View source for Template:Blockquote/doc

{{Documentation subpage}}
<!-- Please place categories where indicated at the bottom of this page and interwikis at Wikidata (see [[Wikipedia:Wikidata]]) -->
{{Lua|Module:Check for unknown parameters}}
{{Template shortcut|bq|"|Quote|Bquote}}
{{Uses TemplateStyles|Template:{{BASEPAGENAME}}/styles.css}}
{{Redirect|[[Template:Long quotation]]|maintenance templates about excessively long quotations|Template:Long quote|and|Template:Over-quotation}}
{{For|linking a subject to a collection of quotes on [[Wikiquote]]|Template:Wikiquote}}
{{High-risk}}

{{ {{BASEPAGENAME}}/doc/boilerplate|mos-recommended=yes}}

== Usage ==
{{tlc|{{BASEPAGENAME}}}} adds a [[block quotation]] to an article page.

This is easier to type and is more wiki-like than the equivalent [[HTML]] {{code|lang=html|code=<blockquote>...</blockquote>}} tags, and has additional pre-formatted attribution parameters for author and source (though these are not usually used in articles; {{crossreference|see {{section link||Reference citations}}, below}}).

'''Note:''' Block quotes do {{em|not}} normally contain quotation marks {{crossreference|(see [[MOS:BLOCKQUOTE]])}}.

{{warning|heading=This template is for actual quotations only.|text=Do not use it for block indentation of other material; see {{tlx|Block indent}} for that purpose.}}

=== Examples ===
'''Basic use'''{{colon}}
{{markup|
<nowiki>{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
}}</nowiki>|{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
}}}}

'''With attribution displayed'''{{colon}}
{{markup|
<nowiki>{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
|author=First M. Last
}}</nowiki>|{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
|author=First M. Last
}}}}

'''With more attribution'''{{colon}}
{{markup|
<nowiki>
{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
|author=First M. Last
|title="Article Title"
|source=''Book Title'' (date)
}}</nowiki>|
{{Blockquote
|text=Quoted material.
|author=First M. Last
|title="Article Title"
|source=''Book Title'' (date)
}}}}

'''Examples with "multiline"'''{{colon}}

Especially useful for translated quotes; ''see [[#multiline|notes about this parameter]]''.
* with "multiline" {{tick}}
{{markup|
<nowiki>
{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|fr|Ceci n'est pas une pipe.}}
This is Not a Pipe.
|multiline=yes
|author=[[René Magritte]]
|title=''[[The Treachery of Images]]''
}}</nowiki>|
{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|fr|Ceci n'est pas une pipe.}}
This is Not a Pipe.
|multiline=yes
|author=[[René Magritte]]
|title=''[[The Treachery of Images]]''
}}}}
* for comparison without "multiline" {{xmark}}
{{markup|
<nowiki>
{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|fr|Ceci n'est pas une pipe.}}
This is Not a Pipe.
|author=[[René Magritte]]
|title=''[[The Treachery of Images]]''
}}</nowiki>|
{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|fr|Ceci n'est pas une pipe.}}
This is Not a Pipe.
|author=[[René Magritte]]
|title=''[[The Treachery of Images]]''
}}}}

'''An ample example'''<!-- no pun intended -->{{colon}}
{{markup|<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{Blockquote|text=Cry "Havoc" and let slip the dogs of war.|character=Mark Antony|author=[[William Shakespeare]]|title=''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]''|source=act III, scene I}}</syntaxhighlight>
|{{Blockquote|text=Cry "Havoc" and let slip the dogs of war.|character=Mark Antony|author=[[William Shakespeare]]|title=''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]''|source=act III, scene I}}}}

== Parameters ==
=== Parameter list ===
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
{{Blockquote
| text      =
| author    =
| title     =
| source    =
| character =
| multiline =
| class     =
| style     =
}}
</syntaxhighlight>

See also section [[#TemplateData]].

=== Quoted text ===
{{para|text}} a.k.a. {{para|1}}—The material being quoted, without quotation marks around it. It is always safest to name this parameter (rather than use an unnamed positional parameter), because, otherwise, any inclusion of a [[Template:=|non-escaped "=" character]] (e.g., in a URL in a source citation) will break the template.

=== Displayed attribution ===
These parameters are for {{em|displaying}} attribution information below the quote; this should not be confused with citing a source {{crossreference|(see {{section link||Reference citations}}, below)}}. These parameters are entirely optional, and are usually used with famous quotations, not routine block quotations, which are usually sourced at the end of the introductory line immediately before the quotation, with a normal <syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> tag.

{{para|author}} a.k.a. {{para|2}} – optional author/speaker attribution information that will appear below the quotation, and preceded with an attribution dash.

{{para|title}} a.k.a. {{para|3}} – optional title of the work the quote appears in, to display below the quotation. This parameter immediately follows the output of {{para|author}} (and an auto-generated comma), if one is provided. It does not auto-italicize. Major works (books, plays, albums, feature films, etc.) should be italicized; minor works (articles, chapters, poems, songs, TV episodes, etc.) go in quotation marks {{crossreference|(see [[MOS:TITLES]])}}. Additional citation information can be provided in a fourth parameter, {{para|source}}, below, which will appear after the title.

{{para|source}} a.k.a. {{para|4}} – optionally used for additional source information to display, after {{para|title}}, like so: {{code|lang="wikitext"|code={{!}}title="The Aerodynamics of Shaved Weasels" {{!}}source=''Perspectives on Mammal Barbering'', 2016}}; a comma will be auto-generated between the two parameters. If {{para|source}} is used without {{para|title}}, it simply acts as {{para|title}}. <small>(This parameter was added primarily to ease conversion from misuse of the [[pull quote]] template {{tlx|Quote frame}} for block quotation, but it may aid in cleaner meta-data implementation later.)</small>

{{para|character}} a.k.a. {{para|char}} or {{para|5}} – to attribute fictional speech to a fictional character, {{em|with}} other citation information. Can also be used to attribute real speech to a specific speaker among many, e.g. in a roundtable/panel transcript, a band interview, etc. This parameter outputs "[{{Var|Character's name}}], in" after the attribution dash and before the output of the parameters above, thus one or more of those parameters must also be supplied. If you need to cite a fictional speaker in an article about a single work of fiction, where repeating the author and title information would be redundant, you can just use the {{para|author}} parameter instead of {{para|character}}.

Technically, all citation information can be given in a single parameter, as in: {{code|lang="wikitext"|code={{!}}source=Anonymous interview subject, in Jane G. Arthur, "The Aerodynamics of Shaved Weasels", ''Perspectives on Mammal Barbering'' (2016), Bram Xander Yojimbo (ed.)}} But this is a bit messy, and will impede later efforts to generate metadata from quotation attribution the way we are already doing with source citations. This is much more usable:
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
|character=Anonymous interview subject
|author=Jane G. Arthur
|title="The Aerodynamics of Shaved Weasels"
|source=''Perspectives on Mammal Barbering'' (2016), Bram Xander Yojimbo (ed.)
</syntaxhighlight>


Later development can assign a CSS <code>class</code> and so forth to these separate parameters, upon which scripts would be able to operate (e.g. to look up things in WikiQuote).

=== Rarely used technical parameters ===
* {{anchor|multiline}}{{para|multiline}} – keep forced linebreaks in output.{{pb}}''Notes:''
** Will only be applied if at least one of these other parameters or its aliases is not empty (including implicit, unnamed parameters):{{pb}}{{para|author}}, {{para|title}}, {{para|source}}, or {{para|character}}.
** The value does not matter, as long it is not empty. Using a so called speaking parameter (such as <code>true</code> or <code>yes</code>) is highly recommended. Avoid values that can surprise users (e.g. <code>false</code> or <code>no</code>).
* {{para|style}} – allows specifying additional [[Help:Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] styles ({{em|not}} classes) to apply to the {{code|lang=html|code=<blockquote>...</blockquote>}} element. {{Crossreference|(See [[#Nested quotations]], below, for the most common use case.)}}
* {{para|class}} – allows specifying additional HTML classes to apply to the same element.

== Reference citations ==
{{anchor|Attribution|reason=Old section name}}
A [[WP:Citing sources|reference citation]] can be placed before the quote, after the quote, or in the {{para|source}} parameter:
{{bulleted list
|{{tick}} {{stronggood|Typical use:}} In the regular-prose introduction to the quotation, when a quotation is given without the displayed {{para|author}}, {{para|title}}, or {{para|source}} parameters: <syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline>According to Pat Doe, in "Underwater Basketweaving Tips" (2015):<ref>...</ref> {{blockquote |text=Quoted material.}}</syntaxhighlight>
|At the end of the quotation, when a quotation is given without the displayed {{para|author}}, {{para|title}}, or {{para|source}} parameters, and placement before the quote isn't appropriate (e.g. because the material immediately before the quote isn't cited to the same source or introduces multiple quotes from different sources: <syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline>Pat Doe and Chris Foo took opposing positions: {{blockquote |text=Doe's Quoted material.<ref>...</ref>}} {{blockquote |text=Foo's Quoted material.<ref>...</ref>}}</syntaxhighlight>
|After the {{para|source}} value (if a value is given for the {{para|source}} parameter other than the <syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline><ref>...</ref></syntaxhighlight> itself):<syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline>One expert noted in 2015: {{blockquote |text=Quoted material. |author=Pat Doe |source="Underwater Basketweaving Tips" (2015)<ref>...</ref>}}</syntaxhighlight>
|{{xmark}} {{strongbad|Deprecated:}} <s>After the quoted person's name in {{para|author}}, or after the work's title in {{para|title}}, when a {{para|source}} parameter is not being added: <syntaxhighlight lang="html" inline>As noted in "Underwater Basketweaving Tips" (2015): {{blockquote |text=Quoted material. |author=Pat Doe<ref>...</ref>}}</syntaxhighlight></s>{{pb}}{{A note}} Please avoid this format, as it will pollute the author or title metadata with non-author or non-title information.
}}

Please do not place the citation in a {{para|author}} or {{para|source}} parameter by itself, as it will produce a nonsensical attribution line that looks like this:
{{pb}}{{in5}}—&#8239;{{dummy reference}}{{pb}}
Please also do not put it just outside the {{tlf|blockquote}} template, as this will cause a:
{{pb}}{{in5}}{{dummy reference}}{{pb}}on a line by itself.

== Limitations ==
{{anchor|Restrictions|reason=Old section name}}
If you do not provide text, the template generates a parser error message, which will appear in red text in the rendered page.

If any parameter's actual value contains an [[equals sign]] (<code>=</code>), you {{strong|must}} use a named parameter (e.g. <code>|text="E=MC<sup>2</sup>" is a formula everyone knows but few understand</code>, not a blank-name positional parameter. The text before the equals sign gets misinterpreted as a named parameter otherwise. Be wary of URLs, which frequently contain this character. Named parameters are always safer, in this and other templates.

If any parameter's actual value contains characters used for wiki markup syntax (such as [[vertical bar|pipe]], [[brackets]], single quotation marks, etc.), you may need to escape it. See {{tlx|!}} and friends.

=== Next to right-floated boxes ===
{{As of|2015|09|post=,}} the text of a block quotation may rarely overflow (in Firefox or other Gecko browsers) a right-floated item (e.g. a {{tlx|Listen}} box, when that item is below another right-floated item of a fixed size that is narrower. In Safari and other Webkit browsers (and even more rarely in Chrome/Chromium) the same condition can cause the block quotation to be pushed downward. Both of these problems can be fixed by either:
# removing the sizing on the upper item and letting it use its default size (e.g. removing <code>{{var|###}}x{{var|###}}px</code> sizing or {{para|upright}} from a right-floated image above a wider right-floated object that is being overflowed by quotation text; or
# using {{para|style|{{code|lang=css|code=overflow:inherit;}}}} in the quotation template.
There may be other solutions, and future browser upgrades may eliminate the issue. It arises at all because of the <syntaxhighlight lang="css" inline>blockquote {overflow: hidden;}</syntaxhighlight> CSS declaration in [[Mediawiki:Common.css]], which itself works around other, more common display problems. A solution that fixes {{em|all}} of the issues is unknown at this time.

=== Vanishing quotes ===
In rare layout cases, e.g. when quotes are sandwiched between userboxes, a quotation may appear blanked out, in some browsers. The workaround for this problem is to add {{para|style|{{code|lang=css|code=overflow:inherit;}}}} to such an instance of the template.

=== Line breaks ===
This template sets a text style which might ignore one blank line, and so the template must be ended with a break (newline) or the next blank line might be ignored. Otherwise, beware inline, as:<br />{{in5}}text here {{tlf|blockquote|this is quoted}} More text here<br />spans a blank line, unless a {{tlf|blockquote|...}} is ended with a line break, then the next blank line might be ignored and two paragraphs joined.

The {{code|lang=html|code=<blockquote>}} element and any templates that use it do not honor newlines:
{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<blockquote>
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
</blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|<blockquote>
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
</blockquote>
}}

An easy solution is to use the {{tl|poem quote}} template instead of {{tag|blockquote}}. This is effectively the same as using the {{xtag|poem}} tag inside {{code|lang=html|code=<blockquote>}}, which converts line breaks to {{code|lang=html|code=<br />}} tags:
{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<blockquote><poem>
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
</poem></blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|<blockquote><poem>
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
</poem></blockquote>
}}

To markup actual paragraphs within block quotations, entire blank lines can be used between them, which will convert to {{code|lang=html|code=<p>...</p>}} tags:

{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<blockquote>
Paragraph 1

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3
</blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|<blockquote>
Paragraph 1

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3
</blockquote>
}}

Note that it may be necessary to put a line break in the wikitext before <nowiki><blockquote> and after </blockquote></nowiki> in order for the paragraphs to render with the intended separation. (This also makes the wikitext easier to read.)

This paragraph style also works with {{tl|blockquote}}, which is a replacement for {{xtag|blockquote}} that also has parameters to make formatting of the attribution more convenient and consistent.

Blockquote and templates that call it, and are indented with colon (:), bulleted with asterisk (*), or numbered with number (#), will generate errors and incorrectly display anything after a newline character.
<!--Please do not "fix" these deliberate errors. -->
{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
:<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|
:<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
}}

{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
*<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|
*<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
}}

{{markup
|<syntaxhighlight lang="html">
#<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
</syntaxhighlight>
|
#<blockquote>Paragraph 1
Paragraph 2</blockquote>
}}

----

=== Nested quotations ===
The {{code|lang=html|code=<blockquote>...</blockquote>}} element has styles that change the font size: on desktop, text is smaller; on mobile, it is larger. This change is relative to the enclosing context, meaning that if you quote from a source that itself uses a block quotation, you'll find that the inner quotation is either really tiny and hard to read, or really large and barely fits on the screen. To fix this issue, add the parameter {{para|style|{{code|lang=css|font-size:inherit;}}}} on any inner {{tlf|blockquote}} templates.

=== Technical issues with block templates ===
{{Block bug documentation}}

== TemplateData ==
{{TemplateData header}}<templatedata>
{
	"description": "Adds a block quotation.",
	"params": {
		"text": {
			"label": "text",
			"description": "The text to quote",
			"type": "content",
			"required": true,
			"aliases": [
				"1",
				"quote"
			],
			"example": "Cry \"Havoc\" and let slip the dogs of war."
		},
		"author": {
			"label": "author",
			"description": "The writer of the source",
			"type": "content",
			"required": false,
			"aliases": [
				"2",
				"cite",
				"sign"
			],
			"example": "William Shakespeare",
			"suggested": true
		},
		"title": {
			"label": "title",
			"description": "The work being quoted from",
			"type": "content",
			"required": false,
			"aliases": [
				"3"
			],
			"example": "Julius Caesar",
			"suggested": true
		},
		"source": {
			"label": "source",
			"description": "A source for the quote",
			"type": "content",
			"required": false,
			"aliases": [
				"4"
			],
			"example": "act III, scene I",
			"suggested": true
		},
		"character": {
			"label": "character",
			"description": "The speaker within the work who is being quoted",
			"type": "content",
			"required": false,
			"aliases": [
				"5",
                "char"
			],
			"example": "Mark Antony",
			"suggested": false
		},
        "multiline": {
			"label": "multiline",
			"description": "Keeps forced linebreaks in output",
			"type": "string",
			"required": false,
			"example": "true",
			"suggested":  false
		},
		"style": {
			"label": "style",
			"description": "Additional CSS styles (not classes) to apply",
			"type": "string",
			"required": false,
			"example": "font-size:inherit;",
			"suggested":  false
		},
		"class": {
			"label": "class",
			"description": "Additional HTML classes to apply",
			"type": "string",
			"required": false,
			"example": "pullquote",
			"suggested":  false
		}
	}
}</templatedata>

== Tracking categories ==
* {{Category link with count|Pages incorrectly using the quote template}}
* {{Category link with count|Pages using Blockquote template with unknown parameters}}

==See also==
{{Quotation templates}}
{{semantic markup templates}}

<includeonly>{{Sandbox other||
<!-- ADD CATEGORIES AFTER THIS LINE, PLEASE: -->
[[Category:Quotation templates]]
[[Category:Wikipedia XHTML tag-replacing templates]]
[[Category:Templates that add a tracking category]]

}}</includeonly>