There are several predefined groups that can have a reference list styled so that the label (a superscripted character within square brackets, e.g., [1]) of an explanatory note or citation (a.k.a. footnote, reference) matches and links to the note marker label located in the main text and the label in front of the note's text in the appropriate group's list. There can be more than one of these groups' lists in the Notes, References and other similarly purposed sections.

These predefined note and citation groups have templates that make the wikitext markup simpler. These templates also allow a standard reference to be inserted, so that an explanatory note can have a reference, or citations can be nested.

Note: If the note's text has a reference name that is used more than once, the labels will still match, but the clickable alpha characters that toggle the note's display will be next to the note's label, with links to the multiple locations of its marker in the main text. See WP:REFNAME and the first point below in § Issues.

Template use by reference group type

Group type Footnote marker template
or markup		 Reference list
template		 Sample labels
none by default, but optionally any <ref>...</ref> ((reflist)) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
((r)) (for nested references)
((refn)) (for nested references)
lower-alpha ((efn))
((efn-la))		 ((notelist))
((notelist-la))		 a b c d e f g h i j
upper-alpha ((efn-ua)) ((notelist-ua)) A B C D E F G H I J
lower-roman ((efn-lr)) ((notelist-lr)) i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x
upper-roman ((efn-ur)) ((notelist-ur)) I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
lower-greek ((efn-lg)) ((notelist-lg)) α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ
note ((NoteTag)) ((NoteFoot)) note 1 note 2 note 3

In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:

With lower-alpha labels
Markup Renders as 
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.((efn|Footnote 1)) Consectetur adipisicing elit.((efn|Footnote 2)) Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.((efn|Footnote 3))

((notelist))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[c]

  1. ^ Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2
  3. ^ Footnote 3
With lower-roman labels
Markup Renders as 
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.((efn-lr|Footnote 1)) Consectetur adipisicing elit.((efn-lr|Footnote 2)) Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.((efn-lr|Footnote 3))

((notelist-lr))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[i] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[ii] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[iii]

  1. ^ Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2
  3. ^ Footnote 3
With named references
Markup Renders as 
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.((efn|name=fn1|Footnote 1)) Consectetur adipisicing elit.((efn|Footnote 2)) Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.((efn|name=fn1))

((notelist))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[a]

  1. ^ a b Footnote 1
  2. ^ Footnote 2

Note: With named references you only need to add the details once. For each use after the first you just need to re-use the reference name. Doing this will not cause the inline superscript to display a custom name.

Named references can also be defined in the notelist
Markup Renders as 
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.((efn|name=fn1)) Consectetur adipisicing elit.((efn|name=fn2)) Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.((efn|name=fn1))

((notelist|refs=
((efn|name=fn1|Very long footnote 1))
((efn|name=fn2|Very long footnote 2))
))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[a]

  1. ^ a b Very long footnote 1
  2. ^ Very long footnote 2

Note: Due to limitations in the MediaWiki software, do not use list-defined footnotes that contain references.

Issues

More