Template:Unreferenced/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Unreferenced (see that page for the template itself).
It contains usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template should only be used on articles that have no citations or references 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 citations or references 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.
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 citations are inadequate for other reasons.

Alternatives:

Be bold! Consider searching for sources and citing them in the article, instead of adding this template.
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=December 2024}}

or

{{subst:Unreferenced}}

Substitution of this template will automatically fill the date parameter.

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=December 2024}}. 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.

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 December 2024, both hidden categories.

Differences from related templates[edit]

The similar template {{Refimprove}} adds an article to Category:Articles needing additional references.

TemplateData[edit]

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools.

Unreferenced

This template generates a tag to indicate that the article has no citations.

Template parameters
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". This is a legacy feature, and this usage has been replaced with separate '{{Unreferenced section}}' template.	String	optional

Footnotes[edit]

^ Because of the nature of the workflow using the current date makes sense, it is simpler to add, 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.

[date-1] Because of the nature of the workflow using the current date makes sense, it is simpler to add, 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.

[1]