Wikipedia: The Missing Manual

The Top Tabs

At the top of every page in Wikipedia, you can expect to see six tabs (seven tabs if it’s a talk page). These tabs let you switch between the main article page, the talk (discussion) page, the page history, and so on.

Note

Pages with the “Special:” prefix, such as the Special:Watchlist page, don’t have tabs. Special pages, which Wikipedia’s software automatically generates, don’t have a history, and you can’t edit them. Think of them as one-time reports.

Article, Category, or Project Page

The name of the leftmost tab indicates the namespace you’re in. For example, if you’re looking at an article, it says “article”. If you’re looking at a WikiProject page, it says “project page”. (All WikiProject pages have the have the prefix “Wikipedia:”.) if you’re looking at a Category page (Chapter 17), it says “category”, and so on.

Note

You may hear other editors use the term projectspace. That just means all WikiProject pages. If the leftmost tab says, “project page”, you’re in projectspace. If you want to get the terminology right, articles are in mainspace, not “articlespace” (though if you slip up and use the latter word, other editors will understand what you’re talking about).

Discussion

Displays the talk page associated with an article, Wikipedia instructional page, category, or whatever. The tab probably should say “talk page”, since that’s what everyone calls them. Maybe someday there’ll be consensus to change this tab ...