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This is a documentation subpage for Template:Reflist. It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This page gives technical details for the {{reflist}} template. For a full overview of this template in use, see Help:Footnotes. Columns are not supported by some older browsers, most notably Internet Explorer 9 and below and Opera 11.0 and below. See below for more information.

See this information on copying this template and modifying it for use on another wiki.

This citation template provides formatting and organizational features for footnotes. It encapsulates the <references /> tag used by the Cite.php MediaWiki extension to show the list of references as defined by <ref> tags. It adds support for a reduced font size, columns, groups and List-defined references.

Parameters

There are no required parameters; if none are supplied, a single-column list will be generated. Optional parameters are:

• Unnamed parameter, must be the first one if used:

  column-width: the minimum width for each column, typically in ems. Syntax (for example) |30em with no space (i.e. not |30 em). Suggested values are discussed below.

• refs: used with List-defined references.
• group: identifies by name the subset of references to be rendered; the value should correspond to that used inline, e.g., {{Reflist|group=groupname}} renders all references with groupname as the group name (<ref group=groupname>). There are five pre-defined group names that style the list differently. See § Grouped references below.
• liststyle: specifies the style used when the reference list is rendered. The default is a numbered list. When set, it will override the style set by the |group= parameter, without affecting group functionality. See § List styles below.

Usage

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* reference 1
* reference 2
{{Refend}}

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}
* reference 1
* reference 2
{{Refend}}

Columns

Browser support: Internet Explorer 10+, Firefox 2+, Chrome 4+, Safari 3.1+, Opera 11.1+

{{Reflist|30em}} (for example) instructs the browser to create as many columns as possible (of width at least 30 em, in this example) given the width of the display window. Choose a width appropriate to the typical width of the references. (Units supported are em, ex, in, cm, mm, pt, pc, px, but em is almost always used.) There must not be a space between the number and the unit.

The syntax {{Reflist|2}} (for example), which specifies two columns of equal width regardless of the available display width, is deprecated (and is disabled for mobile view).

Widows and orphans

The use of columns can result in widows and orphans, where a citation at the bottom of a column may be split to the top of the next column. MediaWiki:Common.css includes CSS rules to prevent list items from breaking between columns. Widows may still show in extreme circumstances, such as a reference list formatted in columns where only a single reference is defined.

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

==References==
{{Reflist|10em}}

Practices

The number of columns to use is up to the editor, but some major practices include:

• 1 column (default): Where there are only a few Footnotes; see Silver State Arena (23:05, 28 December 2012)
• 30em: Where there are many footnotes plus a page-width Bibliography subsection: see Ebola virus disease (06:28, 23 June 2013)
• 20em: Where Shortened footnotes are used; see NBR 224 and 420 Classes (13:32, 1 August 2011).

Examples

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|20em}}

List-defined references

A list of references may be defined within {{Reflist}} using the |refs= parameter, just like including named <ref name="...">...</ref> elements inside the <references>...</references> container.

Example

This is reference 1.<ref name="refname1" />
This is reference 2.<ref name="refname2" />

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="refname1">content1</ref>
<ref name="refname2">content2</ref>
}}

Grouped references

References can be grouped into separate sections (for explanatory notes, table references, and the like) via group=:

<ref group=groupname>

where groupname is (for example) notes or sources. The group name need not be enclosed in quotes; this differs from the footnote marker where quotes are required if the group name includes a space.

Each group used in the article must have a matching reference list:

{{Reflist|group=groupname}}

Predefined groups

There are predefined group names that automatically set the labels in the footnote markers and the reference list to other styles. Thus, setting {{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}} will set the group to lower-alpha and will style the reference list with lower alpha characters. The matching footnote marker can be formed by <ref group=lower-alpha>...</ref>. This is made easier by a series of templates to set the group/label styles for the footnote marker and the reference list: {{#section:Help:Footnotes|pregrouptable}}

List styles

As noted in § Predefined groups, there are predefined groups that automatically add list styling. Using the listed templates is more convenient than using |liststyle=.

Reference lists are by default numbered lists. By using the |liststyle= parameter, you can control how the list is rendered. For example, using |liststyle=upper-roman will result in references being labeled with Roman numerals instead of decimal numbers. The parameter accepts any valid CSS value defined for list-style-type as shown below.

It is possible to use |liststyle= so that the labels for the footnote marker and the reference list marker differ. This should be used with care as it can be confusing to readers. For example:

<ref group=note>Reference</ref>

{{Reflist|group=note|liststyle=lower-alpha}}

Interaction with images

In the unusual case of an image being placed to the left of a reference list, layout problems may occur on some browsers. This can be prevented by using the columns feature.

Technical details

Font size

The font size should reduce to 90% for most browsers, but may appear to show at 100% for Internet Explorer and possibly other browsers.^[1] As of December 21, 2010, the standard <references /> tag has the same font styling. The smaller font may be disabled through Preferences → Gadgets → Disable smaller font sizes of elements such as Infoboxes, Navboxes and References lists.

Browser support for columns

Multiple columns are generated by using CSS3, which is still in development; thus only browsers that properly support the multi-column property will show multiple columns with {{Reflist}}.^[2][3]

These browsers support CSS3 columns:

• Gecko-based browsers such as Mozilla Firefox
• WebKit-based browsers such as Safari and Google Chrome
• Opera from version 11.10 onward
• Internet Explorer from version 10 onward

These browsers do not support CSS3 columns:

• Microsoft Trident-based browsers including Internet Explorer through to version 9^[4]
• Opera through to version 11

Supporting CSS

{{Reflist}} uses a CSS rule in MediaWiki:Common.css to set the font size:

• div.reflist { font-size: 90%; }

One of the following classes is assigned by the template when either column count or column width is set:

• .references-column-count and .references-column-count-n (where n is the number of columns)
• .references-column-width

The following CSS properties are utilized using the {{column-count}} and {{column-width}} templates:

• column-count CSS3 standard
• column-width CSS3 standard
• -moz-column-count Mozilla CSS extension
• -moz-column-width Mozilla CSS extension
• -webkit-column-count Webkit CSS extension
• -webkit-column-width Webkit CSS extension

Customizing the view

By editing your CSS, the personal appearance of the reference list can be customized. From Preferences, select the Appearance tab, then on the selected skin select Custom CSS. After editing and saving, follow the instructions at the top of the page to purge. See Wikipedia:Skin#Customisation (advanced users) for more help.

Font size

The font size for all reference lists defaults to 90% of the standard size. To change it, add:

<source lang="css"> ol.references, div.reflist, div.refbegin {

 font-size: 90%;

} </source>

Change 90% to the desired size.

Columns

To disable columns, add:

<source lang="css"> .references-column-count, .references-column-width {

 -moz-column-count: 1 !important;
 -moz-column-width: auto !important;
 -webkit-column-count: 1 !important;
 -webkit-column-width: auto !important;
 column-count: 1 !important;
 column-width: auto !important;

} </source>

Similarly, to force all reference lists to a certain number of columns, change the number to the desired amount.

Column dividers

To add dividers (rules) between columns, add:

<source lang="css"> .references-column-count, .references-column-width {

 -moz-column-rule: 1px solid #aaa;
 -webkit-column-rule: 1px solid #aaa;
 column-rule: 1px solid #aaa;

} </source>

You can alter the appearance of the dividers by changing the values.

Perennial suggestions

Collapsing and scrolling

There have been a number of requests to add functionality for a collapsible or scrolling reference list. These requests have not been fulfilled due to issues with readability, accessibility, and printing. The applicable guidelines are at MOS:SCROLL. Links between the inline cite and the reference list do not work when the reference list is enclosed in a collapsed box.

To display the reference list in a scrollbox or collapsed per user, see Help:Reference display customization.

For discussion on previous attempts to do this with a template, see the discussions for Scrollref and Refbox.

Including the section title

There have been suggestions to include section header markup such as ==References==. This is inadvisable because:

• There is no standard section name (see WP:Manual of Style/Layout § Notes and references).
• When transcluded, the article will have an edit link that will confusingly open the template for editing.

Obsolete parameters

These parameters are obsolete:

• colwidth: same as specifying a column-width for the first unnamed parameter, replace by width as unnamed first parameter.
• close: Until 2014 the parameter |close=1 was used to work around a bug involving multiple uses of {{Reflist}} on the same page, remove.

Template data

<templatedata> { "description": "This template displays the list of footnotes at the end of an article and provides additional formatting and organizing options. After hitting \"Apply changes\" and turning back to VE read mode, you will not see the references list. After hitting \"Save page\" and turning back to normal read mode the reference list will reappear with the changes applied, see T53146.", "params": { "1": { "label": "Columns / Column width", "type": "string", "required": false, "description": "Two modes supported. First mode (deprecated): integer number of fixed columns into which the reference list is to be rendered. Second mode: typographic unit of measurement such as 'em', specifying the width for the reference list columns, e.g. '33em'; spaced '33 em' will not be recognized", "default": "1", "aliases": [ "colwidth" ] }, "liststyle": { "label": "Liststyle", "type": "string", "required": false, "description": "Specifies the style used when the reference list is enumerated; accepts any valid CSS value defined for list-style-type", "default": "decimal" }, "group": { "label": "Group", "type": "string", "required": false, "description": "Group is an identifier which restricts the references that are shown. Without this parameter, this template only shows references with no group identifier. With a group identifier specified, only references with a matching group identifier are handled. The rest are left alone." }, "refs": { "label": "List of references", "type": "string", "required": false, "description": "Provides a space to define named references for use in the article. References defined in this space are not shown unless used somewhere in the article." } } } </templatedata>

See also

• T53260 - Cite: Support multi-column and alternative list-style for <references /> tag (like enwiki {{reflist}})
• Wikipedia:Citing sources – style guide for the citation of sources
• Wikipedia:Citation templates – templates for use with references
• {{Refbegin}} and {{Refend}} – format reference lists

Variants

• {{Template reference list}} – version of reflist for use in templates
• {{Reflist-talk}} – for use on talk pages

References