Manual talk:Namespace

From MediaWiki.org

[edit] examples of "namespace" features and benefits needed, please!

Peter Blaise responds:

     Great, and thank you, Rob.

     Now all we need are examples. For instance:

• How to export or print all articles in a namespace or group of namespaces?
• How to control who can see or edit the articles in a particular namespace or group of namespaces?
• How to restrict search to include or exclude a particular namespace or group of namespaces?
• How to auto-build a table of contents for all articles in a namespace or group of namespaces?
• How to export and import one or more namespaces?
• ... more?!?

     In other words, what are the features and benefits of using the "namespace" function, and how (examples, please) can a wiki admin or wiki user take advantage of those features and benefits?

Thanks -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 14:07, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

PS - Same needs for examples in understanding "categories" and "sub-pages".

[edit] Namespace vs. Category vs. Sub-page

Peter Blaise says:

     I understand what I've read about each MediaWiki feature:

• Namespace vs. Category vs. Sub-page.
  

But I'm not sure I understand the benefits of each feature, especially comparatively. Here's my goal (of any database system): I want to read, create, save, edit, search, sort, print, export, and import (is there more?) and I wonder how the features of Namespace vs. Category vs. Sub-page (or other - Special:page-features?) assist in organizing the contents of any MediaWiki such that I can execute each of those tasks over my own choice of a subset of the main data.

     An example: say I have a wiki with job descriptions, and each job description has a series of tasks. I may want to see or print, say, all job descriptions, with no sub-tasks. Or, I may want to see and print only one entire job description and all it's tasks, but no other job descriptions. How would I organize that information best using Namespace vs. Category vs. Sub-page (or other)? Each job description goes on it's own page (I presume). Should I create a separate namespace for each job? Should I create sub-pages for each job's tasks? Would categories be helpful? What search, sort, and select tools in the MediaWiki software have powers over Namespace vs. Category vs. Sub-page such that I would know in advance before I enter or organize all the data? I'm not asking you to build my database and queries for me, I'm asking for examples of the MediaWiki features and benefits so I or anyone can know in advance how MediaWiki can manipulate it's contents (or not).

     I'm imagining a table, but I may be way off base:

Benefit: →

Show all pages:

Auto table of contents:

Read:

Create:

Save:

Edit:

Search:

Sort:

Select:

Print:

Export:

Import:

↓ Feature:

Page:

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Namespace

Y

?

?

?

?

?

Category:

?

?

?

?

?

?

Sub-page:

?

?

?

?

?

Search:

Print:

... And so on

     How would YOU recommend organizing a Table of Benefits for every MediaWiki Feature?

     I guess what I'm asking in a backwards way is, how powerful are the search, sort, select, report, print features, and also any auto-features such as auto table of contents or auto index features in MediaWiki? How would anyone using a MediaWiki database say, "show me and print all and only ... such and such"?

     Or, has no one evolved the search/sort/select and auto features over the database contents of a MediaWiki yet, and these are SQL/PHP challenges as yet unaddressed inside MediaWiki?

-- Thanks. Peter Blaise peterblaise 10:47, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reversion

I reverted this edit on the grounds that

• it's quite clear the technical overview relates to namespaces
• the first table headings were, I felt, quite clear
• the addition of a lot of "(see...)" seemed quite useless; either create useful links, or don't bother
• there is no such thing as an "SQL database" - SQL is the language used to communicate with a DBMS, a database is a logical collection of items

Feel free to discuss below. robchurch | talk 13:55, 21 June 2007 (UTC)