Author: aleonard1
Description:
First of all, the <ref> system was a godsend. Even better when I discovered the "hack" using {{#tag to nest them, which makes footnoting and citing footnotes so much easier. But right now, to have the two separate classes of footnotes, I have to give one an unsightly name. For example, right now, on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_New_Jersey I use <ref group='N'> for footnotes, and just regular <ref> for citations. That way, citations are rendered [1], [2], etc, and displayed at the bottom, while footnotes, rendered [N 1], [N 2], etc., are displayed earlier, through <references group='N'>.
My suggestion: Allow an alphabetical rendering. So instead of having the large and ugly [N 1], instead automatically do it like [a], [b], [c], ... [y], [z], [aa], [ab], etc. So it could be like, <ref method=alpha>. This way, we wouldn't have two competing systems of numbers, one with an unsightly extra letter, and the page would be overall more sensical and pretty.
Version: unspecified
Severity: enhancement