Template:Refn

Template documentation

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This template is for inserting references that may require more complex content than just plain text with links - the most common use-case is nesting references.

About

Normal <ref> tags cannot directly contain any parser/preprocessor functions. This includes standard parser functions, particularly #if and similar, as well as other <ref> tags. For parser functions, a way to counter this is to use a template to abstract the function. An alternative method is to use the #tag parser function - which is what this template does, more cleanly.

In addition, preprocessor extensions (like <ref> tags) must be nested in this way.

Usage

{{Refn|reference content}}

Refn also supports the two most commonly used extra parameters, name and group:

{{Refn|reference content|name=ref name|group=ref group}}

Nesting

As mentioned, the most common use-case is nesting references. When nesting references, the outer <ref> tags must be replaced by this template - the innermost tag can remain a <ref> tag, but Refn cannot be inside a <ref> tag at all. The standardised CiteX templates (e.g. Template:CiteGeneral) all utilise this method already, so are nestable.

{{Refn|outer reference content{{Refn|nested reference for the outer reference content}}}}

Note that the references will be in ordered in parsing order, which is the innermost to the outermost - this is generally not the most logical order for reading, so making footnotes of footnotes or citations of citations is not advised - mix groups.

Examples

Markup

* text {{Refn|reference content 1}}
* text 2 {{Refn|outer reference content{{Refn|nested reference for the outer reference content}}}}
* text 3 {{Refn|outer refn<ref>inner reftag</ref>}}

;Reflist
<references />

Result

• text
• text 2
• text 3

Reflist

Here you can clearly see the inner tags sorted before the outer tags.

See also

• This template on Wikipedia