Template:Unreferenced/doc
This is a documentation subpage for
Template documentation[edit]
Template sandbox and testcases for TEMPLATE_NAME[edit]Overview[edit]This page provides a clean workflow to safely edit and validate TEMPLATE_NAME:
Use this page to:
Quick links[edit]
How to test[edit]1. Edit the sandbox at Template:TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox. 2. Open this test page and click “Show preview” to render the sandbox with inputs below. 3. Verify each testcase: Does the “Actual output” match the “Expected output”? 4. If all pass, consider copying sandbox to live using an edit summary like: “Sync from /sandbox: passes all /testcases as of YYYY-MM-DD.” Previewing tips[edit]
Test harness[edit]The following sections render the sandbox template against curated inputs. Each testcase shows:
Testcase A: Minimal invocation[edit]Parameters: {{TEMPLATE_NAME}} Expected output: [Minimal successful output with defaults: e.g., a neutral message or basic box] Actual output (sandbox): Character and language test sandbox This sandbox is used to test how Template:TEMPLATE NAME behaves with special characters (such as Greek letters) and language-specific spans. Basic examples[edit]
Within the template[edit]Below are example calls of the template using these characters as parameters. {{TEMPLATE NAME | title = Greek test: α γ | summary = Demonstrating Greek letters: α, β, γ, and entities like γ. | attr1 = Direct Greek: α β γ δ | attr2 = Entity Greek: α β γ δ | attr3 = German label: <span lang="de">A</span>, English label: A }} Preview the page to check if:
Notes[edit]
Testcase B: Common parameters[edit]Parameters: {{TEMPLATE_NAME | param1 = Alpha | param2 = Beta | flag = yes }} Expected output: [Example: shows "Alpha" and "Beta" in designated slots; flag toggles enhanced styling] Actual output (sandbox): Character and language test sandbox This sandbox is used to test how Template:TEMPLATE NAME behaves with special characters (such as Greek letters) and language-specific spans. Basic examples[edit]
Within the template[edit]Below are example calls of the template using these characters as parameters. {{TEMPLATE NAME | title = Greek test: α γ | summary = Demonstrating Greek letters: α, β, γ, and entities like γ. | attr1 = Direct Greek: α β γ δ | attr2 = Entity Greek: α β γ δ | attr3 = German label: <span lang="de">A</span>, English label: A }} Preview the page to check if:
Notes[edit]
Testcase C: Edge values and escaping[edit]Parameters: {{TEMPLATE_NAME | param1 = [[Linked target|Visible text]] | param2 = {{subst:CURRENTTIMESTAMP}} | raw = <code><span class="x">escaped</span></code> }} Expected output: [Links render correctly; timestamp subst is literal in expected; raw shows escaped markup] Actual output (sandbox): Character and language test sandbox This sandbox is used to test how Template:TEMPLATE NAME behaves with special characters (such as Greek letters) and language-specific spans. Basic examples[edit]
Within the template[edit]Below are example calls of the template using these characters as parameters. {{TEMPLATE NAME | title = Greek test: α γ | summary = Demonstrating Greek letters: α, β, γ, and entities like γ. | attr1 = Direct Greek: α β γ δ | attr2 = Entity Greek: α β γ δ | attr3 = German label: <span lang="de">A</span>, English label: A }} Preview the page to check if:
Notes[edit]
Testcase D: Internationalization (i18n)[edit]Parameters: {{TEMPLATE_NAME | lang = ja | text = こんにちは世界 }} Expected output: [Text displays correctly for non-ASCII; applies lang attribute or rtl/ltr where applicable] Actual output (sandbox): Character and language test sandbox This sandbox is used to test how Template:TEMPLATE NAME behaves with special characters (such as Greek letters) and language-specific spans. Basic examples[edit]
Within the template[edit]Below are example calls of the template using these characters as parameters. {{TEMPLATE NAME | title = Greek test: α γ | summary = Demonstrating Greek letters: α, β, γ, and entities like γ. | attr1 = Direct Greek: α β γ δ | attr2 = Entity Greek: α β γ δ | attr3 = German label: <span lang="de">A</span>, English label: A }} Preview the page to check if:
Notes[edit]
Testcase E: Error handling[edit]Parameters: {{TEMPLATE_NAME | param1 = | required = <!-- intentionally omitted --> }} Expected output: [Shows a gentle error or maintenance category; does not break page layout] Actual output (sandbox): Character and language test sandbox This sandbox is used to test how Template:TEMPLATE NAME behaves with special characters (such as Greek letters) and language-specific spans. Basic examples[edit]
Within the template[edit]Below are example calls of the template using these characters as parameters. {{TEMPLATE NAME | title = Greek test: α γ | summary = Demonstrating Greek letters: α, β, γ, and entities like γ. | attr1 = Direct Greek: α β γ δ | attr2 = Entity Greek: α β γ δ | attr3 = German label: <span lang="de">A</span>, English label: A }} Preview the page to check if:
Notes[edit]
Maintenance[edit]
Categories[edit]Copy-paste skeletons[edit]Below are ready-to-use skeletons for the sandbox and testcases subpages. Skeleton: Template:TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox[edit]<!-- Sandbox for TEMPLATE_NAME --> <!-- Copy the entire template source here; edit safely. --> {{#if:{{{required|}}} | <!-- normal output --> <div class="tmpl"> <b>{{{param1|}}}</b> · <i>{{{param2|}}}</i> {{#if:{{{flag|}}}|<span class="flag">✓</span>|}} {{#if:{{{raw|}}}|<span class="raw">{{{raw}}}</span>|}} </div> | <!-- error / missing required --> <span class="error">TEMPLATE_NAME: missing required parameter</span> [[Category:Pages with TEMPLATE_NAME errors]] }} Skeleton: Template:TEMPLATE_NAME/testcases[edit]<!-- Testcases for TEMPLATE_NAME; render against /sandbox --> ; Minimal : {{TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox}} ; Common params : {{TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox | param1 = Alpha | param2 = Beta | flag = yes }} ; Edge and escaping : {{TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox | param1 = [[Linked target|Visible text]] | param2 = 20250101T000000Z | raw = <code><span class="x">escaped</span></code> }} ; I18n : {{TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox | lang = ja | text = こんにちは世界 }} ; Error handling : {{TEMPLATE_NAME/sandbox | required = }} Review checklist[edit]
Template:Terminate sentence ensures a sentence ends with a specified terminator (default: a period). It avoids adding duplicate terminators and can optionally trim trailing spaces. It attempts to ignore trailing closing quotes or brackets when deciding whether a terminator is already present. Usage[edit]Basic: {{Terminate sentence|This is a sentence}}
→ This is a sentence.
Named parameters: {{Terminate sentence
|text=He said "Hello"
|term=.
}}
→ He said "Hello".
Custom terminator: {{Terminate sentence|text=Warning|term=!}}
→ Warning!
Avoid duplicate terminator: {{Terminate sentence|text=Already done.|term=.}}
→ Already done.
Trim trailing spaces: {{Terminate sentence|text=Ends with space |trim=yes}}
→ Ends with space.
Skip processing: {{Terminate sentence|text=No changes here|skip=yes}}
→ No changes here
Append a note: {{Terminate sentence|text=Complete|note=(source: 2025)}}
→ Complete. (source: 2025)
Parameters[edit]
Behavior details[edit]
Examples[edit]
{{Terminate sentence|text=He whispered "hush"|term=.}}
→ He whispered "hush".
{{Terminate sentence|text=Complete (verified)|term=.}}
→ Complete (verified).
{{Terminate sentence|text=Alert|term=!}}
→ Alert!
{{Terminate sentence|text=Wait...|term=.|allowdup=yes}}
→ Wait.... Best practices[edit]
Lua-powered variant (optional)[edit]For more robust detection (including multilingual quotes and punctuation), create -- Module:TerminateUtil
local M = {}
local closing = {
[")"] = true, ["]"] = true, ["}"] = true,
['"'] = true, ["'"] = true, ["”"] = true, ["’"] = true, ["»"] = true, ["›"] = true
}
local function trimRight(s)
return (s:gsub("%s+$",""))
end
function M.lastVisibleChar(args)
local s = args.s or ""
s = trimRight(s)
local i = #s
while i > 0 do
local c = s:sub(i,i)
if closing[c] then
i = i - 1
else
return c
end
end
return ""
end
return M
Then update the template to call: {{#invoke:TerminateUtil|lastVisibleChar|s=text}}
This improves detection for closing quotes and brackets. See also[edit]It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page. |
| If you plan to make breaking changes to this template, move it, or nominate it for deletion, please notify Twinkle's users and maintainers at Wikipedia talk:Twinkle as a courtesy, as this template is used in the standard installation of Twinkle. Thank you! |
This template should only be used on articles that have no sources at all. Don't add this template to articles that contain even one general reference, parenthetical reference, or citation-containing footnote. A citation is any description of a reliable source that supports any of the article content, even a bare URL. The format of the citation and the name of the section heading are not what determines whether a link or citation is a source. |
Usage
[edit]When to use
[edit]You may add this template only to articles that contain zero sources of any kind.
- Do not add this template
- In articles that have some citations, but not enough, the {{Refimprove}} template should be used instead as a general template, or the {{Unreferenced section}} template for specific unsourced sections.
- In articles containing a list of sources at the end, but no inline citations, including parenthetical references or in-text attributions, consider {{no footnotes}} when the article would be significantly improved by detailed attribution of sources to specific claims.
- Watch out for lists of general references that someone has incorrectly listed under ==External links==. If the link leads to a reliable source that supports some article content, then that website is a reference, not an external link.
- Other templates, listed below, should be used when the sources are inadequate for other reasons.
- Alternatives
- Be bold! Consider searching for references and adding them to the article, instead of this template.
- In articles about people and businesses, consider using the more specific
{{third-party sources}}template, to encourage citation of WP:Independent sources rather than the subject's own website. - See Wikipedia:Biographies of living people for guidance on dealing with unreferenced biographies of living people.
- Consider not adding this template to very brief stubs, since anyone visiting the page can see, in a single glance, that it contains no citations.
How to use
[edit]{{Unreferenced|date=March 2026}}
or
{{subst:Unreferenced}}
Substitution of this template will automatically fill the date parameter.
To flag an individual section as being unreferenced, use:
{{Unreferenced|section|date=March 2026}}
- Date parameter
- The date parameter is (generally[1]) used to indicate when the template was added to a page. An example of its usage is
{{Unreferenced|date=March 2026}}. Adding this parameter sorts the article into monthly subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, rather than adding it to Category:Articles lacking sources itself, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. If the date parameter is omitted, a bot will add it later.
General information
[edit]This template can either be placed at the top of an article, at the bottom of the article page (in an empty "References" or "Notes" section—usually just before a {{Reflist}} template), or on the article's talk page.
Categorization
[edit]This template adds the article to Category:Articles lacking sources and Category:Articles lacking sources from March 2026, both hidden categories.
Differences from related templates
[edit]The similar template {{Refimprove}} adds an article to Category:Articles needing additional references. {{Medref}} adds the article to Category:Articles needing additional medical references as well as Category:Articles needing additional references.
Short-cut
[edit]- {{Unref}}
- {{NR}}
- {{No ref}}
- {{No sources}}
- {{Citesources}}
TemplateData
[edit]This is the TemplateData documentation for the template used by the new VisualEditor.
Unreferenced
This template generates a tag to indicate that the article has no citations
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | date | The month and year that the need for citations is identified, such as 'June 2013'; may use '{{subst:DATE}}' template instead | String | optional |
| Type (section) | 1 | Something to replace the word "article", normally "section" | String | optional |
See also
[edit]The following templates are useful in cases where there are some sources, but these are in some way inadequate or insufficient:
- {{BLP unsourced}}: Variant of this template for biographies of living people
- {{Unreferenced section}}: Variant of this template for a specific section
- {{Citation needed}}: For marking a particular claim as needing a source
- {{Refimprove}}: Has some sources (or at least one source), but would benefit from more
- {{Primary sources}}: Dependence on primary sources without reliable published interpretation
- {{Unreliable sources}}: Dependence on unreliable sources
- {{One source}}: Dependence on a single source
- {{find sources notice}}
- {{find sources 2}}
- {{find sources 3}}
- {{find sources 4}}
- Citation method and style
- {{Citation style}}
- {{No footnotes}}: to indicate article has references (perhaps wrongly listed as external links or further reading), but not inline citations
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ Because of the nature of the workflow using the current date makes sense, it is simpler to add, especially for the WP:bots it means that older dated categories do not have to be constantly created and deleted, and it enables some measure of progress. Moreover it is "good enough" to get the articles into the workflow and the intention is to ensure they are cleaned up eventually. Occasionally however it may be useful to bulk add items, to older categories, for example when the system was initially set up, when merging two schemes or when adding to the current month would swamp it disproportionately.
External links
[edit]- WikiMedia Commons: Template:References missing