Compact list of subreferences
Open, Needs TriagePublicFeature
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	Nux
	Mar 1 2026, 12:24 AM

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Referenced Files

	F92798560: subreferences nocol-col with finer control.png
	Jul 10 2026, 2:17 PM

	F92794872: subreferences col-col.png
	Jul 10 2026, 1:54 PM

	F92794871: subreferences nocol-col.png
	Jul 10 2026, 1:54 PM

	F72476216: obraz.png
	Mar 2 2026, 8:13 PM

	F72476207: obraz.png
	Mar 2 2026, 8:13 PM

	F72476179: obraz.png
	Mar 2 2026, 8:13 PM

	F72475919: Screenshot from 2026-03-02 20-07-46_.png
	Mar 2 2026, 7:20 PM

	F72459751: obraz.png
	Mar 1 2026, 12:24 AM

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Subscribers

Aklapper

ElineWMDE

Johannes_Richter_WMDE

Description

Feature summary:

It was reported on the plwiki Discord that the current view is a bit too long and seems less compact than when using {{sfn}}. I think the user actually meant more blank space.

Use case(s):

The list is quite long:
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Chamenei#Przypisy

Current look:

A more compact list:

A list with a larger font, but no numeric indicators:

Note that all three above show the same area on the screen, so you can see how much less space the list of references takes.

Benefits:
More compact list for readers.

Related Objects

Mentioned In: T414198: Fix inconsistent multi-column behavior for sub-refs
Mentioned Here: T413221: Sub-ref: Iterate on how sub-refs are displayed in the reference list (reader view, ve view)

Event Timeline

Nux created this task.Mar 1 2026, 12:24 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptMar 1 2026, 12:24 AM

/** ~grid without num **/
ol.references .mw-subreference-list {
	display: flex;
	flex-wrap: wrap;
	
	margin-left:0;
	gap: 0 .9em;
	& > li::before {
	 	display:none;
		min-width:0;
	}
	li {
	 	min-width: 6em;
	}
}

/** ~grid with single num **
ol.references .mw-subreference-list {
	display: flex;
	flex-wrap: wrap;
	
	margin-left:0;
	gap: 0 .5em;
		font-size: 90%;
	& > li::before {
		margin-left:0;
		min-width:0;
		font-size: 85%;
		content: '.' counter(mw-ref-details-child,decimal) '.\00a0'
	}
	.mw-cite-backlink {
		font-size: 125%;
	}
	li {
	 	min-width: 7.7em;
	}
}

Johannes_Richter_WMDE added a project: WMDE-TechWish (product board).Mar 1 2026, 3:06 PM

Johannes_Richter_WMDE subscribed.

Thanks for relaying this feedback and creating the ticket! We've received similar feedback from German Wikipedia community members as well and noted improvements to the reference list on our roadmap for sub-referencing. We are still looking into this (provisional ticket without much content is T413221), unfortunately potential solutions are less straightforward as one might think, given that sub-references can contain details other than page numbers, e.g. quotes from different pages.

I would like to understand better how {{sfn}} is "less compact" (?) than the sub-referencing syntax. When I look at one of the last revisions without sub-references at https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Chamenei?oldid=79197159#Przypisy there is a total of 45 individual references + 2 entries in the bibliography section. "Axworthy 2004" appears 25 times and "Coville 2009" 8 times. There are 12 + 2 = 14 main refs.

The most recent revision at https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Chamenei#Przypisy contains 23 + 25 + 9 = 57 references. There is no bibliography any more, but a bunch of new references have been added: 1 more from "Coville 2009" and 9 more main refs without sub-refs.

The amount of space needed by the two versions is identical, see the attached comparison screenshots below. If anything the sub-ref version is more compact. What am I missing?

Screenshot from 2026-03-02 20-07-46_.png (894×1,043 px, 296 KB)

Maintenance_bot added a project: Design.Mar 2 2026, 7:29 PM

It's not really about whether SFN is more or less compact. It's about how it feels. Mostly empty space between subrefs immediately feels less compact because there is more empty space. It's about look & feel, not about physical pixels, if that makes sense.

A more compact list could also make it less confusing when navigating to a sub-ref, like here, where I don't see the main ref and have to scroll almost a full screen up to reach it:

With a more compact list, there is less distance to scroll:

As I understand it, that last part is somewhat covered by your Reference Previews experiment, but I think it's still something to consider.

Thanks a lot for the quick response, that's super helpful. Yes, we are already experimenting with a few possible options including more compact or collapsible sub-ref lists. T413221 is a placeholder ticket for that.

Malarz_pl subscribed.Mar 10 2026, 2:58 PM

Lina_Farid_WMDE removed a project: WMDE-TechWish (product board).Mar 23 2026, 6:35 PM

Ideally, you'd give users more control over (sub)reference lists, which is what they had with {{reflist}}:
<references subrefresponsive> to enable responsive subreference list (12em min column width, for example)
and
<references subrefcolwidth="12em"> for even more control
and (maybe) only using that when a list becomes longer than 7.

For even finer control, if there's more details than just page numbers:
<ref subrefresponsive="no" name=...>
and
<ref subrefcolwidth="16em" name=...>

Please, do this quick. https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/7518369#Izvori looks bad and I don't think I'd do it again.

Ponor mentioned this in T414198: Fix inconsistent multi-column behavior for sub-refs.Jul 10 2026, 1:42 PM

Two quick mockups:

no columns for the main list, columns for subreferences: https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/750718 (preferred in this particular case)

subreferences nocol-col.png (2,016×1,440 px, 431 KB)

columns for the main list, columns for subreferences: https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/750717

subreferences col-col.png (2,016×1,020 px, 356 KB)

Control of one ref's subref columns (mockup, this would need data from the server):

https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/750719#cite_note-18

subreferences nocol-col with finer control.png (2,016×790 px, 240 KB)

Templatestyle in use: https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustanak/styles.css

Compact list of subreferencesOpen, Needs TriagePublicFeatureActions

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Compact list of subreferences
Open, Needs TriagePublicFeature
Actions