Editing Template:Namespace detect/doc

This is the {{tl|Namespace detect}} meta-template.  It helps other templates detect what type of page they are on.

It detects and groups all the different [[Wikipedia:Namespace#Enumeration|namespaces]] used on Wikipedia into several types:

; main : Main (i.e. article) space, where normal Wikipedia articles are kept.
; talk : Any talk space, including page names that start with "Talk:", "User talk:", "File talk:", etc.
; user : User pages
; file : Images and other binary files' description pages
; mediawiki : Built-in messages and interface definitions
; template : Transcluded wiki code functions
; help : Wiki documentation
; category : Page categorization
; other : Any namespaces that were not specified as a parameter to the template (see explanation below).

For backwards compatibility, this template handles '''image''' as if '''file'''. '''image''' (<nowiki>[[Image:...]]</nowiki>) is now deprecated.

'''Note:''' For most cases it may be better to use the simpler namespace detection templates (see the [[#See also|see also]] section below). This template is more prone to human errors such as misspelling parameter names.

== Usage ==

This template takes one or more parameters named after the different page types as listed above. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | main  = Article text
 | talk  = Talk page text
 | other = Other pages text
}}
</pre>

If the template is on a main (article) page, it will return this:
: {{Namespace detect |demospace=main
   | main  = Article text
   | talk  = Talk page text
   | other = Other pages text
  }}

If the template is on any other page than an article or a talk page, it will return this:
: {{Namespace detect
   | main  = Article text
   | talk  = Talk page text
   | other = Other pages text
  }}

The example above made the template return something for all page types. But if we don't use the '''other''' parameter or leave it empty, it will not return anything for the other page types. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | file     = File page text
 | category = Category page text
 | other    =
}}
</pre>

On any pages other than file and category pages the code above will render nothing.
<!-- Do not remove this one. It is supposed to render nothing, but we have it here for testing purposes. -->
: {{Namespace detect
   | file     = File page text
   | category = Category page text
   | other    =
  }}

By using an empty parameter, you can make it so the template doesn't render anything for some specific page type. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | main  = 
 | other = Other pages text
}}
</pre>

The code above will render nothing when on mainspace (article) pages, but will return this when on other pages:
: {{Namespace detect
   | main  = 
   | other = Other pages text
  }}

== Demospace and page ==

For testing and demonstration purposes, this template can take two parameters named '''demospace''' and '''page'''.

'''demospace''' understands any of the page type names used by this template, including the '''other''' type. It tells the template to behave like it is on some specific type of page. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | main  = Article text
 | other = Other pages text
 | demospace = main
}}
</pre>

No matter on what kind of page the code above is used, it will return this:
: {{Namespace detect
   | main  = Article text
   | other = Other pages text
   | demospace = main
  }}

The '''page''' parameter instead takes a normal pagename, making this template behave exactly as if on that page. The pagename doesn't have to be an existing page. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | user  = User page text
 | other = Other pages text
 | page  = User:Example
}}
</pre>

No matter on what kind of page the code above is used, it will return this:
: {{Namespace detect
   | user  = User page text
   | other = Other pages text
   | page  = User:Example
  }}

It can be convenient to let your template understand the '''demospace''' and/or '''page''' parameter and send it on to the {{tl|Namespace detect}} template. Like this:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
 | main  = Article text
 | other = Other pages text
 | demospace = {{{demospace|}}}
 | page  = {{{page|}}}
}}
</pre>

If both the '''demospace''' and '''page''' parameters are empty or undefined, the template will detect page types as usual.

== Parameters ==

List of all parameters:
<pre>
{{Namespace detect
| main  = 
...
| other =
| demospace = {{{demospace|}}} / main / talk / user /
              file / mediawiki / template /
              help / category / other
| page  = {{{page|}}} / User:Example
}}
</pre>

Note: Empty values to the "main" ... "book" parameters have special meaning.

== Technical details ==

Namespace "Image" was renamed to "File" on 11 December 2008. This template was updated to understand both names well before that, thus it still works fine. For backwards compatibility it still understands "image" both as a parameter name, such as "image&nbsp;= File page text", and as a value "demospace&nbsp;= image".

==Sources==
* {{Wikipedia|Template:Namespace detect}}
* {{Wikipedia|Template:Namespace detect/doc}}

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