%
% This file presents the 'authoryear' style
%
\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[american]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[style=authoryear,backend=biber]{biblatex}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\addbibresource{biblatex-examples.bib}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
% Some generic settings.
\newcommand{\cmd}[1]{\texttt{\textbackslash #1}}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\newenvironment{bibsample}
  {\trivlist\samepage
   \setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}}
  {\endtrivlist}
\begin{document}

\section*{The \texttt{authoryear} style}

This style implements the author-year citation scheme.

\subsection*{Additional package options}

\subsubsection*{The \texttt{dashed} option}

By default, this style replaces recurrent authors/editors in the
bibliography by a dash so that items by the same author or editor
are visually grouped. This feature is controlled by the package
option \texttt{dashed}. Setting \texttt{dashed=false} in the
preamble will disable this feature. The default setting is
\texttt{dashed=true}.

\subsubsection*{The \texttt{mergedate} option}

Since this style prints the date label after the author/editor in the
bibliography, there are effectively two dates in the bibliography:
the full date specification (e.g., \enquote{2001}, \enquote{June
2006}, \enquote{5th~Jan. 2008}, whose format is controlled by the
\texttt{date} option) and the date label (e.g., \enquote{2006a},
whose format is controlled with the \texttt{labeldate} option),
as found in citations. The \texttt{mergedate} option controls whether
or not date specifications are merged with the date label.
This option is best explained by example. Note that
it only affects the bibliography. Citations use the date label only.

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe 2000
\item Doe 2003a
\item Doe 2003b
\item Doe 2006a
\item Doe 2006b
\item Doe 2017
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=false} strictly separates the date specification
(following \texttt{date}) from the date label (following \texttt{labeldate}).
The year will always be printed twice:

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe, John (2000). \emph{Book~1}. Location: Publisher, 2000.
\item Doe, John (2003a). \emph{Book~2}. Location: Publisher, 2003.
\item Doe, John (2003b). \emph{Book~3}. Location: Publisher, 2003.
\item Doe, John (2006a). \enquote{Article~1}. In: \emph{Monthly Journal} 25.6
(June~2006), pp.~70--85.
\item Doe, John (2006b). \enquote{Article~2}. In: \emph{Quarterly Journal} 14.3
(Fall~2006), pp.~5--25.
\item Doe, John (2017). \emph{Webpage}. 7th Aug. 2017.
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=minimum} omits the date whenever the full date
and the date label have exactly the same precision (date-time granularity).

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe, John (2000). \emph{Book~1}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003a). \emph{Book~2}. Location: Publisher, 2003.
\item Doe, John (2003b). \emph{Book~3}. Location: Publisher, 2003.
\item Doe, John (2006a). \enquote{Article~1}. In: \emph{Monthly Journal} 25.6
(June~2006), pp.~70--85.
\item Doe, John (2006b). \enquote{Article~2}. In: \emph{Quarterly Journal} 14.3
(Fall~2006), pp.~5--25.
\item Doe, John (2017). \emph{Webpage}. 7th Aug. 2017.
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=basic} is similar in concept but more economical.
It will also omit the date if it differs from the date label only by
\texttt{extradate}.

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe, John (2000). \emph{Book~1}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003a). \emph{Book~2}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003b). \emph{Book~3}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2006a). \enquote{Article~1}. In: \emph{Monthly Journal} 25.6
(June~2006), pp.~70--85.
\item Doe, John (2006b). \enquote{Article~2}. In: \emph{Quarterly Journal} 14.3
(Fall~2006), pp.~5--25.
\item Doe, John (2017). \emph{Webpage}. 7th Aug. 2017.
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=compact} merges all date specifications with the
date labels. The merged date is printed in \texttt{date} format,
not \texttt{labeldate}, even if it is printed in the position of
the date label. The \texttt{issue} field is still treated specially:

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe, John (2000). \emph{Book~1}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003a). \emph{Book~2}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003b). \emph{Book~3}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (June 2006a). \enquote{Article~1}. In: \emph{Monthly Journal} 25.6, pp.~70--85.
\item Doe, John (2006b). \enquote{Article~2}. In: \emph{Quarterly Journal} 14.3
(Fall), pp.~5--25.
\item Doe, John (7th Aug. 2017).\emph{Webpage}.
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=maximum} strives for maximum compactness.
Like \texttt{mergedate=compact} this option merges the date
into the date label.
Even the \texttt{issue} field is merged with the date label:

\begin{bibsample}
\item Doe, John (2000). \emph{Book~1}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003a). \emph{Book~2}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (2003b). \emph{Book~3}. Location: Publisher.
\item Doe, John (June 2006a). \enquote{Article~1}. In: \emph{Monthly Journal} 25.6, pp.~70--85.
\item Doe, John (Fall 2006b). \enquote{Article~2}. In: \emph{Quarterly Journal} 14.3, pp.~5--25.
\item Doe, John (7th Aug. 2017).\emph{Webpage}.
\end{bibsample}

\texttt{mergedate=true} is an alias for \texttt{mergedate=compact}.
This is the default setting.

\subsection*{\cmd{cite} examples}

\cite{companion}

\cite[59]{companion}

\cite[see][]{companion}

\cite[see][59--63]{companion}

\subsection*{\cmd{parencite} examples}

This is just filler text \parencite{companion}.

This is just filler text \parencite[59]{companion}.

This is just filler text \parencite[see][]{companion}.

This is just filler text \parencite[see][59--63]{companion}.

\subsection*{\cmd{parencite*} examples}

\citeauthor{companion} show that this is just filler
text \parencite*{companion}.

\subsection*{\cmd{footcite} examples}

% Even though the author-year scheme is usually employed in
% conjuntion with in-text citations, it works just fine in
% footnotes, too.

This is just filler text.\footcite{companion}

This is just filler text.\footcite[59]{companion}

This is just filler text.\footcite[See][]{companion}

This is just filler text.\footcite[See][59--63]{companion}

\subsection*{\cmd{textcite} examples}

\textcite{companion} show that this is just filler text.

\textcite[59]{companion} show that this is just filler text.

\textcite[see][]{companion} show that this is just filler text.

\textcite[see][59--63]{companion} show that this is just filler text.

\subsection*{\cmd{autocite} examples}

% By default, the \autocite command works like \parencite.
% The starred version works like \parencite*.

This is just filler text \autocite{companion}.

\citeauthor{companion} show that this is just filler
text \autocite*{companion}.

\subsection*{Multiple citations}

% By default, a list of multiple citations is not sorted. You can
% enable sorting by setting the 'sortcites' package option.

\cite{knuth:ct:c,aristotle:physics,knuth:ct:b,aristotle:poetics,aristotle:rhetoric,knuth:ct:d}

\subsection*{Shorthand examples}

% If an entry in the bib file includes a 'shorthand' field, the
% shorthand replaces the regular author-title citation.

\cite{kant:kpv,kant:ku}

\clearpage

% The list of shorthands.

\printshorthands

% The list of references. Note that the year is printed after the
% author or editor and that recurring author and editor names are
% replaced by a dash unless the entry is the first one on the
% current page or double page spread (depending on the setting of
% the 'pagetracker' package option). This style will implicitly set
% 'pagetracker=spread' at load time.

\nocite{*}
\printbibliography

\end{document}