Template:Pages needed
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| icon | This template should not be used in citation templates such as Citation Style 1 and Citation Style 2, because it includes markup that will pollute the COinS metadata they produce; see Wikipedia:COinS. |
| Warning | This template is used on approximately 9,300 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them. |
This template may be added after an in-line citation that is not precise enough to easily verify the article content associated with it; for example, where a book is cited without a page number.
Usage
{{Page needed|date=April 2026}}{{Page needed|date=April 2026|time=yes}}
Use of this template categorises articles into Category:Wikipedia articles needing page number citations or a dated subcategory thereof (see below).
This template is a self-reference and therefore part of the Wikipedia project rather than the encyclopædic content.
Placement
Put the template directly after the associated </ref> tag.
When to use
The {{Page needed}} template, and its plural version {{Pages needed}}, function as in-line requests for the specific citation of a page number, or numbers, in a cited work such as a book or journal.
In the case of audiovisual media, you may use this template with parameter |time=yes to generate the appropriate text; see § Parameters. The use of template {{Cite AV media}} without a timestamp (i.e., missing the |time= parameter) is an indication that use of this template may be appropriate.
When not to use
Do not use these tags to label citations to named entries in dictionaries or other alphabetically-arranged works with multiple entries per page, as the entry specified is already more specific than a page number. Do not use these tags to label statements which you suspect to be false; in this case, use a dispute template instead, such as {{Dubious}}, or move those statements to the talk page and ask for evidence.
Parameters
There are three named parameters, all optional:
|date=– date of placement; a bot will add this later if omitted|reason=– to override the default value shown in the tooltip|time=yes– this changes the superscript note to 'timestamp needed' instead of 'page needed' (and also changes the default tooltip reason similarly)
Details
reason : Although usually the template is self-explanatory, there are times when it is helpful to provide an extra reason or note to explain the request:
{{Page needed|reason=What the problem is}}
This is preferable to using an HTML <!-- comment --> after the tag, as it is tidier to keep all of the {{page needed}}-related code inside the template. If the explanation would be lengthy, use the article's talk page.
As well as being visible in the source code for editors' benefit, the reason parameter is, if provided, displayed in many browsers as a tooltip when the mouse is hovered over the "page needed" link in the article. Long-press to view the tooltip on some mobile devices.
time : Use only for audiovisual media that lacks a timestamp. Audio files, video or clips, podcasts, films, and so on may benefit from use of |time=yes following a citation like {{Cite AV media}}.
Example
| Markup | Renders as |
|---|---|
Some text here.<ref name=Smith2009>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Jane |date=2009 |title=The Unbearable Beingness of Light |publisher=Fnord Pubs |location=New York}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2026}}
...
{{Reflist}} |
Some text here.[1][page needed] ...
|
Tracking categories
- Category:Pages using page needed template with unknown parameters (4)
- Category:Wikipedia articles needing page number citations (200)
Template data
TemplateData for Pages needed
The template functions as in-line request for the page number, or numbers, in a cited work such as a book or journal.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month and year | date | Provides the month and year; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13'
| String | suggested |
| Reason | reason | Additional reason(s) for placing the template | String | optional |
| Time | time | Set to 'yes' to emit 'timestamp needed' instead of 'page needed' for AV media | String | optional |
See also
- {{Page numbers needed}} – Non-inline version for when the problem is article- or section-wide
- {{Rp}} – To supply a referenced page number, for a source cited many times, at different pages numbers, in the same article
- {{R}} – To define and invoke references with referenced page number, for a source cited many times, at different pages numbers, in the same article
- {{Volume needed}} – Similar to {{Page needed}}, for missing journal, newspaper, comic, etc., volume and issue numbers
- {{Page range too broad}} – For use when page numbers cited span too many pages to be useful for verifiability
- {{Incomplete citation}} – For when a reference is missing multiple important pieces of information
