Help:Footnotes

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 Apart from Harvard references, this method is obsolete.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.

Multiple insertion of the same reference

On the Edit page, this is placed at the first insertion point of citation:

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

This is placed at the second insertion point of citation:

<ref name="Perry"/>

This is placed at the third insertion point of citation:

<ref name="Perry"/> ... and so forth for further insertion points

Single insertion of a reference

For the single insertion of a reference, the "name" parameter is not needed. On the Edit page, this is placed at the insertion point of citation:

<ref>Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 3.</ref>

What is produced at the points of insertion

These are what is produced and note that the reference numbers in blue are automatically generated. Clicking on any one of the reference numbers causes the screen display to scroll down to that reference number in the Reference List section:

First text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

Second text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

Third text word referenced to Perry's Handbook

The only text word referenced to the Excel book.

Producing the reference or footnote list

On the Edit page, this is placed in the References or the Footnotes section:

<references/>

This is what it produces and note that the list numbers are automatically generated:

Notes

• Clicking on the blue superscript a causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the first reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted. Clicking on the blue superscript b causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the second reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted. Clicking on the blue superscript c causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the third reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted ... and so forth.

• Clicking on any caret (^) that has no associated superscripts causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where that single-use reference was inserted.

See also

• Wikipedia:Footnotes (Further details on this method, specific to wikipedia)
• m:help:footnotes (General MediaWiki footnotes documentation)
• m:Cite.php (technical details about cite.php technology)nl:help:voetnoot