1)How do I create a special page (New system features?) that will show up on the sidebar?

Right now this can only be done by changing the PHP code that runs the wikipedia.

2)Can we place a link at least on the recent changes page and the homepage (could it be in a different color and blink?) and how does inserting a link to a special page differ from inserting a link to a regular page?

Editing the special pages is something which can only be done programatically, or by a sysop. I think we can and should make the link a different color, but I'm sure a blinking link will become distracting very quickly.

3)Is a namespace the same as an article and/or a page?

A namespace is a separate section of the site, which can have any number of articles. The part before the colon is the namespace, and the part after is the name of a page.

We call them namespaces because they allow you to use the same page names in multiple places. For example there is a page called "main page," and also a page in the talk namespace called "main page." So people know which namespace they are in, all namespaces other than the main article namespace are prefaced by Talk: or User: or whatever the title of their namespace happens to be. This means that what used to be "Main Page/Talk" should now be "Talk:Main Page." This is not a subpage of "Main Page" but a page in a separate section of the wikipedia site devoted to talking about the main page.

The conversion script automatically changed all of the zzz/talk pages into Talk:zzz for us.

4. Mark mentioned using parentheses rather than a

slash in an article title to indicate what used to be a subpage (I think). Does this mean that the article is independent, or that the parentheses associate it with a main article in a similar manner? How does this relate to the talk page generated with each article?

(and for my own sanity, are they related at the same level or do sublevels even exist?)

Subpages automatically linked back to their root page (the page before the /) and the software does not do this anymore. Subpages are no longer a part of wikipedia.

5)If the system still functions in a way that says "subpage" to the users, is there any reason to even dicuss functionality? It seems to be that the UI may still look like a duck and walk like a duck -- even if it doesn't talk like a duck behind the scenes -- so why not let the users think it is in fact a duck?

Because Larry, and others have argue strongly that subpages are a bad idea. Perhaps we need to post a summary of why they believe this to be true.

We want people to stop thinking that they can use the software to create a fixed hierarchy of ideas in the wikipedia, or else we might end up not being able to find an article on George Washington because it is actually:

"Presidents/Washington," "Famous Generals/George Washington," "George Washington/Biography"

We can still set up hierarchies by using regular pages with links, but we shouldn't be allowed to force the use of a particular hierarchy on everybody...

I hope this helps.