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Template:Broken ref/doc


This page is about incorrect <ref> formatting. For inaccessible external links, see Template:Dead link.

Usage

Cite.php is the software extension for the footnotes system. Cite.php includes error checking and generates error messages using MediaWiki interface messages. When Cite.php encounters an error, it generates a message pulled from a MediaWiki interface page. The MediaWiki pages are customized to use {{Broken ref}} to control the display of the error message and to add a category. {{Broken ref}} uses namespace detection to choose whether pages are categorized or not and if error messages show or not.

Namespaces

This template causes error messages to show only in certain namespaces. Category sorting is set by a sortkey in the template.


Namespace Sortkey Uppercase
main (article) alphabetic
category γ Γ
template τ Τ
file ι Ι
help ω Ω
portal ρ Ρ
wikipedia ψ Ψ
draft δ Δ


Shortcut:

Errors on talk and other pages do not show by default but can be enabled by adding a rule to your CSS:

span.brokenref {
  display: inline;
}

Categories

The template causes pages that show and error to be placed in a maintenance category. Pages in these categories are the repaired by editors. Errors on talk and other pages do not add the category.

MediaWiki:Cite error references no text
MediaWiki: Cite error refs without references
MediaWiki: Cite error group refs without references
MediaWiki: Cite error references invalid parameters group

Parameters

Error messages use:

  • |msg= text of the error message
  • |lang= language using ISO code
  • |help= name of help page, main title only
  • |cat= error category
  • |nocat= set to 'true' to suppress the category and the brokenref class; use when transcluding the WikiMedia interface page for documentation purposes

Prefix interface pages use:

  • |prefix= text that precedes the message
  • |lang= language using ISO code

Examples

Use the following example when editing MediaWiki error message pages:

{{broken ref
|msg=The <code><ref></code> tag has too many names
|lang=en
|help=Cite error ref too many keys
|nocat={{{nocat|}}}
}}

By including |nocat={{{nocat|}}}, the |nocat= parameter can be passed to {{broken ref}}.

Transcluding error messages

When creating documentation, the error messages can be transcluded so that the messages are automatically updated. Add |nocat=true to suppress the error category and the class that hides the error in some namespaces.

Markup Renders as
{{MediaWiki:Cite error refs without references|nocat=true}}
There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

To style the text in red to more closely simulate the message, use the {{red}} template.

Markup Renders as
{{red|{{MediaWiki:Cite error refs without references|nocat=true}}}}
There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Languages

These languages are supported. The list of languages is selected from the top uses at Wikipedia:Database reports/User preferences.

  • en: English
  • es: español
  • fr: français
  • pt-br: português do Brasil
  • ru: русский
  • de: Deutsch
  • id: Bahasa Indonesia
  • ar: العربية
  • nl: Nederlands
  • zh-cn: 中文(中国大陆)‎
  • ro: română
  • it: italiano
  • tr: Türkçe

Plus the English variants:

  • en-gb: British English
  • en-ca: Canadian English
Originally these were transcluded, but not all MediaWiki pages support such transclusion.

Interface pages

Complete list of interface pages by language: