Namespace
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Official Wiktionary namespaces
A variety of namespaces currently exist "offically" and are regognized by the Wiktionary software as such.
Each of these (except 0) can be linked as wiki links, e.g. Talk:Main Page. But beware of confusion...see #Externals below.
-2 Media:
-2 Pages here are helper pages for developers, to include customized messages instead of hard coding in a program. Also the storage area for Wiki* software internal images. See Special:Allmessages for a list of them.
-1 Special:
-1 Special pages are links to specific programs within the Wiki* software. See Special:Specialpages for a list of all of them.
Note: This is the page that gets longer as one goes from anonymous user --> user --> sysop --> bureauacrat --> steward --> developer.
0/1 (articles) / Talk:
0 The bulk of all content is in this primary namespace. There is no prefix for this namespace - it is the absence of a prefix that distinguishes these pages.
Although templates can be included on any page (including templates themselves) when they are used in this namespace, they are somehow cached, and the template version that was in effect the last time the article was edited is always the one used. Other namespaces (notably User talk: but not User:) use the most current version of the template each time the page is viewed. For templates that embed category links, this is problematic, as each silly article then requires a null-edit to acknowledge any changes to the template. This may turn out to be a design feature, not a bug, but it is hoped that there is a system setting somewhere that can modify this behavior.
- Also: Wiktionary: namespace articles can also be embeded with the double-squiggle-bracket syntax by including the Wiktionary: prefix. To embed a template with the double-squiggle-bracket syntax, you must omit the Template: prefix.)
- 1 Talk:
1 The discussion pages for all main articles is here.
2/3 User: / User talk:
2
Where registered users may create just about anything they want. Note that subpages (e.g. User:User Name/my1stProject are permitted and even encouraged. It is advisable to keep links to subpages on your main user page for all pages that you create. It is not allowed acceptable to modify other user's pages. It is not acceptable to create sub-pages of other user's pages, especially without their prior permission.
- 3 User talk:
3 Registered users are notified whenever someone edits their talk page. It is strongly discouraged to delete content from someone else's user talk page. Nor is it acceptable to modify or create sub-pages of other user's talk pages.
4/5 Wiktionary: / Wiktionary talk:
4 This is used for articles about Wiktionary. It is characterized by the use of "Wiktionary:" at its beginning. There is no space between the colon and the first letter of the word following.
This namespace is reserved for articles that explain the general operation of Wiktionary.
Note: Significant cleanup is required still to clear out the indexes that are present there, that need to be moved to the Index: pseudo namespace.
Of mention are two pseudo-sub-namespaces. Wiktionary:Projects- and Wiktionary:Policy.
- 5 Wiktionary talk:
5 Talk pages for proposals of changes to the corresponding Wiktionary: page.
6/7 Image: / Image talk:
6 Uploaded files are here. (I think audio, and really *any* file uploaded using the upload button end up here, right?)
- 7 Image talk:
7 Complaints about suspected copyright violations go here.
8/9 MediaWiki: / MediaWiki talk:
8 Text required by the Wiki* software is in this namespace. (true/not true:?) All pages in this namespace are protected by default, and can only be edited by Sysops (Admins), Bureaucrats, Developers, Stewards, etc.
- 9 MediaWiki talk:
9 The place for anonymous and registered users to request or propose changes to (8) pages.
10/11 Template: / Template talk:
10 Wiki* templates are blobs of text that users can define, and repeat on multiple pages by referencing the template name with squiggle brackets.
- 11 Template talk:
11 General discussions and flamewars about particular templates.
12/13 Help: / Help talk:
12 Help needs help. Intended to become a general resource (particularly for new users) this is very poorly fleshed out at this point (8 May 2005).
- 13 Help talk:
13 General discussions and proposals regarding the corresponding (12) pages.
14/15 Category: / Category talk:
14 Articles become members of a category by including [[Category:categoryname]] at the end of their page (after the last section.) Categories themselves appear red until a description of what that category is, is entered in this namespace. NOTE: Categories that have no category page by default open the edit page. Clicking "Category" (tab at top left) or "Cancel" (link below edit box) will then display the category members. If you come across a single member category, or create a new category yourself, it is advisable to enter something for the category page as soon as possible.
To display a category link is a little odd. The "normal" wiki syntax of simply preceding the name with the keyword "Category:" will result in whatever page you are editing to be placed in that category. If instead, you want to display a link to that category, precede it with another colon, e.g. Category:Colloquial (entered as [[:Category:Colloquial]].
- 15 Category talk:
15 This namespace is used exclusively for flamewars. It is hoped that someday that will change.
Pseudo-prefix-namespaces
The software does not recognize them as namespaces, but they follow the same formatting as the true namespaces. The colon distinguishes the prefix-pseudo-namespace from an ordinary word. Many items now in the Wiktionary namespace should probabably be migrated to the relevant prefix-pseudo-namespace. It is foolish to create articles that include a colon, and equally inadvisable to create a new namespace without significant discussion at the Beer Parlor first.
Those in use or proposed are listed and explained below. Hopefully this will provide a uniformity that can easily be understood by all. If you choose to migrate an existing page or pages to one of these, you should take care to correct any links that lead to it.
But note that using one of these prefix-pseudo-namespaces does not allow special functions such as searching within a namespace.
Note that some of these have some limited support by the Wiki* software to the extent that sometimes the corresponding talk page is in the right place.
Appendix:
These are intended as auxilliary lists of related words including descriptive lists of inflection.
Concordance:
These lists would be linked to particular authors and identify the use of words by that author.
Index:
It is proposed to use this exclusively for the alphabetical listing of words by language.
Transwiki:
This pseudo-namespace is for articles in transition from one project to another. A participant in another project may have determined that a particular article is better suited to this project. (e. g. it is properly a dictionary article, and not encyclopedic. Since he is not familiar with Wiktionary practices, he copies the article into a "Transwiki:" article, from which a Wiktionarian can move it into a more permanent place.
WikiSaurus:
This prefix-pseudo-namespace is in use for articles listing word synonyms, antonyms etc, as a proto Wiktionary based Thesaurus. However, this may change, as the articles need to be in a name space where the search function can search their contents and return matches found.
WS:
WikiShortcuts. See WS:WS.
Externals
Wiki links can be prefixed by certain keywords and a colon, similar to namespaces. These link to foreign Wiki's, which then have their own namespaces. Additionally, each of the languages is a separate Wiki, and is referenced from the (fill in official name here) language codes. From elsewhere, refer to Wiktionary with "Wikt:".
- w: Wikipedia - The online encyclopedia.
- b: Wikibooks -
- q: Wikiquote -
- wikisource: WikiSource -
- wikispecies: WikiSpecies -
- n: WikiNews - News.
- commons: WikiCommons - files that can be referenced across wikis.
- m: WikiMedia - Administrative coordination of all Wiki projects.
- bugzilla: Wiki software bug reporting.
- sep11: Memorial for September 11th, 2001.
So, to get to a Wikipedia's user page, you might use w:user:Connel MacKenzie.
To get to another language, you might use nl:Overleg:Hoofdpagina. Note that this requires a preceding colon, to display as a normal link, otherwise it will appear in the left-most column under "Other languages."
Proposed namespaces & experiments
Some other namespaces are being considered. Right now, any items found starting with these prefixes are purely experimental.
Citations:
Quotations:
Both citations and quotes are different things. In the Wiktionary context, for Wiktionary purposes, WikiQuote and WikiSource do not match our needs (nor do things that seem to meet our needs, meet those projects' criteria for inclusion.)
The naming convention here mimics the Talk: pages; for any main article (ns:0) there might be a citations page (or did we decide to go with sub-pages of the main articles?)
See: Quotations:Tidal wave, Quotations:Incubate
Requesting a new (formal) namespace
- If you want a new namespace, request it at Bugzilla, and/or talk to a developer on the #mediawiki channel. I found out the hard way that most of the pages that collect requests on meta don't generally get watched. (BTW, this wouldn't be the first wiktionary asking for an additional namespace. bg: also requested one at bugzilla:1902, though it doesn't seem to have it yet.) âMuke Tever 16:19, 8 May 2005 (UTC)