Help:Explanatory notes

Explanatory or content notes are used to add explanations, comments or other additional information relating to the main content but would make the text too long or awkward to read. Such notes may include supporting references.

Please read Help:Footnotes and Help:Shortened footnotes first, as this guide builds upon the methods described on those help pages. WP:REFGROUP is of particular importance.

Note formats
There are several ways to include notes:

Footnotes mixed with explanatory notes
This example uses list-defined references mixed with explanatory notes. {{markup
 * The Sun is pretty big. But the Moon is not so big. The Sun is also quite hot.

Footnotes with separate explanatory notes
This example creates a separate notes section by using group names. {{markup
 * The Sun is pretty big. But the Moon is not so big.  The Sun is also quite hot.

Shortened footnotes mixed with explanatory notes
{{markup
 * The Sun is pretty big. But the Moon is not so big. The Sun is also quite hot.

Shortened footnotes with separate explanatory notes
This example creates a separate notes section by using group names.

{{markup
 * The Sun is pretty big. But the Moon is not so big.  The Sun is also quite hot.

Shortened footnotes with separate explanatory notes with references
This method uses sfn to create the main footnotes, refn to create the explanatory notes and sfn to create footnotes in the explanatory notes.

{{markup
 * The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|But Muller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}}} But the Moon{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.{{sfn|Broun|2001|p=63}}}} is not so big.{{sfn|Broun|2001|p=46}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Smiths|2005|p=334}}