Template:Reflist

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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 30 em 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. It is recommended to use <references>...</references> instead for 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.

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. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References

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. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References 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. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References

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 produces a single column; using 2 will act as if you specified 30em; using higher column counts will act as if you specified 25em.

List-defined references

Further information: WP:LDR

A list of references defined within {{reflist}} using the |refs= parameter can be converted to use the <references>...</references> container.

This template's |refs= syntax is not compatible with the VisualEditor, and <references>...</references> should be used instead.

Grouped references

Further information: WP:REFGROUP

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

Further information: H:PREGROUP

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: {{#section:Help:Footnotes|pregrouptable}}

List styles

For technical details, see Help:Cite link labels.

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}}

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

Font size

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. As of December 21, 2010, the standard <references /> tag has the same font styling. The smaller font may be disabled through Preferences → Gadgets → ⧼gadget-NoSmallFonts⧽.

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)	≥ 50 (2016)	≥ 37 (2016)

Multiple columns are generated by using CSS. Almost all browsers should support the multi-column property and will show multiple columns with {{reflist}}.

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
• 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. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References

Customizing the view

Further information: Help:Reference display customization

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.refbegin {
  font-size: 90%;
}

Change 90% to the desired size.

Columns

To disable columns, add:

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

To override the minimum width of columns, add:

.mw-references-columns, .references-column-width {
  column-width: 24em !important;
}

Change the "24em" as necessary for your environment.

Column dividers

To add dividers (rules) between columns, add:

.mw-references-columns, .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 (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 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 (0).

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
Column width	1 colwidth	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. 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 produces a single column; using 2 will act as if you specified 30em; using higher column counts will act as if you specified 25em. Default 1 if < 11 references; otherwise 30em Example 33em	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 lower-roman upper-roman lower-alpha upper-alpha lower-greek 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. This parameter is not compatible with the VisualEditor; <references>...</references> should be used instead.	Content	deprecated

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}}

See also

• 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

References

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Reflist/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.