 | This is an essay on citation templates. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: The template {{cite web}} is only for Web sources that don't fit in another category. Try to use {{cite news}}, {{cite journal}}, or another {{cite ...}} template. These all have |url= parameters for online sources. |
In modern times, more and more things are becoming available on the Internet, and these are often cited on Wikipedia. As a matter of fact, as of 8 September 2013[update], {{cite web}} was the most used of all the citation templates.
But what about a news article that is available online? It's a news article ({{cite news}}) and a Web page ({{cite web}}). So, which one should be used?
The answer is {{cite news}}, not {{cite web}}. This isn't just because of the possibility that the article was published in print. As a matter of fact, {{cite news}} should be used for online-only news publications as well.
According to the documentation at Template:Cite web/doc:
This Citation Style 1 template is used to create citations for web sources that are not characterized by another CS1 template. [emphasis added]
— Wikipedia, Template:Cite web/doc, Revision 646112113
So, if another template (such as {{cite news}}) can be used, then use that one. Most of the time, switching to another template involves simply changing "web" to the specific type of source; the parameters are largely the same.
But what about URLs? Don't worry, the other templates still let you use |url= for online sources.