User:Zhaofeng Li/reFill

toollabs:refill
This page is a soft redirect.

<ref>http://example.com</ref>
→<ref>{{cite web| url=http://example.com| title=Example Domain| publisher=}}</ref>

reFill converts bare references (red) into more complete ones (green)

reFill (formerly Reflinks) is a tool that expands bare references semi-automatically, hosted on Tool Labs. It adds information (page title, work/website, author and publication date, if metadata is included) to bare references, and does additional fixes as well (e.g. combining duplicated references). The tool is written in PHP and licensed under Simplified BSD License. The tool is an open-source replacement of Dispenser's Reflinks. The source code is available on GitHub. The templates created automatically by the tool need to be reviewed to ensure that they are accurate, as they are often not.

Usage

To request reFill assistance

If there is a particular article which contains bare URLs in the references, like this one, and you would like to request a wikipedian that already has reFill installed (and is familiar with how it works) to help you fix the problem:

References

1. Open the article in question in your browser
2. Click the 'edit' button
3. Paste the following line into the very bottom of the wiki-markup:
           {{Cleanup-bare URLs}}
4. Click the 'preview' button to verify that your change did not interfere with any other parts of the article
5. Click the 'save' button

This will display a visible message (the text of which is shown at the top of Template:Cleanup-bare URLs) near the bottom of the wikipedia article, and will also add the article to an 'invisible' category which requests that a wikipedian experienced with reFill, apply it to the bare URLs in that article. It may take up to a week before someone notices your request, but if it has been several days and you have received no response, you can ask for additional assistance at the WP:TEAHOUSE.

To use reFill yourself

• https://tools.wmflabs.org/refill/ - This is the stable version of reFill. Paste the title of the article into the Page name textbox. You can choose to output plain CS1 citations or {{cite web}} templates.
• https://tools.wmflabs.org/refill/test/ - This is the test version of reFill automatically pulled from the latest source from GitHub. There might also be experimental code not available on GitHub. Tool Labs users can inspect the source code in /data/project/refill/versions/test.

Options

• Use plain formatting instead of {{cite web}}: If selected, the tool will fill out bare references in plain CS1 format instead of {{cite web}}. All available metadata is included.
• Do not remove link rot tags: If selected, the tool will not remove any link rot tags from the source, even if no bare references are skipped.
• Add blank metadata fields when the information is unavailable If selected, the tool will insert blank |author= and/or |date= for filling in manually, when the corresponding metadata is unavailable.
• Do not add access dates: If selected, access dates will be omitted from the result.
• Use the base domain name as work when this information cannot be parsed: If selected, the base domain of the link will be used in the |website= field if the website does not supply its name in embedded metadata.

Toolbox link

Insert this code into Special:MyPage/common.js:

mw.loader.load( "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Zhaofeng_Li/Reflinks.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript" );

Bookmarklet

javascript:options='defaults=y&nowatch=y';location.href='https://tools.wmflabs.org/refill/result.php?wiki='+wgContentLanguage+'&page='+encodeURIComponent(wgPageName)+'&'+options;

Frequently asked questions

Q1: Why is there an empty |publisher=?

A1: There isn't any reliable way to parse that field, and an empty one is intentionally left when |work= cannot be parsed. Please fill it in manually.

Q2: Why does reFill change various characters to "#"?

A2: The hash signs are being inserted by Internet Explorer's cross-site scripting (XSS) filter. You can disable the filter by going to →"Internet options"→"Security"→Custom level..., scrolling to near the bottom of the list to "Enable XSS filter", and choosing "Disable". You can also work around the filter by copying everything in reFill's "New Wiki Markup" box and manually pasting it into Wikipedia or by using another web browser.

See MediaWiki Bug T34013

Q3: How can I run my own reFill instance for testing?

A3: See README.md. reFill has zero Toolserver/Tool Labs dependency, and can be easily installed.

Q4: Can you add support for other Wikipedias?

A4: Yes! Just add a request on the talk page.

Q5: How to find articles which can be improved using reFill?

A5: You can use these categories: Category:Pages with citations having bare URLs & Category:Wikipedia references cleanup and this list: User:Gronk Oz/Bare URLs.

Q6: It's not working right now! What alternatives can I use while you're fixing it?

A6: The citoid service in the visual editor provides a "Convert" button. You can also use Diberri's tool and similar scripts to generate citation templates, which you can paste into articles.

Reporting bugs

If you have found a bug or want extra features, please post to the talk page. Alternatively, you can also create an issue on GitHub.

Contributing

Having no Labs dependency, reFill can be easily installed on your own computer so that you can work on it. To contribute to reFill, create a fork on GitHub, make your changes and submit a pull request. Thank you for your contributions!

To translate the tool, please head over to Transifex, create an account and request to join the project.

See also

• CiteGen, a companion add-on for Chrome and Firefox that generates references
• User:Dispenser/Reflinks, the original tool by Dispenser
• Wikipedia:Citoid

• Userbox:

{{User:UBX/reFill}}

This user uses reFill to expand bare references.