View source for 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 [[Wikipedia:Footnotes|footnotes]] system uses the [[mw:Extension:Cite/Cite.php|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
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link|Cite reference link]] || format inline link || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link}}}}
# ref ID: [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link prefix|Cite reference link prefix]] + reference name + numeric starting with 0
# backlink ID
# count to display
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many|Cite references link many]] || format reference with multiple backlinks || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many}}}}
# backlink ID
# list of links
# text of note
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many and|Cite references link many and]] || || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many and}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many format|Cite references link many format]] || || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many format}}}}
# ref ID
# numeric value to use as a backlink
# custom value to use as a backlink as defined in [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many format backlink labels]]
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many format backlink labels|Cite references link many format backlink labels]] || backlink labels used in the reference list || ''currently from a to azz''
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many sep|Cite references link many sep]] || || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many sep}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link one|Cite references link one]] || format reference with single backlink || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link one}}}}
# backlink ID - used for creating the number order of the source list.
# ref ID - used to link back to the actual reference in the text
# text of note - text used above describing the source info
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references prefix|Cite references prefix]] || prefix for {{tag|references|single}} || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references prefix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references suffix|Cite references suffix]] || suffix for {{tag|references|single}} || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references suffix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link key with num|Cite reference link key with num]] || || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link key with num}}}}
# key
# num
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link prefix|Cite reference link prefix]] || inline link prefix  || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link prefix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link suffix|Cite reference link suffix]] || inline link suffix || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link suffix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link prefix|Cite references link prefix]] || reference list link prefix || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link prefix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link suffix|Cite references link suffix]] || reference list link suffix || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link suffix}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references no link|Cite references no link]] || || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references no link}}}}
|-
| [[MediaWiki:Cite references link many accessibility label|Cite references link many accessibility label]] || accessibility label for screen readers || {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many accessibility label}}}}
|}

==Classes and CSS==

Class .reference formats the inline link; defined in [[MediaWiki:Common.css|Common.css]]

<syntaxhighlight lang="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 <ref group="Note"> --> "[Note 1]"
*/
sup.reference a {
    white-space: nowrap;
}
</syntaxhighlight>


Class .references formats the reference list; defined in [[MediaWiki:Common.css|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 (layout engine)|Gecko]] (FireFox) and [[Webkit]] (Safari, Chrome) browsers; it is not supported by current versions of [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident]], but does work in the Internet Explore 9 platform preview.

<syntaxhighlight lang="css">
/* Highlight clicked reference in blue to help navigation */
div.references li:target,
sup.reference:target,
span.citation:target {
    background-color: #DEF;
}
</syntaxhighlight>


Although not specific to references, [[MediaWiki:Common.css|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 <code>line-height</code> when printing, so it is disabled for IE7 through [[MediaWiki:Common.js|Common.js]].

<syntaxhighlight lang="css">
/* Reduce line-height for <sup> and <sub> */
sup, sub {
    line-height: 1em;
}
</syntaxhighlight>

Cite errors are classed with:
<pre><strong class="error mw-ext-cite-error"></pre>

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:

<pre><sup id="$1" class="reference">[[#$2|<nowiki>[</nowiki>$3<nowiki>]</nowiki>]]</sup></pre>

Where:
* $1 ref ID: [[MediaWiki:Cite reference link prefix|Cite reference link prefix]] + reference name + numeric starting with 0
* $2 backlink ID
* $3 count to display

The English Wikipedia customizes this to:
 {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite reference link}}}}

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:
<pre>[[#$1|<sup>'''''$2'''''</sup>]]</pre>
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:
 {{code|{{MediaWiki:Cite references link many format}}}}

Changing <code>$2</code> to <code>$3</code> 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'''

<syntaxhighlight lang="html">Unnamed <ref>This is an unnamed reference</ref>

Named <ref name="named">This is a named reference</ref>

Named reference used again <ref name="named"/>
<references/></syntaxhighlight>

'''Which shows as'''

Unnamed <ref>This is an unnamed reference</ref>

Named <ref name="named">This is a named reference</ref>

Named reference used again <ref name="named"/>
<references/>

'''Which renders as'''

The MediaWiki messages are combined to form the HTML output

<syntaxhighlight lang="html"><p>Unnamed <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title=""><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p>Named <sup id="cite_ref-named_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-named-1" title=""><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p>Named reference used again <sup id="cite_ref-named_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-named-1" title=""><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<div class="references">
<ol>
<li id="cite_note-0"><b><a href="#cite_ref-0" title="">^</a></b> This is an unnamed reference</li>
<li id="cite_note-named-1">^ <a href="#cite_ref-named_1-0" title=""><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-named_1-1" title=""><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> This is a named reference</li>
</ol>
</div>
</syntaxhighlight>

If [[Wikipedia:citation templates|citation templates]] are used, they will inject other classes and ids into the HTML output.

{{Wikipedia referencing}}