Help:HowTo/Create a footnote in narrative text

Quick reference

Creating footnotes in narrative text

On a Person or Family page

First create Source citations and/or Notes by clicking "Add source citation" or "Add note". You will see that these have tags like S1, N1, etc. You can refer to them in the narrative section by using the <ref> tag, as in the following example.

Examples of Person pages with footnotes in the narrative section:

• Person:Mary Washburne (1)
• Person:Edward Cleveland (2)

On other types of pages

For pages without built-in Source citations and Notes, the method is a bit different. Create footnotes within the narrative by using <ref> tags. Then include the <references/> tag to display the contents of the footnotes.

Here is an example of how to use <ref> and <references/> tags on a page other than a Person or Family page. Note that the title of the footnote section in this example is Footnotes, but it can be any text you choose to use, such as References or Notes.

The <ref> tag uses the name parameter to either assign a name to new footnote text or to refer to a footnote that has already been defined (as with the name headstones in the example above).

• The name parameter is optional - if you don't plan to reuse a footnote (and don't put the <references/> tag on the page more than once), you don't need to assign a name. (The last <ref> tag in the example above doesn't have a name.)
• The name should be alphanumeric and cannot be just a number.
• Best practice is to keep the name short, as it will be part of the URL when someone clicks on the footnote link.

Best practice is to place the <references/> tag at the very end of the narrative. Before placing it anywhere else, please read Placement of the references tag.

Examples of page with footnotes created using this method:

• Coker in Georgia
• The Horner House at Mells

A deprecated method

Note that the Template:Cite method is now replaced by the <ref> tag, but you will still find it used on many existing pages (for example, refer to the edit page for Person:Julia Ann Stuck (1)).

The cite template was used by adding the following where the footnote link was desired:

{{cite|S1}}

Note that the appearance of the footnote link is different than when using the <ref> tag.

The cite template is deprecated, meaning that you should no longer use it. Here's why:

• Using the <ref> tag causes a link to be added next to the source or note in the references section that points back to the place in the text from which the reference is made. That is, next to the source in the "References" section a link would link back to the point in the text where you inserted the <ref> tag. The cite template does not do this.
• At present, both the <ref> tag and the cite template will renumber if a source or note number is changed due to removal of an earlier source or note. There is no guarantee that the template will continue to function this way in future redesigns.

Referring to a previous footnote

This method is more advanced, for those who want their footnotes to look like what might be published in a book, where the first footnote for a source includes the publication information for the source and subsequent footnotes for the same source (with different page numbers) just give the (sometimes shortened) name of the source.

Please refer to instructions above for the basics of creating a footnote in narrative text.

On a Person or Family page

Create the first source citation in the Source Citations section of the page. This example assumes that source citation S1 has been created for The visitation of Wiltshire, 1623, pp. 43-47. Note that the link in the second footnote takes you to the first footnote.

An example of a page using this technique:

• Person:John Alden (1)

On other types of pages

This example shows multiple source citations for the same source, with different details. Note that the links in the second and third footnotes take you to the first footnote.

Placement of the references tag

We strongly recommend that you:

• Don't use the <references/> tag on Person and Family pages. Instead, allow WeRelate to handle display of footnotes in its standard fashion.
• For other types of pages where you are using <ref> tags:
  • Include the <references/> tag only once.
  • Place the <references/> tag at the very end of the narrative.

Why? Because placing the <references/> tag anywhere but at the end of the narrative increases the risk of undesirable results.

• If you place the <references/> tag before the end of the narrative, and then add more <ref> tags after it, those footnotes will not be displayed and their footnote links won't work.
• If you use the <references/> tag twice on a page, the second time will display footnotes defined or used between the first <references/> tag and the second one, and numbering will start from 1 again (as can be seen on this Help page).
  • This can be confusing to the reader.
  • A footnote defined before a <references/> tag and reused after the <references/> tag won't display or link properly.
  • Links for unnamed footnotes after the first occurrence of the <references/> tag might link to the incorrect footnote.
• Allowing WeRelate to manage display of footnotes on Person and Family pages avoids errors, makes page display more consistent, and makes it easier for others to collaborate on the page without causing the kinds of issues described above.

If after reading the above you still feel compelled to place the <references/> tag on a Person or Family page, please use the title References for the sake of consistency.