Template:Rp

Template documentation

Template:Refpage and Template:Refpages redirect here.

Function

"Rp" stands for "Reference page/s". This is a relatively uncommon method of citing page numbers, usually used when other methods produce undesirable results.

Use this template when you are referring to specific pages within a source which is cited many times in the same article. The following example sentence shows the formatting produced by

<ref name="aardvark">... details of cited source ...</ref>{{rp|23}}

which would be used to refer to a fact on page 23 of reference [1]:

Apples should be eaten when they are ripe.

This second example sentence shows the formatting produced by

<ref name="aardvark"/>{{rp|56}}

which would be used as citation for a statement supported by a fact on page 56 of the same reference [1], which will appear only once in the list of references:

Porridge, usually eaten for breakfast, can also serve as a dessert.

This template is for appending page numbers to notes. It is an alternative that can be used in articles with one or several sources that must be cited a large number of times, at numerous different pages. It is an alternative to the more common method of using shortened footnotes that does not require the reader to follow two links to see the source.

Notice

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 times in the same article, to such an extent that normal citation would produce a useless line in <references /> or too many individual ones.

Overuse of this template is seen by some editors as making prose harder to read. Used judiciously, however, other editors say that it is less interruptive to the visual flow than complete implementation of the reference citation styles that inspired it, particularly full Harvard referencing and AMA style.

If an article has an established citation style that does not use this template, then do not unilaterally start using this template in the article. Instead, you should discuss options for citation styles with other editors and try to reach a consensus.

How to use

With colon

{{rp|page number(s)}}

"Page number(s)" can be a single page number (287), several (xii, 287, 292, 418) or a range (287–288) or any combination thereof. Do not add "Page", "pp.", etc.—just the numbers. Of course, it can also be used for non-numeric pages, for example: "f. 29", "A7", and "back cover", etc., and can also be used for non-paginated sources, e.g., "0:35:12" for a video source.

This template is for appending page numbers to inline reference citations generated by Cite.php. It is a solution for the problem of a source that is cited many times, at numerous different page numbers, in the same LIMSwiki article. Cite.php's limitations pose two citation problems in such a case:

1. Regular use of <ref ...>...</ref> to provide a separate citation for each fact/statement sourced from a different page or page range will result in numerous individual lines generated by <references /> in the "Notes" or "References" section.
2. Using a single <ref ...>...</ref> and followup <ref ... />'s with the same name= and simply listing all of the pages cited, would result in the single, very long <references /> entry for this source giving no way for readers to tell which facts were sourced from which pages in the work.

This template works around both of these problems. Doing so is important, because Featured Article as well as Good Article reviews generally insist upon specific facts being cited with specific page numbers.

{{rp}} is an alternative to the more common method of using shortened footnotes, that does not require the reader to follow two links to see the source. In cases of numerous citations to the same source, the Cite.php <ref ...> footnoting system is less tedious to use and more difficult to break with incorrect formatting than the {{ref label}} and {{note label}} system (although, in other situations, those templates are not particularly difficult and may be quite useful).

{{rp}} may end up being a temporary solution to these problems, as Cite.php may be upgraded to resolve these issues, in which case a bot would be able to convert {{rp}} to the new code.

Missing page numbers

If a reference needs a page number but it is missing, use {{rp|needed=y|{{subst:DATE}}}} or {{rp|needed=y|date=November 2024}}. This will automatically use the {{page needed}} template to add the article to the appropriate category. For example, <ref name="aardvark"/>{{rp|needed=y|date=November 2012}} results in:

This is preferable to something like {{rp|page number?}} or {{rp|?}}, since the cleanup categorization takes place. It is preferable to simply using {{page needed}} in articles that make use of {{rp}}, since it preserves the use of the {{rp}} syntax.

Do not nest the {{page needed}} template inside the {{rp}} template; doing so introduces a stray colon and the displayed results are too small to be legible to many readers. For instance, <ref name="aardvark"/>{{rp|{{page needed|date=November 2012}}}} results in the undesirable:

A note on spacing

Where multiple citations occur in series, {{rp}} may result in line breaks between the citations. The "word joiner" (code ⁠), which prohibits a line break on either side of it, may be used to prevent this.

See also

• {{sfn}}, a more common way of citing multiple pages of the same source
• {{p.}}

References