Template:Cite compare/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Cite compare.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

{{cite compare}} is a debug and documentation tool that allows editors to compare the output created by the various versions of a Citation Style 1 (CS1) template. To invoke {{cite compare}} simply add CS1 template parameters to {{cite compare}}. For example, a simple {{cite web}} comparison might look like this: {{cite compare |mode=web |url=http://www.example.com |website=Example Website |title=Example comparison}} which produces this output:

Cite web comparison
Wikitext	`{{cite web\|title=Example comparison\|url=http://www.example.com\|website=Example Website}}`
Live	"Example comparison". Example Website.
Sandbox	"Example comparison". Example Website.

Usage

The default display is a comparison between sandbox and the current live CS1 template.

{{cite compare}} is controlled by four parameters:

|template= – selects which of the CS1 templates will be compared; for {{cite web}}, |template=web; for {{cite journal}}, |template=journal; etc.; alias: |mode= (deprecated)
- |mode= – deprecated alias of |template=; for {{cite web}}, |mode=web; for {{cite journal}}, |mode=journal; etc.; deprecated because cs1|2 supports a parameter called |mode=
|old= – when set to yes, includes the citation as rendered by {{citation/core}}
|comment= – when set to a comment, displays the comment at the bottom of the comparison table
|header= – when set, displays additional header text
|nosandbox= – when set, removes the line for the sandbox

Display only live

{{cite compare |template=web |nosandbox=yes |url=http://www.example.com |website=Example Website |title=Example comparison}}

Cite web comparison
Wikitext	`{{cite web\|title=Example comparison\|url=http://www.example.com\|website=Example Website}}`
Live	"Example comparison". Example Website.

Compare old, live and sandbox

Adding |old=yes will display a comparison of all three versions of a CS1 citation: the current live template, the sandbox template, and the old, pre-Lua-based versions. The non-Lua-based templates are at pages labeled old; for example, {{cite web/old}} is the reference version against which the initial Lua implementation to {{cite web}} were compared.

{{cite compare |template=web |old=yes |url=http://www.example.com |website=Example Website |title=Example comparison}}

Cite web comparison
Wikitext	`{{cite web\|title=Example comparison\|url=http://www.example.com\|website=Example Website}}`
Old	"Example comparison". http://www.example.com.
Live	"Example comparison". Example Website.
Sandbox	"Example comparison". Example Website.

Compare with comment

To add a comment regarding the comparison, set |comment=<comment text>. If <comment text> contains a vertical bar or pipe (|) use {{!}}.

{{cite compare |template=web |comment=Comment about {{!}}comment=<comment text> |header=(additional header text) |url=http://www.example.com |website=Example Website |title=Example comparison}}

Cite web comparison (additional header text)
Wikitext	`{{cite web\|title=Example comparison\|url=http://www.example.com\|website=Example Website}}`
Live	"Example comparison". Example Website.
Sandbox	"Example comparison". Example Website.
Comment about \|comment=<comment text>