Template:Ref

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This documentation is for the {{ref}}, {{note}}, {{ref label}} and {{note label}} 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 {{ref}} and {{note}} couple, which can be used to add simple footnotes.

Important note: Every pair of {{ref}} and {{note}}, as well as every pair of {{ref label}} and {{note label}}, 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.

Example of id

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> Text that requires a footnote.[2] Notes 1.^ Body of the footnote. </syntaxhighlight>	Text that requires a footnote.[3] Notes 1.^ Body of the footnote.

label

Label text displayed where these templates are inserted (mandatory for {{ref label}} and {{note label}}). The following explains template specific behavior:

• In {{ref}}, {{ref label}} and {{note label}}, the label appears in superscript; in {{note}}, the label appears as standard-sized baseline bold text.
• In {{ref}}, {{ref label}} and {{note}}, the label is also hyperlinked and helps navigating back and forth between the inline footnote marker (in the prose) and its body text. {{note label}}, however, does not attach a hyperlink to the label but disregards this parameter when the backlink parameter (explained later) is present.
• In {{ref label}}, the label is always enclosed in brackets.

Example of label

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> Text alpha.α Text beta.[β] Notes ^α Information on alpha β Information on beta </syntaxhighlight>	Text alpha.α Text beta.[β] Notes ^α Information on alpha β Information on beta

This parameter is optional in {{ref}} and {{note}}, therefore:

• {{ref}} displays a unique number in square brackets if this parameter is omitted. (See example above.)
• {{note}} 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 {{ref}} and {{note}} to link multiple footnote markers of the same appearance to the same footnote.

Example of label: Many to one connection

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> ... 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... Notes A.^ ^ ^ See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009. </syntaxhighlight>	... 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... Notes A.^ ^ ^ See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009.
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> ... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.[B] ... ... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.[B] ... ... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.[B]... Notes B.^ ^ ^ See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009. </syntaxhighlight>	... The reunification project started in 1959 and concluded in 1961. The outcome of the project was instrumental in the company's success.[B] ... ... The consolidation efforts in 1992 had a huge impact on the company's success.[B] ... ... The final development stage set the cornerstone for company's future activities.[B].. Notes B.^ ^ ^ See Brown, Lewinsky and Hart, 2009.

backlink

As explained above, {{note label}} does not generate a back link from label parameter. A unique parameter of {{ref label}} – {{note label}}, backlink is a complementary parameter that is part id and part label:

• "Complementary parameter" means a {{ref label}} – {{note label}} pair may either forgo this parameter or must both have it.
• "Part id" means in a {{ref label}} – {{note label}} pair, both ends must have the same backlink value. In addition, in any {{ref label}} – {{note label}} pair, the combination of id and backlink must be unique.
• "Part label" means in {{note label}}, this parameter completely overrides label parameter.

A {{ref label}} with a backlink cannot connect to a {{note}}. Likewise, a {{note label}} with a backlink cannot connect to a {{ref}}.

Example:

Example of backlink

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> Some text.[5] Some other text.[5] ... 5.1 2 Some important comment! </syntaxhighlight>	Some text.[5] Some other text.[5] ... 5.1 2 Some important comment!

This parameter (backlink) also accepts the special value "none" (without quotation marks), which causes a caret to appear where {{note label}} is placed.

Example of backlink set to "none"

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> Body text.[Label 4] ^ Footnote text </syntaxhighlight>	Body text.[Label 4] ^ Footnote text

text

In all previous examples, the body text of a piece of footnote was inserted outside {{note}} or {{note label}} 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.

Example of text

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> Some text.S Some other text.T Notes S.^ Some footnote text T.^ Some other footnote text </syntaxhighlight>	Some text.S Some other text.T notes S.^ Some footnote text T.^ Some other footnote text

Since the footnote body text starts without a delimiter after this string, there is a caveat: If the footnote body text starts with a lowercase letter, the first word may be attached to the back link. (For more info, see Help:Wikilinks.)

Example of backlink bug

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> [Label 2a] [Label 2b] BackCapitalized footnote Backlower case footnote </syntaxhighlight>	[Label 2a] [Label 2b] BackCapitalized footnote Backlower case footnote

noid=noid

Deprecated parameter – Suppresses back linking from note component to ref. In case of {{note}}, 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 {{note label}} 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

Additional examples

Code

Result

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> Article text[a] more text[g] more text[b] more text[c] more text[d] more text[e] more text[f] more text.[h] intervening text 1 Text of note for ref a. 2 Text of note for ref b. 3ABCDE Text of note for ref c. 4FGHIJ Text of note for ref d. ^ Text of note for ref e. f Text of note for ref f. g8Text of note for refs g and h (with extended highlighting). </syntaxhighlight >

Article text[a] more text[g] more text[b] more text[c] more text[d] more text[e] more text[f] more text.[h] intervening text 1 Text of note for ref a. 2 Text of note for ref b. 3ABCDE Text of note for ref c. 4FGHIJ Text of note for ref d. ^ Text of note for ref e. f Text of note for ref f. g8Text of note for refs g and h (with extended highlighting).

Unique ID issue

As explained earlier, the id parameter for every {{ref}} – {{note}} 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
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;"> Article texta more textb more textc. Bulleted textb Bulleted textc. intervening text ^a Text for note a. ^b Text for note b. ^c Text for note c (with extended highlighting). </syntaxhighlight>	Article texta more textb more text.c Bulleted textb Bulleted textc. intervening text ^a Text for note a. ^b Text for note b. ^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 [section]:

Year	Regional GVA[A]	Agriculture		Industry[B]		Services[C]
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%

1. ^↑Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. ^↑Includes energy and construction
3. ^↑Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Alternative referencing style

The Reference Tooltips gadget does not work with these templates. Using ref/note tags is not the only way to create footnotes. Cite.php (with which Reference Tooltips does work) 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:

Additional examples

Code	Result
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;">Yammer yammer yammer. Yammer yammer yammer. ... References ... Bibliography ^ Smith (2000). "A book about yammering". </syntaxhighlight>	Yammer yammer yammer. Yammer yammer yammer. ... References ... Bibliography ^ Smith (2000). "A book about yammering".

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
• {{Rp}}
• Template:Ref/examples

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Ref/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (edit | diff) and testcases (edit) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.