Help:Cite link labels
 | This page is a how-to guide detailing a practice or process on the English Wikipedia. |
 | This help page is mainly of technical interest to those who are creating new label styles. For the use of defined styles, refer to WP:CITELABEL. |
When automated footnotes are used on Wikipedia pages, the default form of the footnote labels is [1], [2], [3], etc. When grouped footnotes are used, the labels are [name 1], [name 2], etc., where name is the name given to the group. However, by using certain reserved group names, it is possible to make the labels appear in a different form, such as [i], [ii], etc. or [a], [b], etc.
Currently existing reserved group names are as follows:
- lower-alpha (for a, b, c, etc.)
- upper-alpha (for A, B, C, etc.)
- lower-greek (for lower-case Greek letters; not supported by Internet Explorer versions below 8)
- lower-roman (for i, ii, iii, etc.)
- upper-roman (for I, II, III, etc.)
- decimal (creates a group which uses the default decimal numbers)
For example, a footnote which is to appear in the i, ii, iii... group can be written as:
<ref group=lower-roman>...(footnote text)...</ref>
To generate the list of the footnotes in that group, use for example
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
Further examples, technical information and instructions for creating new reserved groups can be found below.
Technical
[edit]Version r66749 of the Cite.php extension implements the ability to create styles for the cite link labels. Although the ability to create in-text cite label styles is unlimited, the matching reference list label styles are currently limited to those supported by the CSS list-style-type property.
Numeric labels
[edit]The default in-text cite links and reference list backlinks use numeric labels automatically generated by the software. The labels are linked to provide a connection between the in-text cite and the reference list cite.
In this example, the super-scripted, in-text cites use a numeric label that matches the citation in the reference list:
The Sun is pretty big,<ref>Miller, E: ''The Sun'', page 23. Academic Press, 2005.</ref> but the Moon is not so big.<ref>Brown, R: "Size of the Moon", ''Scientific American'', 51(78):46</ref> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref>Miller, E: ''The Sun'', page 34. Academic Press, 2005.</ref> ==References== <references />
The Sun is pretty big,[1] but the Moon is not so big.[2] The Sun is also quite hot.[3]
- References
Cite link sequence styles
[edit]Special group names have been defined which give alternative sequences, such as alphabetical and roman numerals, instead of Arabic numerals.
List of custom link label sequences
[edit]| Group name | Style | Interface page |
|---|---|---|
| default decimal labels | MediaWiki:cite link label group- | |
| decimal | Decimal numbers | MediaWiki:cite link label group-decimal |
| lower-alpha | Alpha, lower case | MediaWiki:cite link label group-lower-alpha |
| upper-alpha | Alpha, upper case | MediaWiki:cite link label group-upper-alpha |
| lower-greek | Greek, lower case | MediaWiki:cite link label group-lower-greek |
| lower-roman | Roman, lower case | MediaWiki:cite link label group-lower-roman |
| upper-roman | Roman, upper case | MediaWiki:cite link label group-upper-roman |
The list below is created automatically by Special:PrefixIndex:
Creating cite label sequence styles
[edit]Only admins can perform these actions. Non-admins may request additions on the talk page.
Currently, only styles supported by the CSS list-style-type element may be added.[1] Not all styles are supported by all browsers— see the list below.[2]
- Decide on a name for the cite label style group name. It should match the associated CSS
list-style-typevalue. Quotes may not be used in values in {{Reflist}} therefore the name must comply with the rules for HTML ids.[3] - Discuss the new style on the talk page and gain consensus.
- Create the style list at MediaWiki:cite_link_label_group-groupname. Ensure each label is separated with a space. For example, create MediaWiki:cite link label group-lower-greek and populate it with the Greek alphabet. Then use "lower-greek" as the groupname.
- Redirect the talk page to the central discussion page by creating the talk page with
#REDIRECT [[Help talk:Cite errors]]. - Edit {{Reflist}} and add the
list-style-typethat styles the reference list. - Add the style to the list above.
- If there are browser limitations, document them in the notice at the top of the page.
Browser support
[edit]The in-text link labels will be retrieved from the MediaWiki label page, thus they should show regardless of browser. The reference list labels are styled by the CSS list-style-type property. Not all browsers support all list-style-type values. A browser that does not support the value will revert to the default decimal label in the reference list. See the table above for values and browser support.
Error messages
[edit]An error message indicates when there are more cites than there are link labels:
This message is invoked through MediaWiki:cite error no link label group; the help page is at Help:Cite errors/Cite error no link label group.
Bugs
[edit]- bug 22265
- The error message at MediaWiki:Cite error no link label group gets classed as a reference, so you can't use a wikilink in the message to link to a help page
- The reference list is an ordered list and uses numbers that don't match the in-text cite labels
Classes and templates
[edit]The {{Reflist}} uses the |group= parameter to select the list-style-type style, and apply it to the .reflist class:
list-style-type: <!--
-->{{#switch: {{{group|}}}
| lower-alpha
| lower-greek
| lower-roman = {{{group}}}
| #default = decimal}};
- (Note that the decimal style is handled by the default
list-style-type.)
CSS rules in MediaWiki:Common.css then allow the .references class to inherit the list-style-type:
div.reflist ol.references {
list-style-type: inherit; /* Enable custom list style types */
}
References
[edit]- ^ "CSS list-style-type Property". w3schools.com.
- ^ "List styles". QuirksMode.org.
- ^ "HTML id Attribute". w3schools.com.
- ^ "Cascading Style Sheets Level 2 Revision 1 (CSS 2.1) Specification". W3C. December 7, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); no-break space character in|date=at position 9 (help) - ^ "Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 CSS2 Specification". W3C. April 11, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); no-break space character in|date=at position 6 (help) - ^ "CSS3 module: Lists". W3C. November 7, 2002.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); no-break space character in|date=at position 9 (help)