| Help:Namespace |
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Template:TopMainMenu Page titles in MediaWiki are composed of two parts: an optional namespace name, and the remainder of the title. For example, this page has the title [[Help:Namespace]], so it is in the Help namespace. A title without a colon, for example [[Goings-on]], is in the main namespace.
By default, a wiki using the MediaWiki software has 18 namespaces, including:
- the main namespace, where page names have no prefix
- 15 additional namespaces, each with its own prefix. (Two namespaces, the so-called 'project' namespaces, get their names from the name of the wiki project, and so differ in name from one wiki to the next; on the Wikipedia, they are called Wikipedia: and Wikipedia talk:. On each wiki, these project namespaces (whatever they may happen to be for that wiki), can be referred to by the pseudonyms "Project:" and "Project Talk:", respectively.)
- two pseudo-namespaces
In addition to these 18 namespaces, the Wikipedia specially adds to these the Portal: and Portal talk: namespaces. Other wiki projects may have their own additional custom namespaces.
But take note:
- Namespace prefixes should not be confused with prefixes for interwiki linking.
- If a page title contains a colon, but the initial part of the title is not one of the pre-defined namespaces, that page is considered to be in the main namespace.
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Automatic conversions of page names
On the column "Alternate syntax" in the table at the beginning of the previous section, a list of project-independent namespace names is shown in the form of {{ns:namespace name}}, the same as those on Meta and the English Wikipedia, except that "Meta" and "Wikipedia" are replaced by "Project". The prefixes are the terms listed, followed by a colon.
The prefix "Project:" is for every project automatically converted to the project namespace, e.g. try the link Project:xyz. It is like a piped link. Therefore a page name starting with "Project:" is not possible (unless, of course, that is the name of the project).
Similarly the other project-independent namespace prefixes are also automatically converted to the project-specific ones.
An exception to the rule that the link label is the name used in the wikitext and not the converted name, applies if the target of a redirect is expressed using a project-independent namespace name: in that case the converted name is shown on the redirect page, compare [1] with the preview of [2].
Prefixes in various languages
For Wikimedia projects this project prefix is "Wikipedia:", "Wiktionary:", "Wikibooks:", "Wikisource:", "Wikiquote:", "Meta:", and in the case of In Memoriam also "Wikipedia:". In languages other than English, the Wikipedia project has its own prefixes: in French "Wikipédia:", in Czech "Wikipedie:", in Russian "Википедия:", in Korean "위키백과:", in Hindi "विकिपीडिया:", in Hebrew ":ויקיפדיה" and in Arabic ":ويكيبيديا". The last two are RTL languages which put the prefixes on the right. In URLs the prefixes are always on the left.
To check which prefix is used in a project, you may edit and preview a page in the project to render the variable {{ns:Project}} (and cancel the edit after the check), though what you will see is deprived of a colon. Another way: visiting any project page there, you will find it at the left (in LTR languages) or the right (in RTL languages) of the page title. This applies even for non-existing pages, so, in view of the conversion explained in the previous section, you can use a URL like http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project:A. Also you may go to a project page of a target language from a project page of a language familiar to you (e.g. en:Wikipedia:Contact us) by clicking an interlanguage link, if applicable. "Talk", "User", "Image" and combinations can also be translated in the case of non-English wikis. see m:Locales for the Wikipedia Software.
Colon in page name
Adding a colon to a page name does not automatically create a new namespace. To see the namespace of a page, use {{NAMESPACE}} which returns the namespace. For this page it returns "Help". The same code would return an empty string for a page in the main namespace. Similarly, {{PAGENAME}} returns the page name without prefix. For this page it returns "Namespace". {{FULLPAGENAME}} returns both namespace and pagename; for this page, that is "Help:Namespace".
To take some examples from Wiktionary: Wiktionary:FAQ has Talk page Wiktionary talk:FAQ, but Wiktionary Appendix:Colours has Talk page Talk:Wiktionary Appendix:Colours, because the first is in the project preface namespace and the second is not. In Special:Allpages, accordingly, the first is, unlike the second, not in the list of articles, but in the page list of the namespace Wiktionary.
Special namespace
Main article: Help:Special page
The namespace "Special:" consists of "special pages", which are created by the software on demand, for example Special:Recentchanges.
Custom namespaces
For instructions on creating a custom namespace or for more information, see Help:Custom namespaces.
A project can have additional namespaces. For example, if a single project is multilingual (as opposed to the case of sister projects, each in one language) there may be a namespace Help and also a namespace Hilfe:, for help pages in the English and German language, respectively.
A list of all namespaces is in the dropdown menus of Special:Prefixindex, Special:Allpages, Special:Recent changes, and "My contributions". With query a list including also the numbers of the namespaces is given by {{SERVER}}{{SCRIPTPATH}}/query.php?what=namespaces , for this project http://www.gogotraffic.com/Wiki/query.php?what=namespaces .
Custom namespaces are numbered from 100{{#if: |, on this project starting with , 101 = }}. See m:Help:MediaWiki help policy for a list of custom namespaces on Meta.
