doc:namespace

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doc:namespace [2026/03/31 19:10] – [Why is it called a namespace, not just a folder?] Simon Grantdoc:namespace [2026/04/02 08:44] (current) – [Why is it called a namespace, not just a folder?] Simon Grant
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 Fear not: this can look very unfamiliar at first sight, but it's not really hard. Fear not: this can look very unfamiliar at first sight, but it's not really hard.
  
-A namespace in DokuWiki is basically a way of pointing to different parts of the wiki, just like a folder (or directory) structure on your file system (on your hard drive or wherever) allows you to sort your files into sensible groups, or the way in which many web sites structure their pages into folders or directories. This is a very useful feature in DokuWiki, which isn't available in MediaWiki (and so Wikipedia), or many other wiki systems. That may be why it's not familiar.+A namespace in DokuWiki is basically a way of pointing to different parts of the wiki. It's just like the folder (or directory) structure on your file system (on your hard drive or wherever), which allows you to arrange your files into a tree-like structure of sensible groups. Many web sites arrange their pages into folders or directories. This is a very useful feature in DokuWiki, which isn't available in MediaWiki (and so Wikipedia), or many other wiki systems. That may be why it's not familiar.
  
 Here on this wiki, there is one page at the 'root', with no namespace: the [[:start]] page. If you go there and look at the URL in your browser, you may be able to see `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/start`.\\ Here on this wiki, there is one page at the 'root', with no namespace: the [[:start]] page. If you go there and look at the URL in your browser, you may be able to see `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/start`.\\
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 ''doc'' is actually the name of a folder in the web server where this page is kept. ''doc'' is actually the name of a folder in the web server where this page is kept.
  
-Look at some more examples. Our topic groups are in the namespace (and folder) called ''gt'' (for "group of topics").\\+Look at some more examples. Our topic groups are in the namespace (and folder) called ''gt'' (standing for "group of topics").\\
 If you go to any of these, such as [[gt:community|Community & culture]] you will see the URL is\\ If you go to any of these, such as [[gt:community|Community & culture]] you will see the URL is\\
 `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/gt/community`.\\ `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/gt/community`.\\
 The topic group "[[gt:bushcraft|Bushcraft & nature]]" similarly has the URL\\ The topic group "[[gt:bushcraft|Bushcraft & nature]]" similarly has the URL\\
 `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/gt/bushcraft`.\\ `https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/gt/bushcraft`.\\
-The namespaces allow us to have different pages with the same name, in different namespaces.\\+The namespaces allow us to have different pages with the same name, as long as they are in different namespaces.\\
 For each of our topics, we have arbitrarily chosen a four-letter namespace hinting at the topic name. For each of our topics, we have arbitrarily chosen a four-letter namespace hinting at the topic name.
 So, there is an actual topic, [[bush:bushcraft]], which is in its own namespace, ''bush''. The URL for that topic is\\ So, there is an actual topic, [[bush:bushcraft]], which is in its own namespace, ''bush''. The URL for that topic is\\
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 This is just the same as the fact that you can have two files with the same name in your computer system, provided they sit in different folders. Not just pages, but also images and other files sit in one or another namespace (i.e., folder). This is just the same as the fact that you can have two files with the same name in your computer system, provided they sit in different folders. Not just pages, but also images and other files sit in one or another namespace (i.e., folder).
 +
 +===== Why are namespaces so useful? =====
 +In normal file systems, a folder or directory structure allows its owner to treat files in different folders differently. Similarly, in DokuWiki, the namespace structure allows us to give different permissions to different people, for the various different namespaces. Curators belong to user groups, and the people in each user group have permission to edit pages in the corresponding namespace. This is designed to greatly reduce worries about accidentally editing the wrong pages.
  
 ==== Why is it called a namespace, not just a folder? ==== ==== Why is it called a namespace, not just a folder? ====
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 Namespaces conventionally use a colon `:` as a delimiter. Namespaces conventionally use a colon `:` as a delimiter.
 There is a lot of history behind this, which is not needed for understanding namespaces in DokuWiki. There is a lot of history behind this, which is not needed for understanding namespaces in DokuWiki.
-It may be enough to say that in DokuWiki, they are essentially the same, except the slash `/` is used in URLs, while the colon `:` is the normal usage for internal locations.+Probably enough to say that in DokuWiki, they are essentially the same, except the slash `/` is used in URLs, while the colon `:` is the normal usage for internal locations.
  
 So, this document's internal link is `[[doc:namespace]]` which is simply displayed as [[doc:namespace]].\\ So, this document's internal link is `[[doc:namespace]]` which is simply displayed as [[doc:namespace]].\\
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 This actually works just the same here in Markdown syntax. `[this](doc:namespace)` gives [this](doc:namespace)\\ This actually works just the same here in Markdown syntax. `[this](doc:namespace)` gives [this](doc:namespace)\\
 and `[this](doc/namespace)` gives [this](doc/namespace). and `[this](doc/namespace)` gives [this](doc/namespace).
-===== Why are namespaces so useful? ===== 
-In normal file systems, a folder or directory structure allows its owner to treat files in different folders differently. Similarly, in DokuWiki, the namespace structure allows us to give different permissions to different people, for the various different namespaces. Curators belong to user groups, and the people in each user group have permission to edit pages in the corresponding namespace. This is designed to greatly reduce worries about accidentally editing the wrong pages. 
  
 ===== See also ===== ===== See also =====
  • doc/namespace.1774984253.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2026/03/31 19:10
  • by Simon Grant