Help:Namespaces

Shortcut: Help:NS

Help:Page name is in the Help: namespace

Wikimedia Commons' namespaces provide a basic structure for organising Commons content. This page, Help:Namespaces, is in the Help: namespace. Another example: the page Category:Commons help is a page in the Category: namespace, which lists all pages categorised as "Commons help" pages. Below is a complete list of the namespaces used at Wikimedia Commons and their functions.

Namespaces in numerical order

Name & synonyms	Lists of pages	Nr. of pages Special pages	Description
Standard Namespaces Standard Namespaces: Common to all MediaWiki projects
Media {{ns:-2}} {{ns:media}}	n/a	108,245,403 MyUploads	Namespace for uploaded media files themselves, as opposed to description pages in the File namespace (6); for example [[Media:Krazy Kat Bugologist 1916 silent.ogv|Media:Krazy Kat Bugologist 1916 silent.ogv]] as compared to [[:File:Krazy Kat Bugologist 1916 silent.ogv|:File:Krazy Kat Bugologist 1916 silent.ogv]].
Special {{ns:-1}} {{ns:special}}	n/a	SpecialPages	The Special prefix is for pages that are automatically generated and cannot be edited. There is also no corresponding talk page, however, the parts that can be edited (i.e. system messages in the MediaWiki namespace) can be discussed on the appropriate talk page.
(Gallery) {{ns:0}}	PrefixIndex Uncategorized Unwatched Most Linked	113,885	Namespace 0 here known as (Gallery) is used to display galleries of images and other media on Wikimedia Commons. It is referred to as Main or Article namespace on other projects like Wikipedia. Unlike all other namespaces, this namespace has no prefix before the page name. See also: Commons:Galleries.
Talk {{ns:1}} {{ns:talk}}	PrefixIndex	2,537	The Talk namespace is the discussion page for the (Gallery) namespace. This page is used to confer with other users about specific galleries in the main namespace. Similar to other odd-numbered namespaces. See also: Commons:Talk page guidelines.
User {{ns:2}} {{ns:user}}	PrefixIndex List Users ActiveUsers Administrators	MyPage 12,877,781 33,542 183	Registered users have a homepage User:Username linked to by the system in lists of edits, e.g. on page histories, and from signatures on talk pages. Users can edit their page and its subpages to present themselves or for project-related bookmarks, drafts, tests, and other working material. For users who do not log in, the same applies, with the IP as username. See project scope for what content is allowed at user pages.
User talk {{ns:3}} {{ns:user_talk}}	PrefixIndex	6,363,806 MyTalk	The User talk namespace is used for sending and receiving personal messages. You may send a message to another user by editing their user talk page just like you would edit any other page. If someone leaves you a message on your talk page, you will be notified when you log in.
Commons {{ns:4}} {{ns:project}} (Alias: Project, COM)	PrefixIndex	634,457	The Commons namespace is an all-purpose namespace. It contains Wikimedia Commons' policies and guidelines, voting pages for the deletion of images and media, voting pages to grant users more power or inclusion into exclusive groups, complaints pages where users can request help in dealing with troublesome users, users essays concerning topics of interest pertaining to Commons, along with many project-related pages. Use the name project instead of Commons on portable pages (especially templates), because project works on all MediaWiki installations. Unsurprisingly there are also aliases COM talk (shorter) and Project talk (portable) for Commons talk (namespace 5).
Commons talk {{ns:5}} {{ns:project_talk}}	PrefixIndex	6,058
File {{ns:6}} {{ns:file}} (Alias: Image)	PrefixIndex List Files New Files	108,245,403 Uncategorized Wanted Most Linked	The File namespace is where all the images and media (such as audio and movie clips) are stored. This is the most frequently used namespace of Commons. On file pages, you will usually find the file itself as well as its copyright information, author, description, and much more. See: project scope for allowed file content. Commons:File types for what types of files are allowed. Commons:First steps/Uploading files You can also use Image talk for File talk (namespace 7). See also: Help:Files.
File talk {{ns:7}} {{ns:file_talk}}	PrefixIndex	200,391
MediaWiki {{ns:8}} {{ns:mediawiki}}	PrefixIndex AllMessages	20,445	The MediaWiki namespace is used to hold system messages and other important content. For instance, the page MediaWiki:Edit (or MediaWiki:Vector-view-edit in the default "Vector" skin) contains the text that fills the "Edit" tab at the top of every page. If that page exists, it overrides the default content, which is "edit this page". Similarly, MediaWiki:Common.css is the system message which holds the CSS code that is loaded for all users for each page. It has the special property that the entire namespace is fully protected and can only be edited by administrators. To request changes, put {{edit request}} on the MediaWiki talk page. Note that "MediaWiki:" pages are often called through use of "int:" prefix. For example one can call {{MediaWiki:January}} (January) or {{int:January}} (January). The difference is that the latter will be translated to the language of the user.
MediaWiki talk {{ns:9}} {{ns:mediawiki_talk}}	PrefixIndex	3,028
Template {{ns:10}} {{ns:template}}	PrefixIndex	181,319 Uncategorized Unused Wanted Most Linked	The Template namespace stores commonly used code for other namespaces. It is the default namespace for templates: the wikitext code {{name}} refers to and includes the page Template:name. See also: Commons:Templates.
Template talk {{ns:11}} {{ns:template_talk}}	PrefixIndex	2,852
Help {{ns:12}} {{ns:help}}	PrefixIndex	406	The Help namespace contains help pages for Wikimedia Commons. For an overview see Help:Contents  See also category: Commons help.
Help talk {{ns:13}} {{ns:help_talk}}	PrefixIndex	62
Category {{ns:14}} {{ns:category}} (Alias: CAT)	PrefixIndex Categories	5,786,276 Uncategorized Unused Wanted Most Linked	The Category namespace is used to organize pages in other namespaces based on common themes, for example, in the Category:Flags page you will find a list of all the pages (images, galleries, and subcategories) that contain the code [[Category:Flags]]. Hopefully all the pages in this category will have something to do with flags. Category:CommonsRoot is the top-most category. See also: Commons:Categories.
Category talk {{ns:15}} {{ns:category_talk}}	PrefixIndex	17,188
Module {{ns:828}} {{ns:module}}	PrefixIndex	516	The Module namespace contains Scribunto modules – Lua scripts implementing special-purpose parser functions for use in templates, beyond the basic set included with MediaWiki and its extensions. See also: Commons:Lua.
Module talk {{ns:829}} {{ns:module_talk}}	PrefixIndex	94
Topic {{ns:2600}}	PrefixIndex	13	The flow namespace is currently not used due to no consensus on activation.
Custom Namespaces Custom Namespaces: Not Found on All Wikimedia Projects
Creator {{ns:100}}	PrefixIndex Category	62,746	The Creator namespace is similar to the Template namespace in that it only contains templates, yet this namespace is reserved for {{Creator}} infoboxes. These infobox templates contain general information about notable artists to be used on their works' File namespace pages. Creator pages are especially useful for verifying dates for files using {{PD-old}} license. Actually namespaces 100 and 101 exist on all newer MediaWiki installations, but the name has to be customized. See also: Commons:Creator.
Creator talk {{ns:101}}	PrefixIndex	87
TimedText {{ns:102}}	PrefixIndex Category	6,209	The TimedText namespace is used for storing .srt files that contain closed captioning text in the SubRip format. See Commons:Timed Text for how to use this; and see the example TimedText:Krazy Kat Bugologist 1916 silent.ogv.en.srt.
TimedText talk {{ns:103}}	PrefixIndex	413
Sequence {{ns:104}}	PrefixIndex	24	The Sequence namespace is used for storing video sequences. See Commons:Sequencer for an overview of the Kaltura JavaScript video sequencer.
Sequence talk {{ns:105}}	PrefixIndex	2
Institution {{ns:106}} (Alias: Museum)	PrefixIndex Category	7,024	The Institution namespace is similar to the Template and Creator namespaces in that it only contains templates, yet this namespace is reserved for {{Institution}} infoboxes. These infobox templates contain general information about museums, galleries, collections and other institutions to be used on their works' File namespace pages, like in gallery field of {{Artwork}}.
Institution talk {{ns:107}} (Alias: Museum talk)	PrefixIndex	15
Campaign {{ns:460}}	PrefixIndex	392	This namespace is used to set up customized file upload forms. See mw:Extension:UploadWizard/Campaigns for details. It can only be edited by Upload Wizard campaign editors and administrators.
Campaign talk {{ns:461}}	PrefixIndex	11
Data {{ns:486}}	PrefixIndex	353	This namespace is used for two types of datasets, Tabular Data with suffix .tab and Map Data with suffix .map. See mw:Help:Tabular Data and mw:Help:Map Data. It was launched in November 2016 ([1]).
Data talk {{ns:487}}	PrefixIndex	6
GWToolset {{ns:490}}	PrefixIndex	131	GWToolset has been disabled in May 2023. The page Commons:GLAMwiki Toolset is kept for historical reasons.
GWToolset talk {{ns:491}}	PrefixIndex	0
Translations {{ns:1198}}	PrefixIndex	121,677	The Translations namespace is related to :mw:Extension:Translate.
Translations talk {{ns:1199}}	PrefixIndex	8

See also

• Variables related to namespaces
• Commons:Database reports/Page count by namespace
• Automatically generated list by the API