Template talk:Circular reference

Needed?

Why do we have this tag? If it's a circular reference, it should be deleted. If an editor is knowledgeable enough to tag it, wouldn't they also be knowledgeable enough to delete it? It takes as much, if not more effort to tag it than delete it. Jason Quinn (talk) 03:34, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

It makes sense if the editor thinks that the tagged fact might be verifiable through other means, and is requesting for someone to find additional references. If that is possible, the fact should not be deleted. Diego (talk) 09:37, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Own tracking category

Currently this template categorizes pages in the generic "Articles lacking reliable references" categories. Any objection to giving it its own subcategory? It seems like this particular type of ref problem could easily be triaged, such as by verifying and importing a ref from the cited WP article, converting to a {{cn}} if the cited WP article does not support it, or converting to a bluelink of the text itself depending on the context. DMacks (talk) 03:46, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

Template-protected edit request on 7 September 2025

−

{{ {{{|safesubst:}}}#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= <!--{{Circular reference}} begin-->{{Fix | subst = <includeonly>{{subst:substcheck}}</includeonly> | link = Wikipedia:Verifiability#Wikipedia and sources that mirror or use it | text = circular reference | class = noprint Template-Fact | title = This claim cites another Wikipedia article. Articles need references to reliable third-party sources. | date = {{{date|}}} | cat = [[Category:All articles lacking reliable references]] | cat-date = Category:Articles lacking reliable references }}<!--{{Circular reference}} end--> }}

+

{{ {{{|safesubst:}}}#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= <!--{{Circular reference}} begin-->{{Fix | subst = <includeonly>{{subst:substcheck}}</includeonly> | link = Wikipedia:Verifiability#Wikipedia and sources that mirror or use it | text = circular reference | class = noprint Template-Fact | title = This claim cites another Wikipedia article. Articles need references to reliable third-party sources. | date = {{{date|}}} | cat = [[Category:All articles lacking reliable references]] | cat2 = [[Category:All articles containing circular references]]| cat-date = Category:Articles lacking reliable references }}<!--{{Circular reference}} end--> }}

See also above #Own tracking category, it would be helpful to assign this its own tracking category to more effectively remove/replace them (or if a bot or semi-automated tool in the future would do so), the most effective way to do this is to just add the undocumented parameter to this template. The category Category:All articles containing circular references should be created before this is added, and if it is desired then cat-date2 can be added as well. Sophisticatedevening^(talk) 23:22, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

 Done and courtesy ping to @DMacks. Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 00:14, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

Thanks! I updated the /doc page. DMacks (talk) 02:10, 19 October 2025 (UTC)