Fallout Wiki:New User Network/Library/Referencing

For Future reference - A short guide to referencing and categories.

Hi Folks,

Welcome to the New User Network's guide on referencing. In this guide we'll be covering the use of references, footnotes, categories and quotations.

Referencing[]

Types of Reference[]

When people talk about referencing on the wiki, we usually mean use of the reference tag to create a footnote. You'll see these at the bottom of pages such as Fallout - as I write this there are 2 footnotes at the bottom, with links to other information, mostly offsite. In fact, here's a footnote reference here^[1].

Other ways you might want to reference is by mentioning a document or other page in line (as a part of the paragraph you're typing)... much like I did in the previous paragraph (rather sneaky of me wasn't it?).

A special type of reference is a quotation, where we mention exactly what a person or document says verbatim (word for word), we'll put these aside for now.

Lastly, a type of reference you may see on the wiki, but should avoid using (and should typically replace if you do see it) is a "sources" section at the bottom of an article. This is akin to a basic bibliography and should be avoided for either in line, or footnoted references.

Why Reference?[]

First, the most boring reason: referencing is an essential component to "Academic Style." If you do any serious academic study, use material in an essay or assignment, and don't reference, expect to fail.

Now the more pressing reason... It allows us to know exactly the information comes from, so it can be checked and proven to be correct if there is a dispute.

Plus, and this is for me the most important reason, it gives your reader a signpost on where they can find more information on the same topic that they might find interesting.

The technical stuff[]

Creating a footnote[]

Creating a reference couldn't be easier. simply use the <ref></ref> tag much like how you'd use the <u></u> tag to underline something.

This a sentence<ref>this is a footnote</ref>.

gives

This a sentence^[2]

Making footnotes appear[]

If you just add <ref> codes on their own and publish a page you'll get a warning appear in big red letters rather than your footnotes... Don't panic.

Making your footnotes appear is even easier, type <references/>. This should be under a heading of its own (specifically "References"). Categories will typically follow this section, but otherwise this area should contain no other information.

What Next?[]

Creating just a plain text footnote is fine when you are referencing printed material, or some other offline information... However if the information is online you should link the information instead.

Linking in a reference works exactly the same as a normal link. You should give the link a suitable name - describe exactly what the document is. In some cases, you may also wish to quote a page and line number where you can't link to the specific paragraph you're talking about, you can put this after the link.

In this sentence, I have an off site reference<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Note_(typography)#Academic_usage|Wikipedia on Footnotes and Endnotes]</ref> and an on wiki reference<ref>[[user:Agent_C|Author's Profile]]</ref>.

Gives

In this sentence, I have an off site reference^[3] and an on-wiki reference^[4].

Formatting, such as bold, italics, etc, should not typically be used. Simple references citing the name of the document (rather than full academic style references with the author's name, edition, access time, etc) are acceptable.

Categories[]

What are categories?[]

Categories are an area of the wiki that, while publicly accessible, aren't primarily there for the public. You can use them to find similar articles, usually we'd use a navbox instead to suggest similar pages to users.

Categories are, however, useful for maintenance, botwork and other automatic functions:

• Ever wonder how the front page "knows" to place the Nukapedia News Digest on the front page, but not a blog from a general user? The Template that the blogs are contained in only displays blogs that contain [[category:news]] (or a template that pushes this into the page).
• If we start a project for Fallout Tactics characters, for example, a bot can use the category to determine that a particular page is indeed a Fallout Tactics character, and plant a template at the top advising viewers of the project.

Category Pages[]

You can see an example of a category page here.

As you can see, there really isn't much to it, just a short sentence saying what it's for, and then auto-populated lists for every article, blog, image, or other file added to the category. As I mentioned before, these areas of the wiki aren't really there for casual visitors to see, so not much work is done on them to make them beautiful.

Some categories you'll spot are also in subcategories, making some into a bit more of a tree.

Let's get Categorizing[]

How to add to a category[]

Categories are typically the last listed item on any page; although they can technically be placed anywhere. Users will always see these at the bottom of the page.

e.g. [[Category:New User Network reference library]]

How to create a category[]

Simply add the category you wish to create to a page you want to include in the category. Once the edit is published, you'll see your category at the bottom in red. Simply click this, and then make a token edit to the page (usually a sentence explaining what the category is for - most categories are self explanatory and so contain little more than "Category for (category name)".

Typically, only the first word (and proper nouns) should be capitalised in category names.

How to remove items from a category, and delete a category[]

Simply delete the category code from the page.

Once the last page has been removed from a category, it is effectively deleted.

Quotations[]

What is a quotation?[]

Quotations are a special type of reference, as you are copying what the person said in their own words, exactly as they said it.

When to Use Quotes[]

Typically it's recommended in academic works that quotations be used only sparingly, instead recommending that the writer paraphrase or summarize the meaning of the work they are referencing.

However, quotes can have a power beyond their simple meaning...

If you live in the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or anywhere else that traces its legal system back to England, you might recognise these words as establishing the right to what we call today "Habeas Corpus", the idea that we just don't lock people up without a good reason and in line with the law (due process, trial, etc); as you might be able to tell, it's one of my favourite quotes.

Ultimately though, I think you'd agree its more powerful a statement than: "You can't lock someone up unless the law says you can."

Quotations can help remove any ambiguity as to the meaning of the words spoken, as they show the way the way the author or speaker phrased them. They are also a great way to add flavor to the wiki if used correctly.

Here on Nukapedia, we use quotes to help you get a feel on certain characters... At the top of many pages you'll find a quote, sometimes from the subject, sometimes from someone else on the subject.

When not to use the Quotation template[]

There is a special template for quotes, but its not always appropriate to use this. For phrases, a sentance, or a couple of sentances, the qutoation template is perfect for your needs (and we'll come back to its usage), as long as the quote can stand on its own as a paragraph... If you are quoting as a part of a larger paragraph of your own you may just wish to do this in line.

However, for extended periods (long paragraphs or multiple paragraphs) it is better to name the source in the preceding paragraph (with an inline reference to the source), and then intent (with a :); However such extended quotes should be avoided (but may be necessary in news reporting or when a design document is involved).

How to use it[]

Satisfied that our quote can stand on its own as a paragraph, you can use the quotation template, which looks like this
{{quotation|This is what was said|This is who said it|This is the source}}

Gives

The "who said it" and "Source" sections are optional. Typically you would only mention who said it when placing the quote on the article page of the speaker.

You may see the quotation template used with the word "quote" instead of "quotation", its best to avoid this as "quote" seems to only work on Nukapedia - other sites in the wikia network use "quotation" only.

Conclusion[]

You should now be familiar with Basic Referencing, Footnotes, Categories and Quotes, If you have any further questions or suggestions, you know where to find me^[5]
Agent c (talk) 21:57, February 10, 2013 (UTC)

References[]