Template talk:Source-attribution

Proposal to drop the postscript and alter the prescript
Changing the wording. I propose to change the current wording so that there is only a prescript and it will read
 * This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:

This will bring in into line with the new wording on the template: 1911:

--PBS (talk) 12:45, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Add option for sources with free content licenses
I was editing Immutable object, which contains the following:
 * This article contains some material from the Perl Design Patterns Book

That book happens to have been published under the GNU Free Documentation License. For such a case, I'd like to propose adding a new optional  parameter which, if set, changes the text accordingly. For example, this

should produce this:


 * PD-Help icon.svg This article incorporates text from Perl Design Patterns Book, a publication whose contents are available under the GNU Free Documentation License

Comments? 68.165.77.124 (talk) 03:15, 5 February 2011 (UTC)


 * It is better if the text to your proposed licence parameter printed out as a prescript before the general unnamed parameter string, because if a template like cite book is passed in through the general unnamed parameter it usually ends with a full stop and so your current arrangement would have ". a publication..." (a lower case "a" after a full stop). -- PBS (talk) 06:05, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Changes 2021–2022
With Revision as of 14:03, 24 July 2021 the text and style of this template was:
 * PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:

Following the change by User:Primefac for Revision as of 14:14, 12 October 2021‎ the text and style were
 * PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

The notable changes here are: The following change by user:PBS for Revision as of 20:44, 10 September 2022 This reverted the change to the text and style back to Revision as of 14:03, 24 July 2021 Reverted at 06:07, 11 September 2022‎ by  User:Primefac with the edit comment:
 * 1) The use of an italic font;
 * 2) The change of "publication" to "source";
 * 3) The terminating punctuation from colon to full stop.
 * PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication in the public domain:

If is used with an unnamed parameter the text terminates with a colon. If there is no colon then the text terminates with a full stop: I think this is a subtle change which can cause confusion and inconsistencies.
 * A book
 * A book

To compare this template with two other common templates used for specific encyclopaedias

I think these is important because two or more of these listings might well appear below an Attribition: line in a list of references and I think that the text of all three ought to be consistent.

@User:Primefac I am interested to hear your thoughts the three changes you introduced and on on your edit comment (copied in green above). -- PBS (talk) 10:06, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Sorry for the delay, I've seen this but I haven't had the time to dedicate to it. Will do so as time allows. Primefac (talk) 08:04, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Still on my list of things to respond to. Primefac (talk) 13:14, 26 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Okay, my apologies for the long delay in replying. If we have multiple similar templates that use something different than ours, then I agree that there is not much point in keeping this separate (so I have removed the italics from this one). However, I would make the argument that the other templates are clunky and oddly-worded if we are going to be using it in the somewhat-slapdash manner we are currently using this template. Let me explain:
 * As I mentioned below, the source can come before this template. Saying This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain. after the source is just... weird. By saying "this source", we are specifically saying which source is being used, even if it comes first. The other templates do not need to do that because they are hard-coded to put the source at the end of the sentence/phrase. If you really want to make it "a publication" and get rid of the whole "full stop/colon" issue, then we will need to go through every use of this template and change all of the source/template uses into {template|source} uses. Primefac (talk) 07:39, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Another suggestion is to shorten the prefix even further, and keep it non-italic:
 * PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from "A Book"
 * Shorter seems better if used inline, and we don't need to specify whether it is a source or a publication, nor decide whether it should be a period or a colon. — hike395 (talk) 03:06, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * The problem is that there are some uses where it goes – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 11:19, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Primefac (talk) 11:22, 17 May 2023 (UTC)