Template:Fact

Purpose

The name {{Fact}} may make more sense if you visualize a question-mark after it: Fact?

This template is used in articles to identify sentences or short passages which are incomplete without an inline citation. It produces the following appearance:

This sentence needs an inline citation.[citation needed]

And it produces the following appearance in a paragraph context:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris^{[citation needed]} nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident^{[citation needed]}, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

1. Editors frequently use this template to "tag" material which they see as questionable or weak, but not obviously invalid. The tag serves as a request for a specific inline citation. Addition of such a citation will help verification of the material.
   
   
2. Please add the correctly formated 'date=' parameter which is used in sorting. It allows the tag to invoke the proper chronologically organized clean-up category. If you don't specify it, a bot will have to do so.
   
      Using either of two methods (both require you to use a subst:) will format the date code for you.
   
   
   1. {{fact|{{ subst:DATE }} | Why you're hanging this tag}}
      
      
   2. {{ subst:fact-now | Why you're hanging this tag }}
          • (using the {{fact-now}} template)
   3. Both methods keep things straight and would give identical results. The 'fact-now' template just calls this one.
      
      
3. It is particularly important to place the template carefully in long sentences to clearly indicate what you are calling into question. In many complicated technical subjects with involved sentences, this is frequently not possible at all, so it is good practice to annotate your concern as well. Since extra template parameters are ignored, the technique above is the same as using an inline comment, but superior since the curly braces enclose everything.
   1. Some of us even add our user name after the last pipe as a courtesy should there be a question.
      
      
   2. The annotation can be put on a separate line, as can your user name:
      

Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident{{subst:Fact
|date=June 2008
|Are you sure cupidat is a word?
|User:dunce_in_latin, 27 June 2008
}}, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

1. Always subst: the {{DATE}} or {{Fact-now}} templates.
   
   
2. "Your reason or reasonings" is optional in either case, but is good practice. Gives a clear window into your objection or concern, and is particularly needed when (either) tag is used in a long complicated sentence. Extra template parameters are ignored, so is the same as using an inline comment to other editors. (In the future, it may be used to provide a pop-up so can be seen in a non-edit screen. See {{S5}} for an example of that technique, {{r-phrase}} for the guts/how-to.)
3. This is a good technique with many maintenance templates. Saves others time and is courteous and helpful.
4. So is adding your user name and the full date.