Template:Cite web/doc

This template is used to cite online sources in Wikipedia articles. {{Cite news}} can also be used when citing a news source; for general information about citations in Wikipedia articles, see Wikipedia:Cite sources. A general discussion of the use of templates for adding citation of open-source web content to Wikipedia articles is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

Usage

Note: None of the parameters should be capitalised, in order to avoid the article being tagged as having a broken citation. For example, use "url", "title", etc. - not "URL", "Title", etc.

Common forms with authors in any format

Citations within a page should use consistent formats. However, there is no consensus about which format is best. The following examples are for citations where one or more authors are listed in a single |author=authors parameter, using any format. Also shown below are three separate date formats that are commonly used in Wikipedia:

YYYY-MM-DD

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2025-03-09 }}

Day Month Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=9 March 2025 }}

Month Day, Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 9, 2025 }}

Common forms with last1, first1; last2, first2

The examples below will suffice for up to two authors each with first and last names; for more, just create more parameters in a similar style:

YYYY-MM-DD

{{cite web |last1= |url= |title= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2025-03-09 }}

Day Month Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=9 March 2025 }}

Month Day, Year

{{cite web |url= |title= |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=March 9, 2025 }}

All parameters

When copying all parameters in either the vertical or horizontal layouts, delete those which are not needed.

All parameters, horizontal layout

{{cite web |url= |title= |first= |last= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |work= |publisher= |location= |page= |pages= |language= |trans_title= |format= |doi= |date= |month= |year= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |accessdate= |quote= |ref= |separator= |postscript= }}

All parameters, vertical layout

{{cite web
| url         =
| title       =
| first       =
| last        =
| author      =
| authorlink  =
| coauthors   =
| date        =
| month       =
| year        =
| work        =
| publisher   =
| location    =
| page        =
| pages       =
| language    =
| trans_title =
| format      =
| doi         =
| archiveurl  =
| archivedate =
| accessdate  =
| quote       =
| ref         =
| separator   =
| postscript  =
}}

Required parameters

• url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol, e.g. http://.
• title: Title of online item. This title will appear as the citation itself, hyperlinked to the URL.

Optional parameters

• author: Author
  • last works with first to produce last, first
  • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
  • coauthors: allows additional authors
• a date parameter:
  • either date: Full date of publication. Should not be wikilinked.
  • or year: Year of publication, and month: Name of the month of publication. If you also have the day, use date instead. Should not be wikilinked.
• format: Format, e.g. PDF. HTML implied if not specified.
• work: If this item is part of a larger "work", such as a book, periodical or website, write the name of that work.
• publisher: Publisher, if any—for example if the website is hosted by a government service, educational institution, or company. The publisher is not usually the name of the website (that is usually the work). If the publisher cannot be found on the site, try whois. For self-published works, e.g. blogs, use self-published.
  • location: Geographical place of publication.
• pages: pp. 5–7: first page and optional last page. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not the total number of pages in the book.
• language: language of publication (don't specify "English" as this is the default).
  • trans_title: A translated title of the article, in case the original title is in a foreign language. Would normally be used in conjunction with the 'language' parameter.
• doi: A digital object identifier for the document, such as 10.1038/news070508-7
  • Doilabel: If the doi contains some characters that must be escaped, use "doilabel" for the unescaped version. See {{doi}}: "id" is equivalent to "doi" and "label" is "doilabel"
• archive parameters (if used, must be used both of them together)
  • archiveurl: The URL of an archived copy of the page, if (or in case) the url becomes unavailable. Typically used to refer to services like WebCite and Archive.org.
  • archivedate: Date when the item was archived. Should not be wikilinked.
• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed. Should not be wikilinked.
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.
• ref: ID for anchor. By default, no anchor is generated. The ordinary nonempty value |ref=ID generates an anchor with the given ID; such a linkable reference can be made the target of wikilinks to full references, especially useful in short citations like shortened notes and parenthetical referencing. The special value |ref=harv generates an anchor suitable for the {{harv}} template; see anchors for Harvard referencing templates.
• separator / postscript: The punctuation to use between fields / at the end of the citation

Duplicate periods

By default, {{Cite web}} separates fields with periods, so don't encode a field ending with a period or a duplicate period will be added. Example: "publisher=Camelot, Inc" will correctly show as Camelot, Inc. but "publisher=Camelot, Inc." will incorrectly show as Camelot, Inc..

Examples

Some standard use cases

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |author=Doe, John |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web ||url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II author=Doe, John |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=My Favorite Things, Part II |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/digestofrules |title=Digest of Rules |publisher=National Football League |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

Using format

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 }}
  →

Foreign language and translated title

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Honni soit qui mal y pense |author=Joliet, François |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005 |language=French |trans_title=Shame on those who think evil }}
  →

coauthors

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Our Favorite Things |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Peter Smith; Jim Smythe |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

No author

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |publisher=Open Publishing |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=16 May 2006 }}
  →

No author, no publisher

This abbreviated format should only be used when the editor cannot determine the publisher and author.

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |work=Encyclopedia of Things |accessdate=6 July 2005 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.example.org/ |title=Index of Sharp Things |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=6 July 2005}}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=30 April 2005 |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 |language=Greek }}
  →

Using "archiveurl" and "archivedate" for webpages that have been archived

• {{cite web |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=30 April 2005 |format=PDF |accessdate=July 6, 2005 |archiveurl=http://www.archive.org/2005-09-11/www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |archivedate=2005-09-11 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi?archive=currnews&story=20060405-01shore.htm |title=Interview with Maggie Downs |date=2006-03-31 |publisher=The Desert Sun |archiveurl=http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:JAxf4v-pQmgJ:joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi%3Farchive%3Dcurrnews%26story%3D20060405-01shore.htm |archivedate=2006-04-26 }}
  →

Using "quote"

• {{cite web |url=http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/c.html |title=Daylight saving time: rationale and original idea |work=WebExhibits |date=2008 |accessdate=2009-09-27 |quote=... Lord Balfour came forward with a unique concern: 'Supposing some unfortunate lady was confined with twins ...' }}
  →