Wikipedia

Help:Shortened footnotes

Shortened footnotes, also called shortened citations, are one method of citing sources for a Wikipedia article. They are brief inline citations, typically providing authors' names and the year of publication, along with page numbers or other in-source locations. They point to full citations listed elsewhere on the same page. Full citations include more details about the source and are meant to help readers find the cited source. This system prevents the often-lengthy full citations from being repeated throughout an article.

Please read Help:Footnotes first, as this guide builds upon the methods described there. Shortened footnotes are cited inline and appear in the automatically-generated reference section. They point to, and often link to, the full citation for a source. See rationale below. They are a hybrid of standard footnotes and Harvard-style parenthetical referencing.

Rationale

Shortened footnotes are used in about 5% of Wikipedia's articles. Some editors prefer this style for several reasons:

Multiple references
They allow the editor to cite many different parts of the same source without having to repeat the entire citation.
Easier wikitext source-editing
When full citations are gathered in a separate section, the wikitext in the article body is less cluttered and easier to work with.
Single place for full citations
It is easier to edit all the full citations at once. However, if you are removing a source that is no longer being used, then you have to edit both the body of the article (to remove the shortened footnote) and the appendix (to remove the corresponding full citation from the list).
Other
The list of full citations can be sorted or alphabetized.

Overview

In the following example, an inline citation such as [1] links to the shortened footnote under "Notes", which in turn links to the full citation in the References list.

The brontosaurus is thin at one end.[1] Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.[2] The Norwegian Blue Parrot will not move if its feet are nailed to the perch.[3] Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians.[4]

Notes
  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5.
  2. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 6.
  3. ↑ Praline 1969, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Praline 1969, p. 16.
References

How to create shortened footnotes

Using {{sfn}}

There are several ways to create the shortened footnote. Most often, the {{sfn}} template is used to link to a full citation with simple markup:

MarkupRenders as 
Article text.{{sfn|Elk|1972|p=5}}

{{reflist}}

Article text.[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5.

The link is normally created from the authors' last names and the year of publication. For sources with multiple authors, pass their last names (to a maximum of four) as multiple parameters to the template:

MarkupRenders as 
Some text.{{sfn|Jones|Smith|Hawthorne|1980|p=1}}

{{reflist}}

* {{cite book |last1=Jones |last2=Smith |last3=Hawthorne |title=Some Book |date=1980}}

Some text.[1]

  1. ↑ Jones, Smith & Hawthorne 1980, p. 1.
  • Jones; Smith; Hawthorne (1980). Some Book.
Some other text.{{sfn|Jones|Smith|Hawthorne|McDowell|1980|p=1}}

{{reflist}}

* {{cite book |last1=Jones |last2=Smith |last3=Hawthorne |last4=McDowell |last5=Dangerfield |title=Some Other Book |date=1980}}

Some other text.[1]

  1. ↑ Jones et al. 1980, p. 1.
  • Jones; Smith; Hawthorne; McDowell; Dangerfield (1980). Some Other Book.

The {{sfnp}} template works the same as the above example, except it places the date in parentheses:

MarkupRenders as 
Still more text.{{sfnp|Elk|1972|p=5}}

{{reflist}}

Still more text.[1]

  1. ↑ Elk (1972), p. 5.

Using {{harvnb}}

The {{sfn}} template was developed to automate the older process of placing {{harvnb}} within <ref> tags. This method is still available and used in many existing articles:

MarkupRenders as 
<ref>{{harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5}}.</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5.

The above method will also work with other "harv" templates.[i] These templates link to the full citation in the same way and accept the same parameters, but they each have slightly different formatting. For example, {{harvp}} places the date in parentheses:

MarkupRenders as 
<ref>{{harvp|Elk|1972|p=5}}.</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk (1972), p. 5.

Manual creation

You can manually create a link to the long citation by creating a custom reference anchor or concatenating #CITEREF, the author's last name, and the publication year.[ii] This is rarely used:

MarkupRenders as 
<ref>[[#CITEREFElk1972|Elk 1972]], p. 5.</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5.

You can also place an unlinked shortened footnote within <ref> tags:

MarkupRenders as 
<ref>Elk 1972, p. 5.</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5.

Bundling citations

The {{sfnm}} template supports the inclusion of multiple sources in a single footnote. The {{harvnb}} template or other similar templates can be manually bundled in a single footnote, separated either with semicolons or the {{multiref}} template:

MarkupRenders as 
{{sfnm |1a1=Elk |1y=1972 |1p=5 |2a1=Praline |2y=1969 |2p=12}}

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5; Praline 1969, p. 12.
<ref>{{harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Praline|1969|p=12}}.</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑ Elk 1972, p. 5; Praline 1969, p. 12.
<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5}} | {{harvnb|Praline|1969|p=12}} }}</ref>

{{reflist}}

[1]

  1. ↑

References list

List of footnotes

The list of footnotes is created by using the {{reflist}} template or the <references /> tag. References created via {{sfn}}, {{sfnp}}, {{sfnm}}, the standard <ref /> tags, and list-defined references will all be included in the same list.

Some articles that use only shortened footnotes manually define narrower columns with {{reflist|20em}}. List-defined references are not compatible with Visual Editor; articles with LDRs must use <references />. Narrow columns can be styled for these using {{refwidth|short}}.

List of full citations

Full citations in the references list may be formatted manually or with citation templates. The reference list is formatted by placing the citations in an unordered list using the * markup. Entries may be sorted by the author's last name. The text size may be formatted with {{refbegin}} and {{refend}}. The references list is normally displayed in one column with no indenting.

MarkupRenders as 
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=November 16, 1972}}
*{{cite book |last=Praline |first=Eric |title=[[Dead Parrot sketch]] |date=December 7, 1969}}
{{refend}}
  • Elk, Anne (November 16, 1972). Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses.
  • Praline, Eric (December 7, 1969). Dead Parrot sketch.

Linking

The full citations are usually created with Citation Style 1 (CS1) and Citation Style 2 (CS2) templates. These templates automatically create a linkable anchor from the authors' last names and the year of publication. For example:

{{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |date=November 16, 1972 |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]]}}

allows a "short" citation template, like {{sfn|Elk|1972}} in the article.

The anchor can be created manually with {{sfnref}} or {{harvid}} in situations where the automatic anchors would create issues including:

  • Multiple authors with the same last name
  • No known last name for the author
  • Unusual characters in the author field
  • Multiple works in the same year by the same author
  • Year of publication unknown
  • No applicable CS1 template

Same last name

An article might cite work from the same year by two different authors with the same last name. For example, an article might cite psychoanalysts Anna Freud and Sigmund Freud. If there are two full citations with the same last name and the same year of publication, as below, then the full citations would need to set custom anchors in the |ref= parameter. The shortened citation can then be created using the same structure. Note the identical parameters for {{sfnref}} and {{sfn}}:

MarkupRenders as 
{{#parsoid

In 1928, Sigmund Freud wrote that "religious influence" was one of the primary goals of education.[1] In her first published book, Anna Freud proposed that the education of a child is never independent of the adults they depend upon.[2]

Notes
References
  • Freud, Anna (1928). Introduction to the Technique of Child Analysis.
  • Freud, Sigmund (1928). The Future of an Illusion.

No author

Section 'No author name in citation template' not found
MarkupRenders as 
On July 9, the ''[[Roswell Daily Record]]'' reported that no engine or metal parts had been found in the wreckage.{{sfn|"Harassed Rancher"|1947|p=C-1}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite news |title=Harassed Rancher Who Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It |newspaper=[[Roswell Daily Record]] |date=July 9, 1947 |ref={{sfnref|"Harassed Rancher"|1947}}}}

On July 9, the Roswell Daily Record reported that no engine or metal parts had been found in the wreckage.[1]

Notes
References
In the 1980s, [[Madonna]] was named "Artist of the Decade" by ''Billboard'' magazine.{{sfn|Dayton Daily News|1990|p=23}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite news |title=Michael, Madonna Top 'Billboard' Poll |newspaper=[[Dayton Daily News]] |date=May 25, 1990 |ref={{sfnref|Dayton Daily News|1990}} }}

In the 1980s, Madonna was named "Artist of the Decade" by Billboard magazine.[1]

Notes
References
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is located in New York.{{sfn|MoMA|2023}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite web |date=2023 |website=MoMA.org |ref={{sfnref|MoMA|2023}} |title=Locations, Hours, and Admission |url= https://www.moma.org/visit/ }}

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is located in New York.[1]

Notes
References

Same date and author

The shortened citation should include only the year. The full citation may include either the year or the full date in the |date= parameter. Most citation templates will extract the year from a full date to form the anchor.

If an author has multiple works in the same year, regardless of whether it is a full date or only a year, then duplicate anchors will be generated. To resolve this, you can suffix the year with a lowercase letter. For example:

  • {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=November 16, 1972a}}
  • {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Further Theory on Brontosauruses |date=December 20, 1972b}}

If the date is written in YYYY-MM-DD format, you can suffix a lowercase letter in the |year= parameter:

  • {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=1972-11-16 |year=1972a}}
  • {{cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Further Theory on Brontosauruses |date=1972-12-20 |year=1972b}}

No date

If the cited source does not have a date, you can use |date=n.d. for the full citation and "n.d." in place of the date for the short citation:

MarkupRenders as 
This is a fact.{{sfn|Smith|n.d.}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Citation |last=Smith |title=Title |date=n.d. |publisher=Publisher |mode=cs1}}

This is a fact.[1]

Notes
References
  • Smith (n.d.). Title. Publisher.

If the cited source does not have a date, author, or title: you can place a description of the source within brackets for the |title= parameter, use |date=n.d., and specify the short citation format with {{sfnref}}:

MarkupRenders as 
This is a fact.{{sfn|[Description]|n.d.}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Citation |title=[Description] |date=n.d. |publisher=Publisher |mode=cs1 |ref={{sfnref|[Description]|n.d.}} }}

This is a fact.[1]

Notes
References
  • [Description]. Publisher. n.d.

Without CS1

Citations templates outside of CS1 and CS2, like {{cite patent}}, {{Cite court}}, and {{cite comic}}, may require the |ref= parameter. In rare cases, {{wikicite}} can be used to manually create the anchors for full citations written without templates. In the following example from the Bengal famine of 1943, an unpublished but publicly available manuscript by the Indian Government’s Regional Food Commissioner is used as a primary source. As there are few acceptable places on Wikipedia to use unpublished memoirs as a source, no citation template directly matches the document:

MarkupRenders as 
Government sources privately admitted the shortfall was 2 million tons.{{sfn|Braund|1944|p=50}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{wikicite | ref = {{sfnref|Braund|1944}} | reference = Braund, H. B. L. (1944). ''Famine in Bengal'', typescript. British Library Doc D792.}}

Government sources privately admitted the shortfall was 2 million tons.[1]

Notes
  1. ↑ Braund 1944, p. 50.
References
  • Braund, H. B. L. (1944). Famine in Bengal, typescript. British Library Doc D792.

Explanatory notes

Shortened footnotes can be placed inside explanatory notes in several ways. Explanatory or content notes add explanations, comments, or other information relating to the main content and often require their own citation. There are two technical approaches to using both types of footnotes. A shortened footnote can be placed inside an explanatory note; on Wikipedia, this is referred to as a nested footnote. There are also several ways to combine the contents of a shortened citation and explanatory note within a single footnote.

Nesting footnotes is typically done with the {{efn}} or {{refn}} templates. Because of a technical limitation, some standard Wikipedia markup elements will not work within a set of <ref>...</ref> tags, including a second "nested" set of <ref>...</ref> tags. For example, <ref>Explanatory footnote<ref>Brown 2001</ref></ref> will generate an error.[iii] Because the templates allow nesting, the same example written as {{efn|Explanatory footnote{{sfn|Brown|2001}} }} works as expected.

Nested footnotes

The methods in this section can nest footnotes because the explanatory notes use templates designed to support nesting.

Nesting within {{efn}}

This method uses {{efn}} to create the explanatory notes and {{sfn}} to create footnotes nested in the explanatory notes.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}{{efn|But Muller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}}} But the Moon{{efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.{{sfn|Braun|2001|p=63}}}} is not so big.{{sfn|Braun|2001|p=46}}{{efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Schmidt|2005|p=334}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Braun |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Muller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Schmidt |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[3][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[4]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Muller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.[1]
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.[2]
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.
Citations
  1. 1 2 Muller 2005, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Braun 2001, p. 63.
  3. ↑ Braun 2001, p. 46.
  4. ↑ Schmidt 2005, p. 334.
References
  • Braun (2001), The Moon, Penguin
  • Muller (2005), The Sun, Oxford
  • Schmidt (2005), The Universe, Random House

Nesting within {{refn}}

This method uses {{refn}} to create the explanatory notes and {{sfn}} to create footnotes nested in the explanatory notes.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Millerd|2005|p=23}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|But Millerd points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.{{sfn|Millerd|2005|p=23}}}} But the Moon{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.{{sfn|Browne|2001|p=63}}}} is not so big.{{sfn|Browne|2001|p=46}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Smithe|2005|p=334}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Browne |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Millerd |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Smithe |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[3][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[4]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Millerd points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.[1]
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.[2]
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.
Citations
  1. 1 2 Millerd 2005, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Browne 2001, p. 63.
  3. ↑ Browne 2001, p. 46.
  4. ↑ Smithe 2005, p. 334.
References
  • Browne (2001), The Moon, Penguin
  • Millerd (2005), The Sun, Oxford
  • Smithe (2005), The Universe, Random House

Combined footnotes

Explanatory notes containing shortened citations

This example creates a separate notes section using the {{sfn}} and {{efn}} templates. Because the explanatory footnotes do not contain footnote references, there are no technical hurdles.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Miller|2005|p=23}}{{efn|But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.}} But the Moon{{efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.}} is not so big.{{sfn|Brown|2001|p=46}}{{efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Smith|2005|p=334}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |date=2001}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |date=2005}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |date=2005}}
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[2][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[3]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, The Solar System, MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, Astronomy, MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.
Citations
  1. ↑ Miller 2005, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Brown 2001, p. 46.
  3. ↑ Smith 2005, p. 334.
References
  • Brown (2001). The Moon. Penguin.
  • Miller (2005). The Sun. Oxford.
  • Smith (2005). The Universe. Random House.

When the explanatory notes and shortened footnotes are separate and not nested, they can still be created using standard reference tags. This example creates a separate notes section by using <ref> and <ref group=>.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/><ref group=Note name=Note01/> But the Moon<ref group=Note name=Note02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot02/><ref group=Note name=Note03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot03/>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Note02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.</ref>
<ref name=Note03>Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.</ref>
}}

==Citations==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>Miller, p. 23</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>Brown, p. 46</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>Smith, p. 334</ref>
}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* Brown, ''The Moon'', Penguin. 2001.
* Miller, ''The Sun'', Oxford, 2005.
* Smith, ''The Universe'', Random House, 2005.
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][Note 1] But the Moon[Note 2] is not so big.[2][Note 3] The Sun is also quite hot.[3]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, The Solar System, MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, Astronomy, MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.
Citations
  1. ↑ Miller, p. 23
  2. ↑ Brown, p. 46
  3. ↑ Smith, p. 334
References
  • Brown, The Moon, Penguin. 2001.
  • Miller, The Sun, Oxford, 2005.
  • Smith, The Universe, Random House, 2005.

The example below uses only basic wikitext syntax and a single list of footnotes. Because the explanatory footnotes do not contain footnote references, there are no technical hurdles.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.<ref>Miller, p. 23. But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref> But the Moon<ref>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p 623.</ref> is not so big.<ref>Brown, p. 46. Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p 623.</ref> The Sun is also quite hot.
<ref>Smith, p. 334.</ref>

==Notes==
<references />

==References==
* Brown, ''The Moon'', Penguin. 2001.
* Miller, ''The Sun'', Oxford, 2005.
* Smith, ''The Universe'', Random House, 2005.

The Sun is pretty big.[1] But the Moon[2] is not so big.[3] The Sun is also quite hot. [4]

Notes
  1. ↑ Miller, p. 23. But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example Jones, The Solar System, MacMillan, 2005, p 623.
  3. ↑ Brown, p. 46. Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example Peterson, Astronomy, MacMillan, 2005, p 623.
  4. ↑ Smith, p. 334.
References
  • Brown, The Moon, Penguin. 2001.
  • Miller, The Sun, Oxford, 2005.
  • Smith, The Universe, Random House, 2005.

Explanatory notes containing parenthetical citations

This method uses {{sfn}} to create the main footnotes, {{efn}} to create the explanatory notes and {{harv}} to create the parenthentical references in the explanatory notes. The use of inline parenthetical referencing has been deprecated for an article's body text.

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Mahler|2005|p=23}}{{efn|But Mahler points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars {{harv|Mahler|2005|p=23}}.}} But the Moon{{efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena {{harv|Brauner|2001|p=63}}.}} is not so big.{{sfn|Brauner|2001|p=46}}{{efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Ferrero|2005|p=334}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Brauner |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Mahler |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Ferrero |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[2][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[3]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Mahler points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars (Mahler 2005, p. 23).
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena (Brauner 2001, p. 63).
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.
Citations
  1. ↑ Mahler 2005, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Brauner 2001, p. 46.
  3. ↑ Ferrero 2005, p. 334.
References
  • Brauner (2001), The Moon, Penguin
  • Mahler (2005), The Sun, Oxford
  • Ferrero (2005), The Universe, Random House

List-defined explanatory notes containing citations

This method uses {{sfn}} to create the main footnotes, {{efn}} to create list-defined explanatory notes using {{notelist}} in the "Notes" appendix, and {{harv}} to create links nested within the explanatory notes:

MarkupRenders as 
The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Mailer|2005|p=23}}{{efn|name="sun size"}} But the Moon{{efn|name="Selena"}} is not so big.{{sfn|Brawn|2001|p=46}}{{efn|name="moon size"}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Smythe|2005|p=334}}

===Notes===
{{notelist |refs=

{{efn|name="sun size"|But Mailer points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars. {{harv|Mailer|2005|p=23}}}}

{{efn|name="Selena"|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena. {{harv|Brawn|2001|p=63}}}}

{{efn|name="moon size"|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}}

}}
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===References===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Brawn |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Mailer |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Smythe |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}}

The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[2][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[3]

Notes
  1. ↑ But Mailer points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars. (Mailer 2005, p. 23)
  2. ↑ The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena. (Brawn 2001, p. 63)
  3. ↑ Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.
Citations
  1. ↑ Mailer 2005, p. 23.
  2. ↑ Brawn 2001, p. 46.
  3. ↑ Smythe 2005, p. 334.
References
  • Brawn (2001), The Moon, Penguin
  • Mailer (2005), The Sun, Oxford
  • Smythe (2005), The Universe, Random House

Errors

Errors involving <ref> tags will be automatically displayed in article, user, template, category, help and file pages. To show error messages on talk and other pages, see Help:Reference display customization.

It is very possible to create a shortened citation that does not link to the full citation and to create a full citation that does not have a matching shortened citation. Often the link and anchor may not match for some reason. To catch these errors, use the User:Trappist the monk/HarvErrors script. When a shortened citation does not have a matching full citation and cannot be readily resolved, then it can be tagged with {{Citation not found}}.

It is also possible to create duplicate IDs for the shortened footnote, resulting in invalid HTML. See Help:Markup validation for help in validating and resolving issues.

Examples

These featured articles exemplify the use of shortened footnotes:

Method Example
{{sfn}} for linked shortened footnotes Actuary (2023)
{{harvnb}} for linked shortened footnotes Hoxne Hoard (2023)
Manually created links Rosetta Stone (2023)
Manually created anchors Battle of the Nile (2023)
Un-linked shortened footnotes The Raven (2023)

This article illustrates improperly implemented shortened footnotes:

The article uses {{sfn}} (#10, 11, 12) to point to Rothenburg1976, which is a manually defined citation with no anchor (#9); the footnotes and shortened footnotes are mixed.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Including: {{harv}}, {{harvtxt}}, {{harvcol}}, {{harvcolnb}}, {{harvcoltxt}}, {{harvs}}, and {{harvp}}.
  2. ↑ The CITEREF prefix allows the reference tooltips gadget (MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js) to detect that a link goes to a citation.
  3. ↑ That example generates, "Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). </ref>"
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