Community Wishlist Survey 2023/Citations/Allow citations to be edited in the references section with VisualEditor

Random proposal ►◄ Citations The survey has concluded. Here are the results!

Allow citations to be edited in the references section with VisualEditor

Problem: In VisualEditor, it is not possible to directly change the text of citations at the end of the article. Instead each citation in the article body must be clicked and edited individually. This makes the whole process very tedious and more complicated than it needs to be.
Proposed solution: Allow citations and footnotes to be edited using VisualEditor directly in the references section.
Who would benefit: People who want to change information in citations.
More comments:
Phabricator tickets: phab:T54750
Proposer: Blidfried (talk) 13:52, 27 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

Original German proposal:
Problem: Es ist nicht möglich den Text von Einzelnachweisen am Ende des Artikels direkt zu ändern, stattdessen muss jeder Einzelnachweis im Text einzeln angeklickt und bearbeitet werden. Das macht die ganze Bearbeitung sehr langwierig und komplizierter als sie sein müsste.
Lösungsvorschlag: Es sollte eine Möglichkeit geschaffen werden, dass Fußnoten direkt Bearbeitet werden könne, so wie etwa bei Microsoft Word.
Wem würde dieser Wunsch helfen: Jedem
Copied by MusikAnimal (WMF) (talk) 03:14, 6 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

An easier attempt, would be, to have a bot move all citations to reflist, leaving an anchor inline. .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 04:03, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
So with itemizations, you mean references or footnotes, and by editing you mean using the visual editor? --Matěj Suchánek (talk) 11:31, 29 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Matěj Suchánek: I'm pretty sure they mean references, yes. I've copied the original German proposal above. We have a German speaker on our team that I can ask to engage with this user, if need be. I know VE already lets you edit references, so I'm guessing they are using the 2010 editor. If those assumptions are true, I wonder about feasibility. MusikAnimal (WMF) (talk) 03:14, 6 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The German text makes it more clear now.

I know VE already lets you edit references – that's true, but the point is: each itemization in the text must be clicked and edited individually. So I believe this is indeed related to visual editor.

--Matěj Suchánek (talk) 07:31, 6 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@@Blidfried: Danke für dein Proposal! Wir würden gern sicher stellen, dass wir Deinen Vorschlag richtig verstanden haben. Beziehst du dich auch den Visual Editor? Füge gern noch so viele Details wie möglich hinzu um Dein Proposal aussagekräftiger zu machen. KSiebert (WMF) (talk) 13:41, 7 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Ja, richtig im Visual Editor. Ich möchte gerne die Fußnoten am Ende der Seite direkt anklicken könne. Blidfried (talk) 13:43, 7 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
This is about the editing of reflists -- which cannot be done in Visual Editor. Thingofme (talk) 15:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Being able to see the change to the reference in the new real time preview for 2010 WTE is something I find really great, so I can definitely see the appeal of this request. And maybe being able to do this would also unlock using list-defined references in VE. Izno (talk) 07:16, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Voting

Support It should be possible to edit all refs (also those defined in References section). MarMi wiki (talk) 19:50, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Xbypass (talk) 19:52, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Alexcs114 (talk) 20:57, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tom Ja (talk) 21:01, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SeGiba (talk) 21:02, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support I routinely use list-defined references to keep citation clutter out of article bodies but the visual editor does not yet support these. Andrew D. (talk) 21:11, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Barcelona (talk) 21:22, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support TLSOSLT (talk) 21:22, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Joalpe (talk) 21:47, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support TJ Ryba (talk) 22:03, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Geert Van Pamel (WMBE) (talk) 22:23, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SHB2000 (talk | contribs) 22:32, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Magnoliasouth (talk) 22:42, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Chetvorno (talk) 22:45, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support This change would be helpful because the citation numbering in VisualEditor is different from the normal article view as it skips some template-generated citations. However, this ability to edit such citations may make it difficult to implement directly clicking on the reference list BluePenguin18 🐧 ( 💬 ) 23:04, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support NMaia (talk) 23:17, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support All references should be able to be edited. Jj1691 (talk) 23:34, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Huge support, it is very tedious to edit these citations. HeyElliott (talk) 23:48, 10 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support much needed BhamBoi (talk) 00:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, I forgot to add a wishlist item here before the time was up, so I'll add it in a reply to my comment here because it is tangentially related. VisualEditor interface for templates while editing in an efn or infobox, where you are stuck in source mode. Should be opt-in. But if you type {{ while editing in a template, it will pop up with the visual template search/selection screen, and then a visual parameter editing interface. BhamBoi (talk) 00:08, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support That would be a very welcome improvement Skimel (talk) 00:20, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Salem Ander (talk) 00:23, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support. A very good ideea. --NGC 54 (talk｜contribs) 00:40, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Klein Muçi (talk) 00:46, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support As long as all possible methods of citation (WP:CITEVAR) are supported, it would be a boon to editors (especially FA editors). LunafreyaLaphicet (talk) 00:48, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hyruspex (talk) 01:15, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yeeno (talk) 01:57, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ワーナー成増 (talk) 02:13, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support XtexChooser (talk) 02:36, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hehua (talk) 02:50, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support VarietyEditor (talk) 03:29, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support * Pppery * _{it has begun} 03:44, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support It is irritating for me every time to look at the references and turn on the editor - and then the references are just gone. When you want to correct references, this behavior of the editor is not nice, it does not comply with the rule wysiwyg. T. Wirbitzki (talk) 04:39, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Libcub (talk) 05:57, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Soumendrak (talk) 06:17, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Janhrach (talk) 07:06, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support St. Andrews Drive (talk) 07:12, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nuretok (talk) 07:14, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Doktor Züm (talk) 07:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jurbop (talk) 07:41, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Especially for citations in bibliographies (under reflist or similar template) Femke (talk) 07:45, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Afernand74 (talk) 07:58, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Martin-78 ^{(discutailler)} 08:06, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kekavigi (talk) 08:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support V0lkanic (talk) 08:41, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Szymonel (talk) 08:55, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jeeputer (talk) 08:59, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Oltrepier (talk) 09:04, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Grabado (talk) 09:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Remy34 (talk) 09:07, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Matěj Suchánek (talk) 09:23, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support This would be very much in line with VisualEditor's goal of handling the complexity of wikitext and allow a seamless, intuitive editing experience for users. Great idea! Waldyrious (talk) 09:50, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support //Lollipoplollipoplollipop::talk 10:01, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SD0001 (talk) 10:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support I have a terrible experience for editing ref on English Wikipedia. We need a better tool for reference. Lemonaka (talk) 10:26, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 11:20, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Simeon (talk) 12:03, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SunDawn (talk) 12:43, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lion-hearted85 (talk) 12:55, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Although it is nice to know how to edit in source mode, Visual mode editing is much less confusing. This is a good proposal. Slaythe (talk) 13:28, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support OwenBlacker (Talk) 14:35, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lupe (talk) 14:44, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bluerasberry (talk) 14:57, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nerd271 (talk) 15:18, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support The reflist template should be fixed using VE. In the past we can fix it but now we can't do it anymore. Thingofme (talk) 15:38, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rots61 (talk) 16:05, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nehaoua (talk) 16:21, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Skogshare (talk) 17:31, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Conny (talk) 18:12, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thomas Kinz (talk) 20:04, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support I don't use the Visual Editor. But why not? De nue pw (talk) 22:04, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support daSupremo 22:55, 11 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Chlod (say hi!) 03:15, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gohan 03:24, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Betseg (talk) 03:56, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support HLFan (talk) 07:07, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mauricio V. Genta (talk) 07:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ameisenigel (talk) 08:55, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Making citing easier will foster editing. Schlind (talk) 11:25, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Maxwxyz (talk) 12:48, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support That would be very useful. MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:25, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bencemac (talk) 20:13, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support P12062545 (talk) 21:10, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Swehlam (talk) 23:18, 12 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 01:00, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rickinasia (talk) 01:41, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support BRP^ever 10:05, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ropaga (talk) 10:44, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support JAn Dudík (talk) 17:02, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wargo (talk) 23:51, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rdrozd (talk) 23:52, 13 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support +1 YjM (talk) 00:21, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support PenangLion (talk) 06:10, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ayumu Ozaki (talk) 10:46, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support It would be very useful, also to find directly where the reference is, given that the reference link isn't clickable in edit mode. ZandDev (talk) 13:14, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support -BRAINULATOR9 (TALK) 16:42, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Barkeep49 (talk) 16:54, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Very good idea! Wikibach (talk) 19:29, 14 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Labdajiwa (talk) 00:10, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nux (talk) 08:36, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Saung Tadashi (talk) 10:39, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Rzuwig^► 11:01, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support cyrfaw (talk) 11:47, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support · · · Peter (Southwood) ^(talk): 11:57, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support PRmaster1 (talk) 13:17, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~Cybularny ^Speak? 13:50, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support I hate it when people use list-defined references because they can't be edited in Visual, this seems so obvious even for standard footnote references. Reywas92 (talk) 14:41, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Laurent Meesseman (talk) 14:51, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support —MdsShakil (talk) 18:12, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wikiusuarios (talk) 19:34, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Polarlys (talk) 21:32, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Matma Rex (talk) 22:03, 15 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sadads (talk) 01:11, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jake01756 (talk) 07:23, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support YU1010 (talk) 11:19, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Pas simple à mettre en œuvre... Mais ce serait hyper-utile. Michka B (talk) 14:53, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hey man im josh (talk) 15:33, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support JFremd (talk) 15:53, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ (talk) 17:52, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Silva Selva (talk) 18:28, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sorely needed. DFlhb (talk) 19:22, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tbartovic (talk) 20:19, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gillum (talk) 23:17, 16 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Stardustnite (talk) 08:47, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gubeko (talk) 10:06, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Amory (u • t • c) 16:33, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kurmanbek ^💬 16:54, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mitch199811 (talk) 18:25, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Dubstar (talk) 18:32, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Toughpigs (talk) 19:08, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support —‍CX Zoom (A/अ/অ) (let's talk|contribs) 19:16, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Fuchs B (talk) 19:52, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support David Eppstein (talk) 21:50, 17 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lightoil (talk) 02:59, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Dmytro Tvardovskyi (talk) 03:05, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Thastp (talk) 10:37, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wire723 (talk) 11:00, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support It would be nice to declutter the body text of the page wikicode from all the reference code text and replacing the reference text by a pointer such as <ref name="text">. This first requires to move all the references at the end of the page in the section Reference as commonly done by word processors coupled to a reference management software. This is a long awaited feature from Wikipedia and should be a high priority task. A bot is the most appropriate tool to do such a repetitive and tedious task. Shinkolobwe (talk) 12:12, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Herbert Ortner (talk) 12:20, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vulcan❯❯❯Sphere! 15:21, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support WhinyTheYounger (talk) 20:33, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Albinfo (talk) 20:57, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support PamD (talk) 23:52, 18 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jj14 (talk) 11:41, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jklamo (talk) 11:58, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Unexpectedlydian (talk) 14:55, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support schurdl (talk) 15:46, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ezlev (talk) 18:43, 19 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Zsinj (talk) 02:25, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hans5958 (talk) 02:55, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Cmarsch (talk) 06:23, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Supporting 17387349L8764 (talk) 08:39, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Would this allow inexperienced editors just to add references on a stub? (better some citations than none) Wakelamp (talk) 10:42, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nashona (talk) 14:50, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support IMHO all the references should be migrated to Wikidata; on the wikis should only remain the calling of their wikidata items. There is no need to maintain references in each and every wiki on its own. --Matthiasb (talk) 14:58, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kyucasio (talk) 22:55, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support —מקף⁻ණ (Hyphen) 23:17, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lancine.kounfantoh.fofana (talk) 23:27, 20 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Adam Hauner (talk) 00:25, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Goldsztajn (talk) 01:36, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Korhoj (talk) 02:33, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Dr vulpes (talk) 06:29, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bnichols23 (talk) 17:06, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Serieminou (talk) 22:31, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Seb35 [^_^] 11:55, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Chatul (talk) 12:15, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support مرتضا (talk) 15:01, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Fcastillo (talk) 22:03, 22 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support. —— Eric Liu_（Talk） 02:20, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support GoingBatty (talk) 03:25, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Althair (talk) 04:29, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lionel Scheepmans ^{✉ Contact (Fr-N, En-3, Pt-3)} 20:41, 23 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support SoupePrimordiale (talk) 07:42, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support OGPawlis (talk) 10:31, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]