Template:Unreferenced/doc

When to use
You may add this template only to articles that contain zero sources of any kind.


 * Do not add this template:
 * In articles that have some sources, but not enough, the Refimprove template should be used instead.
 * In articles containing a list of sources at the end, but no inline footnotes or parenthetical references, consider no footnotes when the article would be significantly improved by detailed attribution of sources to specific claims.
 * Other templates, listed below, should be used when the sources are inadequate for other reasons.


 * Alternatives:
 * Be bold! Consider searching for references and adding them to the article, instead of this template.
 * Consider not adding this template to short articles consisting only of a definition or common knowledge. However, direct quotations and material that is likely to be challenged should have explicit sources provided (see Verifiability).
 * See Biographies of living people for guidance on dealing with unreferenced biographies of living people.

How to use
This template should not be substituted.

There are three optional parameters:


 * Description field: The optional description field is used to indicate more specifically what should be referenced. An example of its usage is . The description field is commonly omitted, which is acceptable, and the information box displayed in an article would then read "This article does not cite any references or sources." If a description is supplied, the word article in the information box is replaced with the description; for the example just given, the information box would read "This article's section called 'Childhood' does not cite any references or sources."
 * Date parameter: The date parameter is (generally ) used to indicate when the template was added to a page. An example of its usage is . Adding this parameter sorts the article into monthly subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, rather than adding it to Category:Articles lacking sources itself, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. If the date parameter is omitted, a bot will add it later.
 * Auto parameter: The auto parameter is only added by bots and used to suppress visibility of the template when added by a bot. This parameter was added for compatibility with, which was merged into this template. Bots that added to stub articles included "auto=yes" by default. This parameter should be removed after an editor has checked that the tag hasn't been placed in error.

The optional fields can be used together, and placed in any order. For example, both  and   have the same effect:

General information
This template should be placed at the top of an article and should not be substituted.

Categorization
This template adds articles to Category:Articles lacking sources, a hidden category, unless "section" is specified, when it uses Category:Articles needing additional references.

Differences from related templates
The similar template Refimprove adds an article to Category:Articles needing additional references.

Short-cut

 * Unref