User:Eewilson/Using Cite POWO

The template {{Cite POWO}} provides a quick and easy way to cite the Plants of the World Online database. It is easier than using {{Cite web}} because the values of the parameters language, website, and publisher are set within the Cite POWO template, and the template builds the URL for the taxon using the current string of the POWO website.

If POWO changes the format of their URLs or the web location of their database, which they have done in the past, those changes can be made to the template by a maintainer of it without the need to change each article that cites the POWO website. This allows for seemless updates and easy maintenance.

If you wish to add other parameters, Cite POWO is a wrapper of Cite web, meaning that it uses Cite web and sets some of the parameter values ahead of time. Cite web parameters such author, date, mode, etc., can be used in an article when Cite POWO is used.

The format of a basic use of Cite POWO is the following. You can see the documentation of any template by going directly to the template page: Template:Cite POWO, Template:Cite web, etc.

<ref name=powo>{{Cite POWO | id = see below | title = ''TAXON'' AUTHORS | access-date = DATEYOUACCESSEDPAGE }}</ref>

The following is an example of how to use template {{Cite POWO}}. The example I am using is for Carex rupestris All.:

A URL to a taxon page on POWO looks like the example, below. The value to use in the parameter |id= for {{Cite POWO}} is the string 302034-1 from the end of the URL.

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:302034-1

If you have followed a link that ends up looking like the following, the string for parameter |id= is still at the end of the URL after the "%3A".

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A302034-1

The citation template values if you accessed the page on POWO for this taxon would look like this. Note that the date format you use would be based on whatever is consistently used in the article.

<ref name=powo>{{Cite POWO | id = 302034-1 | title = ''Carex rupestris'' All. | access-date = 6 November 2024 }}</ref>

The citation would then look like this on the article page.

"Carex rupestris All". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 November 2024.

If you have any questions or comments, go to my main talk page and let me know.