Wowpedia:Citation

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This page is considered a guideline on Wowpedia. It illustrates standards of conduct, which many editors agree with in principle. However, it is not policy. Feel free to update the page as needed, but please use the voting process and put the vote on the discussion page to propose any major changes. See the Guidelines home page for an overview of Wowpedia guidelines. See Category:Guidelines for a list of proposed and accepted guideline articles.

The citation of sources provides a way to ensure that the information contained in this wiki is correct, and defuses the common criticism that information in a wiki is unreliable. Providing citations is especially helpful where different sources describe two conflicting versions of lore.

Citation templates

Cite

The {{cite}} template is deprecated. Please use the Ref format below.

That said, this is preserved to maintain documentation: It can be used to cite to manuals, novels, and other published works in the Warcraft universe. Note that <ref></ref> is preferred (but old habits sadly die hard).

Note that {{cite}} should not be used within said reference tags. Under no circumstances should cite be used in infoboxes. Under no circumstances should this template be used to cite non-literary subjects: Template:Cite representing The Defense of Strahnbrad is unacceptable; as is Template:Cite representing Arathandris Silversky. The subject being cited must be both a published work and be listed on the index linked below.

To add {{cite}} (but don't):

• In the text where you want to create a citation, use the cite template.
• After the first pipe, write the appropriate abbreviation from WoWWiki:Book citation index.
• After the second pipe, include a page number.

Ref and related

{{Ref}} and the other <ref> related templates found in Category:Citation templates should be the template of choice when dealing with citations, especially for more experienced WoWWikians. Said templates are used within the <ref></ref> tags to create a standard look for citing sources. One must also remember to add <references/> or (in some cases) {{Reflist}} to the end of the article under a References section (== References ==), but some people prefer to use a Notes section (== Notes ==) or a Sources section (== Sources ==). Please use tier 2 (==). Be sure to keep the references section, regardless of name, separate from other trivia and note sections.

Often, many facts on a page will come from the same source. To avoid clutter, use <ref name="refname"></ref> the first time and <ref name="refname"/> for subsequent links. This causes all cites to link to the same reference. The actual ref name is unimportant as long as it remains consistent, but should be related to what is being cited to avoid confusion.

Below is a general overview of when to use each template. For further documentation, see the templates' respective talk pages.

• {{Ref}} should be used as a shorthand for Warcraft books, but {{Ref book}} is preferred.
• {{Ref book}} directly replaces {{cite}}, and should be used for non-RPG Warcraft publications.
• {{Ref game}} should be used for citing all games in the Warcraft series (including World of Warcraft).
• {{Ref rpg}} should be used for citing Warcraft RPG publications
• {{Ref web}} should be used for offsite webpages (see below).
• {{TCG quote}} should be used for quotes from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.

In the absence of a references section, do not add a little '1' in superscript (<sup>[[Link|1]]</sup>), add the section. Please do not add any notes in superscript in place of ref.

Ref also allows for footnotes, annotations and reasoning. Due to the small size the link to the reference creates, multiple cites can be placed in the same sentence. When mixing in references, be sure to make clear what information came from where (through the use of clean placement, quotation marks, or separate sentences for each cite). Lengthy reasoning should be in the article itself, as citation notes should remain source-related at all times.

Multisource tag

Use {{Multisource}} when a subject may be found in multiple sources of lore. It is mainly to aviod stacking too many single source templates. It may be deprecated.

Offsite citations

Citations to other websites can easily be added by enclosing the hyperlink in single square brackets; however, it is preferable that such citations use the ref tags with the respective template {{ref web}}. Hyperlinks can also just be linked within <ref></ref> without single square brackets (showing the entire link), but this method is not as tasteful as the template.

Requests for citations

If an individual fact is quoted in an article which might be under dispute or can not be verified, the {{Fact}} template can be added where a citation would go. An explanation of why a source is needed should also be placed on the article's discussion page. Articles with this template will appear in Category:Statements needing citations. Note that {{fact}} should not be used within reference tags.

If an entire article or section of an article is of unclear source, add the {{Source needed}} template. Articles with this template will appear in Category:Articles needing citations. {{Accuracy}} can also be added to similar effect. Articles with this template will appear in Category:Accuracy disputed.

Please note that {{fact}} is not the same as asking "Where did this come from?" and should not be added to a name on a list of internal links. The answer to that is likely on the link's respective page. The exception to this is if the justification for it being on the list is very controversial.

Simpler citations

While the above templates (except {{Cite}}) are preferred, newer users may have trouble with template usage. Not to discourage citation additions, a degree of tolerance will be given and lesser methods may be used. To add a simpler citation, add <ref></ref> with a quest, NPC, or the like within with an optional quote. A slightly more advanced method is to do the above, but link the subject with {{quest}}, {{Npc}}, or {{mob}}.

This method is also used to link talk page discussions to articles. An external link to an internal page is tacky.

This method may not be too distasteful as it allows for citing World of Warcraft with greater ease for all users.

Images as citation

While a picture is worth a thousand words, images should not be used as citation. While an image can be linked using <ref></ref>, the image will be marked as unused, as there is currently no {{templateimage}} equivalent for images being used as citation. While this can be solved by also putting the image on an article, this can cause problems if the image is later removed. It is better to just use one of the above templates and describe the content of the picture. The picture can also be put on a talk page for use as proof.

Citing speculation

While seemingly an oxymoron, speculation can be more or less cited. Individual lines of speculation should be marked with {{speculation-inline}}, so facts can be more easily distinguished from the speculations that are derived from them in speculatory sections.

Cited speculation is still speculation, and saying something is speculation does not make it exempt from citation. If it has strong evidence, but no "citation" in that it is never explicitly said, cite the evidence using one of the above templates. Baseless rumors are not needed. Citation can be more than a page number. Be careful not to let false info multiply.

Manual sources section

While Ref is better, if a large section from one source (or a repeated section from a few similar sources) is paraphrased into one article (Aqir, Velinde Starsong, ect.), it is easier to manually list the sources in the References section than to make several cluttered and repeating ref links. Note that citing every paragraph with <ref></ref> is acceptable and not to be discouraged, but annoyingly repetitive. Note that if a small factoid is added to the article not found in one of the major sources, this increases the need for each paragraph to be cited.

When to cite

In a perfect world on Wikipedia the answer is always, but because WoWWiki is primarily about World of Warcraft (and is not Wikipedia), not everything needs to be cited. A description of things, services, and details that can be found by just looking at a subzone does not need to be cited, unless a detail is debatable or obscure. Obscure in this context means 'rarely mentioned' not 'hard to find by looking'. A guide for finding or obtaining something can be included, but actual citation is not needed. Most information on the wiki is original research anyway. This does not mean that it is impossible to cite, just that is not necessary.

Examples:

• The Howling Fjord in Northrend has snow. (No citation needed, though a screenshot should be added.)
• The town of Southshore in Hillsbrad Foothills has a mailbox. (No citation needed, though {{Coords}} can be added.)
• The Moon of Azeoth is made of Cheese. (Citation is needed, as this can not be proven by looking at it.) NOTE: this is a completely hypothetical statement.

Style

Saying "In [quest name], something happens" and "something happens<ref>[quest name]</ref> are essentially the same thing. If you specifically want to say when something happened the former is better, but the latter is 'cleaner'. It really depends on specific case-by-case intent.

Examples

Cite

Many [[cleric]]s were killed during the [[First War]].{{cite|W2Man|44}}

Many clerics were killed during the First War.Template:Cite

Garona's full name is [[Garona Halforcen]].{{cite|LG|256}}

Garona's full name is Garona Halforcen.Template:Cite

Offsite citations

The former

According to [[Caydiem]], [[Garona]] is half [[draenei]].[http://blue.cardplace.com/cache/wow-general/5053956.htm]

According to Caydiem, Garona is half draenei.[1]

The latter

According to [[Caydiem]], [[Garona]] is half [[draenei]].<ref>{{ref web |title = Racial Class choices... |accessdate = 2007-07-19 |author = Falariel |coauthors = Caydiem |url = http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/error404.html?fn=wow-general&t=5053956&p=&sid=1#post5053956 |date = 2005-09-25 |archiveurl = http://blue.cardplace.com/cache/wow-general/5053956.htm |archivedate = 2005-09-25}}</ref>

According to Caydiem, Garona is half draenei.