View source for Manual:Namespace

<languages/>
<translate><!--T:1--> A '''namespace''' is a collection of pages all having a similar purpose. Namespaces can be thought of as partitioning the information within a wiki into different types, keeping "real" content (pages about the main subject matter of the wiki) separate from [[<tvar name=user>Special:PrefixIndex/User:</tvar>|user profiles]], [[<tvar name=help>Special:PrefixIndex/Help:</tvar>|help pages]], etc.</translate>
<translate><!--T:60--> A namespace ''prefix'' is the first part of a page title (if present) indicating which namespace it belongs to. It is separated from the rest of the title by a colon (<tvar name=1><code>:</code></tvar>). The so-called "main namespace" does not have a prefix.</translate>
<translate><!--T:84--> Every namespace has a ''number'' or ''index'' which the MediaWiki software uses to refer to the namespace instead of its name.</translate>

<translate>
==Technical overview== <!--T:2-->

<!--T:85-->
Every page on a wiki has a unique title which may begin with a namespace prefix or not. Pages in different namespaces can otherwise share the same name (i.e., not counting their prefixes).

<!--T:4-->
For example, here at MediaWiki.org:
</translate>

{| class="wikitable"
! <translate><!--T:5--> Title</translate>
! <translate><!--T:6--> Namespace prefix</translate>
! <translate><!--T:48--> Namespace number</translate>
! <translate><!--T:86--> Page description</translate>
|-
| <code>[[API]]</code>
| 
| 0
| <translate><!--T:89--> a page in the "main namespace"</translate>
|-
| <code>[[Template:API]]</code>
| Template
| 10
| <translate><!--T:90--> a {{<tvar name=1>ll|Help:Templates</tvar>|template}} that can be transcluded into other pages</translate>
|-
| <code>[[Manual:API]]</code>
| Manual
| 100
| <translate><!--T:91--> a page in our {{<tvar name=1>ll|Manual:Contents</tvar>|MediaWiki manual}} (which, in this case, redirects to a different page)</translate>
|}
<translate><!--T:87--> Because the "main namespace" does not have a prefix, any page title having no prefix—or any page whose apparent prefix doesn't match any recognized namespace on the wiki (nor any {{<tvar name=1>ll|Help:Links#Interwiki links</tvar>|interwiki/interlanguage prefix}})—is interpreted as a page in the main namespace.</translate>

<translate><!--T:7--> Note that pages in the main namespace cannot have names starting with any existing namespace prefix followed by a colon, because such pages would be rendered inaccessible by the presence of that namespace.</translate>
<translate><!--T:88--> (If this has happened as the result of the creation of a new namespace, the <tvar name=1>{{ll|Manual:namespaceDupes.php|namespaceDupes.php}}</tvar> maintenance script can be used to fix the problem.)</translate>

<translate>
<!--T:8-->
Pages can be [[<tvar name=h-movepg>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Moving a page</tvar>|moved]] between namespaces simply by changing the prefix part of their title.
</translate>

<translate><!--T:9--> Namespace prefixes can be translated, and aliases (helpful in shortcuts) can be configured for each (see <tvar name=NamespaceAliases>{{wg|NamespaceAliases}}</tvar>).</translate>
<translate><!--T:82--> All namespaces also have a "canonical" prefix, which works on all wikis regardless of configuration.</translate>
<translate><!--T:83--> Aliases and canonical names can be used in links, when performing a [[<tvar name=h-search>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Searching</tvar>|search]], and in the page title with the help of the <tvar name=1><nowiki>{{DISPLAYTITLE}}</nowiki></tvar> [[<tvar name=h-magic>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Magic words</tvar>|magic word]].</translate>

<translate>
<!--T:10-->
Each namespace has a corresponding '''namespace index'''. Within the database, the title is split into namespace index and text title, and this is used for storage in the <tvar name=page-ns><code>page.page_namespace</code></tvar> and <tvar name=page-title><code>page.page_title</code></tvar> columns, among others.

=== Subject and talk namespaces === <!--T:11-->

<!--T:12-->
:''See <tvar name=1>{{ll|Help:Talk pages}}</tvar> for instructions on how to use talk pages.''
</translate>

<translate><!--T:53--> Most namespaces have an associated '''discussion namespace''' (or "talk" namespace).</translate>
<translate><!--T:54--> All discussion namespaces have odd-integer indices, and the discussion namespace index for a specific namespace with index ''n'' is ''n+1''.</translate>
<translate><!--T:55--> The namespaces with even-integer indices are '''subject namespaces''' (note that this is a distinct concept from [[<tvar name=cont-ns>Special:MyLanguage/Manual:$wgContentNamespaces</tvar>|content namespaces]]).</translate>
<translate><!--T:56--> The subject-talk duality can be explored using the <tvar name=1><code><nowiki>{{SUBJECTPAGENAME}}</nowiki></code></tvar> and <tvar name=2><code><nowiki>{{TALKPAGENAME}}</nowiki></code></tvar> [[<tvar name=3>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Magic words#Page names</tvar>|magic words]].</translate>
<translate><!--T:57--> The <tvar name=body>{{tag|body|open}}</tvar> tag of pages in talk namespaces has the <tvar name=1><code>ns-talk</code></tvar> CSS class, which might be useful for styling.</translate>

<translate>
==Built-in namespaces== <!--T:13-->

<!--T:14-->
MediaWiki ships with 18 built-in namespaces:

<!--T:58-->
* 16 "real" namespaces, corresponding to actual pages, numbered 0 to 15, and grouped in subject/talk pairs</translate>
<translate>
<!--T:59-->
* 2 "virtual" namespaces (one for dynamically generated special pages, and one serving as an alias for direct file links), numbered -1 and -2, respectively. Since these namespaces don't correspond to pages stored in the database, one cannot create or delete pages in these namespaces, and there are no corresponding discussion namespaces.

<!--T:15-->
The full list is presented in the table below.
</translate>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! <translate><!--T:61--> ID</translate>
! <translate><!--T:17--> Name</translate>
! <translate><!--T:18--> Purpose</translate>
! colspan="2" | <translate><!--T:49--> Talk</translate>
|-
! 0
| (Main)
| <translate><!--T:46--> {{<tvar name=1>ll|Manual:$wgContentNamespaces</tvar>|"Real" content articles}}</translate><ref><translate><!--T:19--> The subject namespace has no prefix.</translate></ref>
| {{ns:1}}
! 1
|-
! 2
| {{ns:2}}
| <translate><!--T:47--> {{<tvar name=1>ll|Help:User page</tvar>|User pages}}</translate><ref><translate><!--T:20--> Editing a User talk page generates a notification for the user.</translate></ref>
| {{ns:3}}
! 3
|-
! 4
| {{ns:4}}
| <translate><!--T:21--> Information about the wiki</translate><ref><translate><!--T:22--> Defined by <tvar name=1>{{wg|MetaNamespace}}</tvar>, which unless manually set otherwise, defaults to <tvar name=2>{{wg|Sitename}}</tvar>.</translate></ref>
| {{ns:5}}
! 5
|-
! 6
| {{ns:6}}
|  <translate><!--T:23--> Media description pages</translate>
| {{ns:7}}
! 7
|-
! 8
| {{ns:8}}
| <translate><!--T:24--> Site interface customization</translate><ref><translate><!--T:25--> Only editable by users with the <tvar name=1><code>{{ll|Manual:User rights#editinterface|editinterface}}</code></tvar> permission.</translate><br/>{{note|inline=1|1=<translate><!--T:50--> [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Manual:$wgRawHtmlMessages</tvar>|Some pages]] in this namespace additionally require <tvar name=2><code>editsitecss</code></tvar> and <tvar name=3><code>editesitejs</code></tvar> permissions.</translate>}}</ref>
| {{ns:9}}
! 9
|-
! 10
| {{ns:10}}
| <translate><!--T:26--> Template pages</translate>
| {{ns:11}}
! 11
|-
! 12
| {{ns:12}}
| <translate><!--T:27--> Help pages</translate>
| {{ns:13}}
! 13
|-
! 14
| {{ns:14}}
| <translate><!--T:28--> Category description pages</translate>
| {{ns:15}}
! 15
|-
! colspan="5" |
|-
! -1
| Special
| <translate><!--T:29--> Holds special pages</translate>
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;" | N/A
|-
! -2
| Media
| <translate><!--T:30--> Alias for direct links to media files</translate>
|}
<translate><!--T:31--> Each namespace also has a constant derived from its name, with all letters in uppercase, spaces replaced by underscores, and prefixed by <tvar name=1><code>NS_</code></tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:62--> For example, the constant for the "User talk" namespace is <tvar name=1><code>NS_USER_TALK</code></tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:63--> A complete list can be found in <tvar name=1>{{ll|Extension default namespaces}}</tvar>.</translate>

----
<references />

<translate>
==Custom namespaces== <!--T:32-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:33--> Extensions and site administrators can define additional namespaces to group additional classes of pages together.</translate>
<translate><!--T:45--> For a thorough overview, see <tvar name=1>{{ll|Manual:Using custom namespaces}}</tvar>.</translate>

<translate>
==Functionality== <!--T:35-->

<!--T:36-->
Some namespaces, like Project and Help, only exist for convenience and do not have any extra functionality compared to the Main namespace.

<!--T:37-->
Template namespace pages can be [[<tvar name=transclusion>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Transclusion</tvar>|transcluded]] without namespace prefix.

<!--T:38-->
User namespace pages are associated with user accounts or IP addresses. Changes to [[<tvar name=user-talkpg>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Talk pages#User talk pages</tvar>|user talk pages]] generate an automatic message notification.

<!--T:39-->
Pages in the [[<tvar name=sysmsg>Special:MyLanguage/Help:System message</tvar>|"MediaWiki" namespace]] are used to override default messages in [[<tvar name=local>Special:MyLanguage/Localisation</tvar>|language file]] and can only be edited by administrators or other users with the <tvar name=1><code>{{ll|Manual:User rights#editinterface|editinterface}}</code></tvar> permission.
</translate>

<translate><!--T:40--> File and Category pages have special functionality, as described in <tvar name=h-manage>{{ll|Help:Managing files}}</tvar> and <tvar name=h-cat>{{ll|Help:Categories}}</tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:51--> Files can be moved by users with the "<tvar name=1>movefile</tvar>" right.</translate>
<translate><!--T:52--> Category pages can be moved by users with the "<tvar name=1>move-categorypages</tvar>" right.</translate>

<translate>
<!--T:41-->
All pages in discussion namespaces have a "post a comment" feature.

==See also== <!--T:42-->
</translate>
* {{ll|Help:Namespaces}} – <translate><!--T:64--> user-oriented information.</translate>
* {{ll|Extension default namespaces}}

<translate>
=== Site administration === <!--T:65-->

<!--T:43-->
* [[<tvar name=confset-ns>Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Configuration settings#Namespaces</tvar>|Manual:Configuration settings#Namespaces]]
</translate>
* {{ll|Manual:Namespace constants}}
* {{ll|Manual:Using custom namespaces}}
* {{ll|Manual:Help namespace}}

<translate>
=== Extensions === <!--T:66-->
</translate>
* {{ll|Category:Namespace extensions}}
* {{ll|Extension:NamespaceManager}} – <translate><!--T:67--> for management of namespaces.</translate>
* {{ll|Extension:BlueSpiceNamespaceManager}} – <translate><!--T:68--> lets you create custom namespaces.</translate>
* {{ll|Extension:SpecialNamespaces}} – <translate><!--T:69--> a modified version of the <tvar name=1>{{ll|Extension:Interwiki}}</tvar> which changes it to provide a namespace manager as a special page.</translate>
* {{ll|Extension:Lockdown}} – <translate><!--T:70--> to control access to namespaces.</translate>
* {{ll|Extension:SkinPerNamespace}} – <translate><!--T:71--> to use a different skin in a namespace.</translate>

<translate>
=== For extension developers === <!--T:72-->
</translate>
* {{ll|Manual:Using custom namespaces#In_extensions}}
* {{ll|Extension default namespaces|2=<translate><!--T:73--> List of custom namespaces registered by extensions.</translate>}} <translate><!--T:74--> If you define a constant for a custom namespace, list it here, too.</translate>
* <translate><!--T:75--> Classes</translate>
** <translate><!--T:44--> <tvar name=Namespace>{{ll|Manual:MWNamespace.php}}</tvar>, containing the MWNamespace class</translate> {{removed-inline|1.39}}
* <translate><!--T:76--> Hooks</translate>
** {{ll|Manual:Hooks/CanonicalNamespaces}} – <translate><!--T:77--> add custom namespaces or alter the defaults.</translate>
** {{ll|Manual:Hooks/NamespaceIsMovable}} – <translate><!--T:78--> determine if it is possible to move pages in a namespace.</translate>
** {{ll|Manual:Hooks/SearchableNamespaces}} – <translate><!--T:79--> modify which namespaces are searchable.</translate>
** {{ll|Manual:Hooks/LanguageGetNamespaces}} – <translate><!--T:80--> provide custom ordering for namespaces or remove namespaces.</translate>
** {{ll|Manual:Hooks/PrefixSearchExtractNamespace}} – <translate><!--T:81--> called if core was not able to extract a namespace from the search string so that extensions can attempt it.</translate>

[[Category:Namespace{{#translation:}}|{{PAGENAME}}]]