Help:Spaces
| Help:Contents |
 This page in a nutshell:
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| As a phone book is divided into white, blue, and yellow pages, Centiare is divided into fourteen (14) distinct Spaces. |
In an effort to keep information organized into neat, appropriate "boxes", Centiare content is classified into fourteen different Spaces. This page will briefly outline what each of them is intended to hold.
(By the way, each Space, other than Special Pages, has its own "Talk" mirror, where users can have conversations about topics or articles, without affecting the articles themselves. So technically, Centiare has twenty-seven (27) Spaces, including each "Talk" area.)
Spaces available for editing by users
The first nine (9) Spaces are generally available for editing by all registered users of Centiare.
Main Space
The grand poobah of MediaWiki Spaces, Main Space is where contributors write articles about any topic under the sun -- except that on Centiare, we have a rule that Main Space is reserved for things that don't have standing in a court of law, including deceased persons with inactive estates.
Most Main Space articles are intended to be freely edited by the Centiare community, and their contents are released under the provisions of the GFDL. There is one major exception class:
Some Main Space articles that have been lovingly created by one or two contributors may qualify for evaluation by Centiare's Editorial Review Board (ERB). Upon successful endorsement by the ERB, the Board shall protect the article from any further editing by the Centiare community, the copyright shall be recorded in the original contributor's name, and the GFDL license shall be removed. General contributors and the original authors may still comment about the article on the appropriate "Talk" page.
Naming: To create a page in Main Space, one simply appends the article title to http://www.centiare.com, with a slash "/", followed by the title of the article. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Sir_Isaac_Newton.
Directory Space
The mighty muscle of Centiare's many Spaces, Directory Space is where contributors write articles about any topic that has standing in a court of law. This would include commercial enterprises, property, non-profit organizations, governments and agencies, living people, and deceased persons with active estates.
A contributor can set up his or her very own Directory Space page about themself or their business, and no other users can edit it. More specifically, the last user to edit the Space automatically becomes the only user who is allowed to edit the page in the future. Therefore, that's how the Directory Space pages work -- if you create it, you own it. Should a Centiare sysop edit a Directory Space page (intentionally, or by accident), they become the last user of record, and the previous user would have to contact the sysop to regain access to the page.
Note: during this important time of building up our new directory, users are allowed to create Directory Space articles about entities which they do not own or have a legal interest in. Of course, you may not use Centiare to libel others. Also, if and when the rightful owner of an article topic appears, they can and will "claim" the space, which will be transferred immediately by a Centiare sysop.
Naming: To create a page in Directory Space, one appends the word "Directory", a colon ":", and the article title to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Van_Doren_Oil.
User Space
When you just want to communicate casually about yourself, talk about what you do within Centiare, or even post your resumé but do so anonymously, the User Space is where to go. You can jazz up your User Space page(s) just about however you'd like; but keep in mind that most other users of Centiare do not have their Special:Preferences set to retrieve User Space content when they conduct a search on Centiare. Users communicate with one another by leaving messages on the User "Talk" page, which is accessed by the tab second from the left on the user's User Space page.
Naming: To create a page in User Space, one appends the word "User", a colon ":", and the name of the user to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/User:MyWikiBiz
Image Space
Despite its name, Image Space isn't just for pictures. On Centiare, when you want to upload images, documents, presentations, or audio files, they come into being in Image Space.
Naming: To create a file in Image Space, you should typically use the link in the lefthand sidebar labeled Upload file. Once the file is uploaded it will be given an address which appends the word "Image", a colon ":", and the name of the file to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Image:Talking_Points.ppt
Category Space
This is where pages are further defined when contributors begin collecting different pages into categories. For example, there are Category Space pages grouping together things like "States of the United States" or companies listed on the "New York Stock Exchange". If you want to learn more about categories, see Help:Annotation.
Naming: To create a page in Category Space, one appends the word "Category", a colon ":", and the name of the category to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Category:Citation_templates
Relation Space
This is where pages are further defined when contributors begin relating one page to another. For example, there are Relation Space pages describing semantic relations like "Located In" or "Page Owner Of". If you want to learn more about relations, see Help:Annotation.
Naming: To create a page in Relation Space, one appends the word "Relation", a colon ":", and the name of the relation to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Relation:Has_Capital
Attribute Space
This is where pages are further defined when contributors begin assigning specific values to pieces of information on a page. For example, there are Attribute Space pages describing semantic relations like "Country Code" or "Latitude". If you want to learn more about attributes, see Help:Annotation.
Naming: To create a page in Attribute Space, one appends the word "Attribute", a colon ":", and the name of the attribute to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Attribute:NAICS_Code1
Type Space
Those various attributes found in Attribute Space that have units (of measure) will specify their datatype in Type Space.
Portal Space
If you imagine Centiare as a bookstore, the founders of Centiare set up Portal Space to be your guide to the various "departments" within the bookstore. While we could have organized around the Dewey Decimal System, or the Library of Congress Classification Outline, or even ZIP codes, we ultimately decided that the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) heirarchy is a fantastic way to organize our directory's content. Anything that has to do with an industry, a field of specialization, a hobby, or pursuit can probably be classified into a particular NAICS code. We ask all contributors to try to label or semantically tag their topics with NAICS codes whenever they're authoring content. That way, their work shows up in our (protected) Portal:List of articles that identify a primary NAICS code, and it provides another powerful way for advanced users to find specific content.
Naming: To create a page in Portal Space, one appends the word "Portal", a colon ":", and the name of the category to http://www.centiare.com. For example: http://www.centiare.com/Portal:Retail_Trade
Spaces with restricted access
The remaining five (5) Spaces are generally reserved for editing by sysops and other users of Centiare who have been granted access privileges. If you have been a contributor to Centiare for at least 30 days, have at least 100 edits under your belt, and you wish to be granted access to restricted spaces, you may contact Help: help (at) centiare (dot) com.
Centiare Space
Centiare Spaceis where we communicate to users information about Centiare policies, guidelines, and tools.
Help Space
Pages that attempt to assist users with using Centiare more effectively are found in Help Space.
Template Space
Centiare makes use of many amazing Template Space templates, which are used to duplicate the same content across more than one page. Users with access to them can change a template in one place, and it will immediately propagate to the pages that use it.
MediaWiki Space
MediaWiki Space is where we communicate information about the actual software that drives Centiare.
Special Pages
At the bottom of the lefthand sidebar, there is a link for Special Pages. We strongly encourage the curious to click there and discover the many pre-coded files that help ennumerate the many facets of Centiare.
