Help talk:Cite errors/Archive 8

This is an archive of past discussions about Help:Cite errors. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Someone must have changed an include page or template that is causing errors on multiple pages, and I can't seem to locate the source... pages: Typhoon Fengshen, Typhoon Haiyan, Typhoon Ike, Typhoon Durian, Typhoons in the Philippines

All have the same error "WeatherPH" was defined multiple times with different content"

Quebec99 (talk) 14:27, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

The issue was in {{Deadliest Philippine typhoons}}, which I have now fixed. Aidan9382 _(talk) 14:34, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Thanks! Quebec99 (talk) 15:18, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Pay It Forward, I tried to edit that section while adding references, it worked multiple times but the last one is being weird and I can't for the life of me get it to work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward#History 24.60.130.99 (talk) 21:41, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

I've fixed the issue in this edit - one of the earlier tags was missing an ending </ref> Aidan9382 _(talk) 22:08, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

I got the error message above at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington,_West_Virginia#Government_and_politics. However, there is plenty of content between the ref and /ref tags, so I don't know what my error was. Please advise. Dgndenver (talk) 11:46, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

A bot fixed it for you. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:57, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

I'm glad it's been fixed, but I would have learned more if I knew what my mistake was. Dgndenver (talk) 12:18, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

@Dgndenver: If you look again at your edit, you'll see that you added <ref></ref> to the end of the "City Council" heading. One of the editing toolbar buttons inserts exactly this text, so it's likely that you misclicked on that toolbar button without realising. It's a very easy mistake to make. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:29, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

Thank you. Dgndenver (talk) 03:43, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Ref: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_(2023_Indian_film) 183.83.146.214 (talk) 15:54, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

It looks like the problem has been resolved by subsequent edits. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:10, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

I don't understand why there is still a missing key error at Virginia Woolf, after I fixed a legitimate problem there.

I found Virginia Woolf at Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting, and sure enough, the page was displaying H:CERMK error: A list-defined reference named "Patton" is not used in the content, due to {{sfn|Patton|2023}} having nothing to point to in the Bibliography section. I duly added a {{cite web}} to anchor the sfn about an American indie rock band in section § In popular culture, which established proper sfn ⟶ full-citation linkage with highlighting and everything looking good—except that the big, red, CERMK error still appeared in Preview mode, which seemed like a red flag. It went away after saving (that's already weird), but when I edited again, it came back again in Preview mode, and I made a dummy edit to comment on that, saved, and then it was back again after the save. Now, I'm thoroughly confused. See these 3 edits for details. Virginia Woolf is still listed at the category. Any help would be appreciated. Mathglot (talk) 08:26, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

The issue here is that the reference tag itself with the name Patton is never used (There's no occurance of <ref name=Patton/> or equivilant in the article's text and {{sfn}} doesn't use this ref tag), which is what that error is actually complaining about. As far as I know, either the reference needs to be removed/commented out from the reflist (as its not in use) or it needs to have a use established in the wikitext to satisfy the error. Aidan9382 _(talk) 08:39, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

That was very confusing, because as you say, that ref (which I never noticed, somehow) was causing the error message but *at the same time* (at least when I got there) there was no full citation that was connecting to the sfn, so I added a {{cite web}} to the Bibliography in this edit, which resolved the problem of the sfn connecting to the new {{cite web}}, but left the CERMK error in place, stemming from the ref which John of Reading just now fixed, with the result that Virginia Woolf no longer shows up in the category. All is good, now, but this was confusing. Thanks, all! Mathglot (talk) 08:58, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

I need help from someone better than me at citations. The section in question can be found here: 2021–22 figure skating season#Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have tried my best to resolve the problem, but only seem to have made it worse. Any help would be appreciated! Bgsu98 (Talk) 15:30, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

The big red error message was telling you how to fix it, but sometimes it is difficult to see that the / character is in the wrong place. Using the "syntax highlighter" gadget can be helpful. You can find it in Preferences. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:45, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

I did click on that link, and you can see the multiple edits where I tried in vain to fix the problem. Thank you so much for your assistance! Bgsu98 (Talk) 15:47, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

I've never done this before. It lacks a closing <ref.> tag and dropped a line of text. A red error appears. Please help.

devan03@emory.edu

User name: DEvans2 DEvans2 (talk) 02:38, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

@DEvans2 I've fixed these issues for you: you can see what changes I made at this diff. In particular, references need to start with <ref> not </ref>, and when using the {{sfn}} template you should write page ranges as |pp=1–2 rather than |pp. 1–2. Thank-you for your improvements to the article, and welcome to Wikipedia! Best wishes, Wham2001 (talk) 15:23, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

The "Help" instruction is confusing and clarifies nothing. The "ipsum" reference is not at all helpful in modeling how a short-form reference is created after initially entering a reference. The instruction should have a clear example of the long reference and the syntax for creating the short-form reference for that specific example.

The creator of the instruction on the Help page had to be kidding...

"Here the reference named ipsum was defined twice, but the second definition's content differs from the first (only the first definition is taken):

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.^[1] Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.^[1] Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.^[1] Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

I'm aware this is standard filler content that is meant to be generic. The sheer pedantry of the "ipsum" generic gets in the way of a clear example that models syntax in defining and modeling a desirable reference. Its opaqueness is worse than useless.

I accessed the "Help" link to guide me in fixing multiple errors in entering references (discrepancies in formatting multiple references to the same source document) and this instruction page is not helpful.

Would someone please contact me with a CLEAR reference guideline for how to create the initial reference that defines the short (abbreviated) reference that can be entered after the first citation? I have dozens of references to fix in a long article and it would have been helpful to have a meaningful "Help" instruction.

The previous example on the "Help page" is no more helpful:

^[2]

Is "foo" a standard code to be used when defining all short-form footnotes, or is it an example of a unique identifying tag that is defined by the user to be different for each defined entry?

Is >content< a code that flags the content to be entered, or is it a dummy content that should be replaced with the specific content of a citation? What is the proper syntax for that content that replaces the dummy?

Again, the instruction is so confusing and so lacking in clear examples that explain the syntax that it is worse than useless in the frustration it creates.

Ariadne000 (talk) 23:04, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

Error notes that one ref is not used, despite it being used, and another has no name, despite it having a name. No idea what I did wrong. — kwami (talk) 01:27, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

I've fixed the errors. The first issue was because the ref was used after the {{Notelist-lg}} where it was defined, and the second issue was nested reference definitions like the second example here. —Mx. Granger (talk · contribs) 03:12, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

I still don't understand what's wrong with the 2nd, but thanks. — kwami (talk) 07:41, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Update: As of April 21, a bot had fixed my solution. Ryanisgreat4444 (talk)

Added referenced content on the main page though the references are not showing in the footnotes unless the edit button is clicked, after which all the relevant references are visible. Ideas on how to troubleshoot? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fanchen886374 (talk • contribs) 14:54, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

I need to fix this pages but my goal is to go to teahouse but I do it tomorrow 2603:6011:B701:AE27:6C9B:96CC:6673:B8DA (talk) 02:22, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

The page is under the Discography area of Lulu (the singer). I mistakenly hit the <ref></ref> while I was editing the page of Lulu (the singer). I thought the <ref></ref> was where I could explain my edit. Instead there was a Summary section so I put my explanation for the edit into that section.

However, when I saw the published page, it said "Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).==TV shows== " but it was not clear to me how I could remove that wording since I did use my reason for the edit within the Summary section. Thus, I did not need to cite. How can I remove that notice? Emjb (talk) 23:27, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

@Emjb: Go to the place where you see that message; edit the section, and remove the empty <ref></ref> tags. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 01:14, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

I noted there was no reference to the Michigan Center Dam on this list of dams in Michigan. So I added Michigan Center Dam completed in 1911 ^[3] But after I added the note, I was told I did not have </ref> at the end--but I did. And it does not show up on the page. So I don't know what to do about it. Jmlindner. Sorry. Help me if you can. Jmlindner (talk) 15:23, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

@Jmlindner: I don't see any problems in your only other edit this year. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 18:23, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. I've reworked both pages. Would you kindly check them out?

How do you hide a url in a reference? I want to make "Michigan Dam Inventory" a hypertext that includes the url:

https://gis-egle.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/c0033d45400e484a9a9bfc83f9a60ce8/explore?location=42.882993%2C-83.185030%2C8.38

I'll keep this page up. Will your reply appear here? Jmlindner (talk) 22:24, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

I don't understand what you mean by hide a url in a reference. Please note that this is not a help forum, it is the talk page for discussing improvements to the page Help:Cite errors. But judging by this edit, where you added an empty <ref></ref> tag pair, you need to read up on Help:Referencing for beginners. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 15:55, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

@Jmlindner:, may I suggest that if you have follow-up questions, that you ask them at the Wikipedia:Teahouse? Thanks. Mathglot (talk) 01:18, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

It appears that a blank space in a ref name, as in <ref name="Mar Narty">, is not accepted. Should this be stated in the article? Zaslav (talk) 23:39, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

@Zaslav: Spaces are permitted. Where are you seeing this as a problem? --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:53, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

I was editing Euler's constant to move what is now Ref. 13 in the Footnotes section from the References section, by converting the citation "r|Ram MurtySaradha2010" to "sfn|Ram MurtySaradha2010", but the WP compiler kept giving me an error message that it could not find the content of "Ram MurtySaradha2010". When I removed the space, the problem disappeared. Is this enough information? The edit history of Euler's constant will show some of this process. Zaslav (talk) 05:07, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

I've been through the last few edits at that article, and don't see any error messages. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 12:46, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

I suspect that in the LDR you did <ref name=Ram MurtySaradha2010> with no quotes, rather than <ref name="Ram MurtySaradha2010"> or <ref name='Ram MurtySaradha2010'> as is required when a space is in the name. It seems that making that mistake in an LDR doesn't produce a visible error message, the broken ref is just ignored (and then the references intended to use it generate the "was invoked but never defined" error). Anomie⚔ 20:06, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

Values of |name= in ref tags and the value of the CITEREF used by {{sfn}} are different. One is generated manually, and the other is generated automatically. They can be the same by coincidence, but they are typically different. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:02, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

This edit request to MediaWiki:Cite error references missing group has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

The system message has been removed from the Cite extension per gerrit:1008425; it is no longer in use. Please delete it, as well as pages in Special:PrefixIndex/MediaWiki:Cite error references missing group/. Eyesnore ^talk💬 14:00, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

 Done — xaosflux ^Talk 14:19, 25 June 2024 (UTC)

Why is there spurious |}} text in this page, after the ranged TOC? -- Mikeblas (talk) 08:13, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello, Mikeblas. This is a centralized discussion for many pages (see banner "Centralized discussions" at the top).

Could you please post a wikilink to the page where you see |}}? —⁠andrybak (talk) 09:27, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

It was at any page using {{CatAutoTOC}} with a long enough list to develop a TOC. I tried digging into it, but as with everything else at Wikipedia, it's a real jumbled mess of different templates, crazy syntax, and ... Whatever the cause, it seems to have been remedied. -- Mikeblas (talk) 15:56, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

the Above error ia appearing:Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page). Bindu.duraikannu (talk) 14:47, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

@Bindu.duraikannu: I have removed them for you with this edit. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:16, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

Had an issue with listing an explanatory note, went to the help page as listed. It is deeply confusing and there is no step by step guide for how to fix it. It simply lists three examples and expects you to understand where you went wrong. It feels like it's designed for people who already have a deeper understanding of how to list an explanatory note, rather than stating exactly how to fix it. Basetornado (talk) 13:00, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Basetornado, for basic information on the footnotes system, see Help:Referencing for beginners; for advanced help, see Help:Footnotes. —⁠andrybak (talk) 16:55, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

It's not really fit for purpose when the Help page that you are sent too, isn't the Help page and you have to go to another. Why not have them both on the exact same page? Basetornado (talk) 06:07, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

It defeats the object if we put complicated stuff into a "for beginners" page. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 07:25, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Was trying to edit the page for Lackawanna, NY. I received citation errors. Want to simply delete today's changes and start over tomorrow. Can anyone help? Denwings1 (talk) 23:01, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

 Done -- John of Reading (talk) 06:36, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

Im trying to edit Senegal and adding Wolof help me fix the error <ref> Infowritere (talk) 23:15, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

@Infowritere: You put the <ref> in the wrong place, left off two instances of }} and also omitted a </ref>. These two edits - one by Bruce1ee (talk · contribs) and one by myself - have fixed it. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 16:20, 12 September 2024 (UTC)

Can you fix it for me? Infowritere (talk) 04:54, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Wait never mind thank you so much Infowritere (talk) 04:55, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

On the Michael Pitt page, I put his middle name. I changed the website reference and it seems I messed it up. I’m new so I don’t know what to do. Loafofbread2 (talk) 18:26, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

@Loafofbread2: You seem to have fixed it by yourself, the sum total of your edits shows the middle name added successfully. The only problem that I see is aesthetic: the space in between "(born April 10, 1981)" and the <ref name="allmovie"> should not be there, per MOS:REFPUNC.

But please note: this is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Help:Cite errors page, it is not a helpdesk. In future, try WP:HD or WP:TEAHOUSE. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 20:48, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

Oh ok! Thank you! Loafofbread2 (talk) 20:55, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

I messed up with the refs and can’t find out what happened. Bearian (talk) 03:41, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

The issue was fixed in Special:Diff/1255121193. It was caused by a zero width space character inserted by mistake between the slash and "ref" in the closing tag </ref>. —⁠andrybak (talk) 12:03, 3 November 2024 (UTC)

I have added names to the List of Colfeians (former pupils of Colfe's). I have References for all of them but apparently quoted an unacceptable reference. Instead of History of Colfe's I should have written "Vivian Anthony Good Wit and Capacity: History of Colfe's 1972-2002. What I have written does not seem to be in the same style as previous entries under the heading. Can that be sorted? StanleyAnt (talk) 12:57, 5 November 2024 (UTC)

Shankara Vijaya Shloka states that he was born as the son of a Tvashta Brahmin of the Vishwa Brahmin sect. Vishwakarma and his decadence by Alfred Edward Robert chapter number 3 Vipin Babu lumia (talk) 00:34, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

Adi Shankara; the book is called Vishvakarma and his descendents. Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk! 04:21, 27 November 2024 (UTC)

Help. I attempted to add a reference at the end of this section, but the footnote simply repeated an earlier reference (although I've successfully edited articles and added reference in the past). Attempting to resolve the problem, I simply removed what I had added, but now the section reads that there's a reference with no content. I've not been able to go back into edit mode to figure out what's happening or how to fix it. Any help would be appreciated. 47.188.127.59 (talk) 19:03, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

Deep Ellum, Dallas (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

The empty "ref" tags were removed by AnomieBOT. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:58, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Hello, I used a method I thought was correct as it worked in other, smaller articles I've been editing. This time it did not and I'm at a loss for how to fix it. The errors relate to the ref tags for Images8 and Images9 on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kether83 (talk) 17:46, 8 January 2025 (UTC)

Fixed. This is a bit obscure, but the answer is on the linked help page: Another type of problem that will cause this error to appear relates to the location of an invoked footnote within an article. If a footnote is added to an article anywhere below reflist, then that footnote will appear at the bottom of the article. Consequently, if a footnote used in the article is invoked ... anywhere after reflist in an article, the cite error will appear, because reflist is only a list of all the footnotes above the reflist. The references you were trying to use were defined below the {{reflist}} template in the article, which does not work. – Jonesey95 (talk) 22:57, 9 January 2025 (UTC)

Reference page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%932026_Cricket_World_Cup_League_2

First of all, I wish to apologize for making a mistake, resulting the "edit" option being replaced with the message "Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).==Points table==" appearing in it's place. I wanted to make corrections on the points table. I did an error checking and pasted the first error from the points table into the line and edited this error. Then I saved the changes, resulting in this. Now I don't know how to fix it and I am feeling like 541t about what I've done. It was totally unintentional and an honest mistake on my part.

I am really terribly sorry for what happened. Please forgive me. I never meant for something like this to happen, but it did. I sincerely hope that the person who is responsible for updating this page, will firstly forgive me, secondly, fix my mistake and thirdly and hopefully teach me the "how to's" of this page.

In advance, I would like to thank you for understanding and fixing my mistake. BIAREN (talk) 07:26, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

@BIAREN: You accidentally inserted the text <ref></ref> at the start of a section. It's very easy to do this by mistake, since some of the editing interfaces have a button that inserts exactly this text. It's not a big problem, and you shouldn't worry about it. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:35, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi John

Can you fix this for me? 102.32.121.150 (talk) 11:56, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

swallow (American band) I am trying to add the billboard hit yes, I'll Say it, written by band member Phil Greene, but keep getting missing ref. I'm not a Wiki expert and wonder if someone could help. I have the Museum of New England link on the page.

Tryng to add Museum of New England link for Swallow (American Band) who had a hit called Yes, I'l say it on their second album, written by band member Phil Greene, who went on to be engineer on New Kids on the Block's albums. I keep getting a red ref icon and don't know how to fix it as I haven't edited on Wiki for about 3 years and have forgotten Raphael36 (talk) 21:47, 8 March 2025 (UTC)

@Raphael36: As it says at the top, this is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Cite errors page. Your question would be more suited to WP:Teahouse or WP:Help desk. But briefly: <ref>...</ref> tags always go in pairs - for every <ref> there must be a </ref>. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:00, 8 March 2025 (UTC)

On the page "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Lighthouse_Board" I get the above error. I am a beginner and cannot find the error, what is wrong. Is ther anyone who can help me? BobSchrage (talk) 11:33, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

@BobSchrage: I've fixed it by adding {{NoteFoot}} at the point where ""Note 1" can be displayed. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:42, 24 March 2025 (UTC)