Help:Introduction to referencing with Wiki Markup/3

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This screencast walks through how to use RefTools (5:03 min)

Manually adding references can be a slow and tricky process. Fortunately, there is a tool called "RefToolbar" built into the Wikipedia edit window, which makes it much easier.

To use it, simply click on  Cite at the top of the edit window, having already positioned your cursor after the sentence or fact you wish to reference. Then select one of the 'Templates' from the dropdown menu that best suits the type of source. These are:

• {{cite web}} for references to general websites
• {{cite news}} for newspapers and news websites
• {{cite book}} for references to books
• {{cite journal}} for magazines, academic journals, and papers

A template window then pops up, where you fill in as much information as possible about the source, and give a unique name for it in the "Ref name" field. Click the "Insert" button, which will add the required wikitext in the edit window. If you wish, you can also "Preview" how your reference will look first.

Some fields (such as a web address, also known as a URL) will have a icon next to them. After filling in this field, you can click it to handily autofill the remaining fields. It doesn't always work properly, though, so be sure to double check it.

Often, you will want to use the same source more than once in an article to support multiple facts. In this case, you can click Named references   in the toolbar, and select a previously added source to re-use.

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