References 

Creating a reference 

Referencing starts the same way copying does: an element is put on the clipboard from its context menu, on this page or on another one. From there, an editor has two ways to bring it in as a reference rather than a copy:

• From an existing element's own context menu, once something is on the clipboard in copy mode, Paste reference after appears right next to the ordinary Paste after action.
• From an empty cell or column's create new content element control, a Paste dialog appears when something is on the clipboard, offering Paste and Paste reference side by side.

Either way, the target cell or column, including a Grid Element's own cell, is honored, so a reference lands exactly where an ordinary paste would.

What is actually referenced 

A reference is its own, small content record. It does not hold a copy of the referenced content; it holds a pointer to it. What an editor sees in the Page Module is the referenced content's own preview, rendered in place and marked with a border so it reads clearly as a reference rather than as the content element itself. Editing the referenced content is done by opening the original record, wherever it lives; the reference itself has nothing of its own to edit beyond where it points.

Because a reference is a pointer, not a duplicate, editing the original updates every place that references it. This is the meaningful difference from a normal copy: a copy is independent from the moment it is created, while a reference stays connected to a single source of truth.

Creating a reference requires the same backend-user permission TYPO3 uses for the shortcut content element type, since a reference is implemented as one. See the permissions section of Restrictions, Validation & Permissions for how that is enforced; an editor without that permission simply does not see the Paste reference choice.

Nesting and restrictions 

A reference can be placed inside a Grid Element's cell exactly like any other content element, including a cell of a nested Grid Element. Because a reference is technically a shortcut content element, the column or cell restrictions that would allow or disallow a shortcut element apply to whether a reference can be pasted there at all, the same way any other restriction narrows down what a cell accepts, see Restrictions, Validation & Permissions.