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### 2.1 Citation Elements

Citation strings are composed of one or more elements. Non-nested citations are composed of four elements, three of which are directly user definable. The elements are concatenated together, in this order:

1. The citation leader. The citation leader is contained in the variable `sc-citation-leader`, and has the default value of a string containing four spaces.
2. The attribution string. This element is supplied automatically by Supercite, based on your preferences and the original message’s mail headers, though you may be asked to confirm Supercite’s choice. See Selecting an Attribution, for more details.
3. The citation delimiter. This string, contained in the variable `sc-citation-delimiter` visually separates the citation from the text of the line. This variable has a default value of `">"` and for best results, the string should consist of only a single character.
4. The citation separator. The citation separator is contained in the variable `sc-citation-separator`, and has the default value of a string containing a single space.

For example, suppose you were using the default values for the above variables, and Supercite provided the attribution string ‘`Jane`’. In this case, the composed, non-nested citation string used might be something like `" Jane> "`. This citation string will be inserted in front of every line in the original message that is not already cited.

Nested citations, being simpler than non-nested citations, are composed of the same elements, sans the attribution string. Supercite is smart enough to not put additional spaces between citation delimiters for multi-level nested citations.

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