**Goal: understand possibilities and limitations of naming references automatically when reused in VE.
Output: a summary of what is possible and not possible include in an automatic name.**
###Problem statement
See also [[https://app.asana.com/0/1203688298459190/1203688304080802 | asana ]]
* I am an editor editing in wikitext.
* I'm trying to edit an article and I come across the automatic :number names of named references created by VE.
* But I don't know which references they are referring to.
* Because the automatic `:number` name of a reused reference don't give an indication of the named citation content. It also doesn't reliably match the footnote marker numbers.
##Current situation
* VE gives automatic names to references that do not have a name the moment they are reused for the first time from within VE
* Automatic names contain only numbers and no semantic connection to the source (makes them hard to use)
* They start with a colon character that looks like it’s some kind of syntax users are not allowed to touch, but it’s really only an (arbitrary) string prefix (e.g. `:0`, `:1`, `:2`)
* [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Footnotes#WP:REFNAME | Help:Footnotes ]] - Wikipedia says that purely numeric numbers should not be used (see also T92432#6350118)
* Automatic names are only editable in wikitext (not in VE)
* In wikitext users create names for references when reusing references
* Sometimes a template auto-generates the name
* User generated names and automatic names are displayed together in wikitext
* This has been requested via: [[ https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Diskussion:Technische_W%C3%BCnsche/Topw%C3%BCnsche/Wiederverwendung_von_Einzelnachweisen#Vorlagenbearbeitung_bietet_keine_Wiederverwendung_von_Einzelnachweisen;_Defaultnamen | Technische Wünsche: Vorlagenbearbeitung bietet keine Wiederverwendung von Einzelnachweisen; Defaultnamen ]]
* {T92432}
* [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2023/Editing/VisualEditor_should_use_proper_names_for_references | Community Wishlist Survey 2023: VisualEditor should use proper names for references ]]
* [[ https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2022/Editing/VisualEditor_should_use_human-like_names_for_references | Community Wishlist Survey 2022: VisualEditor should use human-like names for references]]
* The user script [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nardog/RefRenamer | RefRenamer ]] allows creating naming schemas.
###Investigation findings
* We can change the current notation (`:0`) with random looking numbers to "unnamed-1" or similar to make it more clear users can change the name (in wikitext) and reduce confusion.
* Should also start with 1, not with 0.
* A trivial scheme like “unnamed-1” makes it relatively obvious that the name is meaningless. A badly chosen automatic name might cause more workload and confusion.
* Generated names can be localized per wiki via the message system.
* Can’t use `"` within the name from a technical perspective, probably also shouldn’t use other symbols that have existing associations e.g. `[` and `{`
* When we make the syntax change, we will run into cases where an article has :1 and unnamed-1. VE making “dirty diffs” by renaming the old ones automatically is probably not advisable. But users could write a bot that renames the old notations.
* Surfacing the name and allowing renaming in VE could be a next step, existing tool for systematic autonaming using cite template parameters. We will handle this in separate tickets and with UI/UX input.
###Open questions
* Are there other situations where auto names are generated?
* What should the string look like? (UI/UX) For example:
# Let users define a string in a local setting?
# Use type of reference (like article, newspaper, etc.)?
# Use the domain name for web links?