Editing WikiIndex talk:Namespace conventions (section)

==Main namespace vs alternate namespaces==
Looking at the [[WikiNode]], [[TourBusStop]], [[sandbox]], articles - as mentioned by [[TedErnst]] earlier, made me think that these are pages that people elsewhere may or may not want in their main namespace. So I think they are very good examples of something that could be viewed from the point of view of external wiki-editors.

WikiNode and TourBusStop in particular, are projects that people are trying to "push" onto other wikis, so thinking about how dumping them into someone's main namespace '''might''' be seen as disruptive might be helpful in thinking of the best way to "market" these two [[:Category:Wiki concept|concepts]] to other wikis.

To help explain this, on my own wiki ([[Spelljammer Wiki]]) I'm trying to build up an encyclopedia of canon for an out of print role playing game. Having a WikiNode pop up on a random page search might not bother [[WikiIndex]], but it would be more likely to confuse my own visitors. Projecting yourself into my boots and thinking about how '''I''' can make that a "backdoor" way into '''my''' wiki, might make it easier for you to "sell" this inter-wiki concept.

I've already seen that the [[Archive.org:20080501073706/http://www.Wikia.com/wiki/WikiNode|WikiNode]] at [[:Category:Wikia|Wikia]] got deleted. Maybe they thought it was [[spam]]. Or maybe someone uploaded a stub-like page that was never updated. But I do know that these two projects depend on co-operation between different wikis, so you kind of need to make them work for everyone, rather than just think of how WikiIndex is the website of wikis and that these are "obviously" core concepts. To everyone else inter-wiki information probably is an "off-topic" thing.

I'm not saying this to tell you: 'change the way that you run WikiIndex', but that you might want to pro-actively want to consider these sorts of issues (and issues I've not even thought of) and create how-to sections that allow people to join your WikiNode and TourBusStop fun in their own way.

On a second note, the "we don't use the random page at the moment" thing does not really hold, because you '''do''' have a [[Special:Search|search box]] and that allows people to search the following namespaces: (Main), Talk User, User talk, WikiIndex, WikiIndex talk, Image, Image talk, MediaWiki, MediaWiki talk, Template, Template talk, Help, Help talk, Category, Category talk. By default, search only searches in "main", so you need to take that into account, when designing new content areas for the wiki.

That search box is pretty powerful and I'm pretty sure that you can add new namespaces to it too. So if, for example, you were to have a "WikiPeople" namespace (instead of putting everyone into main), I could hop over to the WikiIndex search page and quickly search for anyone who might have specialist information in a specific field. Allowing people to quickly find '''people''' with common intersts, might help people to create a WikiNode that has a reciprocal link at the other end. So you could suggest something like that in a "How to find other wikis for your WikiNode" tutorial. But being able to search for wiki people separately, might '''also''' help people to make contact with other people that could offer topic-specific suggestions for setting up a new wiki.

On a third note, you have a few wikis (I think it is mostly [[wiki farm]]s) that are listed as [[Special:Categories|categories]] instead of normal pages in the main namespace. This means that if I search for something that is on the Wikia page, I won't see it. Having the content in main, and then having a link to "List of Wikia wikis" that points to the [[category]]  could help get the search box to give the expected results.

On another note, you have a few big wikis (like [[:Category:Wikia|Wikia]]), where people have added comments about how the wiki works. If you have a very complex wiki - and a [[:Category:Wiki farm|wiki farm]] is a good example, it might be easier for visitors to have the basic stuff on a normal page (in the main namespace) and then use a bespoke namespace (in this case Wikia:) to dump all the other stuff. A Wikia namespace, could be used for creating various lists of Wikia wikis by different categories. It could also be used for creating something like a page that explains how people go about requesting a Wikia wiki*.

''* = To counterpoint this sort of embedded specialist advice (for specific wiki farms), the main namespace could have a page that explains how to download and install each type of [[:Category:Wiki engine|wiki software]] (or at least, how to find the information elsewhere). So as well as listing [[:Category:All|all the wikis]] in the [[:Category:Global|world]], you could also help people to start their own [[wiki]] (or sign up with any wiki farm in the world). I think a comparison of how various [[:Category:Wiki syntax|wiki code]] works may also be something that helps people to decide how helpful various [[:Category:Wiki engine|wiki engines]] could be to them.''

Just a few of suggestions for the conversation. I'll be interested to see how this wiki ends up using main. [[User:David Shepheard|David Shepheard]] 07:22, 2 May 2009 (EDT)