Template talk:Cite book

Archives 2006–2011

Changes needed

{{Edit request}} Could someone with the right privileges please make the following changes?

• There is a typo, "{{{archiveur|}}}", that needs to be corrected to "{{{archiveurl|}}}".
• Perhaps {{ISOdate}} should be applied to |origdate= so that |dateformat= can be eliminated?

Also, could someone explain to me the function of |ref=? Thanks. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 17:55, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

I have fixed the typo and changed date format, but I cant find any |ref=.--Zolo (talk) 18:05, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! |Ref= appears right at the top of the template: "{{#if:{{{ref|}}} | {{#ifeq:{{{ref}}}|none||id="{{{ref}}}"}}". — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 18:08, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Oh yes I had not seen it, I have added a tracking category to see where it is used.--Zolo (talk) 18:11, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Mmm, you seem to have reverted to a very primitive version of the template by accident. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 18:53, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Ooop. No idea of what happenned. I Hope it is fixed now.--Zolo (talk) 19:00, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Yup, looks OK. But you can add the tracking category back to figure out what |ref= is for, if you want. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 19:23, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Yes I have added it at the end. Actually "ref' is documented on en:Template:Cite_Book. It is supposed to serve as an anchor. I am not sure it is very useful on Commons, but it does not hurt much either so I would suggest to keep it.--Zolo (talk) 19:33, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Ah, yes, I see. OK, I will document that. But I agree that it doesn't seem particularly useful. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 11:10, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

"At" parameter

The |at= parameter doesn't seem to work: see, for example, "File:Hosmanus Imperatoris Ibrahim Filivs (1707).jpg". Any idea why? The wikitext looks OK to me. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 18:31, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

It is inside an "if", so it does not works when 'pages' is void.--Zolo (talk) 19:00, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Oh, right. Is it supposed to work that way? I thought it was intended as an alternative to |page=/|pages= when those parameters are not suitable. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 19:16, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

I dont know what was intended actually, but yes I think it makes more sense to use it when no page is given, like in Wikipedia. I'll change it.--Zolo (talk) 19:23, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Cool, thanks. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 19:29, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

{{Edit request}}

Still not working: Sugden, John (1990) Tecumseh's Last Stand from

{{cite book | last = Sugden | first = John | title = Tecumseh's Last Stand | at = Frontispiece | year = 1990
| url = http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=1nefBeV7k_IC&pg=PR2&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_1#PPR2,M1
| work = Google Books}}

BTW, I would like to indicate that the link aims at Google Books, apparently impossible with {{cite book}}. I get it with {{cite web}}, but this suppresses location of original publisher. I would like to inform about the online provider and at the same tell which of alternative editions was digitalized—by full bibliographic information.--Uwe Lück (talk) 10:40, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

Not done for now, please sandbox and test your change. Once you get it working, do a new request. Multichill (talk) 13:40, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Bug or feature?

{{Editprotected}} Example (as given in the book):

Wien am Anfang des XX. Jahrhunderts. Ein Führer in technischer und künstlerischer Richtung. Herausgegeben vom Österreichischen Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein. Redigiert von Ingenieur Paul Kortz, Stadtbaurat. Zweiter Band. Verlag von Gerlach & Wiedling, Wien 1906. Abb. 748, Kapitel III.L.I. Rotunde, S. 459.

If I use

{{Cite book |title=Wien am Anfang des XX. Jahrhunderts. Ein Führer in technischer und künstlerischer Richtung |chapter=III.L.I. Rotunde |volume=2 |publisher=Österreichischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein |editor=Ingenieur Paul Kortz, Stadtbaurat |location=Wien |date=1906 |language=de |pages=459 |at=Abb. 748 |nopp=542}}

the result looks strange to me:

"III.L.I. Rotunde" in Ingenieur Paul Kortz, Stadtbaurat , ed. (in German) (1906) Wien am Anfang des XX. Jahrhunderts. Ein Führer in technischer und künstlerischer Richtung, 2, Vienna: Österreichischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein, 459

Why does the volume (2) appear twice? Why are the number of pages (|nopp=542) not displayed? Alfie↑↓© 00:22, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

The repetition of the volume number seems like an error. You are using |nopp= incorrectly – it is simply for turning off "p." or "pp.". If you wish to refer to a particular page, use |at=. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 06:40, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks! Alfie↑↓© 13:14, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

I must say I also thought "nopp" stood for "number of pages". What is the point of turning off pages while it does not do anything by default ?--Zolo (talk) 13:32, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

I think the default is that "p." or "pp." (or their equivalents in other languages) will be displayed. If |nopp= is used, the page number(s) will be displayed without the term "p." or "pp." in front. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 13:43, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

Ah right. It is the same as on en.wiki. I dont see much benefit over the "at" parameter though.--Zolo (talk) 18:45, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

I guess the difference is that |nopp= was intended to apply to the first page number of a work or the full range of pages that the work spans, while |at= is intended to allow users to refer to a "pinpoint", that is, a specific figure, paragraph, table, and so on. But I can see how one might use them in the same way. – Cheers, JackLee 03:14, 8 January 2012 (UTC).

"Page" parameter

The |page= parameter doesn't seem to work: see, for example, Category:Grave of Poinat family. Any idea ? ~Pyb (talk) 13:51, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Yes, there is a problem with "{{". that are not closed at the right place. It works if you add the publisher. I'll try to correct that but since the template is rather hard to read I am afraid to make an error if I do it right now, so I will try to simplify the template first. --Zolo (talk) 14:07, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll add the publisher parameter. ~Pyb (talk) 16:48, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Fixed now.--Zolo (talk) 10:51, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

New version

I have made a new version in template:cite book/sandbox. I solves the problem mentionned above and a few others. It is also more localizable and hopefully easier to maintain. The order in which parameters are displayed follow more closely en.wikipedia but II many have may some mistakes. Please report the errors that you see (for instance in Template:Cite book/testcases) before it is implemented for real. --Zolo (talk) 17:31, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

I have implemented the new version (there is a small problem for spaces when we use commas because of {{Cite book/label}}, I'll fix it.--Zolo (talk) 10:51, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Issues with spacing before and after commas

Hi. There seem to be some problems with spacing before and after commas. See "File:Henri Moissan isolating fluorine 1886.jpg" – there seems to be an extra space before the comma in between the book title and the place of publication (Paris in this case), but a missing space after that comma. There is also an extra space before the comma between the publisher and the page number. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 02:46, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Same here with File:Hydrogramme-caniapiscau fr.svg. I could try to fix it but it's a sensitive template. Bouchecl (talk) 18:11, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay, I had forgotten to fix that. I hope it is okay now. --Zolo (talk) 06:21, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Looks good. Thanks very much! — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 07:53, 31 July 2012 (UTC)

Perfect! Thank you. Bouchecl (talk) 17:31, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Extra space before quotation mark

Hi, I used {{Cite book}} with the |chapter= parameter in a usage note at "Category:Gravestones in Fort Canning Green relocated from Bukit Timah Cemetery", and noticed that there is an extra space before the closing quotation mark. Can this be fixed? Thanks. — SMUconlaw (talk) 19:26, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

I tried to fix it, but apparently, it does not work. We should probably make a new version based on the new Lua-based template in en.wikipedia. --Zolo (talk) 05:00, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Wow, this is a really complicated template. Looking at it, maybe you need to remove the extra spaces between "{{{chapter|}}}" and "}} }} }}"? I have no idea how to use Lua. If all the templates get converted to Lua, then I think I will have to give up working on templates. :( — SMUconlaw (talk) 12:57, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

I do not see which "chapter" you are referring to. I could try to remove all white spaces I see but that will make the template even harder to read, so I'd rather try Lua. The syntax of Lua is more complicated, but once you get used to it, it tends to make the code easier to read, I think, so if you have some spare time :). --Zolo (talk) 09:37, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I meant this part:

** chapter **
-->|chapter = {{#if: {{{chapter|}}} 
            | {{cite book/label|chapter|{{#if:{{{chapterurl|}}}
                 |[{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}]
                 |{{{chapter|}}}
              }} }} }}

Not sure if I have the time to learn how to use Lua; will see how it goes. It looked very complicated when I first read the Mediawiki help page on it. — SMUconlaw (talk) 09:59, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Oh yes, you are right. It seems to work now, thanks. --Zolo (talk) 12:04, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Excellent. Thanks! — SMUconlaw (talk) 16:52, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Extra space

{{Edit protected}} Hi, spotted another extra space. If the |editor= parameter is used, an extra space appears like this: "Editor's Name , ed.". — SMUconlaw (talk) 15:34, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

Not done for now, I don't have a clue where the extra space comes from, please sandbox and test your change. Once you get it working, do a new request. Multichill (talk) 13:41, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Location link

Last, First Title, Vienna · Last, First Title, Vienna · Last, First Title, Category:New York

results from

{{cite book|title=Title|first=First|last=Last|location=Wien}} ·
{{cite book|title=Title|first=First|last=Last|location=Vienna}} ·
{{cite book|title=Title|first=First|last=Last|location=New York}}

From |location=, “Vienna” is linked to en:Vienna, tolerable, but “New York” is linked to New York—the state—at Commonns, should link to w:New York City, assuming that publisher locations always are cities or towns, not states.--Uwe Lück (talk) 13:03, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

If you want en:New York City instead of en:New York than I would suggest using {{cite book|title=Title|first=First|last=Last|location=New York City}} giving "Last, First Title, New York City ".--Jarekt (talk) 18:02, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Extra authors

Can parameter be added so extra authors can be shown? Such as last1, first1, last2, first2, last3, first3, etc., found on the en.wiki.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 22:17, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

{{Citation}} on commons takes that (up to 5 at the moment) and is itself a wrapper around {{Citation/core}}. I'm going to look at making {{Cite book}} on commons into similar wrapper. En.wiki now uses Lua (en:Module:Citation/CS1) for the inner workings of citation. I have no idea how commons feels about making a switch to that. DMacks (talk) 15:51, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

@DMacks: I think we should import this version from En.wiki. It is the last pre-Lua version of "cite book" over there and has all the nifty functionalities like multiple authors and editors. On that note, the coeditors parameter which is announced in the doc at Commons is also completely missing in the template code. De728631 (talk) 01:16, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

@DMacks: @De728631: Is there any headway on this? Even a single author using last1= / first1= (which is generated by the autofill function in the Wikipedia Editing Toolbar, and Google Books citation tool) yields the malformed (author missing): (19xx) Book Title, Town City: Publishing Co., p. 10 . --Animalparty (talk) 05:09, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

There hasn't been any change yet to the template code, so parameters like |first1= etc. still don't work. I have now copied the code from en.wikipedia to Template:Cite book/sandbox. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be as easy as I thought because our {{Citation/core}} is completely different from the one at en.wikipedia. So it could be that we can't implement these changes here without fundamentally rewriting all of our citation templates. DMacks may know more about this. De728631 (talk) 14:04, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

As {{Citation}} supports first1 to first5, should it be used instead of {{Cite book}}? A455bcd9 (talk) 08:08, 20 December 2022 (UTC)

Desired punctuation

When I compare Cite book with Cite journal, I notice the former doesn't add a full stop after the date in brackets (or after the author if the date is missing), while the latter does. The difference becomes apparent when using Template:Published:

This file has been used in: Jess Testing (2010) The Great Experiment, London: Testing Publications ISBN: 978-0-234-15979-3. Jess Testing (1 November 2010). "The Great Experiment". Experimental Times. London: Testing Publications. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved on 8 November 2010.

I believe there should be a full stop in both cases. If my assumption is correct, I hope somebody will add the full stop to Cite book, because I immediately notice such inconsistencies and they annoy me (but I'm a funny guy).

Thanks, ErikvanB (talk) 15:45, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Unnecessary wikilinks

{{Edit request}} The wikilinking of the publisher's location is unnecessary, as the link to a Wikipedia geography article is of no value in the context of sources, references, and footnotes.
Current code

|location = {{city|{{{location|}}}}}

New code

|location = {{city|{{{location|link=-}}}}}

Respectfully submitted, Senator2029 02:38, 5 October 2019 (UTC)

 Done Agree! Thank you! ~riley (talk) 08:45, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

Undone, did not have intended outcome. Link is a parameter of City, not Location, however adding it as a parameter of City gives an unintended result too. Please play around in Template:Cite book/sandbox. ~riley (talk) 08:53, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

@~riley: This seems to be what Senator2029 requested. It's the result of adding link as a parameter of {{City}}. De728631 (talk) 21:29, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

HTTP to HTTPS

{{Edit request}}

Say, I just used this template on an image, and I noticed that the OCLC link to WorldCat was for HTTP and not HTTPS. When I looked at the source code, I see the same is for the DOI link.

To be more explicit, http://dx.doi.org/ should be https://dx.doi.org/, and http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/ should be https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/.

Thanks, 64.246.153.97 15:11, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

 Done. --Achim (talk) 15:42, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

format when no author is specified

{{Edit request}}

Please adjust the template so that the date in parenthesis is not awkwardly displayed at the beginning. Thus, rather than the display of: (1903) Men of the Pacific Coast, San Francisco: Pacific Art Co. we would have Men of the Pacific Coast. San Francisco: Pacific Art Co. 1903.. This is how English Wikipedia handles authorless citations, and is closer (though not identical) to the Chicago Citation Style, and looks better aesthetically (gasp! subjectivity in Wikimedia!). I realize the addition of "Anonymous" is a workaround, but may not be accurate, required, or appropriate in all cases. Thank you. --Animalparty (talk) 19:50, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

@~riley, DMacks, and Zolo: --Animalparty (talk) 23:49, 4 December 2020 (UTC)

Please be specific on what you want changed. 1989 (talk) 15:30, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

@1989: I thought my example was pretty specific but here goes: Please alter the template display (I don't know the precise changes necessary because I'm not a coder) so that if there is no value in author field, the publication date is displayed at the end of the citation, without parentheses, as in the example shown. Pages would be displayed after the date. This is entirely possible, as Wikipedia templates do it. The fact I don't know exact changes necessary should not preclude a reasonable, knowledgeable editor from making the changes needed. --Animalparty (talk) 16:31, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

The point of an edit request is to precisely tell what you want changed and why. Using the edit request template and not doing that will have your request not acknowledged. Keep in mind this request has been unanswered for almost a year and the users you pinged have not responded. 1989 (talk) 17:09, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

The edit request was to request an edit be made. I thank you for engaging in discussion, but this problem seems likely to persist for another year if pedantry trumps practicality. --Animalparty (talk) 17:16, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

With how complex the code is, my concern isn't pedantry at all. I ask you do not use the edit request template again without precisely telling what you want changed, like what Senator2029 did above. Thanks. 1989 (talk) 17:56, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Location autolinking is malfunctioning

{{Edit request}}

location=New York

results in an ugly link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:New_York, which is itself a disambiguation page.

Could this feature be made optional (via something like a "locationlink" parameter) or removed completely? I'm not sure how much value it adds even when it functions perfectly: English Wikipedia's cite-book template seems to get along fine without it. Grover cleveland (talk) 13:55, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Please be specific on what you want changed. 1989 (talk) 15:30, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

"editor-link" doesn't work as intended

{{Edit request}} The field "editor-link" does not work as described in the template's docs: It doesn't link to any article as intended, even if one exists.
Also, in this example with one editor and no known authors it looks like this: "Armistead, Wilson , ed. (1853)". There's a superfluous space after the editor's name and before the ", ed."
Please have a look at these issues and perhaps tell me how I can fix it myself. --ΟΥΤΙΣ (talk) 22:06, 13 June 2021 (UTC)

Please be specific on what you want changed. 1989 (talk) 15:30, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

formatnum

Hello, see Category:Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, for example File:"Les Adieux au Palais-Royal". Wellcome L0005948.jpg there are "|pages=132-133", it might not be necessary to do the formatnum when there are several pages ? Gzen92 ^[discuter] 08:58, 24 September 2021 (UTC) {{Edit request}}

Should be replaced {{formatnum:{{{pages|}}}}} by {{{pages|}}} and {{formatnum:{{{pages}}}}} by {{{pages}}}. In the documentation : Use an en dash to separate a range of pages, like this: "425–430", which is not a number. Thanks. Gzen92 (talk) 08:54, 21 November 2022 (UTC)

This tracking category does not necessarily indicate an error. It can safely be ignored in this case unless the output from this template is invalid. Jonesey95 (talk) 15:05, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

Quotation marks in Swiss related articles

In Swiss related articles or Swiss files (e.g. File:CHE Mettembert COA.svg --> see Blazon reference) I miss a possibility for the correct quotation marks (guillemets: «…»). — D’Azur, 06:58, 6 February 2024 (UTC)