User:Davidruben/Sandbox

WP:Cite:Ref
I found learning about the cite:ref system (and citation mark-up in general) difficult. The initial description on wikipedia (Cite.php) is more about the software implementation of the feature, rather than a "beginners guide". Likewise the description now available at Footnotes starts off more as an explanation of the various optional styles. There still seems a need for a clear guide for beginners on using both the cite:ref system and embedding citation templates, given that they previously may have never used any wiki-markup other than the '= =' used for section headers.

I suggest that Footnotes becomes the overall "scene-setter" describing the range of styles, and a separate page does the explaining bit.

So here is my go at a simpler help page (?eventually move to WP:Cite Ref, WP:Help Cite or a similar alternative name). (See Footnotes#Explanation too difficult ? for comments about my alternative description).

Cite:ref - the preferred wikipedia Reference-Footnote system
At the appropriate point within the main article place details of a citation within   (see later for description of how to format the citation's details).
 * One may optionally give the citation a name, i.e.  . This has the advantage of allowing duplicate citing of the same source later in the article by using:  
 * Citations should be placed after punctuation marks. If several citations are given in sequence, do not separate with spaces or commas
 * It makes it easier to edit the article if each reference is 'tricked' into being on a new line using the html's no-display   tag which may be split over a newline and indented by a couple of spaces.
 * Remember you must explicitly indicate at the end of the article, under a suitable '==Notes== ' or '==Footnotes== ' section heading, where to display the list citations by adding the   tag.
 * Any additional sources used, which are not specifically linked to points within the article, may be then listed as a bulleted-list (i.e. start each line with *  rather than #  for numbered-lists), usually within a separate '==References== ' section.

Hence, as a example, the following markup:

Will appear as: {|width=100% style="border:solid 2px #338" This theory was finally proven by Professor Smith in 1926. Others have later questioned this and the absence of issue Z, however this missed the point that Professor Smith had already discounted this idea in his original paper.
 * width="90%" bgcolor=#eeffff style="padding:.5em"|

Details of citation - use of assisting templates
Separate from the Cite:Ref system, there are a variety of methods for arranging the description of a citation's details. The above example required the editor to manually apply wiki-markup (see Footnotes for variety of styles), however there are various   templates (see  Category:Citation templates for a full list). These help automate the process using a number of optional fields and they help ensure a consistancy of style across wikipedia. Follow the links for full descriptions, but the basics of the commonest used citation templates are:

cite journal  < ref name="Scientifica1926-Smith">   < /ref> Would give the following citation: ↑ Smith,A (1926). "Proof of Theory X".(DOC) Journal Scientifica 12: 101-121. .
 * where the title is required, id is the identifier (such as  , ) and url is link to any online copy of the article (remember to use the full URL name, e.g.  http://www.Site.com ).
 * There is an automated tool for creating cite journal markup for articles listed by US National Library for Medicine's PubMed (see Diberri's PubMed tool and the method for adding a javascript bookmarklet to your web browser described at WikiProject Clinical medicine).
 * Hence, for the example given above:
 * Hence, for the example given above:

cite book
 * where the authorlink is the title of an existing wikipedia article about the author.
 * where the authorlink is the title of an existing wikipedia article about the author.

cite web
 * where url, title and either accessdate or accessyear are required.
 * where url, title and either accessdate or accessyear are required.