Possible to reuse footnotes?

@skeeterz71,

Thanks for the topic. In this use case, the same footnote is used (at least) once on multiple pages. To avoid recreating the note, you may wish to store it on a line in an auxiliary text file, and copy the line (may be done without selecting it, just while the cursor is on the line) when using the footnote.

Another use case is the same footnote multiple times in the same page. In publishing web pages I see an issue here.

Whatever the use case is, a recommended solution is adding value by citing the exact page number in each instance. After a full citation the first time, next instances will shorten to authors names and year, plus page number or figure reference.

In Footnotes, when footnotes are combined, footnote numbers keep incrementing. This avoids suboptimal referrer and backlink disambiguation using a secondary numbering system. The Ibid. notation followed by the current page number avoids repeating the footnote content. For changing sources, shortened citations may be used. Repeating full citations is also an opportunity to add details.

When footnotes are combined in a single number, e.g. using names as suggested by another user and seen in Wikipedia and elsewhere, the reader is left without many clues about what tiny letter they need to click to get back. (In the example of MediaWiki, the referrers are not disambiguated like the backlinks are.)

As of usability on mobiles: Since each footnote has its individual backlink, these are close to each other when footnotes are combined, so tapping a backlink in a cluster may require special attention. By contrast, when footnotes are unique in footnotes, the back-button extends over the whole table-cell the number sits in.

That’s the best we can advise right now, and we strive to provide the optimal experience for your visitors and to our users.

Please take it as no more than a suggestion.

But please keep feeling free to disagree.

How would you like to re-use footnotes?

Best regards.

@skeeterz71,

I see two ways the Footnotes plugin could help you reuse quotations and citations across multiple posts:

1. Insert footnotes in the editor;
2. Display named footnotes in the post.

Both would require Footnotes to come with a citation manager. Best is to use Zotero or another bibliography software instead.

If the plugin is deactivated, option?2 would hide these footnotes in the posts, unlike when Elementor is deactivated, as then the full content will still display (in fallback mode).

When a citation is updated in the would-be list in Footnotes’ dashboard, all posts where it is used would be modified. If the last-modified-date is not updated alongside, visitors noticing the change might lose confidence in the posts’ metadata. If it is, updating a footnote that might be reused in many posts would sync last-modified-dates across part of the website, which also might cause a loss of confidence.

Therefore we recommend to use Zotero, a free citation manager, with one of the numerous citation styles it comes with, or one tailored to the needs of your website and to the use of the Footnotes plugin. You would right-click an item, open the “Create Bibliography from Item” dialog, make sure the desired citation style (e.g. APA or CMoS or custom) and language are enabled, choose Output?Mode: Notes, and Output?Method: Copy to Clipboard.

Please feel free to report any issues and let us know if this would meet your expectations. We’d be happy to assist you further in the use of the Footnotes plugin.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by pewgeuges.
• This reply was modified 4 years ago by pewgeuges.

@skeeterz71 thanks for reaching out,

“footnotes” is currently designed to parse footnotes on a per-page/post basis and doesn’t keep a database of footnotes to reuse across multiple pages/posts.

Is the functionality you’re asking for your major use case for installing “footnotes”?

best wishes
Mark