Help:Footnotes

This page explains how to create numbered footnotes and references using, , and   syntax, which is the current best-practice method in most circumstances.

For the policy about the need and choice of sources to cite see Verifiability, and Citing sources.

Single citation of a reference or footnote
At the point of citation in the main text, enter the reference or footnote like this:



You can include formatting and links in the footnote or reference text in the usual way.

Multiple citations of the same reference or footnote
To cite the same reference or footnote several times, identify it using the  parameter of the   tag.

At one of the citation points (it makes sense to choose the first), enter the reference like this:



Then, at all the other citation points just enter:



Using templates to insert reference text
A number of templates, such as a generic citation, or more specific cite book, cite web, etc., are available to format the text between  and   tags in a more structured way. These are described at Citation templates. Their use is optional: they do aid with consistent formatting, but on the other hand they can make editing more cumbersome.

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:



The temmplate reflist is an alternative, mostly if there are many footnotes.

References or footnotes missing
When you want to note that a reference is needed, use the template fact within the text, in the same place where the  should be.

If many footnotes and/or references are needed consider tagging the article with a specific template, instead of tagging every referenced needed.

What it looks like
The  tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, and fact is expanded to "citation needed", like this:

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

The ] implemented to have the   and   tags rendered. Extensions like  are installed after installing MediaWiki.