Wikipedia:VisualEditor editing of references

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcuts WP:VEREF WP:VECITE

The following describes ways to use the wp:VisualEditor (VE) to insert and modify references or citations of wp:RS sources in an article. The VE interface allows insertion of templates, with each parameter added separately, such as for the wp:CS1-style citation templates: {{cite web}}, {{cite news}}, {{cite book}}, {{cite journal}}, etc.

When using the VisualEditor, the general process to insert a reference is:

1. Click on the "Insert reference" icon. A new window appears.
2. Select "Create new source"
3. Click the "Insert reference" button. This opens another new window.
4. Click on the puzzle icon in the new window. This opens a third new window.
5. In the text box, type "Cite", but don't press return
6. Select the citation template, ignoring anything with /doc on the end
7. Click "Add template"
8. Fill in the details.
   1. Select the desired parameter (or type some of it in, then select it)
   2. Scroll to hidden buttons and click on "Add parameter"
   3. Enter the data
   4. Select the template again from the left side to add a second or further parameter and repeat until finished, then select "Apply changes".
9. Select "Apply changes"

Because of the tedious nature of the numerous point-and-click steps needed to insert a reference footnote, some users might prefer to use the "Edit-source" mode for editing a page, and then more quickly modify the references within the source markup wikitext, instead.

If you want to re-use a reference, you can cut-and-paste the number in the text. This will create a new anchor for the same footnote.