Template:Cite web/doc

This template is used to cite online sources in Wikipedia articles. {{Cite news}} can also be used when citing a news source; for general information about citations in Wikipedia articles, see Wikipedia:Cite sources. A general discussion of the use of templates for adding citations to Wikipedia articles is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

Usage

Note: None of the parameters should be capitalised, in order to avoid the article being tagged as having a broken citation. For example, use "url", "title", etc. - not "URL", "Title", etc.

Common forms with authors in any format

Citations within a page should use consistent formats. However, there is no consensus about which format is best. The following examples are for citations where one or more authors are listed in a single |author=authors parameter, using any format. Also shown below are three separate date formats that are commonly used in Wikipedia:

YYYY-MM-DD

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2024-05-18}}

Day Month Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=18 May 2024}}

Month Day, Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=May 18, 2024}}

Common forms with last1, first1; last2, first2

The examples below will suffice for up to two authors each with first and last names; for more, just create more parameters in a similar style:

YYYY-MM-DD

{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2024-05-18}}

Day Month Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=18 May 2024}}

Month Day, Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=May 18, 2024}}

All parameters

When copying all parameters in either the vertical or horizontal layouts, delete those which are not needed.

All parameters, horizontal layout

{{cite web |url= |title= |first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |month= |year= |work= |publisher= |location= |page= |pages= |at= |language= |trans_title= |format= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |accessdate= |quote= |ref= |separator= |postscript= }}

All parameters, vertical layout

{{cite web
| url         =
| title       =
| first       =
| last        =
| author      =
| authorlink  =
| coauthors   =
| date        =
| month       =
| year        =
| work        =
| publisher   =
| location    =
| page        =
| pages       =
| at          =
| language    =
| trans_title =
| format      =
| doi         =
| archiveurl  =
| archivedate =
| accessdate  =
| quote       =
| ref         =
| separator   =
| postscript  =
}}

Required parameters

• url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol, e.g. http://.
• title: Title of online item. This title will appear as the citation itself, hyperlinked to the URL.

Optional parameters

• author parameters
  • author
  • last works with first to produce last, first
  • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
  • last1, first1, ..., last9, first9 and optionally authorlink1, ..., authorlink9 for specifying more authors (note: last1, first1 and authorlink1 are synonyms for last, first and authorlink, so use either last1 or last, not both)
  • coauthors: alternate way of specifying additional authors
• a date parameter
  • either date: Full date of publication. Should not be wikilinked.
  • or year: Year of publication, and month: Name of the month of publication. If you also have the day, use date instead. Should not be wikilinked.
• format: Format, e.g. PDF. HTML implied if not specified.
• work: If this item is part of a larger "work", such as a book, periodical or website, write the name of that work. Do not italicize; the software will do so automatically.
• publisher: Publisher, if any—for example if the website is hosted by a government service, educational institution, or company. (The publisher is not usually the name of the website (that is usually the work).
  • location: Geographical place of publication.
• a page parameter
  • either page: Page number if a multi-page web article and referencing a single page. "page=5" produces p. 5.
  • or pages: Page numbers if a multi-page web article and referencing more than one page. "pages=5–7" produces pp. 5–7. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not a total number of pages.
  • or at: When the page prefix is unwanted. "at=Table 5" produces Table 5.
• language: language of publication (don't specify "English" as this is the default).
  • trans_title: A translated title of the article, in case the original title is in a foreign language. Would normally be used in conjunction with the 'language' parameter.
• doi: A digital object identifier for the document, such as 10.1038/news070508-7
  • Doilabel: If the doi contains some characters that must be escaped, use "doilabel" for the unescaped version. See {{doi}}: "id" is equivalent to "doi" and "label" is "doilabel"
• archive parameters (if used, must be used both of them together)
  • archiveurl: The URL of an archived copy of the page, if (or in case) the url becomes unavailable. Typically used to refer to services like WebCite and Archive.org.
  • archivedate: Date when the item was archived. Should not be wikilinked.
• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed. Should not be wikilinked.
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.
• ref: ID for anchor. By default, no anchor is generated. The ordinary nonempty value |ref=ID generates an anchor with the given ID; such a linkable reference can be made the target of wikilinks to full references, especially useful in short citations like shortened notes and parenthetical referencing. The special value |ref=harv generates an anchor suitable for the {{harv}} template; see anchors for Harvard referencing templates.
• separator / postscript: The punctuation to use between fields / at the end of the citation

Duplicate periods

By default, {{cite web}} separates some fields with periods, so don't encode those fields ending with a period or a duplicate period will be added. Example: "publisher=Camelot, Inc" will correctly show as Camelot, Inc. but "publisher=Camelot, Inc." will incorrectly show as Camelot, Inc..

Examples

Some standard use cases

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web ||url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II author=Doe, John |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/digestofrules |title=Digest of Rules |publisher=National Football League |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

Using format

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 }}
  →

Foreign language and translated title

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Honni soit qui mal y pense |author=Joliet, François |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005 |language=French |trans_title=Shame on those who think evil }}
  →

coauthors

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Peter Smith; Jim Smythe |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

No author

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

No author, no publisher

This abbreviated format should only be used when the editor cannot determine the publisher and author.

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005}}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=30 April 2005 |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 |language=Greek }}
  →

Using "archiveurl" and "archivedate" for webpages that have been archived

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=30 April 2005 |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 |archiveurl=http://www.archive.org/2005-09-11/www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |archivedate=2005-09-11 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi?archive=currnews&story=20060405-01shore.htm |title=Interview with Maggie Downs |date=2006-03-31 |publisher=The Desert Sun |archiveurl=http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:JAxf4v-pQmgJ:joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi%3Farchive%3Dcurrnews%26story%3D20060405-01shore.htm |archivedate=2006-04-26 }}
  →

Using "quote"

• {{cite web |url=http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/c.html |title=Daylight saving time: rationale and original idea |work=WebExhibits |date=2008 |accessdate=2009-09-27 |quote=... Lord Balfour came forward with a unique concern: 'Supposing some unfortunate lady was confined with twins ...' }}
  →

See also

• Citation bot
• Citation templates
• Citing sources
• Citing sources/example style
• Digital Object Identifier
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite news
• Zotero