Tɛmplet:Sfn

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The shortened footnote template {{sfn}} creates a short author–date citation in a footnote, with a one-directional link to the first matching citation template on the same page. It will combine identical footnotes automatically.

Tɛmplet:Tl1 is designed to be used to create shortened footnotes, a citation style where there is an author-date citation in a footnote and a complete citation in a references section at the end of the article (see example below). This citation style is used to reduce clutter in the edit window and to combine identical citations.

Common problems and known workarounds are given in the section possible issues section below.

There are several other templates that are designed for use with shortened footnotes. They differ slightly in the way they format the author-date citation and how much of their functionality is automated. A full list of these related templates is below.

Note that the use (or even non-use) of these templates is an element of citation "style", and adding or removing them in articles with an established style should be consistent with that style. See WP:CITEVAR.

Usage

sfn generates an "author-date" style short-cite from the following parameters:

{{sfn | <last1*> | <last2> | <last3> | <last4> | <year*> | p= <page> | loc= <location> }}

with

• <last1> – required; surname of first author or corporate author
• <last2>–<last4> – positional parameters; surnames of next three authors
• <year> – required; four-digit year; may have a lowercase disambiguation letter
• |p= – specific page referenced in the source
• |pp= – comma-separated list of individual pages and / or range(s) of pages referenced in the source
• |loc= – in-source location when |p= and |pp= are inappropriate; may be used to supplement |p= and |pp=; information such as a section or figure number.

Typical usage is shown in the example below. The text and the footnote are connected by a bi-directional link -- clicking on the superscript takes the reader to the footnote, clicking on the footnote number takes them back to the superscript. The clicking on the short citation takes them to the full citation in the references section.

Template sfn is not placed inside <ref>...</ref> tags and generates the footnote internally. (To place sfn in a footnote, see putting a citation inside a footnote, below.)

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|p=25}} More article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|p=25}} Still more article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|p=26}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | first = John | date = 2020 | title = Smith's Book }}	Article text. More article text. Still more article text. Tɛmplet:Fake notes and references Smith, John (2020). Smith's Book.

Parameters

Author(s) and year

The author and the year of publication are the only required parameters. Up to four authors can be given as parameters.

The possible issues section below describes workarounds for various common problems, such as large number of authors, no author name, multiple works in the same year, multiple authors with same last name and others.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|p=25}}	Article text.
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|Jones|2020|p=25}}	Article text.
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|Jones|Brown|2020|p=25}}	Article text.
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|Jones|Brown|Black|2020|p=25}}	Article text.

Location in the source text

The optional parameters |p=, |pp= and |loc= can be used to indicate the location in the source, such as page numbers. For single pages, use |p=; for multiple pages (such as ranges), use |pp=. Use of |p= for multiple pages or |pp= for single pages can cause cite errors. |loc= can be used to specify a location in the source in another way, such as section numbers or chapters. The parameters |page= and |pages= exist as aliases for |p= and |pp=, respectively.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|p=25}}	Article text.
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2020|loc=chpt. 3}}	Article text.
{{sfn|Smith|2020|loc=section 7}}	Article text.

Additional text

The optional parameter |postscript= or |ps= can be used to change the text which appears at the end of the note in the reference list. (See § Adding additional comments or quotes and § No closing period, below.) The postscript is only effective the first time {{sfn}} is used for a particular author, year and location.

Hard-coded link names

Not available in {{sfn}} and similar templates.

The optional parameter |ref= is used to create an unusually named link from the short citation to the full citation. This parameter is usually not necessary, and it is more common to use {{sfnRef}} or {{harvid}} in the reference section. If you specify |ref=none, no hyperlink is created. However, if one does not want the link, it is always possible to simply use plain text instead of the template. The parameter |Ref= is an alias for |ref=.

Possible issues

Adding additional comments or quotes

The templates {{harvnb}} or {{harvtxt}} can be used to add quotes or additional comments into the footnote. This effect can also be achieved using {{sfn}} by adding a quote or comment to |loc=. Examples are below.

Markup	Renders as
Some information.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2011|p=2}}: "A quote verifying the information."</ref> == Notes == {{reflist}}	Some information. Notes
"A quote in a secondary source."<ref>{{harvtxt|Smith|2011|p=2}} quoted in {{harvtxt|Jones|2010|p=343}}</ref> == Notes == {{reflist}}	"A quote in a secondary source." Notes
Some information.{{sfn|Smith|2011|loc=p. 2: "A quote verifying the information"}} == Notes == {{reflist}}	Some information. Notes

Nota bene: In the past, the use of |ps= has been advised to hold this additional information, but it is not suitable for this purpose. Two or more {{sfn}} templates with the same authors, same year, and same page, but different |ps= will result in a message. This message happens because the reference names that {{sfn}} creates will be the same, but the content between the <ref name="FOOTNOTE..."> tag and the </ref> tag will be different. A workaround is to convert one or some of the {{sfn}} templates to {{harvnb}} wrapped in <ref>...</ref> tags.

Adding a URL for the page or location

If a specific link to the page or section is available, a URL can be added to the location or page number.

Markup	Renders as
{{harv|Smith|2011|loc=[http://en.wikipedia.org chpt. 3]}}	(Smith 2011, chpt. 3)
{{harv|Smith|2011|loc=[http://en.wikipedia.org §7]}}	(Smith 2011, §7)
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2011|p=[http://en.wikipedia.org 3]}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | date = 2011 | title = Smith's other book }}

A citation inside an explanatory footnote

Sometimes an explanatory footnote requires a citation. Templates like Tɛmplet:Tl1 can't be directly imbedded between <ref>...</ref> tags, because the following message will be produced: .

The templates Tɛmplet:Tl1 and Tɛmplet:Tl1 can be used to create separate explanatory footnotes from short citations, as shown in the first example. An article that uses this technique extensively is Chinese Room.

It is also possible to use the magic word {{#tag:ref|...}} and the {{sfn}} template will work correctly inside the footnote, as shown in the second example.

Markup	Renders as
Interesting fact.{{efn|Clarification of interesting fact.{{sfn|Smith|2018}}}} ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==Citations== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | date = 2018 | title = Smith's other book }}	Interesting fact. Notes Citations References Smith (2018). Smith's other book.
Interesting fact.{{#tag:ref|Clarification of interesting fact.{{sfn|Smith|2017}}}} ==Citations== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | date = 2017 | title = Smith's other book }}	Interesting fact. Notes References Smith (2017). Smith's other book.

Multiple lists of inline citations

Sometimes there is a need to create two or more separate lists of inline footnotes. For example some family trees are contained in templates, they are transluded into several biographies, and they have their own self contained citations (see Template:Houston family tree and the article Margaret Lea Houston).

To facilitate this, while the main page uses the standard 1,2,3 footnote counting, it is common for family trees to use the efn template with a group parameter set—for example {{efn-lg}} (lower-greek). The efn templates are text templates, to link some or all of the content of the efn template to a long citation template such as {{cite book}} place {{harvnb}} or {{harv}} within the efn template.

Markup	Renders as
...by the fact itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2018|p=1}}</ref> ==Family Tree== He's his own grandpa.{{efn-lg|{{harvnb|Latham|1947|p=9}} }} ===FT notes=== {{notelist-lg}} ===FT references=== *{{citation |last=Latham |first=Dwight |date=1947 |title=The Adams family}} ==See also== [[Ipso facto]]<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2018|p=2}}</ref> ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== * {{citation |last=Smith |date=2018 |title=Smith's other book}}	...by the fact itself. Family Tree He's his own grandpa.Tɛmplet:Efn-lg FT notes FT references Latham, Dwight (1947), The Adams family See also Ipso facto Notes References Smith (2018), Smith's other book

More than one work in a year

Where there is a need to cite more than one work by the same author published in the same year, the standard way to disambiguate such works is to add a letter suffix after the year element of the {{sfn}} template (e.g. {{sfn|Smith|2006a}} and {{sfn|Smith|2006b}}). Make sure to add the disambiguation letter to the matching full citation, (e.g. {{cite book|...|last=Smith|date=2006b}}).

Templates that use Module:Citation/CS1

When {{sfn}} is used with {{citation}} or Citation Style 1 templates, a year-suffix letter may be added to |date= for all accepted date formats except year-initial numeric (YYYY-MM-DD). It is not necessary to include both |date= and |year= (see exception below). If both are included, |year= is used for the CITEREF anchor to be compliant with legacy citations.

|date=2013a: simple year only dates

|date=Jan 2013b or |date=Winter 2013b: month or season and year dates

|date=9 November 2013b or |date=November 9, 2013b: full dates

|date=June–July 2013c or |date=Winter–Spring 2013c: month or season ranges and year dates

|date=c. 2013d: circa year dates

|date=2024–2025f or |date=Summer 2024–25f: year ranges

|date=n.d.e: no date (n.d.)

|date=2013x-11-09: not supported, the template must use |year=2013x. If month and day should be part of the citation as well, both parameters need to be given: |date=2013-11-09 |year=2013x. In this case, |date= is used for citation display and metadata purposes, and |year= for link disambiguation.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|1993a|p=25}} More text.{{sfn|Smith|1993b|p=32}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Karen |date=January 1993a |title=Smith's first paper |journal=Important Journal }} * {{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Karen |date=Spring–Summer 1993b |title=Smith's second paper |journal=Another Important Journal }}

More than one author with the same last name

The above solution to add a letter suffix after the year element also works for multiple authors with the same last name. For example, both Richard Bushman and Claudia Lauper Bushman published books in 2006. To differentiate between the two books, the first one can be given the year "2006a" and the second one "2006b".

Large number of authors

Only the first four authors are required by the template. Listing more is not supported. It is also possible to use the |ref={{harvid}} in the citation template, which allows a more concise citation in the article text.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.<ref>{{harv|Smith|Jones|Brown|Black|1994|p=25}}</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite journal | last = Smith | last2 = Jones | last3 = Brown | last4 = Black | last5 = Davis | last6 = Martinez | last7 = Hsu | date = 1994 | title = Scientific paper written by many scientists | journal = Important Journal }}
Article text.<ref>{{harv|Smith et al.|1995|p=25}}</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite journal | last = Smith | last2 = Jones | last3 = Brown | last4 = Black | last5 = Davis | last6 = Martinez | last7 = Hsu | date = 1995 | title = Another paper by many scientists | journal = Important Journal | ref = {{harvid|Smith et al.|1995}} }}

No author name in citation template

Some sources do not have a single author with a last name, such as a magazine article or a report from a government institution. There is no consensus (in Wikipedia or among citation styles) about how to format author–date citations for works that do not have a specific author. Several choices are:

1. For a newspaper or periodical, you may use the name of the paper and the date.
2. For a publication by an institution, use either:
   1. The initials of the institution
   2. The name of the institution
3. Alternatively, some style guides recommend using the title of the article.
4. Other style guides recommend using "Anonymous" or "Anon."

An article should adopt one of these styles consistently. Using |ref={{harvid}} in the citation template can handle these cases.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|BGI|1996|p=429}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | title = Important Book | date = 1996 | publisher = Big Government Institution | ref = {{harvid|BGI|1996}} }}
Article text.{{sfn |''Popular Magazine''|1996|p=29}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite magazine | magazine = Popular Magazine | title = An Article by an Anonymous Author | date = 1996 | ref = {{harvid|Popular Magazine|1996}} }}

Citation has |date= and no |year=

Either the |date= or |year= of a citation template can be matched—the template logic can extract the year from a full date. If the date parameter is not a full date, then the extraction will fail. If the link does not seem to work, it also possible to set both |date= and |year= parameters. The template will display the date and use the year for the anchor. These two examples show a year being successfully extracted from full date.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|1997|p=101}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite journal | last = Smith | first = Karen | date = 11 May 1997 | title = Smith's 1997 paper | journal= Important Journal }}
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=101}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite journal | last = Smith | first = Karen | date = May 1998 | title = Smith's 1998 paper | journal= Important Journal }}

Using sfn with {{cite comic}}

The {{cite comic}} template uses the parameter |ref= to create an anchor for the Harvard citation templates. This can be set with {{sfnRef}}, {{harvid}}, or using CITEREF directly with a concatenation of #CITEREF plus the parameters passed to the Harvard citation template.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Morrison|1987}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite comic |writer=Morrison, Grant |artist=Yeowell, Steve |title=2000 AD |date=August 15, 1987 |publisher=[[Fleetway]] |ref={{sfnref|Morrison|1987}} }}

Using sfn with {{vcite}}

The Citation Style Vancouver family of templates use parameter |harvid= to create an anchor for the Harvard citation templates. This must be set to a concatenation of the parameters passed to the Harvard citation template.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|1999|p=101}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{vcite book | author = Smith K | date = 1999 | title = Smith's 1999 Book | harvid = Smith1999 }}

Citation format does not support anchors: {{wikicite}}

In a few very rare cases, it may be impossible for the citation templates to create an anchor. Either (1) the citation is formatted with a template that does not support the |ref= parameter or (2) the source can't be described using our citation templates at all. In these cases, it is possible to use {{wikicite}} to make the anchor. (As of November 2010, there are only approximately 100 articles that require this technique.) It is also possible that (3) local editors would prefer not to use citation templates. In this case, it is important to discuss what the local editors would like to do about the bad links. It is always possible to simply remove {{harv}} or {{sfn}}, leaving plain text without links.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn |Big Government Agency|1999}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{wikicite | reference = {{cite report | title=Important Government Report | publisher=Big Government Agency | date=1999 }} | ref = {{harvid|Big Government Agency|1999}} }}
Article text.{{sfn |A particularly unusual citation}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{wikicite | reference = A source that can't be described using our citation templates at all. | ref = {{harvid|A particularly unusual citation}} }}

It is also possible to use <cite> to achieve the same effect, but this may not be compatible with HTML 5.

Citation has multiple authors and no date

The templates assume that the last unnamed parameter is the year. Where there are multiple authors and no year, the template will form a correct link but will display the last author as if it were a year. To force the displayed text to show all authors as names, the following workaround may be used:

Markup	Renders as
Article text.<ref>[[#{{harvid|Lane|Singh}}|Lane & Singh]]</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{citation | last = Lane | first = Kieran | last2 = Singh | first2 = Karun | title = Richard Watts | work = Richard Watts Charities | url = http://www.richardwatts.org.uk/richardwatts1.html | access-date = 21 June 2012 }}

No closing period: |ps=none

Using |ps=none in {{sfn}} removes the final period. Compare the two examples. Suppressing the default period (full stop) ensures consistency with Citation style 2, as produced by {{Citation}}, which does not use a trailing period (full stop) when rendering full citations. The postscript is only effective the first time {{sfn}} is used for a particular author, year, and location. |ps= will also suppress terminal punctuation. Follow-on editors who encounter 'empty' parameters can't know if a previous editor intended to leave that parameter blank. Using the keyword none is a positive indication of the previous editor's intent.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2011|ps=none}} == Notes == {{reflist}}	Article text. Notes
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2011}} == Notes == {{reflist}}	Article text. Notes

Wikilink to citation does not work

If an article is using this template, and nothing happens when you click on the highlighted wikilink from a Harvard style citation to a full citation at the bottom of the page, there are several possible solutions. If:

1. The correct citation does not appear at the bottom of the article. Solution: Find the source (it may be copied from an article on a similar subject), and check that it verifies the text. If the source can't be found, tag the citation with {{citation not found}}.
2. The correct citation appears at the bottom of the article, and
   1. The Harvard citation uses a template (such as {{sfn}} or {{harv}}):
      1. The citation uses a template from the list at Citation Style 1:
         1. The name is spelled or capitalized differently here than in the citation. Solution: check the source for the correct spelling, and use the same spelling, spacing, and capitalization in both the short and full citations.
         2. The year is different here than the citation. Solution: check the source for the correct year, and use the same year in both the short and full citations.
         3. The template has a |date= field and no |year= field, but the format of the |date= field is unusual. Solution: Try to fix the date. If the link still does not work, add |year= to the citation template. (It's okay if it has both.)
         4. The citation does not have an author's, or an editor's, last name (authors take precedence over editors). Solution: check that |ref={{harvid}} is set correctly (see below).
      2. The citation uses a Citation Style Vancouver template. Solution: check that |harvid= is set correctly (see below).
      3. The citation uses a template that does not support |ref= (See Wikipedia:Citation templates and reference anchors). Solution: Consider modifying the template to support |ref=. Alternatively, an anchor can be created using {{wikicite|id={{harvid|args}}|reference={{citation}}}}.
      4. The full citation does not use a template:
         1. It has no wikicode to create an anchor. Solution: If Tɛmplet:Cite * citation templates are used liberally throughout the article, then reformat the full citation with the appropriate Tɛmplet:Cite * template (and set the |ref= appropriately, if necessary). Otherwise consult with local editors on the talk page about how to proceed. Either add Tɛmplet:Cite * templates and {{harv}} templates, or remove all templates, depending on what local editors prefer. A few articles use {{wikicite}} to create an anchor as an alternative to standard templates.
         2. It uses a <cite>...</cite> span to create an anchor. Solution: remove the cite span (these are deprecated) and proceed following the recommendation immediately above.
         3. It uses {{wikicite}}. Solution: Check that the text in |id={{harvid}} matches the text in {{wikicite}}.
   2. If the Harvard citation uses a handwritten wikilink, such as [[#Reference-Smith2006|Smith (2006)]]:
      1. The citation uses a citation template which supports |ref= (See Wikipedia:Citation templates and reference anchors). Solution: Check that |ref= is set to a matching id.
      2. Otherwise, check that the reference has {{wikicite|ref=id|reference=citation}} with a matching id.

Templates that have broken wikilinks using these templates are added to the category Category:All articles with broken links to citations.

Link works but displays a no target error

When a short-cite template links to a full citation that is rendered by a template that wraps a CS1 template, like Tɛmplet:Txl (which wraps Tɛmplet:Txl), a Tɛmplet:Error-small error may be displayed even when the short-cite template is valid and the link works. That is a "false positive" error. The error message can be suppressed by adding |ignore-err=yes to the template.

Other author–date citation templates

There are several templates used to create short citations; they differ in the use and placement of parentheses, in the separator before the page or location, and in whether a terminal full stop (period) is present:

In-text templates

Templates	Aliases	Example
{{Harvard citation no brackets}}	{{harvnb}}	Smith 2006, p. 25
{{Harvard citation}}	{{harv}}	(Smith 2006, p. 25)
{{Harvard citation text}}	{{harvtxt}}	Tɛmplet:Harvtxt
{{Harvcoltxt}}		Tɛmplet:Harvcoltxt
{{Harvcol}}		Tɛmplet:Harvcol
{{Harvcolnb}}		Tɛmplet:Harvcolnb
{{Harvard citations}}	{{harvs}}	Tɛmplet:Harvs (and many other forms).
{{Harvp}}		Tɛmplet:Harvp
{{Harvc}}	{{Citec}}	(Cite several contributions/chapters in a larger work) Article text. More article text. Even more article text. References Sources Stefferud, Alfred, ed. (1957). Soil: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957. United States Department of Agriculture. OCLC 704186906. Tɛmplet:Harvc Tɛmplet:Harvc Tɛmplet:Harvc
{{Shortened footnote template}}	{{sfn}}	Article text.
{{Sfnp}}		Article text.
{{Sfnm}}		Article text.Tɛmplet:Sfnm
{{Sfnmp}}		Article text.

Full citations can be created manually or by templates:

• Citation Style 1 templates
• {{citation}}

All of these templates have the same parameters and basic functionality. This page describes all of them except the parameters of {{sfnm}} and {{harvs}}; please see their documentation pages. Editors editing one of these templates are requested to make parallel changes to the other versions.

Applications of these templates

Harvard citation: {{harv}}

Template {{harv}} creates a parenthetical reference with a link to the full citation in the references section at the bottom of the article.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.<ref>{{harv|Smith|2006|p=25}}</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | first = John | title = Smith's book | date = 2006 }}	Article text. Notes References Smith, John (2006). Smith's book.

Shortened footnote: {{sfn}} or {{harvnb}}

See also: Wikipedia:Citing sources § Short citations, and Help:Shortened footnotes

Template {{harvnb}} inside a <ref> span can be used to create a shortened footnote that is linked to the full citation at the bottom of the article. Template {{sfn}} (without the use of <ref>) has the same effect, automatically adds a period (full stop) after the page number, and combines identical footnotes automatically.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=25}} More article text.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=25}} Still more article text.{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=26}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | first = John | date = 2007 | title = Smith's Book }}	Article text. More article text. Still more article text. Tɛmplet:Fake notes and references Smith, John (2007). Smith's Book.
Article text.<ref name=Smith2008p25>{{harvnb|Smith|2008|p=25}}.</ref> More article text.<ref name=Smith2008p25/> Still more article text.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2008|p=26}}.</ref> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== * {{cite book | last = Smith | first = John | date = 2008 | title = Smith's Book }}	Article text. More article text. Still more article text. Smith, John (2008). Smith's Book.

In text attribution: {{harvtxt}}

See also: Wikipedia:Citing sources § In-text attribution

Template {{harvtxt}} can be used to link an in-text attribution to the full citation at the bottom of the page.

Markup	Renders as
According to {{harvtxt|Smith|2009|p=25}} ... ==References== * {{citation | last = Smith | first = John | date = 2009 | title = Smith's Book }}	According to Tɛmplet:Harvtxt ... References Smith, John (2009), Smith's Book

Bundled citation: {{harvnb}} or {{sfnm}}

See also: Wikipedia:Citing sources § Bundling citations

Template {{harvnb}} can be used to bundle citations. {{sfnm}} also produces bundled citations.

Markup	Renders as
Article text ({{harvnb|Smith|2010|p=25}}; {{harvnb|Jones|2010}}).	Article text (Smith 2010, p. 25; Jones 2010).
Article text.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|2010|p=25}}; {{harvnb|Jones|2010}}</ref>	Article text. Notes
Article text.{{sfnm|la1=Smith|y1=2010|p1=25|la2=Jones|y2=2010}}	Article text. Notes
==References== * {{cite book |last = Smith |first = John ... Smith's book}} * {{cite book |last = Jones |first = Mary ... Jones' book}}	References Smith, John (2010). Smith's book. Jones, Mary (2010). Jones' book.

Note that {{sfn}} is inappropriate for bundled citations; use {{harvnb}} or {{sfnm}}.

More exotic Harvard citations: {{harvid}} or {{harvs}}

Main pages: Template:Harvard citations and Template:harvid

More exotic Harvard citations can be constructed using the {{harvs}} template, such as multiple papers by the same author, using both the first and last names, links to articles about the author, and others. Any kind of unusual link can also be constructed using the idiom [[#{{harvid|parameters}}|link name]]. ({{citeref}} is a wrapper for {{harvid}} making it easier to consistently create such internal links in small superscript^[n] or plain-text label styles.)

Markup	Renders as
The theory was developed by {{harvs|txt|first=F. J.|last=Murray|author1-link=F. J. Murray|first2=J.|last2=von Neumann|author2-link=John von Neumann|year=1936|year2=1937|year3=1943}}.	The theory was developed by Tɛmplet:Harvs.
The theory was developed by [[F. J. Murray]] and [[John von Neumann|J. von Neumann]] ([[#{{harvid|Murray|von Neumann|1936}}|1936]],[[#{{harvid|Murray|von Neumann|1937}}|1937]],[[#{{harvid|Murray|von Neumann|1943}}|1943]]).	The theory was developed by F. J. Murray and J. von Neumann (1936, 1937, 1943).
== References == * {{citation | last1 = Murray | first1 = F. J. | date = 1936 | ...}} * {{citation | last1 = Murray | first1 = F. J. | date = 1937 | ...}} * {{citation | last1 = Murray | first1 = F. J. | date = 1943 | ...}}	Murray, F. J.; von Neumann, John (1936), Mathematics Paper Murray, F. J.; von Neumann, John (1937), Another Mathematics Paper Murray, F. J.; von Neumann, John (1943), Yet Another Mathematics Paper

Some articles use this idiom [[#CITEREFid | link name ]]. See notes on implementation details below.

Variations

Using colon format: {{harvcol}}, {{harvcolnb}}, {{harvcoltxt}}

Templates {{harvcol}}, {{harvcolnb}}, and {{harvcoltxt}} use a colon to indicate the page number(s) or location.

Markup	Renders as
{{harvcol|Smith|2011|p=25}}
{{harvcolnb|Smith|2011|p=25}}
{{harvcoltxt|Smith|2011|p=25}}
{{harvcol|Smith|2011|p=25–26}}
{{harvcol|Smith|2011|loc=chpt. 3}}

Parentheses around the year: {{sfnp}} and {{harvp}}

Template {{sfnp}} puts parentheses around the year. Compare the two examples.

Markup	Renders as
Article text.{{sfnp|Smith|2011}} == Notes == {{reflist}}	Article text. Notes
Article text.{{sfn|Smith|2011}} == Notes == {{reflist}}	Article text. Notes

Similarly, in order to mimic Citation Style 1 citations, template {{harvp}} puts parentheses around the year.

Markup	Renders as
{{harvp|Smith|2011|p=25}}

Implementation notes

These templates use two elements: a wikilink in the body of the article, and an anchor in the reference section of the article. Clicking on the wikilink repositions the page at the anchor.

Citation template anchor

See also: Wikipedia:Citation templates and reference anchors

The most common citation templates are Citation Style 1 or Citation Style 2. By default, Module:Citation/CS1 creates an anchor <a name="CITEREF"> followed by the concatenation of the following parameters:

• last or last1 or surname or surname1 or author-last or author-last1 or author1-last or author-surname or author-surname1 or author1-surname or author or author1 or authors,
• last2 or surname2 or author-last2 or author2-last or author-surname2 or author2-surname or author2,
• last3 or surname3 or author-last3 or author3-last or author-surname3 or author3-surname or author3,
• last4 or surname4 or author-last4 or author4-last or author-surname4 or author4-surname or author4,
• editor-last or editor-last1 or editor1-last or editor-surname or editor-surname1 or editor1-surname or editor1 or editor,
• editor-last2 or editor2-last or editor-surname2 or editor2-surname or editor2,
• editor-last3 or editor3-last or editor-surname3 or editor3-surname or editor3,
• editor-last4 or editor4-last or editor-surname4 or editor4-surname or editor4,
• date, year

This covers the most common templates. Information about all of the templates is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates and reference anchors.

Use of the date parameter in place of the year parameter in citation templates is preferred.

Harvard citation wikilink

The Harvard citation templates create a wikilink to the anchor. For example {{Harv|Smith|2006|p=25}} produces the link #CITEREFSmith2006 and {{Citation|last=Smith|first=John|date=27 January 2006|title=My Life}} produces the anchor CITEREFSmith2006.

Using CITEREF directly

A few articles create a custom ID using CITEREF, either in place of the Harvard citation template (e.g. [[#CITEREFSmith2006|(2006)]]) or as a value for |ref= in the citation template. Tɛmplet:Refname rules

Examples:

• {{sfn|cite name|year}}
• {{cite book|ref=CITEREFcite_nameyear}}
• {{cite book|ref={{sfnref}}}}

Where cite_name is a name such as the publisher.

To avoid the sometimes difficult to remember syntax for links to CITEREF anchors, {{citeref}} can be used to create internal wikilinks with either small superscript-style labels (like this^[n]) or plain free-text labels to such anchors. It can be used inside of other citations.

Note that the CITEREF prefix is necessary for the reference tooltips gadget (MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js) to detect that a link goes to a citation.

{{sfn}}'s ref name

Template {{sfn}} creates a named footnote, so that identical footnotes are combined automatically. The footnote name begins with FOOTNOTE followed by a concatenation of the arguments to {{sfn}}. E.g.: this template call {{sfn|Smith|2006|p=26}} should have exactly the same functionality as <ref name="FOOTNOTESmith200626">{{Harvnb}}</ref> which, in turn, has the same functionality as <ref name="FOOTNOTESmith200626">[[#CITEREFSmith2006|Smith (2006)]], p. 26</ref>.

The ref name becomes more complicated when the page (p) parameter includes a URL, e.g. {{sfn|Joyce|1903|p=213}}, which, once defined, can be called by <ref name="FOOTNOTEJoyce1903[httpsarchiveorgdetailsaconcisehistory00joycgoogpagen226 213]" />. The "p=" and the characters |,:,.,/,?,=; are therefore stripped out of the URL.

The call to {{harvnb}} has been subst'ed for quicker load times.

Tracking categories

Category:Pages using sfn with unknown parameters (0)

TemplateData

For a tutorial, see Wikipedia:TemplateData/Tutorial.

For additional technical information, see mw:Help:TemplateData and mw:Extension:TemplateData.

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• Sandbox (no account required)

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About

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• Why are the developers building this?
  • User Test Data
• Documentation:
  • Introductory tutorial
  • User guide
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• Development:
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• Update the help pages
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Other

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• Customization
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• Requests for Comments (RfCs): Jul 2013 a, Jul 2013 b, Jul 2015, Sep 2015

What is template data?

Template data is the standardized description of a template, used by the default VisualEditor, the optional 2017 wikitext editor and other tools to improve the template-editing experience for the user. Both VisualEditor and the 2017 wikitext editor include a wizard to edit templates, but for the wizard to be most useful, it needs to present specific information to the user about each template, such as a short description of the template's purpose and its parameters. This information is codified formally (by any wiki editor) using template data.

Editing without template data

Without template data, each parameter needs to be added manually when inserting a new template.

No information is provided about what the value of the parameter should be.

Editing with template data

With template data, a list of supported parameters (and their description) is provided for the template.

Template data provides context for each parameter, and makes it much easier for users to modify templates.

Adding template data

Anyone can help by adding template data to templates (particularly high-profile ones, such as infoboxes) so that they are easier to edit in VisualEditor. The following is a minimal example, placed on a template's documentation page:

<templatedata>{
  "description": "insert description here",
  "params": {
    "first parameter": {
      "label": "x",
      "description": "x",
      "type": "string",
      "suggested": true,
      "autovalue": "derived automatic value",
      "default": "default value",
      "required": false
    }
  }
}</templatedata>

You can also add or edit template data using a GUI, by pressing the following button which appears at the top of the edit page: Edit template data

The template data tutorial explains in detail how to add template data information to a template.

Adding suggested values for parameters

The parameter property suggestedvalues lets you define a list of parameter values to be shown to VisualEditor users in a dropdown for easy selection. This can be done either directly in JSON or using the TemplateData editor with no coding required. Both methods are explained in detail below.

Once the values have been added to template data, the VisualEditor will display them in a combo box (a dropdown into which users can also enter a custom value). The user selects the desired value by clicking on it. If the list of values is long - for example, a list of a country’s states - the user can begin typing in the field, whereupon the list will be filtered to show only values containing the typed text. To change an entered value, the user must simply clear the field, and the full dropdown list will appear again. If the user needs a value not included in the list (for example, "message in a bottle") they can type it in manually.

For suggested values to be displayed in the VisualEditor, the parameter’s type must be set to one of the following options:

• content
• line
• string
• number
• unknown
• unbalanced wikitext.

Other types (file, page, template, user, date, boolean, URL) are not currently supported because they have special functionalities in the VisualEditor already (such as autocomplete) which would interfere with the dropdown menu for suggested values in the VisualEditor.

Adding suggested values for parameters in wikitext

To add suggested values to any parameter type, add the new property “suggestedvalues” to the parameter in JSON. The “suggestedvalues” attribute must be a list of strings.

An example might look like this:

"media_type": {
	"label": "Type of media",
	"example": "Newspaper",
	"type": "string",
	"description": "In what medium was the article published?",
	"suggestedvalues": [
    	"Journal",
    	"Book",
    	"Newspaper",
    	"Magazine"
	]
}

Adding suggested values for parameters with the template data editor

For the parameter types listed above, you can add suggested values using the template data editor.

Step 1. Click on "Manage TemplateData".
Step 2. Click on the name of the parameter you want to add suggested values to.
Step 3. If it’s not already, set the type of the parameter to one of the following: content, line, string, number, unknown or unbalanced wikitext. A new input field "Suggested values" will appear. If the parameter is already set to one of these types, the input field should already be visible.
Step 4. Type in the suggested value(s), including any spaces and special characters, and press enter to add it to the list.

Here you can see an example of how to add suggested values in the TemplateData editor.

Used templates

Main page: Wikipedia:TemplateData/Used templates

See also

• Wikipedia:VisualEditor/TemplateData/List A list of all pages with template data

This template creates a short author–date citation in a footnote. It allows you to link inline citation using Harvard citations (a form of short citations using parenthetical references) to their corresponding full bibliographic citations.

Template parameters[Edit template data]

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Author last name	1	Last name of first (or only) author Example Smith	Line	required
Second author or year	2	Year for citations with one author, or last name of second author for citations with two or more authors Example 2006	String	required
Third author or year	3	Year for citations with two authors, or last name of third author for citations with three or more authors	String	optional
Fourth author or year	4	Year for citations with three authors, or last name of fourth author for citations with four authors	String	optional
Year (if four authors included)	5	Year for citations with four authors	Number	optional
Page	p page	Page number in source, if the relevant information is on one page (use the «pp» parameter for multiple pages, and the «loc» parameter for other location data) Example 42	Line	suggested
Pages	pp pages	Page numbers in source Example 23–24	Line	optional
Postscript	ps	Additional quote or comment Example This is an additional comment.	String	optional
Location	loc	Location in source Example section 7	Line	optional

See also

• {{p.}} – citing a page number
• {{r}} – define and reference page(s)
• {{rp}} – reference page(s)
• {{Sfnm}} – for multiple sources
• {{SfnRef}} – for the ref anchor
• {{efn}} – for explanatory foot notes

The above documentation is transcluded from Tɛmplet:Sfn/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (create | mirror) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.