how to source a wikipedia article

Question

there is information about an event in the life of a person i am creating a new profile for that is in a wikipedia article not specifically about that person.  what would be the proper way to cite that article here on wikitree?  would i need to include how to find the text of interest within that article?

this event is more a talking point about the person and not essential to creating the profile.

i am not identifying the person or wikipedia article in the hope of a general answer.  but if it is essential to know this to properly answer, i can give that information.

Answer 1

On the left hand side of the wikipedia page look under the heading 'Tools'. The next to the last thing listed there says 'Cite'. If you click that it will change to the page that has the citations ready to be copy and pasted.

Comments

The sourcing style guide states:

On WikiTree the preferred style is the Evidence Explained format^[1], based on the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS).

This is one of the choices from the Wikipedia page.

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Thank you clarifying my comment. 

That one also includes a link in the citations which, is nice.

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thanks Laura!  i'm hoping to get these contributions out tomorrow.

Answer 2

Linking to a Wikipedia page is easy.  Use this:

[[Wikipedia:the name of their page]]

examples: [[Wikipedia:John_Smith]] or [[Wikipedia:Battle_of_Naseby]]

Comments

is a link enough to be a source citation?

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I wouldn't really use Wikipedia as a source at all - more of a "See Also".

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Adding_Links#Links_to_Wikipedia

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Wikipedia itself says: IMPORTANT NOTE: Most educators and professionals do not consider it appropriate to use tertiary sources such as encyclopedias as a sole source for any information—citing an encyclopedia as an important reference in footnotes or bibliographies may result in censure or a failing grade. Wikipedia articles should be used for background information, as a reference for correct terminology and search terms, and as a starting point for further research.

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I agree Ros - usually I like to go to the Wikipedia article for clues, then scroll to the bottom to see what sources they cite. Then, I go into those sources and attempt to pull up as much primary source information as I can from those sources, and cite those.

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i reference a wikipedia article as additional reading or to explain something i wrote that doesn't need support.