[Mediawiki-l] Conflict with extension developers in reservation of custom namespaces

Michael Allan mike at zelea.com
Thu Sep 22 08:13:35 UTC 2011


Hello to all,

I'm posting to request help with a conflict in namespace registration:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_default_namespaces?oldid=430890
Wiki admins are looking for a safe range of namespaces to use for
custom, site-specific purposes.  A little over a year ago, we floated
the range 500-599 on the registration talk page.  There were no
objections, so, a couple of months ago we reserved the range and
amended the manual.  You can see the discussion in section 4:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Extension_namespace_registration?oldid=436566

It turns out that an extension had already been using that range.
Apparently the developer forgot to register it (see section 5, above).
I guess he spoke to someone else, because just yesterday:

  * The namespace registration system was replaced with a "default"
    system and the page was moved:
    http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_default_namespaces

  * The range 500-599 is no longer marked as reserved in the same
    manner as the extensions are marked.

  * A Liquid Threads extension was enabled on the talk page.  (I
    mention this because it fails on my Firefox 3.6, so I can't use
    the talk page anymore.)
  
I guess the issue isn't open for discussion there, anyway.  Please
someone else take a thought for the needs of the admins, and:

  1. Pick a range to reserve for site-specific use.  A whole block of
     100 would be ideal, if that's possible.

  2. Clearly mark the range as reserved, in the same manner as the
     extension ranges are marked.  For example:
     http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_default_namespaces?oldid=430890#Site-specific

  3. Update the manual to reflect these changes:
     http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Using_custom_namespaces

The extension developer (the one who forgot to register his namespace)
says this is a "silly" request, but I think it's quite reasonable.


PS - Could someone also add a link to this thread from the talk page?
I am no longer able to post there.
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Extension_default_namespaces

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/



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