This template is used on approximately 6,060,000 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.
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{{refs}}
{{rflist}}
Redirects
{{Reference}}
{{Reference list}}
{{Footnotes}}
See this information on copying this template and modifying it for use on another wiki.
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.
Parametersedit
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.
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.
Usageedit
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}}
{{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).
Exampleedit
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]
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
edit
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.
Example
edit
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>
}}
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
edit
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:
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 as shown below.
CSS2 list-style-type values deprecated in CSS 2.1[2]
...but still supported by some browsers.
hebrew
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hiragana
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katakana
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hiragana-iroha
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katakana-iroha
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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:
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 detailsedit
Font sizeedit
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 References lists.
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]
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}}
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:
You can alter the appearance of the dividers by changing the values.
Perennial suggestionsedit
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 (see WP:Manual of Style/Layout § Notes and references).
When transcluded, the article will have an edit link that will confusingly open the template for editing.
Obsolete parametersedit
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 (6).
Template dataedit
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
1colwidth
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
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
Limitationsedit
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}}
See alsoedit
Wikipedia:Citing sources – style guide for the citation of sources
Wikipedia:Citation templates – templates for use with references
Help:Shortened footnotes
{{Notelist}} and {{efn}} – templates for use with footnotes
{{Refbegin}} and {{Refend}} – format reference lists
T53260 – Support editing <references /> tags to set multi-column display on/off
Variants
{{Template reference list}} – version of reflist for use in templates
{{Reflist-talk}} and {{Sources-talk}} – for use in talk page sections and other non-mainspace pages
Referencesedit
^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.
Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]
No — :{{Reflist}}
Yes — {{Reflist}}
Category