Help:Citing sources

You really think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?!

About to add a cool new piece of info to TFWiki.net? Whoa, slow down there! Is it goated with the source?

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Why cite?

TFWiki.net does not hold itself to the same [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Wikipedia:Citing sources|{{#if:strict notability standards|strict notability standards|Wikipedia:Citing sources}}]] as [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}|{{#if:Wikipedia|Wikipedia|}}]]. This is because we are a wiki for toy robots, consulted mostly by toy robot nerds, and not a de-facto reference text for the whole world to consult on important topics.

Nonetheless, it's inherently useful to keep sources around.

• It lends credibility to the article, by letting readers fact-check surprising or unlikely-sounding statements.
• When we add information to the wiki, we should be paraphrasing the material for clarity and relevance—but it's good to also be able to refer to the original full source to be certain of its exact nuances.
• It's useful to know where a piece of information was given, so we can better understand its context and how widely it applies.
• When two sources conflict, it's helpful to be able to compare them directly.

And perhaps most importantly, TFWiki.net is often used as a reference by official creators working on the Transformers brand... which, in cases where our information turned out to be inaccurate or unclear, has resulted in the dreaded citogenesis.

How cite?

"THIS IS WHAT THE REFRANCE"

Citing fiction

It is absolutely critical that you refer to primary sources when writing about Transformers fiction. For many sources which are long out of circulation, our community blog maintains archives, while backups of text sources are kept in Category:Source material.

Unlike many fan wikis, which use footnotes to indicate which sections of a summary or biography are based on which sources, we have a {{storylink}} template which provides the title of the source—linking to the relevant article—inline with the text, so as not to break the flow of the story. We even have special storylinks for our sister wikis: {{#if:GoBots Wiki|GoBots Wiki|Main Page}} has {{gbstorylink}}, and the {{#if:IDW Hasbro Wiki|IDW Hasbro Wiki|Main Page}} has {{istorylink}}. Note that storylinks should only be used in fiction sections; otherwise, just use footnotes (see below).

Here are some examples!

Generations Selects Special Comic

[[Spike Witwicky (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Neo Autobot X]] used [[Rung (G1)|]]'s [[alternate mode]] to administer an Energon enema to a  [[Quintesson Judge (G1)|]]. {{storylink|Abominus comic 2}}

Neo Autobot X used Rung's alternate mode to administer an Energon enema to a Quintesson Judge. Abominus comic 2

Go-Bots comic

In the cafeteria, [[Turbo (GoBots)|]] took out [[Tank (GoBots)|]] using the hot fry oil. {{gbstorylink|Go-Bots issue 5|Issue 5}}

In the cafeteria, Turbo took out Tank using the hot fry oil. Issue 5

M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand

[[Vanessa Warfield]] demonstrated her expertise in the field of quantum mechanics to [[Miles Mayhem]]. {{istorylink|M.A.S.K.: Revolution}}

Vanessa Warfield demonstrated her expertise in the field of quantum mechanics to Miles Mayhem. M.A.S.K.: Revolution

Citing online sources

¹This was once revealed to me in a dream.

For sections concerning Transformers from an "out of universe" perspective—i.e.in the real world—you can provide a footnote by surrounding some text with <ref></ref> tags. Make sure that at the bottom of the page (above the "External links"/"See also" sections if present) a References section has been added to display these footnotes, using the following:

==References==
{{reflist}}

Sometimes, you will want to link to the same reference in multiple places; if so, you can give the reference a name:

<ref name=usedtwice>This source supports two different statements in the article!</ref>

And then refer to it again later on:

<ref name=usedtwice />

For most online sources, we have a one-size-fits-all {{citesocial}} template to put inside the reference tags, which takes the information about the source and displays it in a standardised format, ideally linking directly to it. Crucially, the "quote" field allows you to transcribe the exact relevant quote to back up your statement—this is important because online sources have a tendency to disappear, as people stop paying web-hosting costs or purposefully delete their own social media posts.

Here is an example of the template in action:

{{citesocial|quote=Hey, look at me!  I'm waving!  No, I don't transform into a USB drive.  Why do peeps keep asking, lol?|link=https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650|name=Ravage|site=Yatter|year=2009|month=11|day=15}}

{{#if: Hey, look at me! I'm waving! No, I don't transform into a USB drive. Why do peeps keep asking, lol? |"Hey, look at me! I'm waving! No, I don't transform into a USB drive. Why do peeps keep asking, lol?"—|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650 |Ravage|Ravage}}{{#if: Yatter |, Yatter|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2009 |, 2009{{#if: 11 |/{{#switch:{{#len:11}}|1=011|11}}{{#if: 15|/{{#switch:{{#len:15}}|1=015|15}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650 ||}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650%7C7%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650%7C8%7C11}}%7Cweb.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650%7C7%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:https://twitter.com/ravagekitteh/status/5723818650%7C8%7C10}}%7Carchive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}

Check the template's full documentation for more examples; it also has a "title" field, if you want to quote the name of an article or similar, and a "defunct" field for if the source's link is dead. You should always check the Wayback Machine first, though, to see if a copy of the website was saved. Failing that, you might want to use your search engine to dig up a mirrored copy of the source—for example, a fansite reporting on it. Sometimes, a broken link might just be due to a change in domain name! When adding a link to an article, we strongly recommend saving it on the Wayback Machine to ensure a copy is preserved for posterity.

If quoting an audiovisual source, such as a podcast or panel recording, please provide the timestamp of the relevant part! It's especially useful in these cases to correctly transcribe the quote in full.

At times, you may want to personally reach out to an official Transformers creator for confirmation or elaboration on a point regarding something they worked on. We'd like to stress, for the love of god, if you do this—please be very polite, and have respect for their time and the fact that they might not have the answer you're looking for.

Citing images

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When uploading an image (art, photo, screencap, whatever), please state where the image comes from (issue number, episode title, book name, etc.) and the names of everyone known to have contributed to the image. It is important that artists and photographers be credited for their work!

The wiki has Category:Image templates, a monstrously huge suite of templates which basically provide forms you can fill out with all of this metadata. The easiest way to find an appropriate one is to click on an existing image on the wiki, click "edit" at the top, and copy the existing code, swapping out the specific information. Make sure a copyright template has been applied, so we can declare that our usage of the image (assuming we do not own it) falls under [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}fair use|{{#if:||fair use}}]].

In cases where you have modified the image in some way by comparison to the original source—for instance, translated or removed text, colour-correction, background removal—then please make a note of how exactly the image has been changed in its description. Please note that the wiki prohibits the use of any kind of AI upscaling or extension, as it cannot be guaranteed that AI-modified images are an accurate reflection of the content. Images should be posted at their original resolution, and if that makes an image too small, well, deal with it!

Citing correspondence

There are plenty of cases where the only reason we know about something is because a source happened to chat with a fan about it! Again, if this was Wikipedia, information obtained in such a way would not be admissible evidence in Wikipedia court. But the Transformers community relies on word-of-mouth from the creators working on the franchise to understand its inner workings, and the lack of a published or textual source doesn't necessarily make the information unreliable.

You could cite an in-person conversation without a direct quote like this:

{{citesocial|name=Wendy Fairchild|site=speaking at her table at TFNation 2025|year=2025|month=08|day=08}}

{{#if: |""—|}}{{#if: |[ Wendy Fairchild|Wendy Fairchild}}{{#if: speaking at her table at TFNation 2025 |, speaking at her table at TFNation 2025|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2025 |, 2025{{#if: 08 |/{{#switch:{{#len:08}}|1=008|08}}{{#if: 08|/{{#switch:{{#len:08}}|1=008|08}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: |]|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|7|11}}|web.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|8|11}}|web.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|7|10}}|archive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|8|10}}|archive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}

However, keep in mind that if no-one else is able to corroborate your information, it may just get removed.

Or you could cite personal correspondence with a direct quote like this:

{{citesocial|quote=Oh yeah I designed that toy!|name=John Hasbro|site=Instagram DMs|year=2025|month=06|day=09}}

{{#if: Oh yeah I designed that toy! |"Oh yeah I designed that toy!"—|}}{{#if: |[ John Hasbro|John Hasbro}}{{#if: Instagram DMs |, Instagram DMs|}}{{#if: |, ""|}}{{#if: 2025 |, 2025{{#if: 06 |/{{#switch:{{#len:06}}|1=006|06}}{{#if: 09|/{{#switch:{{#len:09}}|1=009|09}}|}}}}|}}{{#if: |]|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|7|11}}|web.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|8|11}}|web.archive= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|7|10}}|archive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#switch:{{#sub:|8|10}}|archive.is= (archive link)|}}{{#if: | (dead link)}}

Again, it's best if you can provide supporting evidence for this information—sharing a screenshot on our Discord server will usually be enough to convince other editors it's legit.

But in either case, before making edits based on conversations like this, seriously ask yourself—do you have permission to publicise this information?

How not to cite

If you're in a rush, you might be tempted to just leave the link to whatever source supports your edit in the edit summary field, or trust that a source linked on a talk page is enough, or simply that other editors will take your word for it. Please don't do this! It's trivial even to just leave a link with a brief remark as a hidden comment (see below) in the page's source code, right next to the information in question, which someone else can format into a proper citation—so there's no excuse to make things more difficult for your fellow editors.

<!--This text only shows up if you view the page's source code.-->

Who not to cite

Out on the wild world wide web are all sorts of people who act in bad faith, either intentionally posting misinformation, falsifying sources with AI, or spreading rumors without a verifiable source—or unintentionally, such as by machine translating a source from a foreign language without consulting a fluent speaker, or parroting rumors without critically examining where they originated from. With the prevalence of such bad info, it remains crucial to check sources to be sure that they're verifiable and their claims are accurate. Usually this means looking for other sources that corroborate the claims; remember, one random guy's social media post about a busted toy does not a "widespread production defect" make. Obviously, any sources that violate our policy on leaks are right out as well.

While creatives who have directly contributed to Transformers are largely considered credible when it comes to their work, there have been exceptions. For example, in 2006, Matt Moylan claimed, among other things, that Sunstreaker was written as gay in the Dreamwave Generation One continuity, a claim disputed by writers James McDonough and Adam Patyk as "an especially juvenile way [...] to try to rile up the fandom". While Moylan could have proven a valuable source about the day-to-day operation at Dreamwave Productions, since this incident all of his anecdotes have been approached with a healthy dose of skepticism. This sort of thing is the exception and not the rule, but it serves as a reminder that even official sources are not infallible, and it is wise to not take their claims at face value if their track record does not warrant it.

In short, please exercise caution with the types of sources you report, and make sure any additions are verifiable. Any unsourced or poorly-sourced claims editors come across are likely to be reverted.

If all else fails

As a last resort, if you can't find a source to back up a certain statement, you can mark it with the {{fact}} template,{{#ifeq: Help||}} which provides a link to this very help page. Note that you shouldn't use this to mark information you think is spurious; if something doesn't look right and there's absolutely nothing to back it up, you should just remove it from the article entirely! Or, if you're on the fence, check the article history to see when the information was added, ask around on the relevant talk page, or bring it up in our Discord server to see if anyone has any more information.