Help:Explanatory notes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Explanatory or content notes are used to add explanations, comments or other additional information relating to the main content but would make the text too long or awkward to read. Such notes may include supporting references.
Explanatory notes should be used sparingly, for accessibility reasons. Though visual readers can jump to the note and back to the prose, text-to-speech systems will read the note after reading all the prose. This makes it difficult to know the context of the note, which may be important for correctly interpreting it. Alternatives to explanatory notes include integrating the text into the main prose (perhaps in parentheses), deferring details to a linked Wikipedia article, or simply dropping unimportant details.
Please read Help:Footnotes and Help:Shortened footnotes first, as this guide builds upon the methods described on those help pages. WP:REFGROUP is of particular importance.
Note formats
There are several ways to include notes:
Footnotes mixed with explanatory notes
This example uses list-defined references mixed with explanatory notes.
More information Markup, Renders as ...
| Markup | Renders as |
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The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/> But the Moon<ref name=Foot02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot04/>
==Notes==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>{{cite book |author=Miller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005 |page=23 |mode=cs2}}. But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example {{cite book |author=Jones |title=The Solar System |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>{{cite book |author=Brown |title=The Moon |year=2006 |publisher=Penguin |page=46 |mode=cs2}}. Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example {{cite book |author=Peterson |title=Astronomy |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot04>{{cite book |author=Smith |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005 |page=334 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
}} |
The Sun is pretty big.[1] But the Moon[2] is not so big.[3] The Sun is also quite hot.[4] Notes
|
Close
Footnotes with separate explanatory notes
This example creates a separate notes section by using group names.
More information Markup, Renders as ...
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The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/><ref group=Note name=Note01/> But the Moon<ref group=Note name=Note02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot02/><ref group=Note name=Note03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot03/>
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Note02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.</ref>
<ref name=Note03>Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.</ref>
}}
==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>{{cite book |author=Miller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005 |page=23 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>{{cite book |author=Brown |title=The Moon |year=2006 |publisher=Penguin |page=46 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>{{cite book |author=Smith |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005 |page=334 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
}} |
Close
Shortened footnotes mixed with explanatory notes
More information Markup, Renders as ...
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/> But the Moon<ref name=Foot02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot04/>
==Notes==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>{{harvnb|Mills|2005|p=23}}. But Mills points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example {{cite book |author=Johns |title=The Solar System |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>{{harvnb|Browne|2001|p=46}}. Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example {{cite book |author=Petersen |title=Astronomy |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Foot04>{{harvnb|Smithe|2005|p=334}}.</ref>
}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=Browne |title=The Moon |year=2001 |publisher=Penguin |mode=cs2}}.
* {{cite book |author=Mills |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005 |mode=cs2}}.
* {{cite book |author=Smithe |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005 |mode=cs2}}.
{{refend}} |
The Sun is pretty big.[1] But the Moon[2] is not so big.[3] The Sun is also quite hot.[4] Notes
References
|
Close
Shortened footnotes with separate explanatory notes
This example creates a separate notes section by using group names.
More information Markup, Renders as ...
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/><ref group=Note name=Note01/> But the Moon<ref group=Note name=Note02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot02/><ref group=Note name=Note03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot03/>
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>But Milner points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Note02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example {{cite book |author=Jonas |title=The Solar System |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
<ref name=Note03>Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, {{cite book |author=Peters |title=Astronomy |publisher=MacMillan |year=2005 |page=623 |mode=cs2}}.</ref>
}}
==Citations==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>{{harvnb|Milner|2005|page=23}}</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>{{harvnb|Braun|2001|p=46}}</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>{{harvnb|Smyth|2005|p=334}}</ref>
}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author=Braun |title=The Moon |year=2001 |publisher=Penguin |mode=cs2}}.
* {{cite book |author=Milner |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005 |mode=cs2}}.
* {{cite book |author=Smyth |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005 |mode=cs2}}.
{{refend}} |
The Sun is pretty big.[1][Note 1] But the Moon[Note 2] is not so big.[2][Note 3] The Sun is also quite hot.[3] Notes
Citations
References
|
Close
Shortened footnotes with separate explanatory notes with references
This method uses {{sfn}} to create the main footnotes, {{refn}} to create the explanatory notes and {{sfn}} to create footnotes in the explanatory notes.
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The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|But Muller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.{{sfn|Muller|2005|p=23}}}} But the Moon{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.{{sfn|Broun|2001|p=63}}}} is not so big.{{sfn|Broun|2001|p=46}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Smiths|2005|p=334}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Broun |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Muller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Smiths |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}} |
The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[3][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[4] Notes
Citations
References
|
Close
This method uses {{sfn}} to create the main footnotes, {{efn}} to create the explanatory notes, {{sfn}} to create footnotes in the explanatory notes and {{notelist}} to create the notes list.
More information Markup, Renders as ...
| Markup | Renders as |
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The Sun is pretty big.{{sfn|Mueller|2005|p=23}}{{efn|But Mueller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.{{sfn|Mueller|2005|p=23}}}} But the Moon{{efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.{{sfn|Braune|2001|p=63}}}} is not so big.{{sfn|Braune|2001|p=46}}{{efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.}} The Sun is also quite hot.{{sfn|Schmidt|2005|p=334}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Braune |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001}}
* {{citation |last=Mueller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005}}
* {{citation |last=Schmidt |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005}}
{{refend}} |
The Sun is pretty big.[1][a] But the Moon[b] is not so big.[3][c] The Sun is also quite hot.[4] Notes
Citations
References
|
Close