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Templates of the Silr (Short In-Line References) family do the same job as those of the Harvard System Colon Style together with the bibliographical counterparts, but are more 'user-friendly' in that they allow many unnamed parameters. "Clicking" on the in-line reference moves the reader to its bibliographical counterpart and the browser back-arrow allows one to return to reference.

Why SILR? 

Wikipedia exists for the benefit of its readers. Many of these will not be used to reading academic-style articles and the references inserted into the text will be an obstacle in that the eye has to jump over them. The traditional raised notes^[xy] are disconcerting and the Harvard-style "author-date" can be inconveniently long. The inclusion of the year of publication in-line is often redundant in that only one work of the author is quoted in a given article and, in any case, in disciplines such as History, Theology, or Philosophy it bears no necessary relation to the date of the work itself. This can be very misleading for the non-specialist reader, especially as it is repeated in a prominent place in the bibliographical section. Furthermore, some works are best cited by acronym (such as ODCC for "The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church" rather than "Cross & Livingstone" which may soon become "Cross, Livingstone & SomeOneElse"), and in the case of ancient works published in many editions and translations, standard practice is an abbreviated title (e.g. Ad Diog.) followed by some sort of Book,chapter,section reference which common to all editions and translations.)

So far as editors are concerned, parameter names for the citation templates are long, complicated and inconsistent between templates. Using them is sufficiently complicated and time-consuming to mean that many editors simply stick to the easy <ref> ....... </ref> html-type syntax.

SILR aims to overcome these disadvantages by:

1. reducing to a minimum the visual distraction caused by in-line references.
2. allowing unnamed parameters in all frequently used templates.
3. eliminating the year parameter from the in-line reference, while allowing a freely chosen additional identifier.
4. providing for reference by acronym.

It also tries to be 'editor-friendly' in that the essential syntax has been kept as simple and short as possible, and in particular the problem of leading and trailing spaces with unnamed parameters has been obviated by trimming them.

Every effort has been made to maintain backward compatibility with the syntax of the various cite/citation templates. The resulting bibliographical information should be processable by bots, though this is not certain at the present.

{{Silr}}

This provides a simple and convenient parenthetical in-line reference with a link to its bibliographical counterpart {{Silrbib}} placed near the end of the page. Clicking on the blue text moves the page down to the bibliography and clicking on the "back-arrow" of the browser returns the reader to the text.(Try Here) By using special parameters it can handle author names in the text, and acronyms as well as books, articles, encyclopaedias, dictionaries and the like. It can be used for "author-title" in-line referencing, but this method is not recommended since it tends to overload the page visually on the screen.

Syntax (unnamed parameters)

Unless the appropriate number of blank parameters '||' to compete the total of four last-names, the parameters art and suf(fix) must be named.

{{silr  |  author1-last-name |  author2-last-name | author3-last-name | author4-last-name |  [at=] page-number or alternative locator |  [suf=]optional identifier (or title)}}

For example: "Some text.(Bideawhile:135) More text"

The fourth name will generate an "et al." in the text but forms part of the link/anchor.

at inserts the page-number or other position-locator within the work cited in the form provided by the editor. To keep the displayed text as short as possible, the recommended practice is to give just the page or pages: e.g. at=123; at=123-131. However, when using the variant form txt= (see below), editors may want to prefix the page numbers with 'p.' or 'pp.' to improve the visual presentation.

The optional parameter suf(fix) allows the inclusion of a letter or other distinguishing symbol to mark the difference between titles by the same author(s). If used here, it must be repeated in the bibliographical reference to establish the link. It can be used to display the title of the work in-line.

"Author-title" referencing

This is depreciated, but can be effected by using the title as the suffix. The identical suffix must then be supplied in the bibliographical reference {{Silrbib}} to establish the anchor.

Variants for specific situations

Short ID's

In various cases it may be more convenient to use a short identifier or acronym rather that the authors' or editors' names. For example, ODCC for The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church edited by Cross and Livingstone. Simply insert the named parameter short= .... There is no point in inserting any last names, {{Silr}} will then ignore all other parameters apart from at and suf(fix).

"Text"

Occasionally it is convenient to mention the name(s) of the author(s) in the text itself. If either of the parameters text or txt is supplied with any value (the obvious one is 'y') {{Silr}} will display the author surnames in black before opening the brackets and the blue link will appear on the page as just the value of at (or suf(fix) + at).

Dorama Tellers(LPCC:12) brings her hero onto the scene in a raging temper having been disturbed while on a winning streak at poker. This puts the police inspector into a very bad mood and the investigation suffers as a result even if the exchanges between the two men allow the author to introduce some verbal fireworks. Only in the sequel do they manage to recover from this contretemps.(Tellers/PP:21-25) [Note the use of suf = LPCC and PP to distinguish between two titles by the same author.]

Web

In many cases websites give no indication of the author's name. The easiest solution is often to set the short parameter to some sort of acronym for the name of the site or its owner and if referring to several different pages distinguish them by using suf as well.

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Bibliography for above examples

• Bideawhile, Sloman. The Law's Delays Barchester: Trollope Press (1875) 
• Surname, Given Names. Title (no date) = Try Here 
• Tellers, Dorama. Lord Patrick Changes Course Whimsical Press (1964) 
• Tellers, Dorama. Patrician's Pride Whimsical Press (1966) 

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{{Silrnote}}

Allows extended notes to be inserted into the text using the SILR style. The usual mark-up of a header plus <references group="groupname"/> must be inserted where the text of the note is to be displayed. The default groupname is 'n'.

Syntax: {{silrnote | text-of-note | optional-groupname(default 'n') }}

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Biblical references: {{Silrot}}; {{Silrnt}}; {{Silrdc}}

These three templates provide for references to the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the "Deutero-canonical" or Old Testament Apocryphal books. For details see here

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No Brackets

SILR inline templates require initial and final brackets '(.....)'. When grouping two or more templates, editors can avoid brackets appearing inside the group by means of the nb parameter.

1. If nb= r, the right bracket will be replaced with a semicolon followed by a space.
2. If nb= l (lower-case 'L'), the left bracket will be omitted.
3. The values nb = lr or rl combine both effects.

The coding interprets correctly upper-case 'L' and 'R' if inserted by mistake.

Editors may prefer to use a {{Silrnote}} to hold all the references and so keep the in-line reference really short.

Use with the Bible-reference templates {{Silrnt}}, {{Silrot}} and {{Silrdc}}

By including the number '2' as the first element of nb, the repetition of the name of the book will be avoided thus condensing consecutive references. For example,

Text {{Silrnt|Joh| 1:1|nb=r}}{{Silrnt|Joh|1:18|nb=2}} gives

Text (Jn 1:1; 1:18)

Note the use of nb=r in the preceding reference to avoid the final bracket after the first reference!

Bibliographical and Similar Templates

{{Silrbib}}

This is the standard bibliographical counterpart to the in-line reference. As far as possible it follows the cite/citation parameters and allows a large number of variants. However, it has a quick form for single author works which accepts unnamed parameters.

Quick Form

In this case unnamed parameters can be passed as follows with the consequent saving of time and effort:

{{silrbib | lastname |firstname |title |location |publisher |year | art(icle) | ed(itor)(s) |suf(fix)}}

Care must be taken to supply blank parameters for any missing value or to use named variables after the omission, chiefly art(icle), ed(itor)(s) and suf(fix).

Full Syntax

Preferred parameters. Almost any parameter used in the cite book /citation group of templates should work.

last = Last-name of Author1

first = First-name(s) of Author1

last2 = Last-name of Author2

first2 = First-name(s) of Author2

last3 = Last-name of Author3

first3 = First-name(s) of Author3

last4 = Last-name of Author4

first4 = First-name(s) of Author4

last5 --> any value generates an et al.

(last5 through to last9 and associated firstx are handled in template but not shown on screen)

title = title of book/encyclopedia

[nb title is always that of the complete work, use art or contribution for the sub-unit]

suf = suffix additional identifier as in {{Silr}}

loc = place of publication

pub = name of publisher

year = year of publication [can contain additional information such as (3rd ed.)]

If article in collection of some sort:

art/article = name of article (author-names are referred to this)

ed/eds/editor/editors = name(s) of editor(s) of book, encyclopaedia etc. as a formatted text or full syntax editorx type

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ISBN numbers and similar

The insertion of the standard {{cite ....}} parameters should work, e.g. isbn= ..........

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Supporting Templates

Edit Notice

The template {{Silr used}} is available to warn editors the SILR system is being used on a page.

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{{silrbq}}

This is an alternative to the BLOCKQUOTE mark-up. Its advantage lies mainly in the fact that it slightly compresses the quoted text and compacts it thus giving a better visual effect, but it is also easier to insert. The font-size defaults to 90% of standard text size, but this can be changed if required and in some cases 85% may be more acceptable. The inset is adjustable in units of 1px. (The use of pixels is deliberate in that it produces a standard indentation which is unaffected by changes in font-size or typeface. Normally, greater indentation should be set by multiples of 40)

Syntax

{{silrbq| text |f-size = nn(optional/default 90)| pad = n (optional/default 40)}}

However, unnamed parameters will work.

Remember to "escape" or work round characters which will be taken as wiki mark-up. Note: any reference giving the source placed at the end of the quote must come before the final }} to avoid its being 'orphaned'.

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Example

The first quote is {{silrbq}}, the second is standard <blockquote>.....</blockquote>.

It is an Anglican commonplace to say that authority in the church has three sources: The Scriptures, Reason, and Tradition. In general, the Lowchurchman and Evangelical tend to put more emphasis on Scripture; the Broadchurchman and Liberal, on reason; and the Highchurchman and Anglo-catholic, on tradition.(Holmes III:11; Carey:14-16) The emphasis on "parties" and differences is necessary but in itself gives an incomplete picture. Cyril Garbett (later Archb of York) wrote of his coming to the Southwark Diocese:

I found the different parties strongly represented with their own organizations and federations ... But where there was true reverence and devotion I never felt any in worshipping and preaching in an Anglo-Catholic church in the morning and in an Evangelical church in the evening ..... and when there was a call for united action ... the clergy and laity without distinction of party were ready to join in prayer, work and sacrifice.(Garbett:27)

and William Gibson comments that:

the historical attention given to the fleeting moments of controversy in the eighteenth century has masked the widespread and profound commitment to peace and tranquility among both the clergy and the laity ... ...High Church and Low Church were not exclusive categories of thought and churchmanship. They were blurred and broad streams within Anglicanism that often merged, overlapped and coincided.(Gibson:1,2)

Sometimes the concept of churchmanship has been extended to other denominations. In Lutheran churches it can be liberal Protestant, pietist, confessional Lutheran, or evangelical Catholic.

Bibliography

• Carey, George. "Celebrating the Anglican Way" in Bunting, Ian(ed)(ed.) Celebrating the Anglican Way London: Hodder & Stoughton (1996) 
• Garbett, Cyril. The Claims of the Church of England London: Hodder & Stoughton (1947) 
• Gibson, William. The Church of England:1688-1832 London: Routledge (2001) 

• Hylson-Smith, Kenneth. High Churchmanship in the Church of England Edinburgh: T&T Clark (1993) 

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