This help page is a how-to guide. It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus. |
This help page is mainly of technical interest to those who are creating new label styles. For the use of defined styles, refer to WP:CITELABEL. |
When automated footnotes are used on Wikipedia pages, the default form of the footnote labels is [1], [2], [3], etc. When grouped footnotes are used, the labels are [name 1], [name 2], etc., where name is the name given to the group. However, by using certain reserved group names, it is possible to make the labels appear in a different form, such as [i], [ii], etc. or [a], [b], etc.
Currently existing reserved group names are:
Group name | Style | Sample |
---|---|---|
decimal | Decimal numbers | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
lower-alpha | Alpha, lower case | a b c d e f g h i j |
upper-alpha | Alpha, upper case | A B C D E F G H I J |
lower-greek | Greek, lower case | α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ |
lower-roman | Roman, lower case | i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x |
upper-roman | Roman, upper case | I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X |
For example, a footnote which is to appear in the i, ii, iii... group can be written as:
<ref group=lower-roman>...</ref>
To generate the list of the footnotes in that group, use for example
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}
Further examples, technical information and instructions for creating new reserved groups can be found below.