Drummonds, Scott B wrote:
Namespaces appear to be the beginning of what I'm looking for, as they help organize content. However, I want to be sure that if someone is using a page in one namespace and they create a new link that it will be created in the same namespace.
This isn't what namespaces in MediaWiki do; they are markers of functional distinctions, not separate universes. Create separate wikis, and use interwiki links when you want to link between them.
(For those of you that know TWiki, they call this organization component a "web".)
If TWiki does what you want, why switch? This is a serious question, not an accusation; I'm curious what your reasons are for wanting to migrate to MediaWiki.
Do I have to duplicate the directory structure and make different SQL DBs for each?
You do not actually need to duplicate the directory structure; LocalSettings.php could use different databases based on hostname, for instance. We run 150 or so Wikipedias from one directory.
To create separate wikis, you must create separate databases (or in 1.4+ a separate set of tables with a different prefix within the same database).
-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)