Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Using different reference formats

Adding single references

These are simplicity itself to make. You merely add <ref> and </ref> before and after the text you wish to use as the reference. For example, if you wish to cite page 212 of a book by Harper, published in 1970, you type: <ref>Harper (1970), p 212.</ref>.

Using one reference several times

If you're going cite, say, "Harper (1970), p 212", two or three times, you start by creating a special type of multi-ref for it and giving it a unique name, like, "Harper212" or whatever. These multi-refs are the ones that appear as:

^ ^{a b c} Harper (1970), p 212

You start by deciding on a unique name for the multi-ref. Using author name and page number, with no spaces, is popular as it's easy to see what it refers to. If you wish to use spaces in the ref name, you need to enclose it double quotes (for example, <ref name="Harper 212">. Otherwise, you build up the multi-ref in a three-step process by typing:

(i) <ref name=Harper212> (comment: this creates the name tag)

(ii) <ref name=Harper212> Harper (1970), p 212 (comment: this adds the ref material to appear in the sources section)

(iii) <ref name=Harper212> Harper (1970), p 212 </ref> (comment: this "closes" the ref).

You use the "full" version above the first time you cite the book. To cite the same source elsewhere in the article, you create a shortened version and repeat it as necessary:

<ref name=Harper212/> (Comment: this is just adding a "/" before the first ">".)

To create a new multi-ref, say for Harper p234, you repeat the process above, modifying the ref name and the ref material accordingly. Example: <ref name=Harper234> Harper (1970), p 234 </ref>

Other reference formats

There are alternative reference formats that you can use. One common style that is particularly easy to use is the short footnote or {{sfn}}. This are useful when different pages within one reference is used, since it does away with the need to name each new ref. This is useful when working with larger articles since there is no need to track the names added for specific refs. With appropriate coding, the ref also potentially acts as a link for a reader; clicking on the citation takes them to the list of references, and from there to the full reference information.

The coding is straightforward; "Harper (1970), p 212" would be entered as {{sfn|Harper|1970|p=212}}. If there is more than one author, then these names can just be added as needed: {{sfn|Harper|Jones|1970|p=212}} If the citation is to a range of pages, the template can be modified to ensure that this is properly presented. Citing pages 212 to 213 of Harper, the template would be: {{sfn|Harper|1970|pp=212–213}}

For the linking to the reference from the citation to work, the "cite book" template needs to be used. For example: {{cite book|last=Harper|first=John|year=1970|title=blahblah|publisher=booboo|location=woohoo|isbn=1x123}}.