Help talk:Cite errors

Protected edit request on 30 August 2025

Please update the system message so that it resembles the updated default message more by using the new parameters $1 and $2. The new message should be updated to look something like this:

{{broken ref
|msg=Unknown parameter "$1" in <code><ref></code> tag; supported parameters are $2
|lang=en
|help=Cite error ref too many keys
|nocat={{{nocat|}}}
}}

Documentation for the message can be found at translatewiki.net here. Eyesnore ^talk💬 20:39, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

I don't know how localization here works exactly, but there are five subpages for different languages: Special:PrefixIndex/MediaWiki:Cite error ref too many keys, including en-ca and en-gb for two varieties of English. —⁠andrybak (talk) 21:18, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

They will have to be updated manually. This is the English-language Wikipedia by the way, so having foreign-language localizations of Cite error messages is pointless. Eyesnore ^talk💬 21:42, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

I am just trying to understand how "unknown parameter ?? in ref tag; supported parameters are ??" could be an equivalent to The ref tag has too many names — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 07:11, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

The default message has changed since then; it currently appears as:

Invalid parameter "$1" in <code><ref></code> tag. The supported parameters are: $2.

This is because this error is also shown if unknown parameters are passed to the ref tag. Eyesnore ^talk💬 17:54, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

 Done — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 20:58, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 30 August 2025 (2)

Message was dropped from the Cite extension (gerrit:1088295) and should be deleted; exhausting custom backlink labels will now fall back to the numeric backlink labels instead of showing an error. Also delete all pages in Special:PrefixIndex/MediaWiki:Cite error references no backlink label/. Eyesnore ^talk💬 21:16, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

 Done Sohom (talk) 03:52, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

IPA

this edit triggered an error, but i have no idea where. the notes all look okay. — kwami (talk) 04:07, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Did you follow the links in the error message? --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:01, 11 September 2025 (UTC)

i did. it brought me here. — kwami (talk) 22:01, 11 September 2025 (UTC)

They shouldn't have done. THe first link is:

• list-defined reference

and the second is:

• help page

Neither one reaches this page. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 16:55, 12 September 2025 (UTC)

the 'help page' link has this page as its talk page. it also instructs me to discuss problems here.

the first link describes how the refs should be used; afaict that's the way we use them.

the error says, 'A list-defined reference has no name,' but i can't find such a ref. they all have names, and they're all used. — kwami (talk) 21:46, 12 September 2025 (UTC)

It's the <ref>...</ref> inside the {{efn-lg|name=lessrounded|These are relative to the cardinal value ...}} --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 22:43, 12 September 2025 (UTC)

ah, thanks. i thought one of the main points of those templates was that you could embed refs in them. — kwami (talk) 22:56, 12 September 2025 (UTC)

You can, provided that you don't use WP:LDR as well. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 07:05, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

okay, thanks — kwami (talk) 08:45, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

Annoying message still appears.

Location: Kanchanaburi province, Wildlife sanctuaries, Salak Phra wildlife sanctuary.
Even though I've already removed the so-called <ref> with its bad name, the "currently not relevant" message still appears.
Perhaps someone is willing and able to remove this annoying message. SietsL (talk) 12:45, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

I have fixed it for you. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:14, 14 September 2025 (UTC)

Is it possible to add a page to Category:Pages with duplicate reference names?

This article Ari Ben-Menashe#References has lots of duplicated citations/references. I do not yet know how to use references that refer to citations (I think that's how it's called) and don't think the references have any errors that would add it to this category. So I don't know how to fix the references or get someone to help, unless I can add it to this category. But I'm open to other options. Crs5827 (talk) 03:02, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

Here's an example fix using named refs: Special:Diff/1313421479/1313443542. For more details, see Help:Footnotes#Footnotes: using a source more than once.

This talk page is for discussion of the page Help:Cite errors and related categories, templates, and other pages. If you need help with references, please ask at Wikipedia:Help desk. —⁠andrybak (talk) 07:27, 26 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you! It looks like all the footnotes get transferred, too which is great. Thanks again! Crs5827 (talk) 21:01, 26 September 2025 (UTC)