Help:Citing

Citing sources for information is crucial on a wiki. It allows readers to verify the content they are reading, while also attributing sources for their authorship of said content.

Inline citations

Inline citations make use of the Cite extension in order to make non-intrusive source links for lines of text similar to that written in order to provide validity. You can find the complete usage of the tool here. The basic usage involves adding the following code to the page:

==References==
<references/>

This code should go at the bottom of the article, but above any categories. For example, on a character page it would show at the bottom:

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Characters]]

Then, go to the line that has the reference in it. The reference link should be added to the end of the last sentence where the reference is made, directly after the period. If multiple sentences make up the reference, just place it at the end of the last sentence instead of multiple times, unless it goes to another paragraph. To make the reference link, just add this with the link replaced with where the information came from:

<ref>http://www.example.com</ref>

Linking to the exact page where the information can be found is best.

Quotation box citations

When quoting direct text from another website or directly from a person, the inline citation can be used, but another option is the Quote template box. This will separate the quote from the rest of the text which allows the reader to realize they are reading a word-for-word quote. The quote template can be used by placing this code on the page where you want the quote to appear, and filling it with information:

{{Quote
| quote = Quote text here.
| whosaid = Author
| source = [http://www.example.com source]
}}

This will show:

Quote text here. —Author, source

Just remember to replace all the information with what you want it to say. It is better to keep the name of the link, "source" in this case, short and to the point. "Source", "link", "forum post", and other variations all work.