Template:Efn

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This template is used on approximately 212,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Explanatory footnotes or Efn are footnotes which provide something other than, or more than, a reference to a source that supports the accompanying text. The first unnamed parameter is displayed as the content of the footnote. Note that if the note's content contains an "=" character, a reference error will be displayed; precede the content with |1= (or one of its aliases, |text=, |reference=, or |content=) to fix the error.

The following explanation is transcluded from Help:Footnotes#Footnotes: predefined groups. There are several predefined groups that can have a reference list styled so that the label (a superscripted character within square brackets, e.g., ^[1]) of an explanatory note or citation (a.k.a. footnote, reference) matches and links to the note marker label located in the main text and the label in front of the note's text in the appropriate group's list. There can be more than one of these groups' lists in the Notes, References and other similarly purposed sections.

These predefined note and citation groups have templates that make the wikitext markup simpler. These templates also allow a standard reference to be inserted, so that an explanatory note can have a reference, or citations can be nested.

Note: If the note's text has a reference name that is used more than once, the labels will still match, but the clickable alpha characters that toggle the note's display will be next to the note's label, with links to the multiple locations of its marker in the main text. See WP:REFNAME and the first point below in § Issues.

Template use by reference group type

Group type	Footnote marker template or markup	Reference list template	Sample labels
none by default, but optionally any	`<ref>...</ref>`	`{{reflist}}`	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
	`{{r}}` (for nested references)
	`{{refn}}` (for nested references)
lower-alpha	`{{efn}}` `{{efn-la}}`	`{{notelist}}` `{{notelist-la}}`	a b c d e f g h i j
upper-alpha	`{{efn-ua}}`	`{{notelist-ua}}`	A B C D E F G H I J
lower-roman	`{{efn-lr}}`	`{{notelist-lr}}`	i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x
upper-roman	`{{efn-ur}}`	`{{notelist-ur}}`	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
lower-greek	`{{efn-lg}}`	`{{notelist-lg}}`	α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ
note	`{{NoteTag}}`	`{{NoteFoot}}`	note 1 note 2 note 3

{{efn}} supports |name= and |group=, which work the same as the parameters in <ref> (see, for instance, the 3rd and 4th examples below). Do not enclose values in quotes.
{{notelist}} supports the |colwidth=, |refs=, and |group= parameters, which work the same as the parameters in {{reflist}}. Do not enclose values in quotes.

In these examples, the footnote labels match between the footnote marker and the reference list:

**With lower-alpha labels**
Markup	Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn\|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn\|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn\|Footnote 3}} {{notelist}}	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.^[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^[c] ^ Footnote 1 ^ Footnote 2 ^ Footnote 3

With lower-roman labels

Markup

Renders as

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn-lr|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn-lr|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn-lr|Footnote 3}}

{{notelist-lr}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[i] Consectetur adipisicing elit.^[ii] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^[iii]

^ Footnote 1
^ Footnote 2
^ Footnote 3

**With named references**
Markup	Renders as
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn\|name=fn1\|Footnote 1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn\|Footnote 2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn\|name=fn1}} {{notelist}}	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.^[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^[a] ^ ^a ^b Footnote 1 ^ Footnote 2

Note: With named references you only need to add the details once. For each use after the first you just need to re-use the reference name. Doing this will not cause the inline superscript to display a custom name.

Named references can also be defined in the notelist

Markup

Renders as

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.{{efn|name=fn1}} Consectetur adipisicing elit.{{efn|name=fn2}} Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.{{efn|name=fn1}}

{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=fn1|Very long footnote 1}}
{{efn|name=fn2|Very long footnote 2}}
}}

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.^[a] Consectetur adipisicing elit.^[b] Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^[a]

^ ^a ^b Very long footnote 1
^ Very long footnote 2

Note: Due to limitations in the MediaWiki software, do not use list-defined footnotes that contain references.

Issues

Multiple backlink labels (see WP:REFNAME) are always styled as lower-alpha. This can be confusing when {{efn}} is used. See the note in the introduction of this section, above.
The entries in the reference list will show the default decimal styling if:
- The value for |group= in {{reflist}} or <references /> does not exactly match one of the predefined values; use {{efn}} or variant as |group= will not be needed.
- The value for |group= in {{reflist}} or <references /> is enclosed by quotes; use {{efn}} or variant as |group= will not be needed.
- {{reflist}} is indented with the : markup.
- <references /> is used instead of {{reflist}}
The entries in the reference list will have no styling if:
- A reference is included in {{navbox}} or one of the variants and the style is set to bodyclass=hlist; to resolve this, replace the style with listclass=hlist.

Example articles

Logic Theorist (a short article showing basic usage)
Chinese room (a long and complex article which uses all the features: named footnotes, list defined notes, etc.)
Empire of Brazil
John Diefenbaker (with name= and notes in {{notes}})
USS Monitor

Template data

Description:

Inserts an explanatory footnote. Notes can be named and grouped.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Note	`1` `reference` `text` `content`	Text of the note	Content	required
Ref. name	`name`	Reference name of the note	String	optional
Reference group	`group`	Styled group to which the note belongs Suggested values `upper-alpha` `lower-greek` `note` `lower-roman` `upper-roman`	String	optional

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Efn/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

[1] Footnote 1

[2] Footnote 2

[3] Footnote 3

[4] Footnote 1

[5] Footnote 2

[6] Footnote 3

[fn1-7] Footnote 1

[8] Footnote 2

[fn1-9] Very long footnote 1

[fn2-10] Very long footnote 2

[a]

[b]

[c]

[i]

[ii]

[iii]

[a]

[b]

[a]

[b]