Template talk:Reflist/Archive 28

Latest comment: 7 years ago by Redrose64 in topic Columns for references
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Inexplicable error

I have two sets of references, one of which is grouped. Both sets use the "refs=" tag to list everything outtside the text, which is a table. Unfortunately the rendering of the grouped notes lists each one with a double occurrence (ab) even though each note is called only once ("b" is inactive). The error disappears if I remove "refs=" list for the grouped notes and put all these references each in their right spot inside the text/table; but that's not what I want. The error is consistently showing up whether I use <ref name=></ref> or {{refn}} and whether there are embedded references or not. There are no error messages. Some idea of what's happening? Carlotm (talk) 07:55, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Which article? Examples always help. --Redrose64 (talk) 08:37, 26 September 2016 (UTC)
It's the table (the first eight rows) you can see on top of my sandbox. Carlotm (talk) 08:47, 26 September 2016 (UTC)
I see 10 cite error messages on User:Carlotm/sandbox. You apparently try to nest things that cannot be nested. Below is a simpler example where the "b" link at "Text1" leads nowhere. The problem goes away if {{r|ExpressNews2005}} is removed. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:00, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Holocaust[N 1] Ukraine[N 2]

  1. ^ a b Text1.
  2. ^ Text2.[1]
Cite error: A list-defined reference has a conflicting group attribute "" (see the help page).

Thanks for your insight, PrimeHunter. I thought I could do that. Isn't that {{refn}} can be used for nesting references? And in fact it works, if only I do not define that reference under "refs=". I think I am missing something here; do not what.Carlotm (talk) 20:55, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

list-style-type on other wikis

I'm not sure this is the correct place to post this question. If not, please direct me to correct location, thanks. I just thought since it works here, people might know how it was implemented.

I've been trying to get lower-alpha footnotes (ref's with group=lower-alpha) to show up on other wikis (e.g. Wikimedia Commons & MediaWiki) the way they do here. Comparing Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and MediaWiki:

  • all three use the same MediaWiki version
  • all three use the same Cite extension version
  • all three have the same Template:Reflist
  • only on Wikipedia do lower-alpha footnotes work, e.g.[a][b] (wp sandbox); on other wikis they show up as [lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] (commons & mediawiki sandboxes)

Is there something Wikipedia does differently? Thank you, 15zulu (talk) 10:03, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

css?
Perhaps if you can find someone who knows the location of the css files that apply to references, you will have your answer. I suggest this because the template constructs the style="list-style-type:..." attribute from |liststyle= or from |group=.
Trappist the monk (talk) 10:42, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
That applies to the <reference/> tag but not to the <ref> tags. Reference tag is easy to fix, just add css along the lines of div.reflist ol.references{list-style-type:inherit;} and it works – the reference list uses letter instead of numbers. However, the ref's within the text will still be [lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2].
I haven't been able to find a way to apply css to ref tags. They're trickier since their html (<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[lower-alpha 1]</a></sup>) is pretty much the same as normal ref's (<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>). Can a wiki's css do anything to the ref tags before the Cite extension convert them to html?
I found this css within the Cite extension code, but I don't know why it works on Wikipedia but not elsewhere. All three wikis are using the same Cite extension code, so I'm a bit confused. Do you have any ideas of who or where to ask? Thanks, 15zulu (talk) 11:16, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
For the record, I was not talking about <references /> but about this template. The three wikis may be using the same cite extension code, but are they all using the same css? I suspect that the css that you found is the base default css and that it is being superseded by additional css at en.wiki but not at the other sites. If my supposition is correct, somewhere, there must be a css file at en.wiki that changes 'lower-alpha' to 'a' (and the upward-pointing arrow to a caret?). Perhaps take this question to WP:VPT?
Trappist the monk (talk) 11:54, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
Sorry, I assumed you were talking about reference tag since that is what this template does – it creates <references /> surrounded by a div with the style="list-style-type:..." attribute you mentioned in your first reply. It'd have to be pretty complex css to change 'lower-alpha 1' to 'a', 'lower-greek 2' to 'β', 'lower-roman 5' to 'v', etc. (Btw, the up arrow to caret is done via system messages.) I'll try WP:VPT. Thank you for the advice. 15zulu (talk) 12:42, 8 October 2016 (UTC)
For anyone interested (or finding this conversation in the future), it seems the solution is two part:
1) add the css I mentioned above: div.reflist ol.references{list-style-type:inherit;}
2) create the following system messages: group-decimal, group-lower-alpha, group-lower-greek, group-lower-roman, group-upper-alpha, group-upper-roman.
Annoyingly enough, Wikipedia's system messages list doesn't bother showing these messages, which is why I didn't find them. Cheers, 15zulu (talk) 02:33, 9 October 2016 (UTC)
Thank you! Thank you! You've helped at least one person. Worked like a charm. Lostraven (talk) 23:33, 7 November 2016 (UTC)
@15zulu:Thank you from me as well! It was very helpful. Cumbril (talk) 13:21, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Columns for references

In a recent tech announcement (m:Tech/News/2017/11) a change to how references are displayed using the <references /> tag may require an update to this template. – Allen4names (contributions) 20:27, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

@Allen4names: See #Automagic columns for refs above. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 20:42, 12 March 2017 (UTC)