# Difference between revisions of "Footnotes"

## Basic Footnotes

For basic footnotes, simply use \footnote[reference]{footnote text}. The reference is optional, and can be used to refer to the same footnote again. Footnotes can be referenced with the usual \in and \at macros (see References), or the note itself can be reproduced with \note[reference]. For example:

This\footnote[footA](Or that, if you prefer.} is a sentence with a footnote\footnote{Actually,
two footnotes; this one and \in{footnote}[footA] on \at{page}[footA], denoted by \note[footA].}.


Thanks to Oblomov, it's also possible to use footnotes in footnotes, as in this example.

This\footnote(Or that\footnote{Or possibly even the other.}, if you prefer.} is a sentence
with a footnote.


## Footnote Numbering

You can setup the exact behaviour of footnotes as usual with \setupfootnotes. For example, to use footnotes with standard footnote symbols (which ConTeXt has defined as the conversion "set 2"), with the footnote counter resetting on each page, one would use the following:

\setupfootnotes[way=bypage, conversion=set 2]


This produces the the following footnotes, using the text of the previous example.

## Alternate Footnote Locations

The \setupfootnotes command offers some options for the placement of footnotes; for instance, the location=columns option places the footnotes in a single column (of a multicolumn page) rather than across the whole page. The location=text option places the footnotes in text at a location specified by \placefootnotes; this can be easily used to create endnotes, or even to place footnotes after each paragraph or subsection.

\setupfootnotes[location=text]
This\footnote[footA](Or that, if you prefer.} is a sentence with a footnote\footnote{Actually,
two footnotes; this one and footnote \note[footA].}.
\placefootnotes
This is some more text, with more footnotes\footnote{Specifically, this one.}.
\placefootnotes


## Footnote Formatting

Footnotes can be placed in multiple columns, using the n=number option in \setupfootnotes.

\setupfootnotes[n=3]
This\footnote[footA](Or that\footnote{Or the other.}, if you prefer.} is a sentence
with a footnote\footnote{Actually, two footnotes; this one and \in{footnote}[footA]
on \at{page}[footA], denoted by \note[footA].}.


 TODO: This is ugly, and points up some ConTeXt bugs that need to be fixed. (See: To-Do List)

## Footnotes in Floats

Floats cannot include normal footnotes, because they are likely to float to another page from the page on which they were defined, thus getting the footnotes out of order. Thus, to include footnotes in a float, one must use local footnotes. This table, which uses the \placelegend command to create a place for the footnotes, illustrates the process:

\startlocalfootnotes[n=2]
\placetable{A table with footnotes.}
\placelegend
{\starttable[|l|r|]
\HL
\VL One\footnote{First} \VL Two\footnote{Second} \VL\FR
\VL Three\footnote{Third} \VL Four\footnote{Fourth} \VL\LR
\HL
\stoptable}
{\placelocalfootnotes}
\stoplocalfootnotes


## Placing Footnotes Manually

 TODO: This doesn't seem to be working quite right yet. A ConTeXt bug, or a wrong answer? (See: To-Do List)

In some cases, ConTeXt's footnoting system may not be able to do exactly what you want. For instance, you may want to place a footnote in a table so that the footnote appears with the rest of the footnotes on the page, or you may want to create a footnote to a footnote to a footnote. Many of these cases can be handled by using the \footnotetext command (which creates a footnote without placing the corresponding symbol in the text) and the \note command (which places the footnote symbol in the text, but does not create a footnote).

For example, to create a footnote to a footnote to a footnote, all but the first footnotes are created with \footnotetext commands, which are placed in the main text -- thereby ensuring that the footnotes are numbered and appear in the correct order. Then, these footnotes are referenced by \note commands within the relevant footnotes. In this example, the lines are broken for clarity; note the % at the end of each line to prevent spurious spaces in the text.

This%
\footnote(Or that\note[footB], if you prefer.}%
\footnotetext[footB]{Or possibly even the other\note[footC].}%
\footnotetext[footC]{It could be something entirely different.}
is a sentence with nested footnotes\note[footB]\note[footC].