References notes and floats/Endnotes

1. Purpose

Endnotes are notes whose entries are printed after the main text or after a major structural division rather than at the bottom of the page.

In ConTeXt, an endnote is usually not a fundamentally different kind of note. It is most often an ordinary or custom note series whose entries are:

1. created in the running text;
2. stored instead of being placed automatically;
3. printed later with an explicit placement command.

2. What counts as an endnote

The term endnote may refer to several editorial arrangements:

Type	Final location
Section endnote	At the end of each section
Chapter endnote	At the end of each chapter
Part endnote	At the end of each part
Document endnote	At the end of the complete document
Separate endnote series	In several distinct final note lists

These arrangements use the same general mechanism but differ in where the placement command is issued.

3. Footnotes and endnotes

A footnote is normally placed automatically at the bottom of the page.

An endnote is created in the running text but placed later.

Feature	Footnote	Endnote
Entry placement	Bottom of the page	End of a section, chapter, part, or document
Placement	Usually automatic	Usually explicit
Typical setup	location=page	location=text
Placement command	Usually unnecessary	\placefootnotes or \placenotes[series]

4. Basic document endnotes

The simplest method is to postpone ordinary footnotes:

\setupnote
  [footnote]
  [location=text]

Then place them at the end of the document:

\subject{Notes}
\placefootnotes

4.1. Minimal working example

• \setuppapersize[A6]
  
  \setupnote
    [footnote]
    [location=text]
  
  \starttext
  
  This sentence contains the first endnote.%
  \footnote{This note is stored until the final placement command.}
  
  This sentence contains another endnote.%
  \footnote{This is the second note entry.}
  
  \subject{Notes}
  
  \placefootnotes
  
  \stoptext
  

• 

5. Place endnotes after a chapter

The same postponed-note mechanism can be used after each chapter.

\setupnote
  [footnote]
  [location=text]

Then place the notes at the chosen point:

\chapter{First chapter}

Text with notes.

\subject{Notes to this chapter}

\placefootnotes

For automatic placement after each structural unit, use a setup attached to the relevant heading.

See:

Place footnotes at the end of a section or chapter.

6. Place endnotes after a section

Section endnotes use the same principle:

\section{A section}

Text with notes.

\subject{Notes to this section}

\placefootnotes

7. Create a dedicated endnote series

A separate note series is useful when ordinary footnotes must remain at the bottom of the page while another category of notes is collected at the end.

7.1. Define the series

\definenote
  [Endnote]
  [footnote]

7.2. Postpone its entries

\setupnote
  [Endnote]
  [location=text]

7.3. Place the series

\placenotes[Endnote]

7.4. Example

• \setuppapersize[A6]
  
  \definenote
    [Endnote]
    [footnote]
  
  \setupnote
    [Endnote]
    [location=text]
  
  \starttext
  
  This sentence contains an ordinary footnote.%
  \footnote{This note appears at the bottom of the page.}
  
  This sentence contains a document endnote.%
  \Endnote{This note appears in the final note list.}
  
  \subject{Endnotes}
  
  \placenotes[Endnote]
  
  \stoptext
  

• 

8. Use several endnote series

A scholarly document may require several final note lists.

For example:

\definenote
  [EdNote]
  [footnote]

\definenote
  [SourceNote]
  [footnote]

Postpone both:

\setupnote
  [EdNote]
  [location=text]

\setupnote
  [SourceNote]
  [location=text]

Place them separately:

\subject{Editorial notes}
\placenotes[EdNote]

\subject{Source notes}
\placenotes[SourceNote]

8.1. Example

• \setuppapersize[A6]
  
  \definenote
    [EdNote]
    [footnote]
  
  \definenote
    [SourceNote]
    [footnote]
  
  \setupnote
    [EdNote]
    [location=text]
  
  \setupnote
    [SourceNote]
    [location=text]
  
  \setupnotation
    [EdNote]
    [numberconversion=characters]
  
  \setupnotation
    [SourceNote]
    [numberconversion=romannumerals]
  
  \starttext
  
  The wording follows the first edition.%
  \EdNote{The punctuation has been modernized.}
  
  The passage is discussed elsewhere.%
  \SourceNote{See the source listed in the bibliography.}
  
  \subject{Editorial notes}
  \placenotes[EdNote]
  
  \subject{Source notes}
  \placenotes[SourceNote]
  
  \stoptext
  

• 

9. Numbering endnotes

Numbering is configured with \setupnotation.

For Arabic numerals:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [numberconversion=numbers]

For lowercase letters:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [numberconversion=characters]

For Roman numerals:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [numberconversion=romannumerals]

See also:

Footnote reference: number conversions.

10. Restart numbering by chapter or section

A note counter may restart at a structural level.

For example:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [way=bychapter]

or:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [way=bysection]

11. Give the endnote section a heading

The placement command does not necessarily create a heading.

Add one explicitly:

\subject{Notes}
\placefootnotes

or:

\chapter{Endnotes}
\placenotes[Endnote]

The appropriate heading level depends on the document structure.

Typical choices include:

• \subject for an unnumbered local heading;
• \section for a numbered section;
• \chapter for a major final division;
• \title for a top-level unnumbered heading.

12. Avoid empty endnote headings

If a chapter or section contains no notes, an automatically generated heading may remain empty.

When automatic placement is used, test the series before printing its heading.

For a complete pattern, see:

Place footnotes at the end of a section or chapter.

13. Reuse an endnote mark

Assign a stable reference when the same note must be called more than once:

\Endnote[end:shared]
  {This note applies to both passages.}

Then repeat its mark:

\note[Endnote][end:shared]

See:

Refer to a footnote more than once.

14. Separate an endnote mark from its text

For a custom endnote series:

\note[Endnote][end:manual]

\setnotetext
  [Endnote]
  [end:manual]
  {The endnote entry is registered separately.}

See:

Separate a note mark from its text.

15. Format endnotes

Use \setupnote for series behaviour:

\setupnote
  [Endnote]
  [location=text,
   bodyfont=small,
   paragraph=no]

Use \setupnotation for numbering and entry layout:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [numberconversion=numbers,
   alternative=serried,
   width=broad,
   distance=.5em]

See:

Format footnotes.

16. Endnotes in paragraph form

Short endnotes may be composed as a running paragraph:

\setupnote
  [Endnote]
  [location=text,
   paragraph=yes]

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [alternative=serried,
   width=broad,
   distance=.5em,
   display=no]

17. Interactive endnotes

Interactive links are useful when marks and entries are far apart.

Enable interaction globally:

\setupinteraction
  [state=start]

Then enable it for the series:

\setupnotation
  [Endnote]
  [interaction=yes]

See:

Create interactive footnotes.

18. Endnotes in selective editions

A document may include endnotes in one edition and suppress them in another.

The most reliable method is to define semantic note commands and control them with conditionals.

See:

Produce annotated and unannotated versions.

19. Endnotes and local notes

Endnotes belong to a document-level or structural note stream.

Local notes belong to a temporary scope such as a table, figure, or box.

They should not be confused.

Feature	Endnote	Local note
Scope	Document, part, chapter, or section	Table, float, box, or local structure
Placement	At a later structural endpoint	Inside the local scope
Typical command	\placefootnotes or \placenotes	\placelocalfootnotes or \placelocalnotes

See:

Use local notes in tables, floats, and boxes.

20. Endnotes and critical apparatuses

Endnotes are suitable for explanatory, bibliographical, editorial, or source notes collected at the end of a structural unit.

A critical apparatus usually requires a closer relationship between:

• the lemma;
• variant readings;
• witnesses;
• textual operations;
• multiple apparatus layers.

See:

• Building a critical apparatus with ConTeXt
• Glossary of critical edition terms

21. Common mistakes

21.1. Forgetting the placement command

With:

location=text

the entries are stored but not printed automatically.

You must use:

\placefootnotes

or:

\placenotes[series]

21.2. Using the wrong placement command

For the predefined footnote series:

\placefootnotes

For a custom series:

\placenotes[Endnote]

21.3. Mixing series names

These do not refer to the same series:

Endnote
endnote
EndNote

Series names are case-sensitive.

21.4. Printing the same stored notes twice

Repeated placement commands may duplicate or otherwise disturb the intended output, depending on the note configuration.

Place each collected note block only where it is required.

21.5. Using a heading that is too high or too low

The note heading should match the structural level of the final placement.

21.6. Confusing postponed notes with suppressed notes

A postponed note exists and awaits placement.

A suppressed note is not created.

22. Diagnostic checklist

When endnotes do not appear as expected, check:

1. whether the series uses location=text ;
2. whether the correct series is being called;
3. whether the placement command matches the series;
4. whether the placement command occurs after the notes have been created;
5. whether the heading is being printed even when the series is empty;
6. whether numbering should be continuous or reset;
7. whether the same note list is being placed more than once;
8. whether interaction is enabled when navigation is required;
9. whether local notes have accidentally been used instead of document-level notes.

23. Complete example

• \setuppapersize[A5]
  
  \setupbodyfont
    [libertinus,10pt]
  
  \definenote
    [Endnote]
    [footnote]
  
  \setupnote
    [Endnote]
    [location=text,
     bodyfont=small,
     paragraph=no]
  
  \setupnotation
    [Endnote]
    [numberconversion=numbers,
     alternative=serried,
     width=broad,
     distance=.5em,
     interaction=yes]
  
  \setupinteraction
    [state=start]
  
  \starttext
  
  \section{A short example}
  
  This sentence contains the first endnote.%
  \Endnote[end:first]
    {The first note is stored for final placement.}
  
  This sentence contains the second endnote.%
  \Endnote
    {The second note belongs to the same series.}
  
  The first endnote is referred to again
  \note[Endnote][end:first].
  
  \subject{Endnotes}
  
  \placenotes[Endnote]
  
  \stoptext
  

• 

24. What this page has established

Endnotes in ConTeXt are normally created by separating note creation from note placement.

The essential workflow is:

define or select a note series
        |
        v
set location=text
        |
        v
create notes in the running text
        |
        v
place the stored entries later

The placement point determines whether the result is:

• a section-end note list;
• a chapter-end note list;
• a part-end note list;
• a document-end note list.

25. Related pages

• Footnotes
• Footnote tutorial
• Footnote how-to guides
• Place footnotes at the end of a section or chapter
• Define and manage multiple note series
• Create interactive footnotes
• Footnote reference
• Explanation of the note mechanism
• Glossary of note terminology
• Margin notes
• Building a critical apparatus with ConTeXt