:Help:Cite messages
{{Wikipedia how to|H:CITEMSG}}
{{notice|This is a very technical how-to mainly of interest to editors who work with the footnotes system and related templates}}
The Wikipedia footnotes system uses the Cite.php software extension to generate references. MediaWiki messages are then used to format the display of the inline links and the references.
Elements
- Inline link: the link shown by the content enclosed in {{tag|ref}}; shown in superscript and enclosed in brackets; coded in the MediaWiki message as $2
- Backlink: the link shown in the references section; a single link is shown as a caret; coded as $2
- Backlink label: multiple backlinks are shown as a caret followed alpha character labels
- ID: a unique HTML ID that does not show; coded as $1
- Reference content: the content enclosed in {{tag|ref}} that shows in the reference list; coded as $3
Messages
| class="wikitable" | ||
| MediaWiki interface page | Use | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Cite reference link | format inline link | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link}}|wikitext}}
|
| Cite references link many | format reference with multiple backlinks | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many}}|wikitext}}
|
| Cite references link many and | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many and}}|wikitext}} | |
| Cite references link many format | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many format}}|wikitext}}
| |
| Cite references link many format backlink labels | backlink labels used in the reference list | currently from a to azz |
| Cite references link many sep | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many sep}}|wikitext}} | |
| Cite references link one | format reference with single backlink | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link one}}|wikitext}}
|
| Cite references prefix | prefix for {{tag|references|single}} | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references prefix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite references suffix | suffix for {{tag|references|single}} | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references suffix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite reference link key with num | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link key with num}}|wikitext}}
| |
| Cite reference link prefix | inline link prefix | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link prefix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite reference link suffix | inline link suffix | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link suffix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite references link prefix | reference list link prefix | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link prefix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite references link suffix | reference list link suffix | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link suffix}}|wikitext}} |
| Cite references no link | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references no link}}|wikitext}} | |
| Cite references link many accessibility label | accessibility label for screen readers | {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many accessibility label}}|wikitext}} |
Classes and CSS
Class .reference formats the inline link; defined in Common.css
/* Ensure refs in table headers and the like aren't bold or italic */
sup.reference {
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
}
/* Prevent line breaks in silly places:
3) Ref tags with group names --> "[Note 1]"
- /
sup.reference a {
white-space: nowrap;
}
Class .references formats the reference list; defined in Common.css When the inline cite link is clicked, the focus jumps to the proper cite in the reference list. The following rules highlight the cite in light blue. This is supported by Gecko (FireFox) and Webkit (Safari, Chrome) browsers; it is not supported by current versions of Trident, but does work in the Internet Explore 9 platform preview.
/* Highlight clicked reference in blue to help navigation */
div.references li:target,
sup.reference:target,
span.citation:target {
background-color: #DEF;
}
Although not specific to references, Common.css does have this line height rule to keep line spacing from breaking on subscript and superscript, as used in the inline link. Internet Explorer 7 has problems with line-height when printing, so it is disabled for IE7 through Common.js.
/* Reduce line-height for and */
sup, sub {
line-height: 1em;
}
Cite errors are classed with:
The extension uses some [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/diffusion/ECIT/browse/master/modules;530ef0ab9ccda7a5adef8547b2f5c644e156e636 modules] for CSS:
- ext.cite.css: CSS
- ext.cite.js: add accessibility attributes to the citation links
- ext.rtlcite.css: isolation to fix references in case of RTL words at the end of a reference
Reference links
The inline reference links are defined in MediaWiki:Cite reference link. The default is:
Where:
- $1 ref ID: Cite reference link prefix + reference name + numeric starting with 0
- $2 backlink ID
- $3 count to display
The English Wikipedia customizes this to:
{{sxhl|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link}}|wikitext}}
Where the brackets that show enclosing the reference count are enclosed in {{tag|span|o}} tags so they can be styled.
Backlink labels
The backlink label type is defined in MediaWiki:Cite references link many format. This interface page defaults to:
Where:
- $1 ref ID
- $2 numeric value to use as a backlink: {{dummy backlink|1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4}}
- $3 custom value to use as a backlink as defined in MediaWiki:Cite references link many format backlink labels: {{dummy backlink|a azz}}
The English Wikipedia interface page is set to:
{{sxhl|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many format}}|wikitext}}
Changing $2 to $3 changes the backlinks from numeric to alpha. This was modified in 2006 to match the output of {{tl|ref}} which was the predominant method of inserting footnotes at the time.
Markup
This is the markup for some simple references
Named This is a named reference
Which shows as
Unnamed This is an unnamed reference
Named This is a named reference
Which renders as
The MediaWiki messages are combined to form the HTML output
Unnamed [1]
Named [2]
Named reference used again [2]
If citation templates are used, they will inject other classes and ids into the HTML output.
{{Wikipedia referencing}}