I actually think it reduces clutter but I need to explain that I almost always use WP LDR style refs As an aside while editors adding to an established article should be cognizant of the style in use so I probably would do something different if all existing ref were Harvard style the LDR style is compatible with the standard way most editors edit I think LDR requires a name As an example look at an article I was working on currently Clara Gregory Baer The fourth edit is the first one that has not been used more than once The ref in the text is ref name NCAA If I didn t give it a name it would have to be ref NCAA Women s Basketball access date 24 January 2007 ref Which is much longer I accept that the total count of characters counting both the stub in the main text and the proper ref down in the reflist is a bit longer but the LDR style materially reduces the clutter in the edit window which is I think what concerns you