Template:Cite web/doc

File:Edit-paste.svg

This is the template documentation page for {{Cite web}}. It is not necessarily intended to be viewed directly. If it uses variables, some links may appear broken. Do not replace these variables with hardcoded page names or URLs.

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This template is used to cite sources in Wikipedia. It is specifically for web sites which are not news sources. This template replaces deprecated template:web reference. It provides lower case parameters only.

A general discussion of the use of templates for adding citation of open-source web content to Wikipedia articles is available at Wikipedia:Citation templates.

Usage

Common form for cases where little is known about authorship of the page (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-12-30 |format= |work= }}

Using last, first (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-12-30 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

Using author (with current date)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate=2025-12-30 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

Using non-linked retrieved date, last, first

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessmonthday= |accessyear= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

Using non-linked retrieved date, author

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessmonthday= |accessyear= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

All parameters, horizontal format (delete the ones you don't need)

{{cite web |url= |title= |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth = |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}

All parameters, vertical format

{{cite web
| url = 
| title = 
| accessdate = 
| accessdaymonth = 
| accessmonthday = 
| accessyear = 
| author = 
| last = 
| first = 
| authorlink = 
| coauthors = 
| date = 
| year = 
| month = 
| format = 
| work = 
| publisher = 
| pages = 
| language = 
| archiveurl = 
| archivedate = 
| quote = 
}}

Required parameters

• url: URL of online item.
• title: Title of online item.

For producing a wikilinked date of retrieval:

• accessdate: Full date when item was accessed, in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, for example "accessdate = 2025-12-30". Must not be wikilinked

For producing a non-wikilinked date of retrieval:

• accessmonthday and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessmonthday = May 10", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2005". Produces: Retrieved on May 10, 2006.
• accessdaymonth and accessyear: Month and day when item was accessed, for example "accessmonthday = 10 May", and year when item was accessed, for example "accessyear = 2005". Produces: Retrieved on 10 May 2006.

Optional parameters

• author: Author
  • last works with first to produce last, first
  • authorlink works either with author or with last & first to link to the appropriate wikipedia article. Does not work with URLs.
  • coauthors: allows additional authors
• date: Full date of publication, preferably in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17. May be wikilinked.
  • OR: year: Year of publication, and month: Name of the month of publication. If you also have the day, use date instead. Must not be wikilinked.
• format: Format, e.g. PDF. HTML implied if not specified.
• work: If this item is part of a larger work, name of that work.
• publisher: Publisher, if any.
• pages: pp. 5–7: first page and optional last page. This is for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not the total number of pages in the book. This is especially useful for PDF format, where the page can be linked to with the #page=number anchor tagged on the end of the URL:

  pages = [http://www.example.org/file.pdf#page=123 p. 123]

• language: language of publication (don't specify "English" as this is the default).
• archiveurl: URL of the archive location of the item (requires archivedate)
• archivedate: Date when the item was archived (requires archiveurl), in ISO 8601 YYYY-MM-DD format, e.g. 2006-02-17. Must not be wikilinked; it will be linked automatically.
• quote: Relevant quote from online item.

Examples

Some standard use cases

• {{cite web | author=Doe, John | title=My Favorite Things Part II | publisher=Open Publishing | date=2005-04-30 | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | author=Doe, John | title=My Favorite Things Part II | date=2005-04-30 | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | author=Doe, John | title=My Favorite Things Part II | date=2005-04-30 | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John (2005-04-30). My Favorite Things Part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | author=Doe, John | title=My Favorite Things Part II | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Doe, John. My Favorite Things Part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | title=My Favorite Things Part II | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | url=http://www.nfl.com/fans/ | title=Digest of Rules | publisher= National Football League | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → Digest of Rules. National Football League. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

Non-linking date of retrieval (using accessmonthday and accessyear)

• {{cite web | title=My Favorite Things Part II | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessmonthday=July 6 | accessyear=2005 }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Retrieved on July 6, 2005.

Using format

• {{cite web | title=List of psychotropic substances under international control | publisher = International Narcotics Control Board | url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (PDF). International Narcotics Control Board. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

language

• {{cite web | author=Joliet, François | title=Honnit soit qui mal y pense | date=[[2005-04-30]] | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 | language=French }}
  → Joliet, François (2005-04-30). Honnit soit qui mal y pense (French). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

coauthors

• {{cite web | first=John | last=Doe | coauthors=Peter Smith, Jim Smythe | title=My Favorite Things Part II | publisher=Open Publishing | date=2005-04-30 | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  → Doe, John; Peter Smith, Jim Smythe (2005-04-30). My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing. Retrieved on 2006-05-16.

No author

• {{cite web | title=My Favorite Things Part II | publisher=Open Publishing | date=[[2005-04-30]] | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2006-05-16 }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Open Publishing (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2006-05-16.

No author, no publisher

• {{cite web | title=My Favorite Things Part II | date=2005-04-30 | work=Encyclopedia of Things | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | title=My Favorite Things Part II | date=2005-04-30 | url=http://www.example.org/ | accessdate=2005-07-06 }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web | title=List of psychotropic substances under international control | date=2005-04-30 | url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate=2005-07-06 | language=Greek }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (Greek) (PDF) (2005-04-30). Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

Using archiveurl and archivedate to refer to items that went away but are available from an archive site

• {{cite web | title=List of psychotropic substances under international control | date=2005-04-30 | url=http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate=2005-07-06 | archiveurl=http://www.archive.org/2005-09-11/www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/green.pdf | archivedate=2005-09-11 }}
  → List of psychotropic substances under international control (PDF) (2005-04-30). Archived from the original on 2005-09-11. Retrieved on 2005-07-06.

• {{cite web |url=http://joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi?archive=currnews&story=20060405-01shore.htm |title=Interview with Maggie Downs |date=2006-03-31 |publisher=The Desert Sun |archiveurl=http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:JAxf4v-pQmgJ:joanjettbadrep.com/cgi-bin/fullStory.cgi%3Farchive%3Dcurrnews%26story%3D20060405-01shore.htm |archivedate=2006-04-26 }}
  → Interview with Maggie Downs. The Desert Sun (2006-03-31). Archived from the original on 2006-04-26.

Using quote

• {{cite web | title = My Favorite Things Part II | work = Encyclopedia of Things | url = http://www.example.org/ | accessdate = 2005-07-06 | quote = Lorem ipsum dolor. }}
  → My Favorite Things Part II. Encyclopedia of Things. Retrieved on 2005-07-06. “Lorem ipsum dolor.”

No parameters (error)

• {{cite web}}
  → Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified.