Hello --

There is a new Drag'n'drop gadget available in Wikidata > Preferences > Gadgets

Please note that there are issues with the gadget. 

I would like to evangelize this gadget but for my purposes it is not functioning

--->   i.e., I drag the reference and get a shadow image of text and even after waiting 5 minutes the reference does not apply; refresh clears the attempted addition

It might be a browser issue, but I have tried it on both Mac and PC, as well as on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and SeaMonkey with exactly the same unsuccessful results. I have talked with Magnus about this (he is not having the problems I have had). It might also be a Wikidata response issue, but I think that issue was resolved.

Currently if you use Wiki Markup and want to use one of the four Cite templates via the RefToolbar these templates I don't think will transfer

- Cite books: not configured. Will get error message

- I have not tested Cite web, Cite journal, Cite news, but assume none of these are configured to be captured by this tool.

Obviously to configure the tool to work with these RefToolbar citation templates would be significant amount of time & effort.

But if this tool was fully functional and robust -- and was able to transfer ALL of the piped data -- it would allow for a great interoperability of citations between Wikipedia and Wikidata.

I don't build citations without using templates, as my assumption is that templates are more machine readable and more useful -- and are more consistent -- but obviously others are using different approaches. I assume bare urls are probably the most transferrable. But those didn't work for me either, so.....

I really appreciate the fact that this gadget is available and the hard work it took to create it. Magnus has been very patient and kind offlist trying to problem-solve the issues I have had.

I just wanted to follow up and provide this information, as it seems an important tool for us citation-focused editors.

Best,

- Erika