Template:Rp

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

Template:Refpage and Template:Refpages redirect here.

"Rp" stands for "reference page(s)". This is a relatively uncommon method of citing page numbers, usually used when other methods produce undesirable results. It is used in about one out of every 300 articles at the English Wikipedia.

One of its benefits is that {{rp}} is supported in the VisualEditor (VE), unlike {{sfn}}, etc., which as of January 2021 are unsupported in the VE.

Function

Use this template when you are referring to specific pages within a source which is cited many times in the same article. The following example sentence shows the formatting produced by:

<ref name="aardvark">... details of cited source ...</ref>{{rp|23}}

which would be used to refer to a fact on page 23 of reference [1]:

Apples should be eaten when they are ripe.

This second example sentence shows the formatting produced by:

<ref name="aardvark" />{{rp|56}}

which would be used as citation for a statement supported by a fact on page 56 of the same reference [1], which will appear only once in the list of references:

Porridge, usually eaten for breakfast, can also serve as a dessert.

This template is for appending page numbers to notes. It is an alternative that can be used in articles with one or several sources that are cited multiple times, at numerous different pages. It is an alternative to the more common method of using shortened footnotes; it does not require the reader to follow two links to see the source.

Notice

This template should not be used unless necessary. In the vast majority of cases, citing page numbers in the <ref>...</ref> code is just fine. This template is only intended for sources that are used many times in the same article, to such an extent that normal citation would produce a useless line in <references /> or too many individual ones.

Overuse of this template is seen by some editors as making prose harder to read. Used judiciously, however, other editors say that it is less interruptive to the visual flow than complete implementation of the reference citation styles that inspired it, particularly full Harvard referencing and AMA style.

If an article has an established citation style that uses an alternative to this template (e.g. Harvard style or another style using shortened footnote templates), then do not unilaterally start using this template in the article. Instead, you should discuss options for citation styles with other editors and try to reach a consensus, per WP:CITEVAR.

How to use

With colon

The page number(s) can be a single page number (287), several (xii, 287, 292, 418) or a range (287–288) or any combination thereof. Do not add "Page", "pp.", etc.—just the numbers. It can also be used for non-numeric pages, for example: "f. 29", "A7", and "back cover", etc., and can also be used for non-paginated sources, e.g., "0:35:12" for a video source.

This template is for appending page numbers to inline reference citations generated by Cite.php. It is a solution for the problem of a source that is cited many times, at numerous different pinpoint page numbers, in the same Wikipedia article. Cite.php's limitations pose two citation problems in such a case:

1. Regular use of <ref ...>...</ref> to provide a separate citation for each fact/statement sourced from a different page or page range (as in this example) will result in numerous individual lines, each repeating the entire bibliographic citation of a source, generated by <references /> in the "Notes" or "References" section.
2. Using a single <ref ...>...</ref> and followup <ref ... />'s with the same name= and simply listing all of the pages cited, would result in the single, very long <references /> entry for this source giving no way for readers to tell which facts were sourced from which pages in the work.

This template works around both of these problems. Doing so is important, because Featured Article as well as Good Article reviews generally insist upon specific facts being cited with specific page numbers.

is an alternative to the more common method of using shortened footnotes, that does not require the reader to follow two links to see the source. In cases of numerous citations to the same source, the Cite.php <ref ...> footnoting system is less tedious to use and more difficult to break with incorrect formatting than the {{ref label}} and {{note label}} system (although, in other situations, those templates are not particularly difficult and may be quite useful).

may end up being a temporary solution to these problems, as Cite.php may be upgraded to resolve these issues, in which case a bot would be able to convert to the new code.

Example

The example below shows in use both at a first occurrence [<ref ...>...</ref>], with other references and inline superscript templates present so one can see how it looks when used in series, and at a later [<ref ... />] occurrence.

Example page

With parentheses

AMA style puts superscripted page numbers inside parentheses instead of after a colon. For editors who prefer this style, this template has parameters page, pages, and at.

Missing page numbers

If a reference needs a page number but it is missing, use or . This will automatically use the template to add the article to the appropriate category. For example, <ref name="Jackson 1999" /> results in:

This is preferable to something like or , since the cleanup categorization takes place. It is preferable to simply using in articles that make use of , since it preserves the use of the syntax.

Do not nest the template inside the template; doing so introduces a stray colon and the displayed results are too small to be legible to many readers. For instance, <ref name="Jackson 1999" /> results in the undesirable:

With a quote

The template can use the |quote= or |q= parameter to show a quote from the source when the mouse hovers over the location identifier. Use of these parameters provides some context for the reference, especially if the reference is to an offline source. This is especially important when using the off-line source to support a fact that might be controversial or is likely to be challenged.

Quotation marks are automatically inserted around the quote, and location identifiers with a quote will display with a dashed underline.

A note on spacing

Where multiple citations occur in series, {{rp}} prevents line breaks between the citations. The "zero-width non-joiner" (U+200C, code ‌ or {{zwnj}}) can be used to allow a line break, although this is discouraged by MOS:REFPUNCT.

Hyphens

Per MOS:DASH, page ranges should normally be declared with an ndash ({{rp|27–29}}→^[ref]) rather than a hyphen. Tools like WP:AWB will automatically convert hyphens to dashes in such instances. If the hyphen is desired for whatever reason, use {{hyphen}} ({{rp|27{{hyphen}}29}}→^[ref]) rather than the - of your keyboard.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. Click here to see a monthly parameter usage report for this template based on this TemplateData.

TemplateData for Rp

This template is used to refer to specific page numbers when citing a source multiple times within the same article. It should be placed immediately after a reference.

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Page number(s)	1	Write the page number(s) referred to in this reference. Do not add 'Page', 'p.', 'pp.', etc.; just the number(s). Example 26–27	String	required
Request page number	needed	no description	Unknown	optional
Page request date	date	no description	Unknown	optional
AMA page number	page	no description	Unknown	optional
Hide "pp" for AMA?	nopp	no description	Unknown	optional
AMA pages	pages	no description	Unknown	optional
AMA custom text	at	no description	Unknown	optional
Quote from source	quote q	no description	String	optional

See also

• , a more common way of citing multiple pages of the same source (described in detail in the "Shortened footnotes" section of Wikipedia:Citing sources)
• and {{pp.}}, which emit "p." (or "pp."), and non-breaking space, then the page number(s): p. 2 produces p. 2; pp. 2–4 gives pp. 2–4
• , which allows both the reference name and page number to be specified. expands to <ref name="aardvark"/>{{Rp|56}}.
• Help:References and page numbers

References