User:Dtrebbien/Templates/Cite/doc

Cite is a template for consistently formatting most references.

Usage
Short form:

Full form:


 * last
 * The full surname of the first author, non-abbreviated. The first= parameter must also be specified when using this parameter. Both last= and first= are ignored if author1= is set.
 * first
 * The full first name of the first author, non-abbreviated, unless the abbreviation was defined, unambiguously, in the article. For example, on John Hilton Grace, some of his publications are listed, which have first= set to "J. H."
 * authorlink (optional), also the same as author1link
 * An optional parameter which contains the title of a Wikipedia article about the first author. Do not place square brackets ('[' and ']') around this parameter's value, as these are automatically added. This parameter is ignored if author1= is set.


 * author1
 * The full name of the first author, non-abbreviated, unless the abbreviation was unambiguously defined in the article. Please format this field by typing the surname of the first author, followed by a comma (','), followed by the first name. This field can be a wikilink, and should be if an article about the first author exists and has not been previously linked to in the article.


 * author2
 * The full name of a second author, if one exists, non-abbreviated, unless the abbreviation was unambiguously defined in the article. This field should be formatted with the second author's first name, followed by the surname. (Thus, unlike author1=, the surname does not come first, and there is no comma.) Please make author2='s value a wikilink if applicable.


 * author3, author4
 * Exactly like author2=, but for a third or fourth author, respectively, if they exist.


 * otherauthors
 * Exactly "yes" if there are more than four authors. Any other value is interpreted as the default, "no".

Goals

 * Backward compatible Parameter names and purposes, and the appearance of output should be generally consistent with the core citation templates cite journal, cite book, cite web, ...
 * Generality The template should accommodate most media cited on Wikipedia.
 * Dual utility The template should be useful in referring to an entire work (useful in Further reading sections), as well as excerpts.