This page explains how to nest footnotes (references or notes) in Wikipedia articles, i.e.
This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wiki's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus and vetting. |
how to create a footnote within a footnote. It reflects the way the MediaWiki software operates as of July 2015.
Footnotes are used most commonly to provide:
The Footnotes system shows two elements on the page:
{{reflist}}
, {{reflist|group=...}}
or {{notelist}}
) is placed. Each entry begins with the footnote label in plain text.Sometimes, an editor wishes to insert (nest) a footnote within a footnote. We will call the inserted footnote a "subnote". Cases may include:
Type of nesting | Example |
---|---|
Reference within a note | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesReferences |
Note within a note | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesSubnotes References |
Note on a reference | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. ReferencesNotes on references |
You cannot nest a footnote within a footnote that uses ... tags, even if the footnotes belong to different groups.
Neither the subnote nor the preceding part of the main footnote is displayed. An error message is displayed in red font. The following part of the main footnote (if any) appears in the article text, with an unwanted tag.
Case 1: Error message and missing text, using nested ... tags |
---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.This is the latter part of the main footnote. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesReferences |
{{refn}}
template within ... tags The subnote is not displayed. An error message is displayed in red font.
Case 2: Error message and missing text, using {{refn}} within ... tags |
---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesReferences |
{{efn}}
template within ... tags The subnote is not displayed. An error message is displayed in red font.
Case 3: Error message and missing text, using {{efn}} within ... tags |
---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesSubnotesReferences |
{{r}}
template within ... tags This section is retained only for historical reference. Reason: The {{R}} template has been deprecated by community RfC since 2010 (its use "suspended" unless three conditions were met, which were not met).For a modern solution to citing different pages in a single source, which can be used inside an existing <ref> for another source, see {{harvp}} . |
The subnote is not displayed. An error message is displayed in red font.
Case 4: Error message and missing text, using {{r}} within ... tags |
---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. NotesReferences |
Due to a long-standing bug (see phab:T22707), list-defined references do not work correctly when references are nested.
Case 5: Error message and missing reference using list-defined references |
---|
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. References |
A workaround is available via {{sfnlink}}.
To nest a footnote within another, one or both footnotes should be enclosed within the {{r}}
, {{refn}}
or {{efn}}
templates. You may also use #tag:ref
– this is just a less user-friendly equivalent of {{refn}}
.
{{r}}
and {{refn}}
use a very similar calling syntax (with {{r}}
supporting all named parameters of {{refn}}
), but {{r}}
also supports shorter parameter aliases and is generally more flexible and powerful: {{refn|group=groupname|name=name|Contents of the footnote}}
{{r|g=groupname|n=name|r=Contents of the footnote}}
{{efn}}
is equivalent to {{refn|group=lower-alpha}}
(or {{r|g=lower-alpha}}
), and the corresponding {{notelist}}
is equivalent to {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
. Likewise, {{efn-lr}}
is equivalent to {{refn|group=lower-roman}}
(or {{r|g=lower-roman}}
), and the corresponding {{notelist-lr}}
is equivalent to {{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
; similarly for the other variants.
The following are some examples of correct use of these templates for nesting footnotes. Other permutations are possible and will yield similar results.
The reference appears within the main list of numbered references, and the reference marker is a simple numeral.
{{refn}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Mary's possessions are on record.Book, 1949.}} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesReferences |
{{efn}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{efn|Mary's possessions are on record.Book, 1949. }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Notes==== {{notelist}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesReferences |
{{r}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|g=lower-alpha|r=Mary's possessions are on record.{{r|r=Book, 1949.}}}} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesReferences |
A subnote may appear in the same list as the footnote in which it is nested, although the subnote will appear above the main note referring to it.
{{refn}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Mary's possessions are on record.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|They have been itemised by BookBook, 1949. and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesReferences |
{{r}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|g=lower-alpha|r=Mary's possessions are on record.{{r|g=lower-alpha|r=They have been itemised by Book{{r|r=Book, 1949.}} and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesReferences |
The subnote appears in a separate list, above or below the list in which the main note appears. The subnote is given a non-numeric marker - e.g. [b] or [iv].
If the main note is also indexed in the same way, to keep the lists separate the two sets of markers must be different, e.g. one set alphabetic with the other set roman numerals. The full range of possible markers can be seen here.
{{refn}}
Note the use of {{refn}}
rather than ... for both main note and subnote, so that the reference doubly nested within the subnote will display correctly.
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Mary's possessions are on record.{{refn|group=lower-roman|They have been itemised by BookBook, 1949. and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ''Subnotes'' {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesSubnotes References |
{{efn}}
Note the use of {{efn}}
rather than ... for both main note and subnote, so that the reference doubly nested within the subnote will display correctly.
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{efn|Mary's possessions are on record.{{efn-lr|They have been itemised by BookBook, 1949. and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Notes==== {{notelist}} ''Subnotes'' {{notelist-lr}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesSubnotes References |
{{r}}
Note the use of {{r}}
rather than ... for both main note and subnote, so that the reference doubly nested within the subnote will display correctly.
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|g=lower-alpha|r=Mary's possessions are on record.{{r|g=lower-roman|r=They have been itemised by Book{{r|r=Book, 1949.}} and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====Notes==== {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} ''Subnotes'' {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. NotesSubnotes References |
The subnote appears in a separate list, above or below the list in which the main note appears. The subnote is given a numeral preceded by a character string, e.g. [Subnote 3], [n 3] or [nb 3].
{{refn}}
If the main note is also indexed in the same way, to keep the lists separate the two character strings must be different. The main note and subnote both use {{refn}}
.
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|group=main note|Mary's possessions are on record.{{refn|group=subnote|They have been itemised by BookBook, 1949. and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====Main notes==== {{reflist|group=main note}} ''Subnotes'' {{reflist|group=subnote}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. Main notesSubnotes References |
{{r}}
If the main note is also indexed in the same way, to keep the lists separate the two character strings must be different. The main note and subnote both use {{r}}
.
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|g=main note|r=Mary's possessions are on record.{{r|g=subnote|r=They have been itemised by Book{{r|r=Book, 1949.}} and others.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====Main notes==== {{reflist|group=main note}} ''Subnotes'' {{reflist|group=subnote}} ====References==== {{reflist}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. Main notesSubnotes References |
{{refn}}
The subnote appears in a separate list, below the main References list. The subnote uses {{refn}}
with a predefined or user-defined group. Be aware that because nesting fails within tags, the reference bearing the subnote also has to use {{refn}}
(without a group), not the more usual .
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|Book, 1949.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The relevant chapter does not appear in the paperback edition of 1955.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====References==== {{reflist}} ''Notes on the references'' {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. ReferencesNotes on the references |
{{r}}
The subnote appears in a separate list, below the main References list. The subnote uses {{r}}
with a predefined or user-defined group. Be aware that because nesting fails within tags, the reference bearing the subnote also has to use {{r}}
(without a group), not the more usual .
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|r=Book, 1949.{{r|g=lower-alpha|r=The relevant chapter does not appear in the paperback edition of 1955.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====References==== {{reflist}} ''Notes on the references'' {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. ReferencesNotes on the references |
{{refn}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
MaryBloggs, 1981. had a little lamb.{{refn|Book, 1949.{{refn|group=Note|The relevant chapter does not appear in the paperback edition of 1955.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.Scroggs, 1983. ====References==== {{reflist}} ''Notes on the references'' {{reflist|group=Note}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. ReferencesNotes on the references |
{{r}}
Markup | Renders as |
---|---|
Mary{{r|r=Bloggs, 1981.}} had a little lamb.{{r|r=Book, 1949.{{r|g=Note|r=The relevant chapter does not appear in the paperback edition of 1955.}} }} Its fleece was white as snow.{{r|r=Scroggs, 1983.}} ====References==== {{reflist}} ''Notes on the references'' {{reflist|group=Note}} | Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow. ReferencesNotes on the references |
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