Template:Ref
- The following documentation is located at Template:Ref/doc. [edit]
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This documentation is for the ref ref/note templates. The note templates place notes into an article, and the ref templates place labeled references to the notes, with the labels normally hyperlinks for navigating from a ref to a corresponding note and back from the note to the ref. The label pair of templates are similar to the pair without the label name, but with more features.
The links and backlinks are identified internally by combining the specified parameters. The templates accepts a number of unnamed parameters identified by their position. It also accepts a named parameter (named noid) which is deprecated since its introduction.
The first parameter of {{ref}} is a label that has to be used for the parameter of the corresponding {{note}}. The label is used to form the fragment identifier for the footnote link and back link. The second parameter of {{ref}} is the footnote reference marker, shown as a superscript. The easiest choice is to make these two the same, but this is not a requirement. If the second parameter is not supplied, the marker is a superscripted external link of the form [n].
Syntax
The following illustrates the general syntax of each template:
- {{ref|id|label|noid=noid}}
- {{note|id|label|text}}
- {{ref label|id|label|backlink|noid=noid}}
- {{note label|id|label|backlink|text}}
Description of each parameter is as follows:
id
Identifier for a note and its back link (mandatory). This is the only mandatory parameter for a Template:Tld and Template:Tld couple, which can be used to add simple footnotes.
Important note: Every pair of Template:Tld and Template:Tld, as well as every pair of Template:Tld and Template:Tld, should have unique identifiers. This applies even if multiple references pointing to the same footnote are desired. (Correct method of implementing this feature – using the label parameter – is illustrated further below.) Duplicate identifiers generate invalid code, to which web browsers react differently. Some browsers report errors, while others may randomly keep one id and discard others silently. In all cases, however, navigation between some footnote marks and their body texts does not work as desired. See Help:Markup validation.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Text that requires a footnote.{{ref|a}}
== Notes ==
:1.{{note|a}}Body of the footnote.
|
Text that requires a footnote.[2]
|
label
Label text displayed where these templates are inserted (mandatory for Template:Tld and Template:Tld). The following explains template specific behavior:
- In Template:Tld, Template:Tld and Template:Tld, the label appears in superscript; in Template:Tld, the label appear as standard-sized baseline bold text.
- In Template:Tld, Template:Tld and Template:Tld, the label is also hyperlinked and helps navigating back and forth between the inline footnote marker (in the prose) and its body text. Template:Tld, however, does not attach a hyperlink to the label but disregards this parameter when the backlink parameter (explained later) is present.
- In Template:Tld, the label is always enclosed in brackets.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Text alpha.{{ref|Alpha|α}} Text beta.{{ref label|Beta|β}}
==Notes==
:{{note|Alpha|α}} Information on alpha
:{{note label|Beta|β}} Information on beta
|
Text alpha.[α] Text beta.Template:Ref label
|
This parameter is optional in Template:Tld and Template:Tld, therefore:
- Template:Tld displays a unique number in square brackets if this parameter is omitted. (See example above.)
- Template:Tld appends this label to a back linked caret (^), so if omitted, only a caret is displayed. (See example above.)
There is no mandate to include this parameter in both ref and note portion at the same time. In fact, there may be the need to do the opposite. This example shows how to use Template:Tld and Template:Tld to link multiple footnote markers of the same appearance to the same footnote.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.{{ref|Lewinsky1|A}} ...
... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.{{Ref|Lewinsky2|A}} ...
... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.{{Ref|LewinskyFinal|A}}...
==Notes==
:A.{{Note|Lewinsky1}}{{Note|Lewinsky2}}{{Note|LewinskyFinal}}See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009.
|
... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.[A] ...
... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.[A] ... ... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.[A]... |
... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.{{ref label|Brown1|B}} ...
... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.{{Ref label|Brown2|B}} ...
... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.{{Ref label|BrownLast|B}}...
==Notes==
:B.{{Note label|Brown1|^}}{{Note label|Brown2|^}}{{Note label|BrownLast|^}}See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009.
|
... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.Template:Ref label ...
... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.Template:Ref label ... ... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.Template:Ref label..
|
backlink
As explained above, Template:Tld does not generate a back link from label parameter. A unique parameter of Template:Tld-Template:Tld, backlink is a complementary parameter that is part id and part label:
- "Complementary parameter" means a Template:Tld-Template:Tld may either forgo this parameter or must both have it.
- "Part id" means in a Template:Tld-Template:Tld pair, both ends must have the same backlink value. In addition, in any Template:Tld-Template:Tld pair, the combination of id and backlink must be unique.
- "Part label" means in Template:Tld, this parameter completely overrides label parameter.
A Template:Tld with a backlink cannot connect to a Template:Tld. Likewise, a Template:Tld with a backlink cannot connect to a Template:Tld.
Example:
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Some text.{{ref label|id5|5|1}}
Some other text.{{ref label|id5|5|2}}
-----
;Notes:
...
:5.{{note label|id5||1}}{{note label|id5||2}} Some important comment!
|
Some text.Template:Ref label Some other text.Template:Ref label
...
|
This parameter (backlink) also accepts the special value "none" (without quotation marks), which causes a caret to appear where Template:Tld is placed.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Body text.{{ref label|id4|Label 4|none}}
:{{note label|id4||none}}Footnote text
|
Body text.Template:Ref label
|
text
In all previous examples, the body text of a piece of footnote was inserted outside Template:Tld or Template:Tld template. However, it is possible to insert the body text inside the template, in place of text parameter. Everything put inside text parameter glows when the user clicks on the footnote mark. In the example below, try clicking on S and T and see the difference.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Some text.{{Ref|NoteS|S}}
Some other text.{{Ref|NoteT|T}}
==Notes==
:S.{{Note|NoteS}}Some footnote text
:T.{{Note|NoteT||Some other footnote text}}
|
Some text.[S]
Some other text.[T] |
Since the footnote body text starts without a delimiter after this string, there is a caveat: If the footnote body text start with a lowercase letter, the first word may be attached to the back link. (For more info, see Help:Wikilinks.)
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
:{{ref label|id ref2a|Label 2a|Back}}
:{{ref label|id ref2b|Label 2b|Back}}
:{{note label|id ref2a|Label 2a|Back|Capitalized footnote}}
:{{note label|id ref2b|Label 2b|Back|lower case footnote}}
|
noid=noid
Deprecated parameter – Suppresses back linking from note component to ref. In case of Template:Tld, an active hyperlink still appears, although it is broken.
This parameter was originally meant to alleviate the problem of connecting many ref tags with the same ID to one note tag with that ID. However, it only replaces one form of broken code with another. Consider using Template:Tld instead, which does not generate any back link unless configured to do so. There must always be one and only one note template for every ref template with the same id.
Additional examples
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Article text{{ref label|reference_name_A|a|1}} more text{{ref label|reference_name_G|g|}} more text{{ref label|reference_name_B|b|2}} more text{{ref label|reference_name_C|c|3}} more text{{ref label|reference name_D|d|4}} more text{{ref label|reference name_E|e|none}} more text{{ref label|reference name_F|f|}} more text.{{ref label|reference_name_H|h|8}}
*
*intervening text
*
*{{note label|reference_name_A|a|1}}Text of note for ref a.
*{{note label|reference_name_B|b|2}}Text of note for ref b.
*{{note label|reference_name_C|c|3|ABCDE}}Text of note for ref c.
*{{note label|reference_name_D|d|4|FGHIJ}}Text of note for ref d.
*{{note label|reference_name_E|e|none}}Text of note for ref e.
*{{note label|reference_name_F|f}}Text of note for ref f.
*{{note label|reference_name_G|g||{{note label|reference_name_H|h|8|Text of note for refs g and h (with extended highlighting).}}}}
|
Article textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more textTemplate:Ref label more text.Template:Ref label
|
Unique ID issue
As explained earlier, the id parameter for every Template:Tld-Template:Tld pair should be unique. The following example shows what happens when two refs use the same id. Try navigating from bulleted text to footnotes and back.
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Article text{{ref|reference_name_A|a}} more text{{ref|reference_name_B|b}} more text{{ref|reference_name_C|c}}.
*Bulleted text{{ref|reference_name_B|b}}
*Bulleted text{{ref|reference_name_C|c}}.
*
*intervening text
*
*{{note|reference_name_A|a}}Text for note a.
*{{note|reference_name_B|b}}Text for note b.
*{{note|reference_name_C|c|Text for note c (with extended highlighting).}}
|
Table footnotes
One common application for ref and note templates is in placing footnotes below tables, as in the following example taken from the Kent#Economy article:
| Year | Regional GVATemplate:Ref label | Agriculture | IndustryTemplate:Ref label | ServicesTemplate:Ref label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County of Kent (excluding Medway) | |||||||
| 1995 | 12,369 | 379 | 3.1% | 3,886 | 31.4% | 8,104 | 65.5% |
| 2000 | 15,259 | 259 | 1.7% | 4,601 | 30.2% | 10,399 | 68.1% |
| 2003 | 18,126 | 287 | 1.6% | 5,057 | 27.9% | 12,783 | 70.5% |
| Medway | |||||||
| 1995 | 1,823 | 21 | 3.1% | 560 | 31.4% | 1,243 | 68.2% |
| 2000 | 2,348 | 8 | 1.7% | 745 | 30.2% | 1,595 | 67.9% |
| 2003 | 2,671 | 10 | 1.6% | 802 | 27.9% | 1,859 | 69.6% |
Alternative referencing style
Using ref/note tags is not the only way to create footnotes. Cite.php is currently the preferred method of creating footnotes, especially when the number of footnotes increases and the size of the article (or the area in which footnotes are used) grows. Ref converter can convert ref/note tags to the newer Cite.php style.
The following examples compares two method and also shows how they can be combined:
| Code | Result |
|---|---|
Yammer yammer yammer.<ref name=smith2000>Smith wrote the definitive book on yammering.{{ref|Smith2000|Smith 2000}}</ref> Yammer yammer yammer.<ref name=smith2000/>
...
== References ==
<References/>
...
== Bibliography ==
*{{note|Smith2000}} Smith (2000). "A book about yammering".
|
Yammer yammer yammer.[1] Yammer yammer yammer.[1] ...
...
|
Also see examples and explanation in Wikipedia:Footnote3.
See also
- Wikipedia:Footnote3, an essay on this method of creating footnotes.
- Help:Footnotes
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
- Category:Citation templates, including those not part of the "Ref/Note Label" system.
{{A note}}{{Notice}}- Template:Template
- Template:Ref/examples
Template:Wikipedia referencing