Template:Reflist/doc

This template encapsulates the tag to show the list of references defined by  tags,  with some formatting. It reduces the font size and has options for columns and groups. References can be defined within the body of the article or within the reference list.

The  and tags are part of the Cite.php MediaWiki extension.

Reflist may be used with Refbegin and Refend to format different styles of references.

Usage

 * Using only footnote-style references

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Content
Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

Font size
The font size should reduce to 90% for most browsers. Note that there is no consensus that a small font size should always be used for references; when normal-sized font is more appropriate on a page, use instead.

Columns
Columns are currently supported only by Gecko-based browsers (such as Mozilla Firefox). See below for more information.

Using will create a two-column reference list, and  will create a three-column list. Three-column lists may be inaccessible to users with smaller/laptop monitors and should be avoided.

Using will allow the browser to automatically choose the number of columns based on the width of the web browser. Choose a column width that is appropriate for the average width of the references on the page.

Multiple uses
If Reflist is used multiple times without a parameter, each instance will include all of the previously defined references. To force the parser to close previous references, each use of Reflist must be forced as a new instance by the use of any parameter. Even an undefined parameter such as will force the references to close.

Grouped references
The footnotes system supports the separation of references into groups. This allows groups for explanatory notes, table references and the like.

The general format for the reference tag would be:



And for the reflist:


 * Where groupname would be a group identifier such as "note", "nb" or "label".

List-defined references
References may be defined within reflist using refs and invoked within the content. There are new error messages associated with this update, documented at Help:Editing. As usual, groups can be used. Defined references must be used within the body; unused references will show an error message.

Example
This is reference 1. This is reference 2. This is reference 3.

Result
This is reference 1. This is reference 2. This is reference 3.

Browser support for columns
Multiple columns are generated by using CSS3, which is still in development; thus only browsers that properly support the multi-column property will show multiple columns with Reflist.

These browsers support CSS3 columns:
 * Supports columns
 * Gecko-based browsers such as Mozilla Firefox; earlier versions had a bug that created broken links in multiple columns
 * WebKit-based browsers such as Safari and Google Chrome; Webkit versions earlier than 533 have a link positioning bug; Safari 5.x (7533.17) and Chrome 5.0 or higher resolve this issue

These browsers do not support CSS3 columns:
 * No column support
 * Microsoft Trident-based browsers including Internet Explorer through version 9 Beta
 * Opera through version 10

Supporting CSS
Reflist uses a CSS rule in MediaWiki:Common.css/References.css to set the font size:



One of the the following classes is assigned by the template when either column count or column width is set:


 * and  (where   is the numer of columns)

The following CSS properties are utilized using the column-count and column-width templates:


 * CSS3 standard
 * CSS3 standard
 * Mozilla CSS extension
 * Mozilla CSS extension
 * Webkit CSS extension
 * Webkit CSS extension

Customizing the view
By editing your CSS, the personal appearance of the reference list can be customized. From Preferences, select the Appearance tab, then on the selected skin select Custom CSS. After editing and saving, follow the instructions at the top of the page to purge.

The font size defaults to 90% of the standard size. To change it, add:
 * Font size

Change 90% to the desired size.

To disable columns, add:
 * Columns

Similarly, to force all reference lists to a number of columns, change the number.

To add dividers (rules) between columns, add:
 * Column dividers

You can alter the appearance of the dividers by changing the values.

Collapsing and scrolling
There have been a number of requests to add functionality for a collapsible or scrolling reference list. These requests have not been fulfilled to due to issues with readability, accessibility, and printing.

The links between the inline cite and the reference list do not work when the reference list is enclosed in a collapsed box.