Adding pages to MediaWiki namespaces

View of all namespaces MediaWiki

After learning how to create a MediaWiki page, you can organize your pages into namespaces. Namespaces in MediaWiki are similar to categories in that when you create pages and they can be stored in certain page locations. For example, You can have “How to?” pages stored in the “Help” namespace, or you can have discussions stored in the “Talk” namespace.

The image to the right shows the available namespaces that are built into MediaWiki. Most of your MediaWiki pages will go into the “MediaWiki” Namespace. This article will explain what each namespace is for and how to create a “Help” and “Talk” namespace.

MediaWiki Built-in namespaces

MediaWiki by default has its own built-in namespaces. Two namespaces do not contain any editabe pages, the “Special” and “Media” namespaces. The rest of the namespaces are premade for organizing the pages. The following table explains what each namespace is for.

Namespaces with pages
NameDescription
MainThis namespace is for storing the main content of the wiki. its also called the “main namespace” or “mainspace“.
TalkThe talk is a part of the “Main” namespace. This is reserved for discussions.
UserThis namespace us reserved for user pages. This contains user article updates, recent changes, and information about the users wiki contribution.
User talkThis is a discussion namespace designed for discussions between registered users.
ProjectThe “Project” namespace is designed for development related information about the wiki.
Project talkSimilar to the “Project” namespace, this name space will have discussions between users about the development of the site.
FileEvery image, video and other file that is stored in the “Media” namespace will have a page created individually for it. This is the namespace that stores the page that is created for media.
File talkThis namespace is for discussions related to the File namespace.
MediaWikiThe “MediaWiki” namespace contains the files such as CSS, skin edit, and other system configuration pages.
MediaWiki talkThis is a discussion namespace for discussing issues with the “MediaWiki” namespace.
TemplateStore wiki templates or text that add functionality to other pages.
Template talkDiscussion based of the “Template” namespace.
HelpStores Frequently asked questions or other “How to?” related information.
Help talkThis is for discussing the “Help” namespace pages.
CategoryThis contains lists of pages that are a part of categories.
Category talkDiscussion based off of the “Category” namespace.
Namespaces with no pages
SpecialSpecial pages, reports, and other pages that are a part of the operation of the wiki are a part of this namespace. These are not editable pages.
MediaThis namespace is particular for storing files like video and images.

Adding pages to a namespace

The following steps will explain how to create a MediaWiki page in a namespace by using the search feature.

  1. Log into MediaWiki.
  2. On the left hand side click special pages.
  3. Click All pages MediaWiki

    Select All pages from the Lists of pages section.
    list of namespaces MediaWiki

    You can see all the available namespaces in the drop list where it says “Namespaces:“.

  4. To create a page in a specific namespace, in the search box to the top right of your mediawiki, type the namespace followed by a colon (:) and then the page name. Like the following:

    namespace:Your Page Name

    In this example, we will create a page in the Help namespace. The following will be searched:

    Help:FAQ

    Click Go.


  5. Search to create namespace MediaWiki

    In the search results, You should see “There were no results matching the query“.

    Click the link in the “Create the page . . .” to create the page.


    Save the page MediaWiki

    Add the content and Save the page.

    Title of namespace and page MediaWiki

    Now the new page will contain the Namespace in the title to identify the page in the particular namespace.

  6. Search results for namespace MediaWiki

    Go back to the special pages and Select All pages from the Lists of pages section.

    When you look at the Help Namespace you will see your new page listed in the “Help” Namespace section.


Creating Talk namespace pages

This section is to give a step by step in how to create a discussion in the Talk namespace through the page Edit Discussion table.

  1. Log into MediaWiki.
  2. Create talk MediaWiki

    Edit a page you want to create a discussion on.

    Click the discussion tab at the top left.


  3. Create page Discussion MediaWiki

    You should see the “Create Talk page” showing the name of the Talk.

    Add the content for the discussion and Save the page.


  4. Search for the talk page MediaWiki

    Go back to the special pages and Select All pages from the Lists of pages section.

    Select the “Talk” namespace from the Namespace drop box and click Go.


    Search results for Talk MediaWiki

    Now the discussion will show up in the “Talk” namespace.

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