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 citation of open-source web content to Wikipedia articles is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

Usage

Please note that in order to avoid the article being tagged as having a broken citation, none of the parameters should be capitalised. Use "url", "title", etc. - not "URL", "Title", etc.

Common forms

Common form (with current date)

{{cite web |title= |url= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=1 June 2024}}

Using last, first and coauthor(s) (with current date)

{{cite web |last= |first= |coauthors= |title= |url= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=1 June 2024}}

Using author and authorlink (with current date)

{{cite web |author= |authorlink= |title= |url= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=1 June 2024}}

Using archived version

{{cite web |author= |title= |url= |archiveurl= |date= |archivedate= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=1 June 2024}}

All parameters

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

All parameters, vertical layout

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

All parameters, horizontal layout

{{cite web |first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= |url= |archiveurl= |work= |publisher= |location= |trans_title= |page= |pages= |language= |format= |doi= |date= |month= |year= |archivedate= |quote= |accessdate=1 June 2024}}

Required parameters

• title: Title of online item.
• url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol, e.g. http://.

Optional parameters

• author: 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.
  • coauthors: allows additional authors
• a date parameter:
  • either date: Full date of publication. Should be in the same format as used in the main text of the article and should not be wikilinked. (per Manual of Style (dates))
  • 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.
• 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). If the publisher cannot be found on the site, try whois. For self-published works, e.g. blogs, use self-published.
  • location: Geographical place of publication.
• pages: pp. 5–7: first page and optional last page. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not the total number of pages in the book.
• 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 be in the same format as used in the main text of the article and should not be wikilinked. (per Manual of Style (dates))
• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed, in the appropriate date format for the article. Should not be wikilinked.
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.
• separator / postscript: The punctuation to use between fields / at the end of the citation

Duplicate periods

By default, {{Cite web}} separates fields with periods, so don't encode a field 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 |author=Doe, John |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

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

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

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

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

Foreign language and translated title

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

coauthors

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

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

No author

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

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

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

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

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=30 April 2005 |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=6 July 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=31 March 2006 |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=26 April 2006 }}
  →

Using "quote"

• {{cite web |title=Index of Sharp Things |work=Encyclopedia of Things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=6 July 2005 |quote=Lorem ipsum dolor. }}
  →