Template:Pages needed

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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.

Shortcuts

{{pnTemplate:Pn}}
{{pages?Template:Pages?}}

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=February 2026}}
{{Page needed|date=February 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  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=February 2026}}

...

{{Reflist}}

Some text here.^[1]^{[page needed]}

...

^ Smith, Jane (2009). The Unbearable Beingness of Light. New York: Fnord Pubs.

Tracking categories

Template data

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Pages needed in articles based on its TemplateData.

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.

Template parameters[Edit template data]
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	`date`	Provides the month and year; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	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