Editing Information:Namespaces

{{Infopage|BTW:NS|BTW:NSPACE|I:NS|I:NSPACE|style=margin:1.0em auto;}}
Pages on a MediaWiki wiki are grouped into collections called “'''namespaces'''” which differentiate between the purpose of the pages at a high level. Pages in certain namespaces can also have special properties or behave differently when they interact with other pages.

Namespaces are indicated in page titles by prefixing the page name with <code><nowiki><namespace>:</nowiki></code>, so the prefix <code>{{NAMESPACE}}:</code> in this page's title (<code>{{FULLPAGENAME}}</code>) indicates that this page is in the <tvar name=ns-1><code>{{NAMESPACE}}</code> namespace. Each namespace is identified by a number and a name, which can be translated and can also have some aliases.

A page whose name is ''not'' prefixed by a namespace lies in the [[#blank-ns|mainspace]]. Note, however, that colons and prefixes can also appear in page titles ''without'' indicating a namespace: the page <code>Foo:{{PAGENAME}}</code> is a page located in the mainspace because the namespace “Foo” does not exist. Similarly the page <code>{{NAMESPACE}}:Foo:{{PAGENAME}}</code> is in the “{{NAMESPACE}}” namespace.

== Standard namespaces == 
The standard MediaWiki installation has sixteen namespaces that can contain user-generated content; there are also two special namespaces that contain pages created “on the fly” by the MediaWiki software. The standard namespaces are organized in pairs, with each pair containing a “subject namespace” and a “discussion namespace.” The namespaces are numbered from zero such that all subject namespaces have even indices and all talk namespaces have odd indices.

=== Media ===
{{Anchor|ns-media}}
This namespace is used for direct linking to media files: the link <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>[[Media:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg]]<nowiki>]]</nowiki></code> links to just the image rather than the image description page, which would be <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>[[:File:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg|:{{ns:6}}:MediaWiki-2020-logo.svg]]<nowiki>]]</nowiki></code>.

=== Special ===
This namespace is used to group [[Help:Special pages|special pages]], reports and interfaces that are generated “on demand” by MediaWiki and that are not directly editable. It is not possible to create pages in this namespace except by modifying or extending the MediaWiki software.

=== {{int:blanknamespace}} ===
{{Anchor|main-ns|Main}}
The namespace that has no prefix separated by a colon. Commonly called the “main namespace” or “mainspace”. This namespace typically contains the bulk of the [[mw:Manual:$wgContentNamespaces|content pages]] in a wiki. This namespace generally has no special properties.

=== Talk ===
The “{{ns:1}}” namespace is the discussion namespace attached to the mainspace. It has no special properties.

=== User === 
Each user has a corresponding page in the “{{ns:2}}” namespace, which is linked to from edit histories, watchlists, recent changes, etc.; wherever an individual user is uniquely identified. This page and subpages of it can be used by users to record information about themselves or to test and draft new content.

=== User talk === 
This namespace is the talkspace associated with the “{{ns:2}}” namespace. Pages in this namespace are mainly used to leave messages for particular users or inform them of discussions that may be of interest to them. To facilitate this, when a page <code>{{ns:3}}:UserName</code> is edited, whenever the user UserName loads a page, a notice is displayed at the top of the page informing them of the edit:

<div class="usermessage plainlinks" style="margin: 1em 0;">
{{int:youhavenewmessagesfromusers
|[[{{ns:3}}:UserName|<span style="color:#002bb8">{{int:newmessageslinkplural|1}}</span>]]
|[{{fullurl:{{ns:3}}:UserName|diff=cur}} <span style="color:#002bb8">{{int:newmessagesdifflinkplural|1}}</span>]
|1}}
</div>
This notice continues to appear until the user loads their user talk page to read the message.

=== Project === 
This namespace is normally used for meta-discussions related to the operation and development of the wiki. It automatically redirects the user to a namespace labeled after the wiki's name, example: <nowiki>[[Project:Licenses]] → [[BattleTechWiki:Licenses]].</nowiki>

=== Project talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated project pages. It has no special properties.

=== File === 
[[File:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg|right]]

The “{{ns:6}}” namespace is used to store metadata for images, videos, sound files and other media accessed via the “{{ns:-2}}” namespace. Each file has a corresponding page in the “{{ns:6}}” namespace, which is often used to hold licensing data. Linking ''directly'' to a page in this namespace instead includes the media file inline in the page: <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>{{ns:6}}<nowiki>:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg|right]]</nowiki></code> produces the image to the right. See [[Help:Images]] for more details of this link syntax.

To create an [[Help:Links|internal link]] to the file page, you need to add a colon to the front of the namespace: <code><nowiki>[[:</nowiki>{{ns:6}}<nowiki>:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg|right]]</nowiki></code> produces [[:{{ns:6}}:MediaWiki-2020-icon.svg]].
The standard MediaWiki installation has alias “Image” for “{{ns:6}}” namespace – See [[#ns-aliases|Namespace aliases]].
For linking media files directly, bypassing the description page, see [[#ns-media|Media namespace]].

=== File talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated media files. It has no special properties.

=== MediaWiki ===
The “{{ns:8}}” namespace is used to [[mw:Help:System message#Overriding messages on-wiki|hold system messages]] and other important content. For instance, the page [[{{ns:8}}:Edit]] contains the text that fills the “{{int:Edit}}” tab at the top of every page. If that page exists, it overrides the default content, which is “Edit.” Similarly, [[{{ns:8}}:Common.css]] is the system message that holds the [[w:Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]] code that is loaded for all users for each page. It has the special property that the entire namespace can only be edited by users with the <code>(editinterface)</code> user right. Since MediaWiki 1.32, JavaScript and CSS pages needs also <code>editinterface</code> and (respectively) <code>editsitejs</code> or <code>editsitecss</code> rights to edit.

=== MediaWiki talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated system messages. It has no special properties.

=== Template === 
The “{{ns:10}}” namespace is used to hold [[Help:Templates|templates]], blocks of text or wikicode that are intended to be transcluded into several other pages. To facilitate this it has the special property that it is the ''default'' namespace for transclusions: the wikicode <code><nowiki>{{Foo}}</nowiki></code> is equivalent to <code><nowiki>{{</nowiki>'''{{ns:10}}:'''<nowiki>Foo}}</nowiki></code>.

=== Template talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated template pages. It has no special properties.

=== Help === 
The “{{ns:12}}” namespace is usually used to hold help files, instructions and “how-to” guides. It has no special properties. See [[Help:Contents|Help namespace content]].

=== Help talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated help pages. It has no special properties.

=== Category === 
The “{{ns:14}}” namespace contains [[Help:Categories|categories]], dynamic lists of other pages. To facilitate this, linking ''directly'' to a category page does not output an inline link, but instead includes the page into the associated category page. So the code <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>{{ns:14}}<nowiki>:Help]]</nowiki></code> causes a category link to appear at the bottom of the page (at the bottom in the box marked “{{int:Pagecategories}}”). Clicking on that link takes you to the category page, where this page is visible in the category list.

To create an inline link to a category page, you need to add a colon to the front of the namespace: <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>:{{ns:14}}:Help<nowiki>]]</nowiki></code> produces [[:{{ns:14}}:Help]]. See [[Help:Categories]] for more details on category link syntax.

=== Category talk === 
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated category pages. It has no special properties.

==Extension namespaces==
In general, extensions should reserve namespace numbers in blocks of 10, where no known namespaces are already added by MediaWiki core or any known extensions. Each block is intended for an extension to use sequentially; in particular, extensions that add more than one custom namespace should not reserve an additional block for each additional namespace, unless the extension has exhausted its current block.
===Extension:Semantic MediaWiki===
===={{ns:102}}====
===={{ns:103}}====
===={{ns:106}}====
===={{ns:107}}====
===={{ns:108}}====
===={{ns:109}}====
===={{ns:112}}====
===={{ns:113}}====
===={{ns:114}}====
===={{ns:115}}====
===Extension:Scribunto===
===={{ns:828}}====
===={{ns:829}}====

==Custom namespaces==
Namespace numbers between 3000 and 4999 should not be used; these numbers are reserved for wikis to define their own custom namespaces. Furthermore, care should be taken when selecting numbers under 1000, since this range has historically been quite heavily used by extensions and sites alike (numbers under 200 should probably be avoided altogether). On this wiki we have the following "custom" namespaces

==={{ns:100}}===
The {{ns:100}} namespace is used by BTW for our Policies (i.e the "rules" on using this wiki)
==={{ns:101}}===
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated {{ns:100}} pages. It has no special properties.
==={{ns:3000}}===
==={{ns:3001}}===
==={{ns:3010}}===
The {{ns:3010}} namespace is used by BTW for our Guideline pages (i.e the best courses of action on this wiki}
==={{ns:3011}}===
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated {{ns:3010}} pages. It has no special properties.
==={{ns:3012}}===
The {{ns:3012}} namespace is used by BTW for our Information pages(i.e the best courses of action on this wiki}
==={{ns:3013}}===
This is a talk namespace that is normally used for discussions related to the associated {{ns:3012}} pages. It has no special properties.
==Namespace aliases==
{{Anchor|ns-aliases}}
Namespace ''aliases'' are alternative names that will also be resolved to other names. Currently on BattleTechWiki, by default, "Image" is an alias for {{ns:6}}, so <code><nowiki>[[Image:MediaWiki-2020-logo.svg]]</nowiki></code> is equivalent to <code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>{{ns:6}}<nowiki>:MediaWiki-2020-logo.svg]]</nowiki></code>.

In the future we may make the current [[Help:Shortcuts|shortcuts]] namespace ''aliases'' For instance, [[BattleTechWiki:|BattleTechWiki]], where "BTW" is an alias for {{ns:4}}, which is the namespace "BattleTechWiki". 

==Identifying namespaces== 
There are a number of ways by which the namespace of a particular page can be identified:

===Magic words===
The [[Help:Magic word|magic word]] <code><nowiki>{{NAMESPACE}}</nowiki></code> returns the value of the namespace the page is in.

To refer to another namespace, use <code><nowiki>{{ns:Project}}</nowiki></code>), or <code><nowiki>{{SUBJECTSPACE}}</nowiki></code> / <code><nowiki>{{TALKSPACE}}</nowiki></code> to refer to the namespace paired with the current one.

===JavaScript===
The JavaScript variable <code>wgCanonicalNamespace</code> contains the full namespace name. The variable <code>wgNamespaceNumber</code> contains the numerical index of the namespace.

===CSS===
The {{tag|body|open}} tag of the HTML page output is given two CSS classes that vary by namespace: A class <code>ns-#</code>, where # is the index of the namespace, and <code>ns-XXX</code>, where XXX is "<code>subject</code>" for all [[mw:Manual:Namespace#Subject and talk namespaces|subject namespaces]], "<code>special</code>" for pages in the {{ns:-1}} namespace, and "<code>talk</code>" for [[mw:Manual:Namespace#Subject and talk namespaces|talk namespaces]]. So CSS code such as the following can be used to change the appearance of an object based on its namespace:

<syntaxhighlight lang="css">
.ns-subject a {   /* Almost all links on subject pages to be green. */
    color: #0f0;
}
.ns-talk a {      /* Links on talk pages to be blue. */
    color: #00f;
}
.ns-3 a {         /* and links on user talk pages to be red */
    color: #f00;
}
</syntaxhighlight>
===API===
For the system properties of each namespace, [https://www.sarna.net/wiki/api.php?action=query&meta=siteinfo&siprop=namespaces|you can use our API]
===Search Results===
You can get a complete list of all namespace names from the Search results page ''Advanced'' tab, or from any ''recent changes'' page such as contributions or watchlist in its options box, in a drop-down list.

== See also ==
* [[mw:Manual:Namespace]]
* [[mw:Manual:Using custom namespaces]]
* [[mw:Manual:$wgNamespacesToBeSearchedDefault]]

[[Category:BattleTechWiki features|Namespaces]]