Difference between revisions of "Help:Footnotes"

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(I think this deserves a brief mention here)
(→‎What it looks like: fairly cosmetic presentation changes)
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The '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, like this:
 
The '''<nowiki><ref></nowiki>''' tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, like this:
  
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:The only<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref> reference to the Excel book.
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{|class=wikitable
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|
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:The only reference to the Excel book.<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.</ref>
  
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:The first<ref name="Perry">Perry's  Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref> reference to Perry's Handbook.
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:The first reference to Perry's Handbook.<ref name="Perry">Perry's  Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.</ref>  
  
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:The second<ref name="Perry"/> reference to Perry's Handbook.
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:The second reference to Perry's Handbook.<ref name="Perry"/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
  
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:The third<ref name="Perry"/> reference to Perry's Handbook.
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:The third reference to Perry's Handbook.<ref name="Perry"/>
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|}
  
 
Clicking on the numbered superscript takes you straight to the text of the footnote or reference.
 
Clicking on the numbered superscript takes you straight to the text of the footnote or reference.
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The '''<nowiki><references/></nowiki>''' tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:
 
The '''<nowiki><references/></nowiki>''' tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:
  
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{|class=wikitable
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|
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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|}
  
 
For single citations, clicking on the caret (<font color=blue>'''^'''</font>) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.
 
For single citations, clicking on the caret (<font color=blue>'''^'''</font>) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.

Revision as of 16:31, 25 April 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.

An older method, using {{ref}} and {{note}} templates, is explained at Wikipedia:Footnote3. Apart from Harvard references, this method is obsolete. See Wikipedia:Embedded citations for a third approach.

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., 3.</ref>

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>

At the second citation point enter:

<ref name="Perry"/>

At the third citation point again enter:

<ref name="Perry"/>

... and so on for further citations.

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, like this:

The only reference to the Excel book.[1]
The first reference to Perry's Handbook.[2]
The second reference to Perry's Handbook.[2]   
The third reference to Perry's Handbook.[2]

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

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

  1. ↑ Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.

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.

See also

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