Help:Referencing for beginners without using templates: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 18:32, 24 December 2023

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{{Wikipedia how to|WP:REFBPLAIN}}

{{Nutshell|A referencing method that's easy and fast, requiring the bare minimum of peculiar Wiki syntax.}}

{{see also|WikipediaHelp:Introduction to referencing|Help:Referencing for beginners with citation templates}}

Here's a popular reference method which doesn't use [[Wikipedia:templates|templates]] so it speeds loading time.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|Copy and paste]] the following immediately after what you want to reference:

{{pre2|<nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"><ref>author, [http://example.com/article_link "article_name"], ''publisher'', publication_date. Retrieved retrieved_date.</ref></nowikisyntaxhighlight>}}

Put information between the reference markers. [[Cut, copy, and paste#Copy and paste|Copy and paste]] the author's name. Paste the publication name ''inside'' the apostrophes so it's ''italicized''. Paste the publication date. Inside the brackets {{code|[]}} paste the url first with the article title to the ''right'', and put both url and title ''inside'' the brackets. Remember to leave a blank space between url and title. For example, in editing mode if you type this

{{pre2|<nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">This is the fact we're trying to reference about inflation being unlikely in 2010.<ref> Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''>, October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</ref></nowiki><ref> Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</refsyntaxhighlight>}}

You get this:

You get this. It appears in the "references" section automatically:

{{quotation|This is the fact we're trying to reference about inflation being unlikely in 2010.<ref> Patricia Sabatini, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09289/1005873-28.stm "Inflation unlikely to be a threat as economy emerges from recession"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-21.</ref>}}

YouThe get this. Itreference appears in the "references" section automatically:

{{quotation|{{Reflist}}}}

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If you get a warning about a missing "References" section at the end of the page, just add it:

{{pre2|<nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">== References ==

{{Reflist}}</nowikisyntaxhighlight>}}

Experiment on sandbox pages or your user talk page.