Template:Reflist#Usage

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This template is used on approximately 6,340,000 pages, or roughly 10% of all pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

This template can only be edited by administrators because it is transcluded onto one or more cascade-protected pages.

Shortcuts

{{refsTemplate:Refs}}
{{rflistTemplate:Rflist}}

Redirects

See this information on copying this template and modifying it for use on another wiki.

This template uses Lua:

Module:Check for unknown parameters (sandbox)

This template uses TemplateStyles:

Template:Reflist/styles.css

This citation template provides formatting and organizational features for footnotes. It encapsulates the <references /> tag used by the Cite MediaWiki extension to show the list of references as defined by <ref> tags. It adds support for sizing the column width, groups and List-defined references.

Parameters

There are no required parameters; if none are supplied, a single-column list will be generated if there are fewer than 10 references in the list. If you have more than 10 references, it will use columns of 30em wide if your device allows this.

Optional parameters are:

Unnamed parameter (must be the first one if used): the minimum width for each column of references, typically in ems. Syntax (for example) |30em with no space (i.e. not |30 em). Note that this replaces colwidth—see § Obsolete parameters.
refs: used with List-defined references. This parameter is not compatible with VisualEditor, but the equivalent syntax using <references>...</references> is.
group: identifies by name the subset of references to be rendered; the value should correspond to that used inline, e.g., {{Reflist|group=groupname}} renders all references with groupname as the group name (<ref group="groupname">). There are five pre-defined group names that style the list differently. See § Grouped references below.
liststyle: specifies the style used when the reference list is rendered. The default is a numbered list. When set, it will override the style set by the |group= parameter, without affecting group functionality. See § List styles below.

Usage

**Using only footnote-style references**
Markup	Renders as
Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}	Lorem ipsum.^[1] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[2] References ^ Source name, access date, etc. ^ Source name, access date, etc.

**Using only bibliographical style references (no direct references from the text)**
Markup	Renders as
Lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. ==References== {{Refbegin}} * reference 1 * reference 2 {{Refend}}	Lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References reference 1 reference 2

Using both footnote-style and bibliography-style references

Markup

Renders as

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}
* reference 1
* reference 2
{{Refend}}

Lorem ipsum.^[1] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[2]

References

^ Source name, access date, etc.
^ Source name, access date, etc.

reference 1
reference 2

Columns

{{Reflist|30em}} (for example) instructs the browser to create as many columns as possible (of width at least 30 em, in this example) given the width of the display window. (Units supported are em, ex, in, cm, mm, pt, pc, px, but em is almost always used.) There must not be a space between the number and the unit. Percent is not supported.

Choose a width appropriate to the typical width of the references:

Automatic columns (default when no width is specified): Where there are only a few footnotes; see, e.g., Silver State Arena (23:05, 28 December 2012)
30em: Where there are many footnotes plus a page-width Bibliography subsection: see, e.g., Ebola virus disease (02:02, 12 January 2018)
20em: Where shortened footnotes are used; see, e.g., NBR 224 and 420 Classes (13:32, 1 August 2011).

Example

15em wide columns (vary width of display window to see change in number of columns)

Markup

Renders as

Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|15em}}

Lorem ipsum.^[1] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[2] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[3] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[4] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[5]

References

^ Source name, access date, etc.
^ Source name, access date, etc.
^ Source name, access date, etc.
^ Source name, access date, etc.
^ Source name, access date, etc.

The syntax {{Reflist|2}} (for example), which specifies two columns of equal width regardless of the available display width, is deprecated. When you use 1 the template gives you a single column while 2 will pretend you specified 30em. When using higher column counts, it will pretend you specified 25em.

List-defined references

A list of references may be defined within {{Reflist}} using the |refs= parameter, just like including named <ref name="...">...</ref> elements inside the <references>...</references> container.

This syntax is not compatible with the VisualEditor; <references>...</references> can be used instead.

Example

Markup	Renders as
This is reference 1.<ref name="refname1" /> This is reference 2.<ref name="refname2" /> ==References== {{Reflist\|refs= <ref name="refname1">content1</ref> <ref name="refname2">content2</ref> }}	This is reference 1.^[1] This is reference 2.^[2] References ^ content1 ^ content2

Grouped references

References can be grouped into separate sections (for explanatory notes, table references, and the like) via group=:

<ref group="groupname">

where groupname is (for example) notes or sources. The group name need not be enclosed in quotes; this differs from the footnote marker where quotes are required if the group name includes a space.

Each group used in the article must have a matching reference list:

{{Reflist|group=groupname}}

Predefined groups

There are predefined group names that automatically set the labels in the footnote markers and the reference list to other styles. Thus, setting {{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}} will set the group to lower-alpha and will style the reference list with lower alpha characters. The matching footnote marker can be formed by <ref group="lower-alpha">...</ref>. This is made easier by a series of templates to set the group/label styles for the footnote marker and the reference list:

Group type	Footnote marker template or markup	Reference list template	Sample labels
none by default, but optionally any	`<ref>...</ref>`	`{{reflist}}`	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
	`{{r}}` (for nested references)
	`{{refn}}` (for nested references)
lower-alpha	`{{efn}}` `{{efn-la}}`	`{{notelist}}` `{{notelist-la}}`	a b c d e f g h i j
upper-alpha	`{{efn-ua}}`	`{{notelist-ua}}`	A B C D E F G H I J
lower-roman	`{{efn-lr}}`	`{{notelist-lr}}`	i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x
upper-roman	`{{efn-ur}}`	`{{notelist-ur}}`	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
lower-greek	`{{efn-lg}}`	`{{notelist-lg}}`	α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ
note	`{{NoteTag}}` `{{efn-num}}`	`{{NoteFoot}}` `{{notelist-num}}`	note 1 note 2 note 3

List styles

As noted in § Predefined groups, there are predefined groups that automatically add list styling. Using the listed templates is more convenient than using |liststyle=.

Reference lists are by default numbered lists. By using the |liststyle= parameter, you can control how the list is rendered. For example, using |liststyle=upper-roman will result in references being labeled with Roman numerals instead of decimal numbers. The parameter accepts any valid CSS value defined for list-style-type.

It is possible to use |liststyle= so that the labels for the footnote marker and the reference list marker differ. This should be used with care as it can be confusing to readers. For example:

Markup	Renders as
<ref group="note">Reference</ref> {{Reflist\|group=note\|liststyle=lower-alpha}}	^{[note 1]} ^ Reference

Interaction with images

In the unusual case of an image being placed to the left of a reference list, layout problems may occur on some browsers. This can be prevented by using the columns feature.

Technical details

The font size should reduce to 90% for almost all browsers, but may appear to show at 100% for very old browsers, such as early versions of Internet Explorer.^{[general 1]} As of December 21, 2010, the standard <references /> tag has the same font styling. The smaller font may be disabled through Preferences → Gadgets → Disable smaller font sizes of elements such as infoboxes, navboxes and reference lists.

Browser support for columns

CSS3 multiple-column layout browser support
Property	Internet Explorer	Firefox	Safari	Chrome	Opera
column-width column-count	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 1.5 (2005)	≥ 3 (2007)	≥ 1 (2008)	≥ 11.1 (2011)
columns	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 9 (2011)	≥ 3 (2007)	≥ 1 (2008)	≥ 11.1 (2011)
break-before break-after break-inside	≥ 10 (2012)	≥ 65 (2019)	≥ 10 (2016)	≥ 65 (2016)	≥ 15 (2013)
v t e

Multiple columns are generated by using CSS. Almost all browsers should support the multi-column property and will show multiple columns with {{Reflist}}.^{[general 2]}^{[general 3]}^{[general 4]}

These browsers support CSS columns:

Gecko-based browsers such as Mozilla Firefox
WebKit browsers such as Safari
Blink-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Google Chrome
Internet Explorer from version 10 onward

These browsers do not support CSS columns:

Microsoft MSHTML-based browsers including Internet Explorer up to version 9^{[general 5]}
Very old Opera through to version 11

Widows and orphans

The use of columns can result in widows and orphans, where a citation at the bottom of a column may be split to the top of the next column. MediaWiki:Common.css includes CSS rules to prevent list items from breaking between columns. Widows may still show in extreme circumstances, such as a reference list formatted in columns where only a single reference is defined.

Markup	Renders as
Lorem ipsum.<ref>Source name, access date, etc.</ref> Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. ==References== {{Reflist\|10em}}	Lorem ipsum.^[1] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References ^ Source name, access date, etc.

Customizing the view

By editing your CSS, the personal appearance of the reference list can be customized. From Preferences, select the Appearance tab, then on the selected skin select Custom CSS. After editing and saving, follow the instructions at the top of the page to purge. See Wikipedia:Skin#Customisation (advanced users) for more help.

Font size

The font size for all reference lists defaults to 90% of the standard size. To change it, add:

ol.references,
.mw-parser-output div.reflist,
.mw-parser-output div.refbegin {
  font-size: 90%;
}

Change 90% to the desired size.

Columns

To disable columns, add:

.references-column-width {
  column-width: auto !important;
}

Column dividers

To add dividers (rules) between columns, add:

.references-column-width {
  column-rule: 1px solid #aaa;
}

You can alter the appearance of the dividers by changing the values.

Perennial suggestions

Collapsing and scrolling

There have been a number of requests to add functionality for a collapsible or scrolling reference list. These requests have not been fulfilled due to issues with readability, accessibility, and printing. The applicable guidelines are at MOS:SCROLL. Links between the inline cite and the reference list do not work when the reference list is enclosed in a collapsed box.

To display the reference list in a scrollbox or collapsed per user, see Help:Reference display customization.

For discussion on previous attempts to do this with a template, see the discussions for Scrollref and Refbox.

Including the section title

There have been suggestions to include section header markup such as ==References==. This is inadvisable because:

There is no standard section name .
When transcluded, the article will have an edit link that will confusingly open the template for editing.

Obsolete parameters

These parameters are no longer in use:

colwidth: Same as specifying a column-width for the first unnamed parameter. Replaced by width as unnamed first parameter.

Articles using unsupported parameters are tracked in Category:Pages using reflist with unknown parameters (7).

Template data

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Reflist in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Reflist

This template displays the list of footnotes at the end of an article and provides additional formatting and organizing options. After hitting "Apply changes" and turning back to VE read mode, you will not see the references list. After hitting "Publish page" and turning back to normal read mode the reference list will reappear with the changes applied, see T53146.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Columns / Column width	`1` `colwidth`	Two modes supported. First mode (deprecated): integer number of fixed columns into which the reference list is to be rendered. Second mode: typographic unit of measurement such as 'em', specifying the width for the reference list columns, e.g. '33em'; spaced '33 em' will not be recognized Default 1 if < 11 references; otherwise 30em	String	optional
Liststyle	`liststyle`	Specifies the style used when the reference list is enumerated; accepts any valid CSS value defined for list-style-type Suggested values `none` `disc` `circle` `square` `decimal` `decimal-leading-zero` `lower-roman` `upper-roman` `lower-alpha` `upper-alpha` `lower-greek` `armenian` `georgian` Default decimal	String	optional
Group	`group`	Group is an identifier which restricts the references that are shown. Without this parameter, this template only shows references with no group identifier. With a group identifier specified, only references with a matching group identifier are handled. The rest are left alone.	String	optional
List of references	`refs`	Provides a space to define named references for use in the article. References defined in this space are not shown unless used somewhere in the article.	String	optional

Limitations

Do not use {{Reflist}} or other templates or modules that use {{#tag:references}} in numbered or unnumbered lists if the list is inside an HTML div tag. See the talk page (permalink) for examples and details.

No — :{{Reflist}}

No — *{{Reflist}}

No — #{{Reflist}}

Yes — {{Reflist}}

References

^ See User:Edokter/fonttest for a comparison of font sizes for various browsers; see previous discussions on changing the font size to resolve the IE issue.
^ "CSS3 Multi-Column Thriller". December 30, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2006.
^ "CSS3 module: Multi-column layout". W3C. December 15, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2006.
^ "columns - CSS: Cascading Style Sheets | MDN". MDN Web Docs. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^ "CSS Compatibility and Internet Explorer: Multi-column Layout". Microsoft Docs. Microsoft Developer Network. Retrieved 2021-03-19.

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Reflist/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

[1] Source name, access date, etc.

[2] Source name, access date, etc.

[3] Source name, access date, etc.

[4] Source name, access date, etc.

[5] Source name, access date, etc.

[6] Source name, access date, etc.

[7] Source name, access date, etc.

[8] Source name, access date, etc.

[9] Source name, access date, etc.

[refname1-10] tent1

[refname2-11] tent2

[14] Reference

[20] Source name, access date, etc.

[fontsize-15] See User:Edokter/fonttest for a comparison of font sizes for various browsers; see previous discussions on changing the font size to resolve the IE issue.

[stuffandnonsense-16] "CSS3 Multi-Column Thriller". December 30, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2006.

[w3org1-17] "CSS3 module: Multi-column layout". W3C. December 15, 2005. Retrieved November 24, 2006.

[mdncols-18] "columns - CSS: Cascading Style Sheets | MDN". MDN Web Docs. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.

[msdn-19] "CSS Compatibility and Internet Explorer: Multi-column Layout". Microsoft Docs. Microsoft Developer Network. Retrieved 2021-03-19.

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Template:Reflist#Usage

Parameters

Usage

Columns

Example

List-defined references

Example

Grouped references

Predefined groups

List styles

Interaction with images

Technical details

Font size

Browser support for columns

Widows and orphans

Customizing the view

Perennial suggestions

Obsolete parameters

Template data

Limitations

See also

References