Template:Cite web

This template is used to cite online sources in Wikipedia articles.

A general discussion of the use of templates for adding citation of open-source web content to Wikipedia articles is available at citation templates.

Usage

Common forms

Common form (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2024-12-21 |work= |publisher= |date= }}

Using last, first and coauthor(s) (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2024-12-21 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=}}

Using author (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2024-12-21 |author= |date= |work= |publisher=}}

Using non-linked retrieved date, last, first

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessmonthday= |accessyear= |last= |first= |date= |work= |publisher= }}

Using non-linked retrieved date, author

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessmonthday= |accessyear= |author= |date= |work= |publisher= }}

All parameters

When copying all parameters, in either horizontal or vertical layout, delete those you don't need.

All parameters, horizontal layout

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

All parameters, vertical layout

{{cite web
|url= 
|title= 
|accessdate= 
|accessdaymonth= 
|accessmonthday= 
|accessyear= 
|author= 
|last= 
|first= 
|authorlink= 
|coauthors= 
|date= 
|year= 
|month= 
|format= 
|work= 
|publisher= 
|pages= 
|language= 
|doi= 
|archiveurl= 
|archivedate= 
|quote= 
}}

Required parameters

• url: URL of online item. Start the url with the communications protocol e.g. http://.
• title: Title of online item.
• Choose a date format from the following options that matches the main text of the article.

For producing a wikilinked date of retrieval:

• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed, in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, for example "accessdate = 2024-12-21". Must not be wikilinked; it will be linked automatically. If the American/International date format is required for consistency within the article, use accessyear and accessmonthday or accessdaymonth, as American/International dates will not display correctly if used for accessdate.

For producing a non-wikilinked date of retrieval:

• accessmonthday and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessmonthday = May 10", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2006". Produces: Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
• accessdaymonth and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessdaymonth= 10 May", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2006". Produces: Retrieved on 10 May 2006.

Optional parameters

• author: Author
  • last works with first to produce last, first
  • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
  • coauthors: allows additional authors
• date: Full date of publication in the same format as the main text of the article. If in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17, must not be wikilinked; it will be linked automatically.
  • OR: year: Year of publication, and month: Name of the month of publication. If you also have the day, use date instead. Must not be wikilinked.
• format: Format, e.g. PDF. HTML implied if not specified.
• work: If this item is part of a larger "work", such as a book, periodical or website, write the name of that work.
• publisher: Publisher, if any—for example if the website is hosted by a government service, educational institution, or company
• pages: pp. 5–7: first page and optional last page. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not the total number of pages in the book.
• language: language of publication (don't specify "English" as this is the default).
• doi: A digital object identifier for the document, such as 10.1038/news070508-7
  • Doilabel: If the doi contains some characters that must be escaped, use "doilabel" for the unescaped version. See {{doi}}: "id" is equivalent to "doi" and "label" is "doilabel"
• archiveurl: Significant webpages can be archived by a service like WebCite, in which case this parameter is the URL of the archived copy (requires archivedate).
• archivedate: Date when the item was archived (requires archiveurl), in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17. Must not be wikilinked; it will be linked automatically. This field does not support American/International dates (they will display incorrectly as redlinks if used).
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.

Examples

Some standard use cases

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My favorite things part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |author=Doe, John |title=My favorite things part II |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John. My favorite things part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → My favorite things part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/fans/ |title=Digest of rules |publisher= National Football League |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Digest of rules. National Football League. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

Non-linking date of retrieval (using accessmonthday and accessyear)

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessmonthday=July 6 |accessyear=2005 }}
  → My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Retrieved on July 6, 2005.

Using format

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |publisher=International Narcotics Control Board |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (PDF). International Narcotics Control Board. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

language

• {{cite web |author=Joliet, François |title=Honnit soit qui mal y pense |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 |language=French }}
  → Joliet, François (2005-04-30). Honnit soit qui mal y pense (French). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

coauthors

• {{cite web |first=John |last=Doe |coauthors=Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  → Doe, John; Smith, Peter; Smythe, Jim (2005-04-30). My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2006-05-16.

No author

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |publisher=Open Publishing |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  → My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Open Publishing (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2006-05-16.

No author, no publisher

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06}}
  → My favorite things part II (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 |language=Greek }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (Greek) (PDF) (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

Using archiveurl and archivedate for webpages that have been archived using services such as WebCite

• {{cite web |title=List of psychotropic substances under international control |date=2005-04-30 |url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2005-07-06 |archiveurl=http://www.archive.org/2005-09-11/www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf |archivedate=2005-09-11 }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (PDF) (2005-04-30). Archived from the original on 2005-09-11. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |url=http://joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi?archive=currnews&story=20060405-01shore.htm |title=Interview with Maggie Downs |date=2006-03-31 |publisher=The Desert Sun |archiveurl=http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:JAxf4v-pQmgJ:joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi%3Farchive%3Dcurrnews%26story%3D20060405-01shore.htm |archivedate=2006-04-26 }}
  → Interview with Maggie Downs. The Desert Sun (2006-03-31). Archived from the original on 2006-04-26.

Using quote

• {{cite web |title=My favorite things part II |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 |quote=Lorem ipsum dolor. }}
  → My favorite things part II. Encyclopedia of things. Retrieved on 2005-07-06. “Lorem ipsum dolor.”

Omitting the title in error

• {{cite web |work=Encyclopedia of things |url=http://www.example.org/ |accessdate=2005-07-06 |quote=Lorem ipsum dolor. }}
  → Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified. Encyclopedia of things. Retrieved on 2005-07-06. “Lorem ipsum dolor.”