View source for Template:Refn/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
===Purpose===
This template is used to [[Help:Footnotes|create footnotes in Wikipedia]], as an alternative and complement to the <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref></syntaxhighlight>. [[:mw:Extension:Cite/Cite.php#Substitution and embedded parser functions|Because of a technical limitation]], some of the standard Wikipedia markup elements that are often used in the article prose do not work within a set of <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> tags, including but not limited to [[Help:Pipe trick|the pipe trick]], [[Wikipedia:Substitution|template substitution]] and another "nested" set of <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> tags. For example, the following does not work as expected:
# <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>[[Help:Footnotes|]]</ref></syntaxhighlight> (Generates: <nowiki>[[Help:Footnotes|]]</nowiki> instead of a wikilink)
# <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>{{SUBST:TODAY}}</ref></syntaxhighlight> (Generates: <nowiki>{{SUBST:TODAY}}</nowiki> instead of the date that the edit was made)
# <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>Explanatory footnote<ref>Citation</ref></ref></syntaxhighlight> (Generates: <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #CC0000;">Cite error: A &lt;ref&gt; tag is missing the closing &lt;/ref&gt; (see the [[:Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref|help page]]).</span> &lt;/ref&gt;)

Replacing the outermost <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> set with {{tlp|Refn}} allows for the use of the markup elements listed above.

===Usage===
{{tld|refn|2=group=groupname|3=name=name|4=Contents of the footnote|allowlinebreak=yes}}

:* '''groupname''': Groupname per [[WP:REFGROUP]]; if not specified, then the main and nested references will be rendered into the same reference list
:* '''name''': Reference name per [[WP:REFNAME]]

{{refname rules}}

===Examples===
====Footnotes with citations====
{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="HTML">An example.{{refn|group=note|name=first|A note.<ref>An included reference.</ref>}}
Another example.{{refn|group=note|Another note.<ref>Another included reference.</ref>}}
A third example.{{refn|group=note|The third note.<ref>The reference in the third note.</ref>}}
Repeating the first example.{{refn|group=note|name=first}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}</syntaxhighlight>
|An example.{{refn|group=note|name=first|A note.<ref>An included reference.</ref>}}
Another example.{{refn|group=note|Another note.<ref>Another included reference.</ref>}}
A third example.{{refn|group=note|The third note.<ref>The reference in the third note.</ref>}}
Repeating the first example.{{refn|group=note|name=first}}

{{fake heading|sub=3|Notes}}
{{reflist|group=note}}

{{fake heading|sub=3|References}}
{{reflist}}
}}

====Substitution====
The first example shows that substitution does not work in a regular <syntaxhighlight lang="HTML" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> tag (the {{para|access-date}} does not appear correctly). The second example shows that the {{para|access-date}} is substituted correctly within {{tl|refn}}.

{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="HTML"><ref>{{cite web |access-date={{Subst:TODAY}} |title=Languages |work=Apache HTTP Server |agency=Ohloh |publisher= Black Duck Software |url=https://www.ohloh.net/p/apache/analyses/latest/languages_summary}}</ref>
{{reflist}}</syntaxhighlight>
|<ref>{{cite web |access-date={{Subst:TODAY}} |title=Languages |work=Apache HTTP Server |agency=Ohloh |publisher= Black Duck Software |url=https://www.ohloh.net/p/apache/analyses/latest/languages_summary|no-tracking=yes}}</ref>
{{reflist}}

|<nowiki>{{refn|{{cite web |access-date={{Subst:TODAY}} |title=Languages |work=Apache HTTP Server |agency=Ohloh |publisher= Black Duck Software |url=https://www.ohloh.net/p/apache/analyses/latest/languages_summary}}}}
{{reflist}}</nowiki>
|{{refn|{{cite web |access-date=4 April 2014 |title=Languages |work=Apache HTTP Server |agency=Ohloh |publisher= Black Duck Software |url=https://www.ohloh.net/p/apache/analyses/latest/languages_summary}}}}
{{reflist}}
}}

===Errors===
If the reference or note content is missing, then Cite error: Invalid &lt;ref&gt; tag; refs with no name must have content. will be displayed.

If the note content contains an equals sign (<code>=</code>), the equals sign will be interpreted as setting off a named parameter and cause an error. This can be worked around by [[Help:Template#Usage hints and workarounds|using a numbered parameter]], for example:

{{markup
|1=<nowiki>{{refn|1+1=2}}</nowiki>
|2=<span class="error mw-ext-cite-error">Cite error: There are &lt;ref&gt; tags on this page without content in them (see the [[Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref no input|help page]]).</span>
|3=<nowiki>{{refn|1= 1+1=2}}</nowiki>
|4={{refn|1= 1+1=2}}

{{reflist}}
}}


{{#section:Help:footnotes|pregroup}}

===See also===
*{{tl|citeref}} (a different method to create nested links working on citation template anchor level rather than <nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki> markup level)

{{#lst:Help:Cite errors/Cite error group refs without references|rlt}}

{{Wikipedia referencing}}

== TemplateData ==
{{TemplateData header}}
<templatedata>
{
	"params": {
		"1": {
			"label": "content",
			"description": "The content of the footnote.",
			"type": "content",
			"required": true,
			"suggested": true,
			"aliases": [
				"refn"
			]
		},
		"name": {
			"description": "The name of the footnote. Corresponds to the \"name\" attribute of the <ref> tag.",
			"type": "string"
		},
		"group": {
			"label": "group",
			"description": "The reference group. Corresponds to the \"group\" attribute on the <ref> tag.",
			"type": "string"
		}
	},
	"description": "This template is used to create footnotes in Wikipedia, as an alternative and complement to the <ref> tag.",
	"paramOrder": [
		"1",
		"name",
		"group"
	],
	"format": "inline"
}
</templatedata>
<includeonly>{{sandbox other||
<!-- CATEGORIES AND INTERWIKIS HERE, THANKS -->
[[Category:Footnote templates]]
[[Category:Templates that generate named references]]
}}</includeonly>