Last modified: 2014-09-24 09:20:34 UTC
if <references /> contains named <ref> tags which have not been mentioned in the text above it will issue red error messages. EXAMPLE: ==Test== <ref name=fBigWednesday /> <ref name=fAnnieHall /> <!-- ref name=fHannahAndHerSisters/ --> <ref name=fManhattan/> <references> <ref name=fBigWednesday >{{cite video|people=Aaberg, D., Milius, J. (Writers) Milius, J. (Director)|date=1978|title=Big Wednesday|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077235/|medium=Motion Picture}}</ref> <ref name=fAnnieHall >{{cite video|people=Allen, W. (Director)|date=1977|title=Annie Hall|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075686/|medium=Motion Picture}}</ref> <ref name=fHannahAndHerSisters >Allen, W. (Director). (1986). Hannah and Her Sisters [Motion Picture]</ref> <ref name=fManhattan>Allen, W. (Director). (1979). Manhattan [Motion Picture].</ref> </references> Impact: In Wikibooks etc bibliographies are unmanageable in texts of significant length. This has contributed to reduced prestige of wiki-projects Note: there are other use cases which trigger this issue. Recommendations: 1. add a option to silence the error mechanism e.g. <references togglemsg="off" /> 2. show the unreferenced entries in their place within the list but with no link (this is the academic practice)
What error message do you get, exactly? Do you have a link to a page where this error occurs in context?
the example is taken from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Patterns_Of_Screen_Writing/Filmography
This is interface page is "MediaWiki:Cite error empty references define". The issue is triggered by references defined in the list but never invoked in the content. There was a conscious decision by the developers to not allow unused references in the list.
But "MediaWiki:Cite error references missing group" is erroneously invoked for the first instance. See Bug 24600.
Looking at the history of Patterns Of Screen Writing/Filmography, it looks like references were being used to create a list of works, which was never and intended use of cite.php. This is working as designed- unused references in the list generate an error. As I recall from discussion when this was implemented, the intent was to keep editors from stuffing the list with unused references and to alert the editor if they accidentally did not invoke a defined reference or if a follow on editor deleted a reference. If there is no further discussion, then this should be closed.
