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summary

Mini challenge - Insert a footnote or citation reference

Summary: Learn how to use the <ref>, </ref> and <references/> tags
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5 mins – 15 mins (depending on prior knowledge of wiki text and general understanding of markup languages)
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Linked to final: Intermediate wiki skills challenge

In this challenge, you will learn how to use wiki text (markup) to insert numbered footnotes hyperlinked to footnote text at the bottom of the page.

Overview

Mediawiki has a handy feature to add numbered hyperlinks to footnotes[1] in the body text. The corresponding text for each of the footnote numbers can be inserted at the bottom of the wiki page.

This is a useful feature to enable you to include links to citation references and additional background information.

When using this feature, Mediawiki will automatically insert the superscript numbers with hyperlinks to the relevant footnote text inserted at the bottom of the wiki page.

How to add footnotes or references

This is a three step process.

Step 1

Insert the opening and closing reference tags after the word in the body text where you would like the superscript reference number to appear. For example:

<ref></ref>
  • Note, the closing </ref> tag is prefaced with a forward slash (“/“), whereas the opening <ref> tag does not have a slash.

Step 2

Insert the text for the footnote between the opening and closing <ref></ref> tags. For example:

<ref>Text for the footnote or reference goes here and can include markup for ”’bold”’, ”italics” and links, for example, [https://oerfoundation.org/ OER Foundation].</ref>,
  • Note, you can use standard wiki markup including, bold, italics, hyperlinks etc. for the footnote text.

Step 3

Insert the <references/> tag at the bottom of the page where the text for your footnotes, references, and/or citations will be published. You should include a wiki subheading for “Notes” or “References” as appropriate. For example:

===Notes===
<references/>
  • Note: The text contained within each set of <ref></ref> tags will automatically be inserted by the wiki where the <references/> tag is placed on the page.
activity

Activity

Practise adding a citation reference or footnote using wiki markup

  1. Go to your practice subpage on your Sandbox page
  2. Find a citation or quote to include on your practice page and insert this within quotation marks
  3. Add the <ref></ref> tags at each end of the quotation
  4. Insert the wiki text for the citation reference between the <ref></ref> tags
  5. Add a ‘References’ subheading
  6. Insert the <references/> tag below the subheading to insert the footnote text
  7. Save your wiki page
  8. Read the example below

Example

Wiki text ”Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property licence that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge” (Atkins, Brown, & Hammond 2007<ref> Atkins, D.E., Brown, J.S. & Hammond, A.L. (February 2007). ‘[http://www.hewlett.org/uploads/files/ReviewoftheOERMovement.pdf A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities]”. Report to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. p. 4.</ref>)
Published view Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge” (Atkins, Brown, & Hammond 2007[2])

Notes

  1. Applied italics to quotation text using the following wiki markup ('') at the beginning and end of the quotation.
  2. All text contained between the <ref></ref> tags is replaced by a hyperlink to the superscript number [2] in the published view.

Notes and references

  1. More detailed documentation is provided on the Mediawiki help page on Footnotes
  2. Atkins, D.E., Brown, J.S. & Hammond, A.L. (February 2007). A Review of the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement: Achievements, Challenges, and New Opportunities. Report to The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. p. 4.