Template:Rp

[edit] Template documentation

[edit] Usage

{{rp|page number(s)}}

"Page number(s)" can be a single page number (287), several (xii, 287, 292, 418) or a range (287–88) or any combination thereof. Do not add "Page", "pp.", etc. - just the numbers. It can of course also be used for non-numeric pages, for example "f. 29", "A7", "back cover", etc.

This template (the name of which stands for "reference pages") is for appending Harvard referencing-style page numbers to Cite.php-generated inline reference citations. It is presently the only solution for the problem of an article with a source that must be cited many, many times, at numerous different pages, yet the Cite.php <ref ...> footnoting system is desired to be used instead of the incredibly tedious and easy-to-break {{ref label}} and {{note label}} system (tedious and fragile in this context; the templates are not terribly difficult to use and are quite useful in other situations).

The problem of course is that a work cited 100 times with page numbers in each appearance, with individual <ref ...>'s will result in more than 100 lines generated for the same source by <references />, while using a single <ref ...>...</ref> and followup <ref ... />'s with the same name= and simply mentioning all of the pages cited, in the single line generated by <references /> could result in at least 100 pages being specifically cited in a single reference citation footnote, rendering it basically unreadable and certainly useless. Given that Featured Article and sometimes even Good Article review generally insist upon specific facts being cited with specific page numbers, Cite.php's limitations are in fact a severe problem for editors. Even more importantly, either of the two results above is a severe problem for encyclopedia readers.

This template solves this problem (perhaps temporarily, as Cite.php may be upgraded at some future date to account for this problem, in which case a bot can be created to convert {{Rp}} instances to the new, improved "Super-<ref ...>").

[edit] Example

The example below shows {{Rp}} 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.

Code

An asserted fact.{{Clarifyme}}<ref name="Jackson1999">Jackson, Jennifer. ''The Unlightable Being of Bareness'', Funky Publications, [[New York, NY]], 1999, ISBN 1-2345-6789-0</ref>{{rp|233-7}}<ref name="Smith2000">Smith, Bob. ''Another Source'', Another Publisher, [[Chicago, IL]], 2000, ISBN 0-0986-5432-1. Page 27</ref><ref name="NYT20060120">[http://url.goes.here.int/ "Some Article"]. Jones, Bill. ''New York Times'', "Style" section, page S4, [[20 January]] [[2006]]; online edition retrieved [[17 March]] [[2007]]</ref>
...
Another asserted fact.<ref name="Jackson1999" />{{rp|27, 422}}
...
<references />

Results

An asserted fact.^{[clarify][1]:233-7 [2][3]}
...
Another asserted fact.^{[1]:27, 422}
...

1. ^ ^{a b} Jackson, Jennifer. The Unlightable Being of Bareness, Funky Publications, New York, NY, 1999, ISBN 1-2345-6789-0
2. ^ Smith, Bob. Another Source, Another Publisher, Chicago, IL, 2000, ISBN 0-0986-5432-1. Page 27
3. ^ "Some Article". Jones, Bill. New York Times, "Style" section, page S4, 20 January 2006; online edition retrieved 17 March 2007

[edit] Warning

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, many times in the same article, to such an extent that normal citation would produce a useless <references /> line or too many individual ones. Overuse of this template will make prose harder to read, and is likely to be reverted by other editors.