VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog

This document describes the proposed design for a reference and citation insertion dialog for use within VisualEditor.

Goals
Improve the experience of adding references to an article using Visual Editor.


 * Decrease the amount of time spent navigating the reference wizard
 * Surface the common types of reference templates for easy selection
 * Use data such as ISBN or links to autofill parameters if capable

Existing user flow
Here is a guide on how to insert a reference. The existing flow involves at least 10 steps.

Problems
The initial steps are a barrier to new editors, especially finding a template to use. “There is no obvious way of inserting a reference from the list.” Arson McFire (talk) More feedback here.

Questions
How often do users add templates within templates in a reference? How often are references categorized into groups? (Use this Group feature). Do we want to encourage this? Is there a way to provide in-context help for new users?

'''Step 1: Click reference icon under “more” toolbar. Enter Reference wizard.'''

'''Step 2: Choose from a list of common templates. '''In this example a user selects the Book template.

The list of templates will show a few commonly used templates, or the user may search for more. The user may also enter a reference manually here.

'''Step 3: Enter reference information into the form. '''

The parameters will appear in the form in the same order they appear in the reference result, except in the case there is a parameter that can autofill the rest of the parameters. In this case, ISBN field appears first. The user enters the ISBN and clicks the search button.

Step 3 b:The ISBN is searched and