Editing Help:References and citations

A reference is an external source that is used to support a statement on the wiki. The source can be a book, a paper, a news outlet, a web site... what matters is that the information from that source is true and relevant to the article. References on the Nonbinary Wiki look like little numbers at the end of the statement they are supporting —click the number to go to the full list of references for the article.<ref>This is where a reference would appear in the article!</ref>

Not all sources are valid as references on the Nonbinary Wiki. This page explains which references are valid, and how you can add them to any article.

== Valid references ==
{|
! style="width: 33%; background: #a7f799;" | Good
! style="width: 33%; background: #ffd896;" | Acceptable
! style="width: 33%; background: #f4a8a4;" | Bad
|-
| style="background: #a7f799;" | This kind of references are always good, as long as they are related to the statement they are supporting:
* Papers and scientific journals
* Non-fiction books
* News articles
* Official or otherwise respectable websites
| style="background: #ffd896;" | These references can be used in some contexts, but should generally be avoided if a better option can be found:
* Social networks
* Blogs
* YouTube videos
* Archived web sites (using the Wayback Machine)
| style="background: #f4a8a4;" | This kind of sources shouldn't generally be included:
* Fiction books (unless the statements they are supporting is about the books themselves)
* Sources directly related to the subject (unless it's basic data such as pronouns or to confirm quotes)
* Sources created specifically in order to justify the inclusion of certain content.
|}

'''Important note:''' the table above is a simplification. For example, social networks are only acceptable, but certain social media accounts are totally fine to be used in any context (for example, the Gender Census Tumblr blog). If you are not sure if a source is valid, feel free to ask in the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]]!

== Adding a reference ==
Follow these steps to add a reference to the wiki:
# Click the ''Edit'' tab on top of the page and wait for the editor to load. Then, place the cursor at the end of the statement you want to add a reference for.
# Click the ''Cite'' button on the editor toolbar. This will cause a pop-up to appear at your cursor.
# In the text box, enter the "ID" of the source. These are the most common IDs:
:# For a book, it's the ISBN number.
:# For a web site, it's the URL.
:# For a paper, it's the DOI number.
# Click the ''Generate'' button and wait a few moments for the reference to be added automatically.
# Click the ''Save changes...'' button on the top right corner of the editor, add an edit summary (optional) and confirm the edit by clicking ''Save changes''.

If you added the first reference to an article, please follow these extra steps —you'll only have to do them for the first reference on any given page:
# While on the editor, go at the bottom of the page, after the ''See also'' section but before ''External links'' (if these sections exist; if they don't, just go to the very bottom).
# Add a new first-level header (using the ''Paragraph'' drop-down on the editor tool bar) and type ''References''.
# On a new line, click on the ''Insert'' drop-down, click ''More'', and choose ''References list''.
# Even if you don't see a change to the page, you can then save the article as normal.
These extra steps ensure that the references appear under the ''References'' header instead of the very bottom of the article without a header.

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Guides and help pages]]