Okay, but I don't think it helps to suggest that we're creating an encyclopedia written and edited primarily by the unintelligent. <snip>
3)Is a namespace the same as an article and/or a page?
No. A namespace is a set of articles. "Talk:" is a namespace. So is "User:" Like the main wikipedia, they can have unlimited numbers of articles within them.
-----That helps immensely -- now, when an article is created in the main wikipedia namespace, does it not automatically create a related talk page in the "talk:" namespace? I'd like to be able to explain this in a way that keeps people from adding /Talk at the bottom of all "their" articles.
Yes, every article gets a matching talk namespace. For the "blank" (main) namespace, this is "talk:". For the "wikipedia:" namespace, it is "wikipedia talk:"; and for "user:", it is "user talk:". In other words, all namespaces get their own talk namespace, except for "talk:", "special:", and "log:". See the FAQ page for more details on the namespaces and what they mean.
----Read what you've written, and I think it still needs to be less techie. What if I just wrote out a bunch of text (a user translation, so to speak) and sent it to one of you guys/gals to proof, and then you could create a "Changes to the System" or "New System features" special page. I say this because that way it would be really obvious. The problem is that, unless people know where to look, they don't know how to search... ;-) For example, PHP script FAQ assumes that users know what PHP script is -- and that it has something to do with posting articles. I would also take what you and Vicki and Mark have explained about namespaces, weed it a bit, and then NOT use the word namespace so often. Even if not accurate, I think there are probably non-tech words that are more easily understood -- analogies can be our friends!
Sure. Mail it to me (or to wikitech-l), and tell me where to put it, or just put it up yourself and tell us where it is so we can "proofread" it. This *is* a wiki system we're using ;)
----Also, would it be possible to have a link on every page (at least for now) to the Bug reports? When I hit an error, it would be so much nicer to be able to describe it immediately, rather than finding "utilities", "bugs", go back and forth several times to make sure I documented everything... Or maybe just put a "utilities" link on everypage (or in the side bar.
I'll do that; it might take some time before it goes online, though.
Or add more questions to the FAQ page; we'll try to answer them as customer as we can...
----Actually, I think it would be good to duplicate the info in several places...people approach things in different ways. There are still people who don't know what FAQs are!
Just set up some redirects!
Thanks to all of you guys (in the both-genders-inclusive sense) for your help!!
while(++support); (Techie for "we help where we can";)