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 citation templates.

Usage

Please notice that none of the parameters should be capitalised, to avoid the article being tagged as having a broken citation. Use "url", "title", etc. - not "Url", "Title", etc.

Common forms

Common form (with current date)

{{cite web | title= | url= | work= | publisher= | date= | accessdate=2025-02-26}}

Using last, first and coauthor(s) (with current date)

{{cite web | last= | first= | coauthors= | title= | url= | date= | work= | publisher= | accessdate=2025-02-26 }}

Using author (with current date)

{{cite web | author= | title= | url= | work= | publisher= | date= | accessdate=2025-02-26}}

Using archived version

{{cite web | author= | title= | url= | archiveurl= | work= | publisher= | archivedate= | date= | accessdate= 2025-02-26}}

All parameters

When copying all parameters, in either horizontal or vertical layout, delete those you don't need.

All parameters, horizontal layout

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

All parameters, vertical layout

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

Required parameters

• url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol e.g. http://.
• title: Title of online item.

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 be in the same format as used in the main text of the article and should not be wikilinked. (per Manual of Style (dates))
  • 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
  • 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).
• 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, in the appropriate date format for the article. Should not be wikilinked.
• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed, in the appropriate date format for the article. Should not be wikilinked.
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.

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 |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/fans/ |title=Digest of rules |publisher= National Football League |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

Using format

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

language

• {{cite web |author=Joliet, François |title=Honnit soit qui mal y pense |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 |language=French }}
  →

coauthors

• {{cite web |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  →

No author

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  →

No author, no publisher

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  →

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06}}
  →

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 |language=Greek }}
  →

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

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 |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 |title=My favorite things part II |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 |quote=Lorem ipsum dolor. }}
  →