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Template:Cite web

Template documentation (for the above template, sometimes hidden or invisible)

This template is used to cite online sources in Wikipedia articles. {{Cite news}} can also be used when citing a news source; for general information about citations in Wikipedia articles, see Wikipedia:Cite sources. A general discussion of the use of templates for adding citations to Wikipedia articles is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

UsageEdit

Note: None of the parameters should be capitalised, in order to avoid the article being tagged as having a broken citation. For example, use "url", "title", etc. - not "URL", "Title", etc.

Common forms with authors in any formatEdit

Citations within a page should use consistent formats. However, there is no consensus about which format is best. The following examples are for citations where one or more authors are listed in a single Template:Para parameter, using any format. Also shown below are two separate date formats that are commonly used in Wikipedia:

Day Month Year
{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=29 March 2024}}
Month Day, Year
{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 29, 2024}}

Common forms with last1, first1; last2, first2Edit

The examples below will suffice for up to two authors each with first and last names; for more, just create more parameters in a similar style:

Day Month Year
{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=29 March 2024}}
Month Day, Year
{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 29, 2024}}

All parametersEdit

When copying all parameters in either the vertical or horizontal layouts, delete those which are not needed.

All parameters, horizontal layout
{{cite web |url= |title= |first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |month= |year= |work= |publisher= |location= |page= |pages= |at= |language= |trans_title= |format= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |accessdate= |quote= |ref= |separator= |postscript= }}
All parameters, vertical layout
{{cite web
| url         = 
| title       = 
| first       = 
| last        = 
| author      = 
| authorlink  = 
| coauthors   = 
| date        = 
| month       = 
| year        = 
| work        = 
| publisher   = 
| location    = 
| page        = 
| pages       = 
| at          = 
| language    = 
| trans_title = 
| format      = 
| doi         = 
| archiveurl  = 
| archivedate = 
| accessdate  = 
| quote       = 
| ref         = 
| separator   = 
| postscript  = 
}}

Required parametersEdit

  • url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol, e.g. http://.
  • title: Title of online item. This title will appear as the citation itself, hyperlinked to the URL.

Optional parametersEdit

  • author parameters
    • author
    • last works with first to produce last, first
    • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
    • last1, first1, ..., last9, first9 and optionally authorlink1, ..., authorlink9 for specifying more authors (note: last1, first1 and authorlink1 are synonyms for last, first and authorlink, so use either last1 or last, not both)
    • coauthors: alternate way of specifying additional authors
  • a date parameter
    • either date: Full date of publication. Should not be wikilinked.
    • or year: Year of publication, and month: Name of the month of publication. If you also have the day, use date instead. Should not be wikilinked.
  • format: Format, e.g. PDF. HTML implied if not specified.
  • work: If this item is part of a larger "work", such as a book, periodical or website, write the name of that work. Do not italicize; the software will do so automatically.
  • publisher: Publisher, if any—for example if the website is hosted by a government service, educational institution, or company. (The publisher is not usually the name of the website, that is usually the work).
    • location: Geographical place of publication.
  • a page parameter
    • either page: Page number if a multi-page web article and referencing a single page. "page=5" produces p. 5.
    • or pages: Page numbers if a multi-page web article and referencing more than one page. "pages=5–7" produces pp. 5–7. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not a total number of pages.
    • or at: When the page prefix is unwanted. "at=Table 5" produces Table 5.
  • language: language of publication (don't specify "English" as this is the default).
    • trans_title: A translated title of the article, in case the original title is in a foreign language. Would normally be used in conjunction with the 'language' parameter.
  • doi: A digital object identifier for the document, such as 10.1038/news070508-7
    • Doilabel: If the doi contains some characters that must be escaped, use "doilabel" for the unescaped version. See {{doi}}: "id" is equivalent to "doi" and "label" is "doilabel"
  • archive parameters (if used, both parameters must be used together)
    • archiveurl: The URL of an archived copy of the page, if (or in case) the url becomes unavailable. Typically used to refer to services like WebCite and Archive.org.
    • archivedate: Date when the item was archived. Should not be wikilinked.
  • accessdate: Full date when item was accessed. Should not be wikilinked. This should be given if the publication date is unknown; see Citation styles.
  • quote: Relevant quote from online item.
  • ref: ID for anchor. By default, no anchor is generated. The ordinary nonempty value Template:Para generates an anchor with the given ID; such a linkable reference can be made the target of wikilinks to full references, especially useful in short citations like shortened notes and parenthetical referencing. The special value Template:Para generates an anchor suitable for the {{harv}} template; see anchors for Harvard referencing templates.
  • separator / postscript: The punctuation to use between fields / at the end of the citation

Duplicate periodsEdit

By default, {{cite web}} separates some fields with periods, so don't encode those fields ending with a period or a duplicate period will be added. Example: "publisher=Camelot, Inc" will correctly show as Camelot, Inc. but "publisher=Camelot, Inc." will incorrectly show as Camelot, Inc..

ExamplesEdit

Some standard use cases
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
    Doe, John (30 April 2005). "My Favorite Things, Part II". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 6 July 2005. 
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
    Doe, John (30 April 2005). "My Favorite Things, Part II". Encyclopedia of Things. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 6 July 2005. 
Using format
Foreign language and translated title
coauthors
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
    Doe, John; Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim (30 April 2005). "Our Favorite Things". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 16 May 2006. 
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Peter Smith; Jim Smythe |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
    Doe, John; Peter Smith; Jim Smythe (30 April 2005). "Our Favorite Things". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 16 May 2006. 
No author
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
    "Index of Sharp Things". Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. 30 April 2005. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 16 May 2006. 
No author, no publisher

This abbreviated format should only be used when the editor cannot determine the publisher and author.

  • {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}</br>→ "Index of Sharp Things". Encyclopedia of Things. 30 April 2005. http://www.example.org/. Retrieved 6 July 2005. 
Using "archiveurl" and "archivedate" for webpages that have been archived
Using "quote"
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/c.html |title=Daylight saving time: rationale and original idea |work=WebExhibits |date=2008 |accessdate=2009-09-27 |quote=...&nbsp;Lord Balfour came forward with a unique concern: 'Supposing some unfortunate lady was confined with twins&nbsp;...' }}
    "Daylight saving time: rationale and original idea". WebExhibits. 2008. http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/c.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27. "... Lord Balfour came forward with a unique concern: 'Supposing some unfortunate lady was confined with twins ...'" 

See alsoEdit


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