There are several predefined groups that can have a reference list styled so that the label (a superscripted character within square brackets, e.g., [1]) of an explanatory note or citation (a.k.a. footnote, reference) matches and links to the note marker label located in the main text and the label in front of the note's text in the appropriate group's list. There can be more than one of these groups' lists in the Notes, References and other similarly purposed sections.

These predefined note and citation groups have templates that make the wikitext markup simpler. These templates also allow a standard reference to be inserted, so that an explanatory note can have a reference, or citations can be nested.

Note: If the note's text has a reference name that is used more than once, the labels will still match, but the clickable alpha characters (superscript lowercase letters like a b c) that toggle the note's display[vague] will be next to the note's label, with links to the multiple locations of its marker in the main text. See WP:REFNAME and the first point below in § Issues.

Template use by reference group type

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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}} {{NoteFoot}} note 1 note 2 note 3
  • {{efn}} supports |name= and |group=, which work the same as the parameters in <ref> (see, for instance, the 3rd and 4th examples below). Do not enclose values in quotes.
  • {{notelist}} supports the |colwidth=, |refs=, and |group= parameters, which work the same as the parameters in {{reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.

In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:

With lower-alpha labels
Markup Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|Footnote 3}}

{{notelist}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[c]

  1. ^ Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2
  3. ^ Footnote 3
With lower-roman labels
Markup Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn-lr|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn-lr|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn-lr|Footnote 3}}

{{notelist-lr}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[i] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[ii] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[iii]

  1. ^ Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2
  3. ^ Footnote 3
With named references
Markup Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|name=fn1|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|name=fn1}}

{{notelist}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[a]

  1. ^ a b Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2

Note: With named references you only need to add the details once. For each use after the first you just need to re-use the reference name. Doing this will not cause the inline superscript to display a custom name.

Named references can also be defined in the notelist
Markup Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|name=fn1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|name=fn2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|name=fn1}}

{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=fn1|Very long footnote 1}}
{{efn|name=fn2|Very long footnote 2}}
}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[a]

  1. ^ a b Very long footnote 1
  2. ^ Very long footnote 2

Note: Due to limitations in the MediaWiki software, do not use list-defined footnotes that contain references.

Issues

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  • Multiple backlink labels (see WP:REFNAME) are always styled as lower-alpha. This can be confusing when {{efn}} is used. See the note in the introduction of this section, above.
  • The entries in the reference list will show the default decimal styling if:
    • The value for |group= in {{reflist}} or <references /> does not exactly match one of the predefined values; use {{efn}} or variant as |group= will not be needed.
    • The value for |group= in {{reflist}} or <references /> is enclosed by quotes; use {{efn}} or variant as |group= will not be needed.
    • {{reflist}} is indented with the : markup.
    • <references /> is used instead of {{reflist}}
  • The entries in the reference list will have no styling if:
    • A reference is included in {{navbox}} or one of the variants and the style is set to bodyclass=hlist; to resolve this, replace the style with listclass=hlist.

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for Notelist

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

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Columns / Column width1 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&nbsp;em' will not be recognized

Default
1 if < 11 references; otherwise 30em
Stringoptional
Liststyleliststyle

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
Stringoptional
Groupgroup

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.

Stringoptional
List of referencesrefs

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.

Stringoptional

Tracking categories

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See also

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