SourceWatch:Namespaces

SourceWatch has several "namespaces" – which essentially function as different directories on the site – with different purposes and types of contents. You can tell what namespace you're in by looking at the article title at the top of a page (for example, this article is in the "SourceWatch:" namespace because its title is "SourceWatch:Namespaces"). When creating a new page, make sure to put it in the appropriate namespace:

Common namespaces

• Main namespace: This is the default namespace; it is where all the "regular" articles on SourceWatch reside. Pages without any of the prefixes below are in the main namespace.
  • Discussion namespace: Every article has an associated discussion or "talk" page. Pages in the discussion namespace have a "Talk:" preceding the name of the article they are associated with. The discussion pages for articles in the regular namespace are where editors can discuss and debate articles or make notes explaining the reasons behind edits they have made. To get to an article's discussion page, click the 'discussion" tab near the top left corner of the article. See how to use discussion pages.

• User namespace: Pages in the user namespace are the personal pages of registered editors on SourceWatch. To access your own user page, click on your username near the top right corner of any page (you'll need to be logged-in to see this). Pages in the user namespace have a "User:" prefix before the username as the article title. Users are generally free to post whatever they want on their user pages and are encouraged to post information about their interests on the site, any projects they're working on, or articles or subjects they are interested in, though they should not be used in place of personal websites. Many users visit other users' user pages after seeing their edits in the site's history to find out more about their interests and/or facilitate cooperation on articles.
  • User talk namespace: This namespace contains the discussion pages associated with specific users. Pages in this namespace have a "User talk:" prefix before the username as the article title. These namespaces are used to initiate discussions with users - when someone makes an edit to your user talk page a message will pop-up the next time you visit the site to let you know - but users are encouraged to hold discussions on specific articles on that article's discussion page. User talk pages, however, are very useful in alerting a user who has edited an article in the past that you've initiated a discussion on that article's talk page. See how to use discussion pages.

• SourceWatch namespace: This "meta" namespace contains pages that discuss or explain certain aspects of SourceWatch, including the various policies and guidelines of the site. Pages in this namespace have a "SourceWatch:" prefix in the article title.
  • SourceWatch talk namespace: This namespace contains the discussion pages associated with pages in the "SourceWatch" namespace. Pages in this namespace have a "SourceWatch talk:" prefix in the article title.

Other namespaces

• Image namespace: This namespace contains the image and other media files uploaded to SourceWatch, including notes on the origin of the image and an licenses (like the GFDL) that the image is governed by.
  • Image talk namespace: This namespace contains discussion of media files.

• MediaWiki namespace: This namespace contains technical pages used to run the site.
  • MediaWiki talk namespace: This namespace contains discussion of the MediaWiki namespace pages.

• Template namespace: This namespace contains the templates used on SourceWatch. See templates.
  • Template talk namespace: This namespace contains discussion on the templates.

• Category namespace: This namespace contains the category pages with links to each page assigned to that category. See categories.
  • Category talk namespace: This namespace contains discussion of the categories and category pages.

• Portal namespace: This namespace contains portals used on SourceWatch to organize content.
  • Portal talk namespace: This namespace contains discussion of the portals.