Aevar noted on the meta help for references that it might be possible
to use only the <ref name> tags in the body, and keep all the actual
reference text in a separate section at the bottom. The ref script
would of course handle everything else.
But until then I think we should adopt some simple and minor use
conventions for ref tags, the first of which being to begin ref tags
on a new line in the code, and likewise end the ref tag on its own
line. This makes it much easier to distinguish text from ref:
Text text text.
<ref> {{cite|stuff}}</ref>
Continued text.
Of course these will still show up normally when displayed:
Text text text[1] continued text.
The second suggested convention is to avoid putting refs in mid
sentence, placing them instead at the end of complete sentences. This
might not resonate well, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
-Stevertigo