Template:One source/sandbox
 | This article relies on a single source. |
 | This is the template sandbox page for Template:One source (diff). See also the companion subpage for test cases. |
 | This template is used on approximately 80,000 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. |
 | Any breaking changes to this template, including moving it or nominating it for deletion, must be communicated in advance to Twinkle's users and maintainers at Wikipedia talk:Twinkle. The standard installation of Twinkle relies on this template. |
Purpose
[edit]This template alerts readers to encyclopedic content that appears to rely on a single source.
A single source is usually less than ideal because it may be inaccurate or biased. Without other sources for corroboration, accuracy or neutrality may be suspect. Finding multiple independent sources improves the encyclopedia's reliability. For BLP articles that cite one source and need more, use {{BLP one source}} instead.
Citing only one source is not a policy violation. Consider not adding this tag to stubs, articles being actively expanded, or articles with no apparent verifiability or neutrality problems.
This tag is more specific than the widely used {{More citations needed}} and {{More footnotes needed}} templates. Prefer it when an article needs both additional inline citations and more than one source.
Usage
[edit]{{One source|date=September 2026}}
{{One source|section|date=September 2026}}
{{One source|text=Alternate first sentence|date=September 2026}}
{{One source|section|find=topic search keywords|date=September 2026}}
Parameters
[edit]Subject
[edit]The first unnamed parameter replaces "This article relies" with "This PARAMETER relies". For example, {{One source|section}} displays:
| This section relies on a single source. |
Text
[edit]You can replace the entire first sentence with the text= parameter when the standard wording does not apply but the general intent does.
Date
[edit]As with most cleanup templates, the |date= parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, allowing the oldest problems to be addressed first. You do not need to specify the date manually; a bot will add it automatically.
Find parameters
[edit]Two 'find' parameters control the {{find sources}} links optionally shown by the template. By default, the template displays {{find sources}} with a quoted query equal to the exact article title. For long descriptive titles or parenthetical disambiguation terms, this may not give useful results. Use:
|find=for an exact (double-quoted) search; corresponds to {{find sources}} positional param|1=.|find2=for an unquoted search; corresponds to {{find sources}} param|2=. The alias|unquoted=may be used instead.
The second param is especially useful with the 'section' version. Try |find=Article title|find2=Section title}} for improved results.
Passing |find=none suppresses the find sources links. (Specifying |find=none together with a nonempty |find2= is not valid.)
Editorial usage
[edit]Use this template only for encyclopedic content that has a verified, cited source—but only one.
A single source is not automatically a problem. Use good judgment and common sense.
Consider improving the article or attempting in good faith to find additional citations before adding this template.
It is good form to provide a rationale in your edit summary or on the article's talk page. The more specifically you describe your concerns, the less likely others are to misunderstand.
If you believe problems exist beyond the sources themselves, address them with an appropriate template (see below) rather than simply questioning the sources.
Alternatives
[edit]- Inline version
- {{Single Source-inline}} – same concept within individual sentences or phrases.
- Sources and citations
- {{Failed verification}} – Citation does not support the article's claim(s)
- Article content
- {{POV}} – Neutrality, point-of-view, bias
Administrivia
[edit]This template categorises tagged articles into Category:Articles needing additional references. If a date is supplied, a monthly category like Category:Articles needing additional references from September 2026 is used instead.
Do not subst: this template.
TemplateData
[edit]TemplateData for One source
Use this maintenance template to indicate that an article relies largely or entirely on a single source.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month and year | date | The month and year the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically.
| Line | suggested |
| Talk page section | talk | Section name on the talk page (or talk page together with section) for further discussion
| Line | optional |
| Custom first sentence | text | Text to replace the entire first sentence of the template | Line | optional |
| Affected area | 1 | Text to replace the word "article", usually "section"
| Line | optional |
| "Find sources" verbatim search term | find | Verbatim search term for the links in the template for finding sources | Line | optional |
| "Find sources" non-verbatim search term | find2 unquoted | Non-verbatim search term for the links in the template for finding sources | Line | optional |