Template:Reflist/doc

This template encapsulates the tag to show the list of references defined by  tags,  with some formatting. It reduces the font size and has options for columns and groups. References can be defined within the body of the article or within the reference list.

The  and tags are part of the Cite.php MediaWiki extension.

Reflist may be used with Refbegin and Refend to format different styles of references.

Usage

 * Using only footnote-style references

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Font size
The font size should reduce to 90% for most browsers, but may appear to show at 100% for Internet Explorer and possibly other browsers. Note that there is no consensus that a small font size should always be used for references; when normal-sized font is more appropriate on an article, use instead.

Columns
Columns are currently supported only by Gecko-based browsers (such as Mozilla Firefox). See below for more information.

Using will create a two-column reference list, and  will create a three-column list. Three-column lists are inaccessible to users with smaller/laptop monitors and should be avoided.

Using will allow the browser to automatically choose the number of columns based on the width of the web browser. Choose a column width that is appropriate for the average width of the references on the page.

Multiple uses
If Reflist is used multiple times without a parameter, each instance will include all of the previously defined references. To force the parser to close previous references, each use of Reflist must be forced as a new instance by the use of any parameter. Even a undefined parameter such as will force the references to close.

Grouped references
As of June 2008, the footnotes system supports the separation of references into groups. This allows groups for explanatory notes, table references and the like. See Footnotes.

The general format for the reference tag would be:



And for the reflist:


 * Where groupname would be a group identifier such as "note", "nb" or "label".

List-defined references
As of September 2009, references may be defined within Reflist using refs and invoked within the content. There are new error messages associated with this update, documented at Help:Cite errors. As usual, groups can be used. Defined references must be used within the body; unused references will show an error message.

Example
This is reference 1. This is reference 2. This is reference 3.

Result
This is reference 1. This is reference 2. This is reference 3.

Browser support for columns
Multiple columns are generated by using CSS3, which is still in development; thus only browsers that properly support the multi-column property will show multiple columns.


 * Mozilla Firefox and other Gecko-based browsers support multiple columns with two caveats:
 * may create widows
 * may mangle long URLs in the printable version; see Image:Wikipediareflistoverlap.gif for an example
 * Internet Explorer through version 8 does not support the column property
 * Safari through 4.03, Google Chrome and probably other WebKit based browsers have a bug that breaks links in multiple columns; the column feature has been removed for these browsers until the bug is resolved; see Template:Reflist/Safari testcase for details and information on enabling WebKit columns per editor.
 * This issue has been resolved in Safari 5 and Chrome 5. WebKit support will be returned once the usage reports indication a preponderance of adoption.


 * Opera does not support multiple columns.

Supporting CSS
Reflist uses a CSS rule in MediaWiki:Common.css to set the font size:



These classes are used directly in the template for the columns:



These properties are used in the template:


 * CSS3 standard
 * CSS3 standard
 * Mozilla CSS extension
 * Mozilla CSS extension
 * Webkit CSS extension (disabled)
 * Webkit CSS extension (disabled)

Customizing the view
By editing your CSS, the personal appearance of the reference list can be customized. From Preferences, select the Appearance tab, then on the selected skin select Custom CSS. After editing and saving, follow the instructions at the top of the page to purge. See Skin for more help.

The font size defaults to 90% of the standard size. To change it, add:
 * Font size

Change 90% to the desired size.

To disable columns, add:
 * Columns

Similarly, to force all reference lists to a number of columns, change the number.

Collapsing and scrolling
There have been a number of requests to add functionality for a collapsible or scrolling reference list. These requests have not been fulfilled to due to issues with readability, accessibility, and printing. The applicable guidelines are at MOS:SCROLL.

The links between the inline cite and the reference list do not work when the reference list is enclosed in a collapsed box.