On Apr 7, 2005 11:05 AM, Richard Holton richholton@gmail.com wrote:
Namespaces are types of pages that have distinct usage and often distinct functionality built into the software. For instance, for article [[Supercell]] (which is in the default namespace, and has no specified prefix) will have a corresponding page in the Talk namespace: [[Talk:Supercell]]. You will note that on a talk page you can post a message to the bottom of the existing page via the "+" tab (using the default skin). This feature is not available in the default (article) namespace.
Other namespaces include: Wikipedia (see examples above), Wikipedia_talk, Category, Category_talk, Template, and Template_talk. Each has its own particular use.
These namespaces apply to Wikipedia, not necessarily to another mediawiki site.
The Wikipedia name space and Wikipedia_talk namespaces won't be found on all mediawiki sites. They are on Wikipedia because that's the project name.
Not all link prefixes (i.e. Something:) are namespaces which need to be defined by the administrator in the database. Such a link prefix can also indicate an interwiki link, which is also set up in the database. In fact on many mediawiki installations Wikipedia: is an interwiki link indication and NOT a namespace. Unless a prefix like Something: is defined as a namespace or interwiki link prefix (or maybe something else I don't know about) it's just part ot the article name in the main (article) namespace.
One way to find out which namespaces are defined on a particular mediawiki site is to go to Special:All pages which has a drop-down list of namespaces to choose from.
And by the way that Special: prefix which indicates a page with special php code which generates it, doesn't seem to be a third kind of link prefix.