Template:Reference page/doc: Difference between revisions

{{Hatnote|[[Template:Refpage]] and [[Template:Refpages]] redirect here.}}

{{High-use}}

"Rp" stands for "reference page(s)".  This is a method of citing page numbers usually used when other methods produce undesirable results.

One of its benefits is that <nowiki>{{rp}}</nowiki> is supported in the VisualEditor ([[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VE]]), unlike {{tl|sfn}} etc., which {{as of|2021|01|lc=y}} are unsupported in the VE.

: <code><nowiki><ref name="aardvark"></nowiki></code>... details of cited source ...<code><nowiki></ref>{{rp|23}}</nowiki></code>

: Apples should be eaten when they are ripe.<ref name="aardvark">Aardvark, A. A. (1999). ''The Best Moments for Eating''. Green Press.</ref>{{rp|23}}  

:<code><nowiki><ref name="aardvark" />{{rp|56}}</nowiki></code>

:Porridge, usually eaten for breakfast, can also serve as a dessert.<ref name="aardvark" />{{rp|56}}

 

It is a solution for the problem of a source that is cited many times, at numerous different pinpoint page numbers, in the same Wikipedia article. Cite.php's limitations pose two citation problems in such a case:

# Regular use of <code><nowiki>&lt;ref&nbsp;...>...&lt;/ref></nowiki></code> to provide a separate citation for each fact/statement sourced from a different page or page range (as in [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Delaware_Basin&oldid=328167809#References this example]) will result in numerous individual lines, each repeating the entire bibliographic citation of a source, generated by <code><nowiki>&lt;references&nbsp;/></nowiki></code> in the "Notes" or "References" section.  

# Using a single <code><nowiki>&lt;ref&nbsp;...>...&lt;/ref></nowiki></code> and followup <code><nowiki>&lt;ref&nbsp;...&nbsp;/></nowiki></code>'s with the same <code>name=</code> and simply listing all of the pages cited, would result in the single, very long <code><nowiki>&lt;references&nbsp;/></nowiki></code> entry for this source giving no way for readers to tell which facts were sourced from which pages in the work.

 

This template works around both of these problems.  Doing so is important, because [[WP:FA|Featured Article]] as well as [[WP:GA|Good Article]] reviews generally insist upon specific facts being cited with specific page numbers.

{{tnull|Rp}} is an alternative to the method of using [[WP:CITESHORT|shortened footnotes]], that does not require the reader to follow two links to see the source. In cases of numerous citations to the same source, the Cite.php <code><nowiki><ref&nbsp;...></nowiki></code> footnoting system is less tedious to use and more difficult to break with incorrect formatting than the {{tl|ref label}} and {{tl|note label}} system (although, in other situations, those templates are not particularly difficult and may be quite useful).  

In most cases, citing page numbers in the {{tag|ref}} code is just fine.  This template is intended for sources that are used {{em|many}} times in the same article, but with differing page numbers.

Overuse of this template is seen by some editors as making prose harder to read. Used judiciously, however, other editors say that it&nbsp;is less interruptive to the visual flow than complete implementation of the reference citation styles that inspired it, particularly [[Wikipedia:Harvard referencing|full Harvard referencing]] and [[AMA Manual of Style|AMA style]].

If an article has an established citation style that uses an alternative to this template (e.g. Harvard style or another style using {{tlx|sfn}} shortened footnote templates), then {{em|do not}} unilaterally start using this template in the article.  Instead, you should discuss options for citation styles with other editors and try to reach a consensus, per [[WP:CITEVAR]].

* {{tlx|rp|''page number(s)''}} (not recommended<!-- in particular not for AMA style -->, because without one of the dedicated parameters above the type and [[Grammatical number|numerus]] of the given page information will be ambiguous in some cases and thus the resulting tooltip has to remain somewhat vague)

The example below shows {{tnull|Rp}} in use both at a first occurrence [<code><nowiki><ref&nbsp;...>...</ref></nowiki></code>], with other references and inline superscript templates present so one can see how it looks when used in series, and at a later [<code><nowiki><ref&nbsp;...&nbsp;/></nowiki></code>] occurrence.

{{Aligned table

|class=wikitable

  |col1style=width:5.0em;background:whitesmoke;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;

<!------------------------------(80 characters)-------------------------------->

| Code

An asserted fact.{{Clarifyme|date=August 2014}}<ref name="Jackson 1999">{{cite  

book |author-last=Jackson |author-first=Jennifer |title=The Unlightable Being of Bareness  

|publisher=Funky Publications |publication-place=[[San Francisco]] |date=1999

|isbn=1-2345-6789-0}}</ref>{{rp|pages=143, 233&ndash;237}}<ref name="Smith 2000">{{cite book  

|author-last=Smith |author-first=Bob |title=Another Source |publisher=Another Publisher  

|location=[[Chicago, IL]] |date=2000 |isbn=0-0986-5432-1 |page=27}}</ref><ref

 

 

  | Result

An asserted fact.{{Clarifyme|date=August 2014}}<ref name="Jackson 1999">{{cite book |author-last=Jackson |author-first=Jennifer |title=The Unlightable Being of Bareness |publisher=Funky Publications |publication-place=[[San Francisco]] |date=1999 |isbn=((1-2345-6789-0)) |no-tracking=yes}}</ref>{{rp|pages=143, 233&ndash;237}}<ref name="Smith 2000">{{cite book |author-last=Smith |author-first=Bob |title=Another Source |publisher=Another Publisher |location=[[Chicago, IL]] |date=2000 |isbn=((0-0986-5432-1)) |no-tracking=yes |page=27}}</ref><ref name="NYT20060120">{{cite news |url=http://url.goes.here.tld/ |title=Some Article |author-last=Jones |author-first=Bill |work=The New York Times |page=S4, "Style" section |date=2006-01-20 |access-date=2007-03-17}}</ref>

 

}}<!--(end Aligned table)-->

*{{sectionlink|Liouville number|Liouville numbers and measure}}

 

{{Aligned table

|class=wikitable

  |col1style=width:5.0em;background:whitesmoke;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;

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| Code

An asserted fact.<ref name="Jackson 1999">{{cite book |author-last=Jackson  

|author-first=Jennifer |title=The Unlightable Being of Bareness |publisher=Funky  

Publications |publication-place=[[San Francisco]] |date=1999 |isbn=1-2345-6789-0}}

</ref>{{rp|page=148|style=ama}}

 

  | Result

 

}}<!--(end Aligned table)-->

If a reference needs a page number but it is missing, use <code>{{tlx|rp|needed&#61;y|<nowiki>{{subst:DATE}}</nowiki>}}</code> or <code>{{tlx|rp|needed&#61;y|date&#61;{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}}}</code>. This will automatically use the {{tlx|page needed}} template to add the article to [[:Category:Wikipedia articles needing page number citations|the appropriate category]]. For example, <code><nowiki><ref name="Jackson 1999" /></nowiki>{{tlp|rp|needed{{=}}y|date{{=}}November 2012}}</code> results in: <ref name="Jackson 1999" /><!--(this ref already defined in previous section)-->{{fix|link=Wikipedia:Citing sources|text=page&nbsp;needed}}

{{Aligned table

|class=wikitable

  |col1style=width:5.0em;background:whitesmoke;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;font-weight:bold;

<!------------------------------(80 characters)-------------------------------->

| Code

 

  | Result

 

}}<!--(end Aligned table)-->

Where multiple citations occur in series, {{tl|rp}} prevents line breaks between the citations. In this case, {{para|wrap|yes}} can be used to allow a line break. Alternatively, if line breaks should be allowed also inside a long page / location information, {{para|wrap|forced}} can be used instead (however, if this actually results in line breaks also depends on the browser, CSS and the skin selected).

Per [[MOS:DASH#In ranges that might otherwise be expressed with to or through|MOS:DASH]], page ranges should normally be declared with an [[ndash]] (<code><nowiki>{{rp|pages=27&amp;ndash;29}}</nowiki></code>→^[ref]{{rp|pages=27&ndash;29}}) rather than a hyphen. Tools like [[WP:AWB]] will automatically convert hyphens to dashes in such instances. For the plural page parameters {{para|pages}}, {{para|pp}} and {{para|quote-pages}} and aliases, {{tl|rp}} will automatically translate hyphens into ndashes for display purposes. (This does not apply to the singular and other in-source-location parameters {{para|page}}, {{para|p}}, {{para|at}}, {{para|loc}}, {{para|quote-page}} and aliases.) If the hyphen is actually desired for whatever reason, the "[[Help:Citation_Style_1#Accept-this-as-written_markup|accept-this-as-written-markup]]" (which is also supported by {{tl|ran}} and {{tl|r}}, the family of {{tl|sfn}}- and {{tl|harv}}-style templates, and all [[Help:CS1|CS1/CS2]] citation templates) can be used to indicate this (<code><nowiki>{{rp|pages=((27-29)), 41}}</nowiki></code>→^[ref]{{rp|pages=((27-29)), 41}}).

* {{tlx|sfn}}, another way of citing multiple pages of the same source (described in detail in the "[[WP:CITESHORT|Shortened footnotes]]" section of [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]])

* {{tlx|r}}, which allows both the reference name and page number to be specified.  {{tlc|r|aardvark|3=p=56}} expands to <code><nowiki><ref name="aardvark"/>{{Rp|56}}</nowiki></code>.

 

 

 

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