Help:Footnotes

Cite.php method

<ref>Reference text</ref>
<ref name="id">Reference text</ref>
the quotes are only needed if id contains spaces.
<ref name="id"/>
repeated use of same reference may be done as before or in this format with no need to repeat the reference text.
<references/>
inserts the full text of all pending inline citations defined by <ref>, anywhere on the page.

Multiple insertion of the same reference

References may be cited more than once using <ref name="id"/>. 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., 1980.</ref>

What is produced at the points of insertion

The <ref> tags in the main text are converted to auto-numbered superscripts, like this:

The only reference to Excel For Dummies.^[1] The first reference to Perry's Handbook.^[2] The second reference to Perry's Handbook.^[2] The third reference to Perry's Handbook.^[2]

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

Producing the reference or footnote list

The <references/> tag is expanded to show the text of the footnotes or references against their corresponding numbers, like this:

↑ Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980. ↑ ^a ^b ^c Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.

For single citations, clicking on the caret (^) takes you to the point of citation in the main text.

For multiple citations, the links back to the main text can be distinguished in various ways, depending on MediaWiki:Cite references link many format and MediaWiki:Cite references link many format backlink labels: the default is to have double-numerical superscripts, e.g. 2.0, 2.1, .. for the second reference, while on Meta and the English Wikipedia we have letters instead of a second number (a instead of 0, b instead of 1, c instead of 2, etc.), and without repeating the reference number. Clicking on a link takes you to the corresponding citation in the main text.

You may also use a slightly different format if desired, like this:

== Example reference section ==
<div class="references-small"> <references /> </div>

To generate the following:

Example reference section

Notes on the Cite.php method

Clicking on the blue superscript 1.0 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 1.1 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 1.2 causes the screen display to scroll back up to the point where the the third reference to Perry's Handbook was inserted ... and so forth.

Clicking on any vertical arrow (↑) that has no associated superscripts cause the screen display to scroll back up to the point where that single-use references was inserted.

Notes at independent positions

While the <references/> tag shows all footnote texts at one place (if desired, it can be used multiple times, giving all texts each time), the systems below require a note tag with id for each note, but they allow the position of each footnote text to be chosen independently. For example, footnotes in a table or section can be put at the bottom of the table or section.

Ref and note template

System using Template:Ref and Template:Note:

"{{ref|abc}}" gives "^[1]" [2]

"{{note|def}}" gives "^ " [3]

"{{ref|def}}" gives "^[4]" [5]

"{{note|abc}}" gives "^ " [6]

Fn and fnb template

System using Template:Fn and Template:Fnb:

"{{fn|abc}}" gives "^abc" [7]

"{{fnb|def}}" gives "Note def: " [8]

"{{fn|def}}" gives "^def" [9]

"{{fnb|abc}}" gives "Note abc: " [10]

Links to other help pages

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Logging in and preferences: Logging in · Preferences
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Referencing: Links · URL · · Footnotes
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Fixing mistakes: Show preview · Reverting edits
Advanced functioning: Expansion · Template · Advanced templates · Parser function · Magic words · System message · Substitution · Arrays · Expr parser function syntax · Transclusion
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Other languages:

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[1] Excel For Dummies, First Edition, Hungry Minds, Inc., 1980.

[Perry-2] Perry's Handbook, Sixth Edition, McGraw-Hill Co., 1984.

[1]

[2]

[1]

[4]