Template:Page range too broad/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:Page range too broad.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template should not be used in citation templates such as Citation Style 1 and Citation Style 2, because it includes markup that will pollute the COinS metadata they produce; see Wikipedia:COinS.

Usage

The {{page range too broad}} template functions as an in-line request for when a citation cites a page range of a book or similar work, that is very broad, which makes it difficult for readers to verify the fact in question. In general, page number ranges should be specific, although circumstances may warrant a larger range, such as a whole chapter.

{{Page range too broad|date=Novembala 2024}}

These tags will categorise tagged articles into Category:Wikipedia articles needing more precise page number citations or a dated subcategory thereof.

These templates are self-references and so are part of the Wikipedia project rather than the encyclopædic content.

Note: This template is primarily useful for citations to books. In external style guides, the standard citation method for academic journal articles is to list the full page range for the whole article, although editors are free to voluntarily establish a different citation style in an individual Wikipedia article.

Parameters

reason (optional): Although usually the template is self-explanatory, there are times when it is helpful to provide an extra reason or note to explain the request like so: {{Page range too broad|reason=What the problem is}} This is preferable to using an HTML  after the tag, as it is tidier to keep all of the {{page range too broad}}-related code inside the template. If the explanation would be lengthy, use the article's talk page.

As well as being visible in the source code for editors' benefit, the reason parameter is, if provided, displayed in many browsers as a tooltip when the mouse is hovered over the "page needed" link in the article, although the tooltip tends not to be displayed on mobile devices.

Position

Put the template directly after the associated <ref> tag.

Example

Markup

Renders as

Some text here.<ref name=Smith2009>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Jane |date=2009 |title=The Unbearable Beingness of Light |publisher=Fnord Pubs |location=New York}}</ref>{{Page range too broad|date=Novembala 2024}}

...

{{Reflist}}

Some text here.^[1]^{[page range too broad]}

...

↑ Smith, Jane (2009). The Unbearable Beingness of Light. New York: Fnord Pubs.

Tracking categories

Redirects

{{Too many pages}}

Template data

This is the TemplateData documentation for the template used by the new VisualEditor.

Page range too broad

The template functions as in-line request for the page number, or numbers, in a cited work such as a book or journal.

Template parameters
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	`date`	Provides the month and year; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	String	suggested
Reason	`reason`	Additional reason(s) for placing the template	String	optional