Topic on Project:Support desk

This probably sounds like a really silly question, but I've exhausted all other opportunities at this point and I don't really want to waste investment in getting to grips with this if this isn't possible, so just hear me out:

I'm trying to make use of a wiki format to make my worldbuilding notes for a writing project I'm working on more streamlined and coherent, and for this reason I'd rather not have all of the rough edges and spoilers out there for the public to see, so is there some way to make a wiki created with this available to view by only an exclusive number of people and nobody else?

Basically, yes.

You might create a user group which has the right to read and edit everything. At least you should be a member yourself.

The main page is to be visible for everybody, and perhaps there are a few pages where you publish your work.

Then create a Private: namespace. Give read and perhaps edit right (and page creation) to close user groups. Revocate such rights for this namespace in general. The MediaWiki: namespace is an example for a namespace which may be edited by members of sysop group only, However, it can be read by everybody.

Please note that a wiki is made to publish information, not to hide. Technically it is possible to organize things in the way you asked, but it might be a bit tricky to confgure. foundation: is a wiki which works as you expect. Note that traces like page lists or links might be visible or could be guessed.

Hide the whole thing using .htaccess and give your friends passwords :-)

See manual:Preventing access. Having private to public, with some usrs read only (everything) and some other users read/write everything is one of the easier scenarios to set up with mediawiki.

Hide the whole thing with a password is a better option so your site doesn't get indexed by anything.