a fourth fact on page 241. You could put a line in the "pages" parameter saying "see pages 8, 12, 18, 241" but a fact-checker might have to check all of them before figuring out the right one. Or, you could duplicate the entire citation for the book in each instance, but that would be redundant. One common approach is to useshortened citations, which requires the use of a References section following the footnotes section. Another approach is to attach a{{rp|8}} right after the footnote marker and replace the "8" with the appropriate page number.
For example:
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Schudson said the Constitution shaped citizenship in fundamental ways.<ref name="Schudson">{{Cite book | last = Schudson | first = Michael | title = The Good Citizen: A Brief History of American Civic Life | publisher = Simon & Schuster | date = 1998 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=aawMAQAAMAAJ | isbn =0-684-82729-8 }}</ref>{{rp|8}} But elections in early American politics did not generate much interest<ref name="Schudson"/>{{rp|12}} while "open discussion of differences" was generally avoided.<ref name="Schudson"/>{{rp|18}} Citizenship later shifted to a polity of essentially "self-absorbed citizens", according to his analysis.<ref name="Schudson"/>{{rp|241}} | Schudson said the Constitution shaped citizenship in fundamental ways.[୧]:8 But elections in early American politics did not generate much interest[୧]:12 while "open discussion of differences" was generally avoided.[୧]:18 Citizenship later shifted to a polity of essentially "self-absorbed citizens", according to his analysis.[୧]:241 References
|
When usinglist-defined references,{{r}} can be used for the same style of in-text page references.
When youedit a single section of a page, the footnotes list will not be visible when youpreview your edits. Thus you ordinarily cannot see how your footnotes will later appear when you save your edits.
You can insert a{{reflistp}} into the edited section temporarily and remove it before saving; it will show references defined in the section being edited, although you will still not be able to see named references which were defined in other sections.
Tools that can be used are theuser:js/ajaxPreview orUser:Anomie/ajaxpreview.js scripts or thewikEd gadget.
You can use the citation toolbar to name references. When you first create a reference, you can enter a value in the "Ref name" box. When you want to reuse this reference, click the "Named references" button on the citation toolbar and choose which reference you would like to insert.
Cite.phpbug list<ref> tags.T4700<ref> tags.T4700