Difference between revisions of "References - Mediawiki"

Revision as of 15:47, 15 October 2007

This page explains very briefly how to create numbered footnotes and references using the <ref> ... </ref> and <references/> syntax, which is the current best-practice method in most circumstances. See Wikipedia:Footnotes for more detail.

Important: A MediaWiki site (such as Wikipedia) must have the extension Cite/Cite.php implemented to have the <ref> and <references/> tags rendered. Extensions like Cite/Cite.php are installed after installing MediaWiki.

Single citation of a reference or footnote

At the point of citation in the main text, enter the reference or footnote like this:

<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref>

You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way.

When you want to note that a reference is needed, use the {{fact}} template instead.

Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote

To cite the same reference or footnote several times, identify it using the name parameter of the <ref> tag.

At one of the citation points (it makes sense to choose the first), enter the reference like this:

<ref name="Perry">Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref>

Then, at all the other citation points just enter:

<ref name="Perry"/>

Producing the reference or footnote list

At the point where you want the text of the footnotes or references to appear (usually at the end of the article in a "Notes" or "References" section), insert the tag:

<references/>

What it looks like

The <ref> tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, and {{fact}} is expanded to "citation needed", like this:

The only reference to Excel For Dummies.^[1] The first reference to Perry's Handbook.^[2] The second reference to Perry's Handbook.^[2] The third reference to Perry's Handbook and to another, related book.^[2]^[3] The only reference to Linux in a Nutshell.^[4] A statement that requires a reference.Template:Fact

Clicking on a numbered superscript takes you straight to the text of the corresponding footnote or reference.

The <references/> tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:

↑ Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980. ↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984. ↑ Nuclear Chemical Engineering (2nd Edition), McGraw-Hill Co., 1981. ↑ Linux in a Nutshell, O'Reily Co., 2003.

For single citations, clicking on the caret (^) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.

For multiple citations, the links back to the main text are distinguished by letter superscripts (a, b, c etc.). Clicking on a letter superscript takes you to the corresponding citation in the main text.

Using templates to insert reference text

A number of templates, such as {{cite book}} and {{cite web}}, are available to format the text between the <ref> and </ref> tags in a more structured way. These are described at Wikipedia:Citation templates. Their use is optional: they do aid with consistent formatting, but on the other hand they can make editing more cumbersome.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Usage ==
+__NOTOC__
+This page explains very briefly how to create numbered footnotes and references using the '''<nowiki><ref> ... </ref></nowiki>''' and '''<nowiki><references/></nowiki>''' syntax, which is the current best-practice method in most circumstances. See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes Wikipedia:Footnotes] for more detail.
-Use this template to create a reference list in an article with a small font.  Note that there is no consensus that small font size should always be used for all references; when normal-sized font is more appropriate on an article, use <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code> instead.
+<b>
+Important:
+</b>
+A MediaWiki site (such as Wikipedia) must have the extension
+[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php Cite/Cite.php]
+implemented to have the
+<nowiki><ref></nowiki>
+and
+<nowiki><references/></nowiki>
+tags rendered.
+Extensions like
+[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php Cite/Cite.php]
+are installed after installing MediaWiki.
-If used with no parameters, it will produce a reference list with a single column.
+===Single citation of a reference or footnote===
-=== Multiple columns ===
+At the point of citation in the main text, enter the reference or footnote like this:
-Using <code><nowiki>{{reflist|2}}</nowiki></code> will create a two-column reference list, and <tt><nowiki>{{reflist|3}}</nowiki></tt> will create a three-column list.
+:'''<nowiki><ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref></nowiki>'''
-Using <code><nowiki>{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}</nowiki></code> will allow the browser to automatically choose the number of columns based on the width of the web browser.  Choose a column width that's appropriate for the average width of the references on the page.
+You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way.
-Note: multiple columns currently render properly only in Mozilla Firefox and other Gecko-based browsers,<ref>Multi-Column Thriller|url=http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/archives/css3_multi-column_thriller.html</ref> and Safari <ref>http://www.css3.info/preview/multi-column-layout.html |title=Multi-column layout in Safari 3 and Firefox |accessdate=2007-07-25</ref> though the feature is included in CSS3, so it should work for a larger number of browsers in the future.<ref>url=http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-multicol/|title=CSS3 module: Multi-column layout|publisher=W3C]]|date=2005-12-15|accessdate=2006-11-24</ref>
+When you want to note that a reference is needed, use the '''{{[[Template:fact|fact]]}}''' template instead.
-===Three options for usage===
+===Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote===
-====Option 1 (only specific references) — Example: The Rule====
-<pre>
-==Content==
-Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
-Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
+To cite the same reference or footnote several times, identify it using the '''name''' [[parameter]] of the '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tag.
-== References ==
+At ''one'' of the citation points (it makes sense to choose the first), enter the reference like this:
-{{reflist}}
-</pre>
-==== Option 2 (only general references) — Example: National Publications ====
+:'''<nowiki><ref name="Perry">Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref></nowiki>'''
-<pre>
-==Content==
-Lorem ipsum.
-Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
+Then, at all the other citation points just enter:
-==References==
+:'''<nowiki><ref name="Perry"/></nowiki>'''
-{{refbegin}}
-* general reference 1
-* general reference 2
-{{refend}}
-</pre>
-====Option 3 (both specific and general references) — Example: Elephant====
+===Producing the reference or footnote list===
-<pre>
-==Content==
-Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
-Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
+At the point where you want the text of the footnotes or references to appear (usually at the end of the article in a "Notes" or "References" section), insert the tag:
-Lorem ipsum.
+:'''<nowiki><references/></nowiki>'''
-Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
+===What it looks like ===
-==References==
+The '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, and '''{{[[Template:fact|fact]]}}''' is expanded to "citation needed", like this:
-{{reflist}}
-{{refbegin}}
+{|class=wikitable
-* general reference 1
+|
-* general reference 2
+:The only reference to Excel For Dummies.<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref>
-{{refend}}
-</pre>
+:The first reference to Perry's Handbook.<ref name="Perry">Perry's  Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref>
+:The second reference to Perry's Handbook.<ref name="Perry"/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+:The third reference to Perry's Handbook and to another, related book.<ref name="Perry"/><ref>Nuclear Chemical Engineering (2nd Edition), McGraw-Hill Co., 1981.</ref>
+:The only reference to Linux in a Nutshell.<ref>Linux in a Nutshell, O'Reily Co., 2003.</ref>
+:A statement that requires a reference.{{fact}}
+|}
+Clicking on a numbered superscript takes you straight to the text of the corresponding footnote or reference.
+The '''<nowiki><references/></nowiki>''' tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:
+{|class=wikitable
+|
+<references/>
+|}
+For single citations, clicking on the caret (<font color=blue>'''^'''</font>) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.
+For multiple citations, the links back to the main text are distinguished by letter superscripts (<font color=blue>'''''a'''''</font>, <font color=blue>'''''b'''''</font>, <font color=blue>'''''c'''''</font> etc.). Clicking on a letter superscript takes you to the corresponding citation in the main text.
+=== Using templates to insert reference text ===
+A number of templates, such as '''<nowiki>{{cite book}}</nowiki>''' and '''<nowiki>{{cite web}}</nowiki>''', are available to format the text between the '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' and '''<nowiki></ref></nowiki>''' tags in a more structured way. These are described at [[Wikipedia:Citation templates]]. Their use is optional: they do aid with consistent formatting, but on the other hand they can make editing more cumbersome.
+== See also ==
+* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes Wikipedia:Footnotes] (Further details on this method, specific to wikipedia)
+* http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Footnotes (General MediaWiki footnotes documentation)
+* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php (technical details about cite.php technology)
-==See also==
-*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Citation_templates
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
   [[category:Mediawiki]]