Help:References

One of the most common complaint in any fan-driven online encyclopedias is that an article lacks authority or sources that verifies the information contained as legitimate. As such, this help page is provided to address that issue. The following are guidelines on how to reference information added to the wiki using the proper citation format.

Basic concept

Reference tag

In order to cite information, users will be required to type in the HTML ref tag (HTML tag for ref: <ref></ref>) at the end of the sentence. The basic concept of the ref tag is that it inserts the text enclosed by the tag as a footnote in a designated section, which you indicate with the the references tag (HTML tag for references: <references/>).

If you don't include references tag at the end of the article, none of the footnotes will appear. Instead, an error message in red will appear at the end of the article, as a reminder to the editor to insert the references tag.

This page itself uses footnotes, such as the one at the end of this sentence. If you view the wikicode of this page by clicking "Edit this page", you can see a working example of footnotes.

Example

• According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big.
• The Moon, however, is not so big.

Multiple uses of the same footnote

To give a footnote a unique identifier, use <ref name="name"/>. You can then refer to the same footnote again by using a ref tag with the same name. The text inside the second tag doesn't matter, because the text already exists in the first reference. You can either copy the whole footnote, or you can use a terminated empty ref tag that looks like this: <ref name="name"/>.

In the following example, the same source is cited three times.

Example

This is an example of multiple references to the same footnote.

Such references are particularly useful when citing sources, if different statements come from the same source.

A concise way to make multiple references is to use empty ref tags, which have a slash at the end. Although this may reduce redundant work, please be aware that if a future editor removes the first reference, this will result in the loss of all references using the empty ref tags.

Columns

If you have a lot of references they can be placed in columns to save space and ease reading. Instead of using <references/>, just add the following code: {{reflist|NUMBER OF COLUMNS}}

Citation format

The wiki employs different citation format for particular references. It is recommended that editors should always refer to the following format when citing a source for an article.

Main format

The main format for citation is primarily composed of two elements: the first element is the title of the media, with the second element being the page number. The first element should always be bolded, and the second element should always be italicized. The main format is as such:

'''Title of media''', ''page number''

In addition to these two elements, editors can consider adding an additional element which is an excerpt from that media. Do note that this third optional element should only be added at the end of the main citation format, and only if the cited information requires it as to provide verification on what is being cited. Consider the following scenario: a dispute may arise due to phrasing of a sentence concerning whether Kurt-051 had any final words before he died. In this consider, the third element should be added with an actual excerpt from the media as to provide clarification on the phrasing of that sentence. The format for this third element is as such:

'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 372'' (Kurt-051: ''"Spartans never die"'')

Reissued/republished

For reissued/republished media, i.e. updated with new information or less mistakes, simply add a semicolon at the end of the main citation format. The format is as such:

'''Title of media''', ''page number''; '''Date of new publish''', ''page number''

Thus, a working example would be as such:

'''Halo: Fall of Reach''', ''page ??''; '''2010''', ''page ??''

Webpages

The format for citing webpages is largely similar to the main citation format. The first element is bolded and the second element is italicized. However, rather than capturing the page number of the webpage, the second element is used for the title of the webpage. The first element is always the source of the webpage. As per above section, editors can also consider adding in the third element if they are required as to provide further verification on what has been cited. Also note that the third element should not be part of the link.

The format is as such:

[URL-HERE '''Source of webpage''': ''Title of webpage'']

Thus, an example of a working webpage format would be like the following:

[http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1126799p3.html '''IGN''': ''Beyond the Ring: Bungie's Renegade Development of Halo's Fiction''] ('''Joseph Staten''': ''""Bungie was maintaining creative oversight over all these initiatives -- we really did have a lot of control over what stories got told. Historically, over the decade of Halo storytelling, Bungie would maintain creative ownership and direction of these various projects." "'')

Note that webpages format requires a working URL link. This essentially means that you would need to enter "http://www.wwwdotcom.com" (this is an example of a URL by the way). If the URL no longer exist, simply add "(dead link)" at the end of the format and leave a notice on the article's talk page so that others can find a more suitable source to replace that dead link.

Game

The citation format for games is similar to the main citation format. As always, first element should be bolded, the second element should be italicized and the third element should be considered only if it is required. The citation format for citing games are as such:

'''Title of game''', campaign level/multiplayer map/Spartan Ops, ''Title of Level/Map/Episode''

The following are examples. For citing a campaign level, it would be as such:

'''Halo: Combat Evolved''', campaign level, ''The Truth and Reconciliation'' (''"Captain Keyes: They call it Halo"'')

For citing a multiplayer map:

'''Halo 3''', multiplayer map, ''Avalanche''

If you're citing a Spartan Ops episode:

'''Halo 4''', Spartan Ops, ''Departure'' (Roland: ''"Welcome aboard, Spartans. I'm Roland - ship's AI, at your service. On the line, Spartans; someone will be along to show you around shortly."''

External link

• Cite Code