Help:Footnotes: Difference between revisions

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{{Redirect|WP:FN|the fringe theories noticeboard|Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard}}

{{Redirect|WP:NOTES|hatnotes|Wikipedia:~~Hatnotes~~|~~Musical~~ notes|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}

{{Redirect|WP:NOTES|hatnotes|Wikipedia:Hatnote|article layout of footnotes|MOS:NOTES|musical notes|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}

This page explains how to create the '''Footnotes''' 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 of [[Note (typography)|footnotes]]. This how-to does not cover the formatting of citations within the Footnotes section, which is reviewed in [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|Citing sources]].

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Footnotes are used most commonly to provide:

* [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|references (bibliographic citations) to reliable sources]],

* explanatory information or

* [[Help:explanatory notes|explanatory information]] or

* source information for tables and other elements.

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==Footnotes: the basics==

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 {{tag|ref}} tags. For example:

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}}

:The {{tl|reflist}} template will be explained in the next section.

The {{tl|reflist}} template will be explained in the next section.

The content inside the {{tag|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.

===Where to place ref tags===

~~{{anchor|Where_to_place_ref_tags}}~~ Ref tags should follow any punctuation (usually a period), not precede it; see [[WP:REFPUNC]]. There should be no space between the punctuation and the tag:

Ref tags should follow any punctuation (usually a period), not precede it; see [[WP:REFPUNC]]. There should be no space between the punctuation and the tag:

{{markup

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}}

===Formatting ref tags===

The content of the ref tags can be formatted using most ~~wikimarkup~~ or HTML markup, although techniques such as the [[Help:Pipe trick|pipe trick]] and [[Help:Substitution|template substitution]] will not work in footnotes. For example:

The content of the ref tags can be formatted using most wiki markup or HTML markup, although techniques such as the [[Help:Pipe trick|pipe trick]] and [[Help:Substitution|template substitution]] will not work in footnotes. For example:

{{markup

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{{markup

|<nowiki>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" />

|<nowiki>This is page content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is more content.<ref name="manchester2002" />

{{reflist}}</nowiki>

|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" />

|This is page content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is more content.<ref name="manchester2002" />

}}

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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

|<nowiki>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" />

|<nowiki>This is starter content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is expert content.<ref name="lexington2004">{{cite book|title=OpenOffice for Experts|publisher=Lexington|year=2004|p=18}}</ref> And more starter content.<ref name="manchester2002" /> And more expert content.<ref name="lexington2004" />

{{reflist}}</nowiki>

|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" />

|This is starter content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is expert content.<ref name="lexington2004">{{cite book|title=OpenOffice for Experts|publisher=Lexington|year=2004|p=18}}</ref> And more starter content.<ref name="manchester2002" /> And more expert content.<ref name="lexington2004" />

}}

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When using both names and [[#Footnotes:_groups|groups]], the syntax is:

:{{tag|ref|params=group="<var>groupname</var>" name="<var>name</var>"|content=Content}}

Care should be taken when deleting references to avoid creating a cite error. See [[Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes#Deleting...|Avoiding common mistakes]]

Care should be taken when deleting references to avoid creating a cite error. See [[Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes#Deleting...|Avoiding common mistakes]].

==Reference lists: columns==

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[[Help:Explanatory notes|Explanatory notes]] may need to be referenced. Because of limitations in the {{cite.php}} software, reference tags cannot be nested; that is, a set of {{tag|ref}} tags cannot be placed inside another pair of {{tag|ref}} tags. Attempting to do so will result in a cite error.

The ~~template~~ {{tl|refn}} ~~may~~ be used to nest references. The markup is:

The templates {{tl|r}} and {{tl|refn}} can be used to nest references. The markup is:

:{{tlx|refn|2=group=group|3=name=~~name|4=content}}~~ ''name'' ~~and~~ ''~~group~~'' ~~being optional parameters. The content may include {{tag|ref|o~~}} ~~tags.~~

:{{tlx|refn|2=group=''group''|3=name=''name''|4=''content''}} or

:{{tlx|r|2=group=''group''|3=name=''name''|4=refn=''content''}} or

:{{tlx|r|2=g=''group''|3=n=''name''|4=r=''content''}} (shorter)

''name'' and ''group'' being optional parameters. The ''content'' may include {{tag|ref|o}} tags or another {{tl|r}} template.

The other templates listed below in [[#Footnotes: predefined groups|Predefined groups]] are variants of {{tl|refn}} that include a styled group and have a matching styled reference list template.

Examples:

Example:

===Using {{tl|refn}}===

{{markup

|<nowiki>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{refn|group=nb|A footnote.<ref>A reference for the footnote.</ref>}}

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}}

===Using {{tl|r}}===

⚫

The use of the magic word <code>#tag:ref</code> is valid, but the sequence of parameters is invariant and nonintuitive. {{tl|refn}} and its variants use this markup internally.

{{markup

|<nowiki>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{r|g=nb|r=A footnote.{{r|r=A reference for the footnote.}}}}

==Notes==

==References==

</nowiki>

|The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{r|g=nb|r=A footnote.{{r|r=A reference for the footnote.}}}}

}}

⚫

The use of the magic word <code>#tag:ref</code> is valid, but the sequence of parameters is invariant and nonintuitive. {{tl|r}} as well as {{tl|refn}} and its variants use this markup internally.

:<code>{{#tag:ref|<var>refcontent</var>|group=<var>groupname</var>|name=<var>name</var>}}</code>

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Note that the footnote labels in the reference list show only the numbers and not the group name.

When using both names and ~~[[#Footnotes:_groups|~~groups]], the syntax is:

When using both names and groups, the syntax is:

:{{tag|ref|params=group="<var>groupname</var>" name="<var>name</var>"|content=Content}}

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! Group type !! Footnote marker template<br/>or markup !! Reference list<br/> template !! Sample labels

|-

| ''none'' || {{tag|ref}}

|rowspan=3|''none by default, but optionally any'' || {{tag|ref}}

|rowspan=2| {{tlx|reflist}}

|rowspan=3| {{tlx|reflist}}

|rowspan=2| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

|rowspan=3| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

|-

| {{tlx|r}} (for nested references)

|-

~~| ''none'' |~~| {{tlx|refn}} (for nested references)

| {{tlx|refn}} (for nested references)

|-

| lower-alpha || {{tlx|efn}}<br />{{tlx|efn-la}} || {{tlx|notelist}}<br />{{tlx|notelist-la}} || a b c d e f g h i j

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|}<section end=pregrouptable />

* {{tlx|efn}} supports {{para|name}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tag|ref|o}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.

* {{tlx|efn}} supports {{para|name}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tag|ref|o}} (see, for instance, the 3rd and 4th examples below). Do not enclose values in quotes.

* {{tlx|notelist}} supports the ~~column parameter~~, {{para|refs}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tlx|reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.

* {{tlx|notelist}} supports the {{para|colwidth}}, {{para|refs}}, and {{para|group}} parameters, which work the same as the parameters in {{tlx|reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.

In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{For|help with citation templates|Help:Citation Style 1}}
 {{Redirect|WP:FN|the fringe theories noticeboard|Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard}}
-{{Redirect|WP:NOTES|hatnotes|Wikipedia:Hatnotes|Musical notes|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}
+{{Redirect|WP:NOTES|hatnotes|Wikipedia:Hatnote|article layout of footnotes|MOS:NOTES|musical notes|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}
-{{Wikipedia how to|H:FOOT|WP:FOOTNOTES|WP:FN}}
+{{Wikipedia how to|H:FOOT|WP:FOOTNOTES|H:FN}}
 This page explains how to create the '''Footnotes''' 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 of [[Note (typography)|footnotes]]. This how-to does not cover the formatting of citations within the Footnotes section, which is reviewed in [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|Citing sources]].
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 Footnotes are used most commonly to provide:
 * [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|references (bibliographic citations) to reliable sources]],
-* explanatory information or
+* [[Help:explanatory notes|explanatory information]] or
 * source information for tables and other elements.
@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ==Footnotes: the basics==
+{{See also|Help:Reftags}}
 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 {{tag|ref}} tags. For example:
@@ Line 48: / Line 51: @@
 }}
-:The {{tl|reflist}} template will be explained in the next section.
+The {{tl|reflist}} template will be explained in the next section.
 The content inside the {{tag|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.
+===Where to place ref tags===
-{{anchor|Where_to_place_ref_tags}} Ref tags should follow any punctuation (usually a period), not precede it; see [[WP:REFPUNC]]. There should be no space between the punctuation and the tag:
+Ref tags should follow any punctuation (usually a period), not precede it; see [[WP:REFPUNC]]. There should be no space between the punctuation and the tag:
 {{markup
@@ Line 69: / Line 73: @@
 }}
+===Formatting ref tags===
-The content of the ref tags can be formatted using most wikimarkup or HTML markup, although techniques such as the [[Help:Pipe trick|pipe trick]] and [[Help:Substitution|template substitution]] will not work in footnotes. For example:
+The content of the ref tags can be formatted using most wiki markup or HTML markup, although techniques such as the [[Help:Pipe trick|pipe trick]] and [[Help:Substitution|template substitution]] will not work in footnotes. For example:
 {{markup
@@ Line 124: / Line 129: @@
 {{markup
-|<nowiki>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" />
+|<nowiki>This is page content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is more content.<ref name="manchester2002" />
 {{reflist}}</nowiki>
-|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" />
+|This is page content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is more content.<ref name="manchester2002" />
 {{reflist}}
 }}
@@ Line 134: / Line 139: @@
 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
-|<nowiki>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" />
+|<nowiki>This is starter content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is expert content.<ref name="lexington2004">{{cite book|title=OpenOffice for Experts|publisher=Lexington|year=2004|p=18}}</ref> And more starter content.<ref name="manchester2002" /> And more expert content.<ref name="lexington2004" />
 {{reflist}}</nowiki>
-|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" />
+|This is starter content.<ref name="manchester2002">{{cite book|title=LibreOffice for Starters|edition=First|publisher=Flexible Minds|location=Manchester|year=2002|p=18}}</ref> This is expert content.<ref name="lexington2004">{{cite book|title=OpenOffice for Experts|publisher=Lexington|year=2004|p=18}}</ref> And more starter content.<ref name="manchester2002" /> And more expert content.<ref name="lexington2004" />
 {{reflist}}
 }}
@@ Line 142: / Line 147: @@
 When using both names and [[#Footnotes:_groups|groups]], the syntax is:
 :{{tag|ref|params=group="<var>groupname</var>" name="<var>name</var>"|content=Content}}
-Care should be taken when deleting references to avoid creating a cite error. See [[Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes#Deleting...|Avoiding common mistakes]]
+Care should be taken when deleting references to avoid creating a cite error. See [[Wikipedia:Avoiding common mistakes#Deleting...|Avoiding common mistakes]].
 ==Reference lists: columns==
@@ Line 236: / Line 241: @@
 [[Help:Explanatory notes|Explanatory notes]] may need to be referenced. Because of limitations in the {{cite.php}} software, reference tags cannot be nested; that is, a set of {{tag|ref}} tags cannot be placed inside another pair of {{tag|ref}} tags. Attempting to do so will result in a cite error.
-The template {{tl|refn}} may be used to nest references. The markup is:
+The templates {{tl|r}} and {{tl|refn}} can be used to nest references. The markup is:
-:{{tlx|refn|2=group=group|3=name=name|4=content}} ''name'' and ''group'' being optional parameters. The content may include {{tag|ref|o}} tags.
+:{{tlx|refn|2=group=''group''|3=name=''name''|4=''content''}} or
+:{{tlx|r|2=group=''group''|3=name=''name''|4=refn=''content''}} or
+:{{tlx|r|2=g=''group''|3=n=''name''|4=r=''content''}} (shorter)
+''name'' and ''group'' being optional parameters. The ''content'' may include {{tag|ref|o}} tags or another {{tl|r}} template.
 The other templates listed below in [[#Footnotes: predefined groups|Predefined groups]] are variants of {{tl|refn}} that include a styled group and have a matching styled reference list template.
+Examples:
-Example:
+===Using {{tl|refn}}===
 {{markup
 |<nowiki>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{refn|group=nb|A footnote.<ref>A reference for the footnote.</ref>}}
@@ Line 262: / Line 271: @@
 }}
+===Using {{tl|r}}===
-The use of the magic word <code>#tag:ref</code> is valid, but the sequence of parameters is invariant and nonintuitive. {{tl|refn}} and its variants use this markup internally.
+{{markup
+|<nowiki>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{r|g=nb|r=A footnote.{{r|r=A reference for the footnote.}}}}
+==Notes==
+{{reflist|group=nb}}
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
+</nowiki>
+|The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.{{r|g=nb|r=A footnote.{{r|r=A reference for the footnote.}}}}
+{{fake heading|sub=3|Notes}}
+{{reflist|group=nb}}
+{{fake heading|sub=3|References}}
+{{reflist}}
+}}
+The use of the magic word <code>#tag:ref</code> is valid, but the sequence of parameters is invariant and nonintuitive. {{tl|r}} as well as {{tl|refn}} and its variants use this markup internally.
 :<code>&#123;&#123;#tag:ref|<var>refcontent</var>|group=<var>groupname</var>|name=<var>name</var>}}</code>
@@ Line 302: / Line 330: @@
 Note that the footnote labels in the reference list show only the numbers and not the group name.
-When using both names and [[#Footnotes:_groups|groups]], the syntax is:
+When using both names and groups, the syntax is:
 :{{tag|ref|params=group="<var>groupname</var>" name="<var>name</var>"|content=Content}}
@@ Line 328: / Line 356: @@
 ! Group type !! Footnote marker template<br/>or markup !! Reference list<br/> template !! Sample labels
 |-
-| ''none'' || {{tag|ref}}
+|rowspan=3|''none by default, but optionally any'' || {{tag|ref}}
-|rowspan=2| {{tlx|reflist}}
+|rowspan=3| {{tlx|reflist}}
-|rowspan=2| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
+|rowspan=3| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
+|-
+| {{tlx|r}} (for nested references)
 |-
-| ''none'' || {{tlx|refn}} (for nested references)
+| {{tlx|refn}} (for nested references)
 |-
 | lower-alpha || {{tlx|efn}}<br />{{tlx|efn-la}}  || {{tlx|notelist}}<br />{{tlx|notelist-la}} || a b c d e f g h i j
@@ Line 347: / Line 377: @@
 |}<section end=pregrouptable />
-* {{tlx|efn}} supports {{para|name}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tag|ref|o}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.
+* {{tlx|efn}} supports {{para|name}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tag|ref|o}} (see, for instance, the 3rd and 4th examples below). Do not enclose values in quotes.
-* {{tlx|notelist}} supports the column parameter, {{para|refs}} and {{para|group}}, which work the same as the parameters in {{tlx|reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.
+* {{tlx|notelist}} supports the {{para|colwidth}}, {{para|refs}}, and {{para|group}} parameters, which work the same as the parameters in {{tlx|reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.
 In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:

Help:Footnotes: Difference between revisions

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