Template:Cite source

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Instructions for {{Cite source}}

{{cite source}} or {{cs}} is a powerful template for generating in-universe, inline citations. In its most basic usage, it produces a collapsible bit of information about the source being cited, pulled directly from the infobox, intended to supplement the prefix. However, the template also has options for citing specific parts and episodes, variants of sources that don't have their own page, exact page numbers and timestamps and paths of "choose your own adventure" books. Basic usage is very simple. When citing a source, instead of linking to the source like usual, wrap it in this template, like this: {{Cite source|source's page name}}. For example, if citing The Daleks, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Daleks (TV story)}})

This produces the following:

(TV: )

You can also include linking brackets around this parameter and this parameter only. This allows you to make use of link autosuggest. For example, the following is valid:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|[[Rosa (TV story)]]}})

This produces the following:

(TV: )

The template will automatically strip the dab term in the display text. To specify custom display text, you would type the following: {{Cite source|source's page name|display name}}. For example, if citing Project: Lazarus, which, for technical reasons, has the page name Project Lazarus (audio story), you would type:

([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|Project Lazarus (audio story)|Project: Lazarus}})

This produces the following:

(AUDIO: )

Clicking the ^[+] to the right of the source's name will reveal additional information about the source, intended to provide context to the reader regarding the origin of the source, allowing them to easily decide if it is something they're interested in. This information is automatically pulled from the infobox and generally requires no editor intervention (although you can customise the additional information if desired). For this to work, the page for the source being cited must be using {{Infobox Story SMW}}. If it is not, an error will be produced. Information about finetuning the text displayed here can be found in the Infobox's documentation.

Exact nature of the additional information

The collapsible additional information can include the following:

• writer(s)
• what the source is adapted from
  • the original source's writer(s)
• series
• anthology
• magazine/comic issue
• publisher
• premiere network
• release year(s)

If there are 4 or more writers, only one will be displayed with the rest replaced by "et al.". Hovering over the "et al." on desktop will show the other writers. For example:

(PROSE: )

Citing parts and episodes

Sources are often serialised across a number of parts. Sometimes, it can be useful to cite specific parts and episodes. Where possible, this is preferred over generic citations as it makes checking the citation and looking for the information within the source much easier (to make this even easier, consider adding a precise citation).

Named parts and episodes

To cite a specific named episode, use the following format: {{Cite source|source's page name|namedep=episode's section title}}. For example, to cite "The Dead Planet" from The Daleks, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Daleks (TV story)|namedep=The Dead Planet (1)}})

This produces:

(TV: )

The text provided to the |namedep= parameter must exactly match the episode's section title on the source's page, including any bracketed episode numbers. These bracketed episode numbers will be automatically stripped in the output.

The |namedpart= parameter is very similar. However, it does not produce a link to any specific sections. It has the following format: {{Cite source|source's page name|namedpart=part's name}}. For example, to cite "The House Military" from The Book of the War, you might type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The House Military}})

This would produce:

(PROSE: )

Unnamed parts and episodes

To cite a specific unnamed episode, use the following format: {{Cite source|source's page name|ep=episode number}}. The episode number must be in the exact same format used for that episode's section title on the source's page, including capitalisation. For example, to cite part 7 of The War Games, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The War Games (TV story)|ep=seven}})

This produces:

(TV: )

Sometimes, the episode or part's section title isn't simply in the format "Episode <number>" or "Part <number>" and so the link produced using this feature will be incorrect. In these situations, provide the full section's title using the |sect= parameter. For example, to cite part 2 of The Klepton Parasites, which has the section title "Part Two: 16th November 1964", you would type:

([[COMIC]]: {{cite source|The Klepton Parasites (comic story)|part=Two|sect=Part Two: 16th November 1964}})

This produces:

(COMIC: )

|sect= can also be used for linking to arbitrary sections outside of the context of episodes and parts, if desired.

Citing variants

Sources sometimes have one or more variants that aren't deserving of their own source page and so are covered on the same page as their "parent" source, such as animated reconstructions or audiobook readings. Occasionally, these variants can present unique information and so may want to be specifically cited. To do so, the variant should first be defined on the source's page using {{Store variant data}}. Then, the variant being cited should be specified as follows: {{Cite source|source's page name|var=variant name}}. The variant name used by the |var= parameter should be exactly the same as the variant name set in {{Store variant data}} as the |variant= parameter. For example, to cite the special edition of The Five Doctors, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Five Doctors (TV story)|var=special edition}})

This produces:

(TV: )

This works with citing parts as well. For example, if you wanted to cite part 3 of the animated reconstruction of The Faceless Ones, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Faceless Ones (TV story)|var=animated reconstruction|ep=3}})

This produces:

(TV: )

Precise citations

It can sometimes be useful to cite specific editions, chapters, page numbers or timestamps. The information being cited is rarely from the source as a whole, so being as precise as possible makes verifying information much easier. The precise citations can be used alongside citing parts and citing variants.

Books

To perform precise citations for books, use the |ed= and |page= parameters to define the edition and page number being cited. These can be used independently, although it is often preferable to use |ed= with |page= as page numbers can change between editions. For example, to cite page 10 of The Eight Doctors, you would type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Eight Doctors (novel)|page=10}})

This produces:

(PROSE: )

You can also cite multiple pages. For example, to cite pages 10-20 of The Eight Doctors, you would type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Eight Doctors (novel)|page=10-20}})

This produces:

(PROSE: )

Note the inclusion of the "s" in "pages" in the produced citation. This "s" is added if the template detects any of the following: ",", "-", "and", "&".

Chapters can also be specified. Chapter numbers can be specified with |chaptnum= and chapter names with |chaptname=. For example, to cite chapter 1 of Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, you would type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (novelisation)|ed=1965 Armada edition|chaptnum=1|chaptname=A Meeting on the Common}})

This produces:

(PROSE: )

|chaptnum= follows the same logic of pluralisation that page= uses.

Using |chaptname= requires that |chaptnum= is also used. To just specify just a chapter name, or any other custom chapter text, use chapt=.

Video and audio sources

To perform precise citations for video (including TV stories, webcasts and films) and audio sources, you can define a timestamp using the |hour=, |minute= and |second= parameters. These can be used in any combination. For example, to cite the timestamp 34 minutes and 2 second of Rosa, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|Rosa (TV story)|minute=34|second=2}})

This produces:

(TV: )

You can also define entirely custom timestamps using |timestamp=. For example, to cite the timestamp 26:54 of The Boundless Sea, you would type:

([[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Boundless Sea (audio story)|timestamp=26:54}})

This produces:

(AUDIO: )

It can sometimes also be a good idea to use |ed= in these precise citations, particularly with video sources, as exact timestamps can change between versions, such as the broadcast version, home media releases and oversea edits, and these don't always qualify as their own variants.

Custom precise citation text

Alternatively to everything discussed in the prior two sections, you can define entirely custom precise citation text using the |precisecite= parameter.

Citing "choose your own adventure" books

In line with Forum:Revisiting fiction with branching elements and historical policy therein, you can cite specific "markers" (the terminology used in the opening post) within "choose your own adventure" gamebooks such as those in the Make Your Own Adventure with Doctor Who/Find Your Fate, Decide Your Destiny and Choose the Future series. To do this, specify the marker using |marker=. If there are marker sections on the page, make sure that the marker specified exactly matches the bit of the section header after "Marker ". For example, to cite the 2nd marker of Search for the Doctor, you would type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Search for the Doctor (novel)|marker=2}})

This produces the following:

(PROSE: )

Multiple markers should be cited in different uses of the template. To reduce clutter, the title of the story can be hidden by setting |notitle= to any value. For example, to cite markers 32 and 33 of Search for the Doctor, you would type:

([[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Search for the Doctor (novel)|marker=32}}, {{cite source|Search for the Doctor (novel)|marker=33|notitle=1}})

This produces the following:

(PROSE: , )

Some "choose your own adventure" use their own terminology and these can be used as well.

• "paragraphs" uses |paragraph=
• "outcomes" uses |outcome=
• "pages" uses |mppage= (Multipath page)
• "endings" uses |ending=

In addition, entirely custom text can be specified using |path=. For example, to cite the "good" ending of Attack of the Graske, you would type:

([[GAME]]: {{cite source|Attack of the Graske (video game)|path="good" ending}})

This produces the following:

(GAME: )

This can be combined with |sect= to link to specific sections of the source's article.

Customising the additional information

It is possible to overwrite specific bits of information in the collapsible additional information for a specific citation using the following parameters:

• |writer=
• |adapted from=
• |series=
• |anthology=
• |publisher=
• |network=
• |release year=

You only have to specify the information that you wish to change from the default. Others will be filled in automatically. For example, if you wished to be a little more precise about the release year when citing "The Dead Planet", you would type the following:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Daleks (TV story)|namedep=The Dead Planet (1)|release year=1963}})

This produces:

(TV: )

If any of the values you wish to use for any of these bits of information contain a comma (","), you must specify the |separator= parameter with a different separator (such as ";") that then should be used when you need to specify multiple values for a bit of information, such as multiple writers.

Using this feature repeatedly on the same page may cause performance issues, but occasional usage shouldn't have much impact.

It is also possible to provide fully customised additional information using the |citationtext= parameter.

Reusing citations

Due to the number of options available, uses of this template can sometimes become very long. Therefore, much like with <ref> references, it is possible to define named citations that can be reused within the page they were defined on. This is done using the |name= parameter. To define a named citation, simply add this parameter to the template usage with a short name. For example, to define a citation named "TFOAR1" for episode 1 of the DVD edition of the animated reconstruction of The Faceless Ones at the timestamp 3 minutes and 4 seconds, you would type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|The Faceless Ones (TV story)|var=animated reconstruction|ep=1|minute=3|second=4|ed=DVD|name=TFOAR1}})

This produces the following output as normal:

(TV: )

Then, to reuse this citation, you would only have to type:

([[TV]]: {{cite source|name=TFOAR1}})

This produces:

(TV: )

When |name= is being used to access an already defined citation, any other parameters passed to the template are ignored. In other words, you cannot alter a named citation in later uses.

Errors and troubleshooting

Due to the complex nature of this large template, there are a number of ways in which it could go wrong and produce an error. This section details these errors, providing potential solutions.

Lua errors

If you see any errors like this, please remove the use of this template that is causing it and report it on the talk page with as much detail as you can as soon as possible. These errors generally mean that there is some form of mistake with the template's actual code.

Error: code 1

data table empty
This error means that the source's infobox was unable to collect any data to put the additional information together. To fix this, first purge the cache of the source's page and the page the citation is being used on. If that doesn't work, make sure that the infobox contains at least one of the pieces of data listed here. If all else fails, manually define the additional information using the |citation text= parameter within the infobox.

Error: code 2

no data stored in variables, cache or SMW
This error means that the template is unable to get the additional information from the source's infobox. To fix this, first check that you've actually got the source's page name correct, including the dab term. If this doesn't work, purge the cache of the source's page and the page the citation is being used on. If this doesn't work, check that the source's page is actually using {{Infobox Story SMW}} and, if it isn't, convert it so that it is. If this doesn't work, report the error on the talk page.

Error: code 3

no story given in template transclusion
This is a simple one and means that the template has been used without providing a source to actually be cited. To fix this, include a source like is shown in the first few paragraphs of this page.

Error: code 4

no data in variables or cache and SMW returned information for multiple variants, the one required here not being clear
This rather verbose error is an extreme edge case that should never occur. It means that you've attempted to cite a variant where more than one variant for that source exist and, for whatever reason, there is no additional information provided for said variant in the 2 preferred means of storing this information yet Semantic MediaWiki, the last resort, does have this information, the problem being that it is not possible to properly distinguish the multiple variants coming from SMW. To fix this, first purge the cache of the source's page and the page the citation is being used on. If that doesn't work, report the error on the talk page.

Other issues

There are some other problems that are not automatically detectable and have no automatic fix.

Only some of the citation information is in the collapsible. The rest is always visible.

This is most likely caused by the template being used in a block of italics. For example:

''[...]([[TV]]: {{cite source|Rose (TV story)}}[...]''

[...](TV: )[...]

This is not the intended behavior. To fix this, try closing the italics before the citation and opening them again after. For example:

''[...]''([[TV]]: {{cite source|Rose (TV story)}}''[...]''

[...](TV: )[...]

Pretty much, this template just can't be used within italics.

Full parameters list

This section lists all parameters offered by this template.

Parameter	Purpose	Documented at
1	Cited source's page name	Basic usage
2	Display text	Basic usage
name	Reusing named citations	Reusing citations
sect	Linking to specific sections	Citing parts and episodes
part	Citing unnamed parts	Citing parts and episodes
ep	Citing unnamed episodes	Citing parts and episodes
namedep	Citing named episodes	Citing parts and episodes
namedpart	Citing named parts, without linking to a specific section	Citing parts and episodes
var	Citing variants	Citing variants
precisecite	Custom precise citation text	Precise citations
ed	Precise citation edition	Precise citations
chapt	Precise citation custom chapter text	Precise citations
chaptnum	Precise citation chapter number	Precise citations
chaptname	Precise citation chapter name	Precise citations
page	Precise citation page number(s)	Precise citations
timestamp	Precise citation custom timestamp	Precise citations
hour	Precise citation timestamp hour	Precise citations
minute	Precise citation timestamp minute	Precise citations
second	Precise citation timestamp second	Precise citations
marker	Citing unlabelled paths of CYOA books	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
paragraph	Citing "paragraphs" of CYOA books	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
outcome	Citing "outcomes" of CYOA books	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
mppage	Citing "pages" of CYOA books	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
ending	Citing "endings" of CYOA books	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
path	Citing unlabelled paths of "multipath" sources	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
citationtext	Fully custom additional information text	Customising the additional information
anthology	Custom additional information anthology	Customising the additional information
writer	Custom additional information writer	Customising the additional information
publisher	Custom additional information publisher	Customising the additional information
adapted from	Custom additional information adapted from	Customising the additional information
network	Custom additional information premiere network	Customising the additional information
release year	Custom additional information release year(s)	Customising the additional information
series	Custom additional information series	Customising the additional information
separator	Specifying a separator other than "," for custom additional information	Customising the additional information
notitle	Set this to any value to stop the story's title from displaying	Citing "choose your own adventure" books
noinfo	Set this to any value to hide any additional information from displaying	Here
noital	Set this to any value to manually stop the source's name being italicised	Here
quote	Set this to any value to manually wrap the source's name in "quotation marks"	Here
wikitext	Set this to any value to cause the collapsible text to be wrapped in <pre> tags for debugging	Here
debug	Set this to any value to cause the some debug information to be appended to the collapsible text	Here

Technical documentation

This template relies upon Module:Cite source, a module written in Lua. Documentation for this module can be found on its page. It also uses MediaWiki:Gadget-cs.js and MediaWiki:Gadget-cs.css, as well as Template:Cite source/styles.css. The idea here is that, by default, {{cite source}} is hidden by this /styles.css. However, if the gadget that loads MediaWiki:Gadget-cs.css is enabled, which it is by default, this is overriden. This lets people disable {{cite source}} by disabling the gadget for it in Special:Preferences.

Template data

Produces inline citations for in-universe articles with collapsible additional information.

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Page name	1	The source's page name Example Project Lazarus (audio story)	Page name	suggested
Display text	2	The display text of the link to the source. Usually only required if the source name contains a colon (":") as, in these cases, the page name will omit it. Disambiguation terms are removed automatically. Example Project: Lazarus	Line	suggested
Named citation	name	Either the name of a previously defined named citation, or the name of this citation that allows it to be reused	Line	suggested
Section	sect	The section of the source's page to link to.	Line	optional
Unnamed part	part	The part number to cite of a serialised story with unnamed parts. Will produce a link to the part's section header on the source's page and add the part's number to the display text in brackets. Should match the format used by the section header. Example Seven	Line	suggested
Unnamed episode	ep	The episode number to cite of a serialised story with unnamed episodes. Will produce a link to the episode's section header on the source's page and add the episode's number to the display text in brackets. Should match the format used by the section header. Example 2	Line	suggested
Named episode	namedep	The episode to cite of a serialised story with named episodes. Will produce a link to the episode's section heading on the source's page and change the display text to the episode's name in quotation marks. Should match the format used by the section header, including any brackets (which are automatically removed in the display). Example The Dead Planet (1)	Line	suggested
Named part	namedpart	The part to cite of a serialised story with named parts. Will not produce a link to the part's section on the sources page but will change to display text to the part's name in quotation marks. Example The House Military	Line	suggested
Variant	var	Allows a specific variant of a source to be cited, as defined on the source's page (see template documentation for details). Example special edition	Line	suggested
Custom precise citation text	precisecite	Allows fully custom precise citation text to be defined.	Content	optional
Edition	ed	The edition of the source to cite. Part of the precise cite display. Example 1965 Armada edition	Line	suggested
Custom precise citation chapter text	chapt	Allows for custom chapter text to be specified, such as if the chapter is named but not numbered. Part of the precise cite display.	Line	optional
Chapter number	chaptnum	The chapter number(s) of the source to cite. Part of the precise cite display. Example 3-4, 20	Line	suggested
Chapter name	chaptname	The chapter name of the source to cite. Part of the precise cite display. Requires that the chapter number be specified. Example A Meeting on the Common	Line	suggested
Page number	page	The page number(s) of the source to cite. Part of the precise cite display. Example 3-29, 106	Line	suggested
Custom precise citation timestamp	timestamp	Allows a custom timestamp to be specified. Part of the precise cite display. Example 13:20	Line	optional
Timestamp hour	hour	The hour part of the timestamp to cite from the source. Part of the precise cite display. Example 1	Number	suggested
Timestamp minute	minute	The minute part of the timestamp to cite from the source. Part of the precise cite display. Example 12	Number	suggested
Timestamp second	second	The seconds part of the timestamp to cite from the source. Part of the precise cite display. Example 54	Number	suggested
CYOA book marker	marker	The "marker" used to cite for CYOA books. Example 32	Number	optional
CYOA book paragraph	paragraph	The "paragraph" used to cite for CYOA books. Example 32	Number	optional
CYOA book outcome	outcome	The "outcome" used to cite for CYOA books. Example 32	Number	optional
CYOA book page	mppage	The "page" used to cite for CYOA books. Example 32	Number	optional
CYOA book ending	ending	The "ending" used to cite for CYOA books. Example 32	Number	optional
Multipath source path	path	The "path" used to cite for multipath sources. Example 32	Number	optional
Additional information override	citationtext	Allows for the autogenerated additional information to be fully overridden.	Content	optional
Anthology override	anthology	Allows the autogenerated anthology to be overridden. Example Short Trips (anthology)	Page name	optional
Writer override	writer	Allows the autogenerated writer to be overridden. Example Russell T Davies	Page name	optional
Publisher override	publisher	Allows the autogenerated publisher to be overridden. Example BBC Books	Page name	optional
Adapted from override	adapted from	Allows the autogenerated adapted from source to be overridden. Example The Daleks (TV story)	Page name	optional
Network override	network	Allows the autogenerated broadcast network to be overridden. Example BBC tv	Page name	optional
Release year override	release year	Allows the autogenerated release year to be overridden. Example 1963-1964	Line	optional
Series override	series	Allows the autogenerated series to be overridden. This parameter allows for arbitrary wikitext. Example ''[[Doctor Who]]''	Content	optional
Overrides separator	separator	Separator to use for listing multiple values for any overrides. Default , Example ;	Line	optional
Remove source title	notitle	Set to any value to remove the source's name and link, leaving only the collapsible additional information. Suggested values true Example true	Line	optional
Remove additional information	noinfo	Set this to any value to prevent the collapsible additional information from displaying. Suggested values true Example true	Line	optional
Remove italics	noital	Set this to any value to prevent the source's name from being italicised. Suggested values true Example true	Line	optional
Force quotation marks	quote	Set this to any value to prevent force the source's name to be wrapped in quotation marks ("). Suggested values true Example true	Line	optional

See also

• {{cite web}}
• {{cite book}}
• {{cite magazine}}

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