Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref

The last reference on a page will not show this error; instead, the code will appear as normal text, &lt;ref>.

Overview
References are defined within  tags.

Issues and resolution
The closing tag is missing or malformed. Ensure that you are either using a closed pair of tags such as content or a single tag such as.

Extra spaces may also cause this, for example  or.

This error will also show if  tags or a named reference are nested inside another set of  tags.  tags cannot be nested; see WP:REFNEST for details.

If a reference has not been initiated with a tag, the error will appear at the properly formed preceding reference. For example, if you code



then the error message will appear at the location of reference 1, not reference 2.

When referring to an already named reference, ensure that the ref tag is in the following format. Note the final slash, which must be directly adjacent to the closing angle bracket.

See WP:REFNAME for details.

Improperly closed ref tag
In this example, reference 2 is improperly closed with. Note how the content between the reference 2 and the reference 3 is missing:

{{pre| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Curabitur pretium tincidunt lacus. Nulla gravida orci a odio. Nullam varius, turpis et commodo pharetra, est eros bibendum elit, nec luctus magna felis sollicitudin mauris. Integer in mauris eu nibh euismod gravida.

Nesting ref tags
Here reference 2 is nested inside reference 1:

{{pre| Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Bugs

 * : Misleading error message for omitted s
 * : Nested refs fail inside references block