Editing MycoTaxa:Namespace (section)

== Aliases and pseudo-namespaces==
{{See|Wikipedia:Shortcut#List of prefixes}}
Aliases and pseudo-namespaces are not namespaces in themselves; their main role is to provide handy ways to link to actual namespaces, by providing shortened links.

The main difference between them being the way they work for this purpose; while aliases directly link to namespaces, pseudo-namespaces can only link to other namespaces by using specialist [[Wikipedia:Redirect|redirect pages]] in the main namespace called [[Wikipedia:Shortcut|shortcuts]]. While aliases are also used for shortcuts, this isn't necessary if the pagename is not shortened.

Pseudo-namespaces all actually reside in main namespace; but a pseudo-namespace called [[m:Help:Transwiki|Transwiki:]] exists as a pseudo-namespace before being moved to another namespace.

=== Aliases ===
{{Shortcut|WP:ALIAS}}
There are seven aliases defined for namespaces, all of which are case-insensitive:

{| class=wikitable
!Alias
!Namespace
|-
|WP||rowspan=2|Wikipedia
|-
|Project
|-
|WT||rowspan=2|Wikipedia talk
|-
|Project talk
|-
|Image||File
|-
|Image talk||File talk
|-
|TM||Template
|}

These aliases are automatically translated by the Wikipedia servers to the proper namespace prefix. So if a link is made to a page title beginning with one of these aliases, or else entered in the search box or used in a URL in a browser address bar, the alias links to the page with the corresponding true namespace prefix. Hence entering [[WP:External links]] or [[Project:External links]] is equivalent to entering [[Wikipedia:External links]]; and entering [[WT:External links]] or [[Project talk:External links]] is equivalent to entering [[Wikipedia talk:External links]]. 

An alias cannot be used as the actual namespace in a page title. For example, you cannot create page ''WP:123''; if tried, the page name is instantly converted to ''Wikipedia:123''. It ''is'', however, possible to [[Wikipedia:Page name#Changing the displayed title|change the ''displayed'' title]] on page ''Wikipedia:123'' to make it ''WP:123'' or ''Project:123''.

<span class="plainlinks">This is very handy for the creation of [[Wikipedia:Shortcut|shortcuts]]. For example, the shortcut for this section is [[WP:ALIAS]], as shown in the right-side box. When the link is clicked, it is automatically translated to [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:ALIAS&redirect=no Wikipedia:ALIAS]. At this page is a [[Help:Redirect|redirect]] to {{Section link|Wikipedia:Namespace#Aliases}}. This means that the shortcut goes directly to this section from anywhere on Wikipedia. It can also be entered as a [[URL]] in the browser address bar as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:ALIAS .</span>

=== Pseudo-namespaces ===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Wikipedia:Glossary]] -->
{{Shortcut|WP:PNS}}
Apart from Wikipedia's 24 regular namespaces and their aliases, and 2 virtual ones, there are several title prefixes appearing in [[Help:Shortcut|shortcut redirects]] pointing to frequently-referred-to Wikipedia pages. These prefixes are referred to as '''pseudo-namespaces''' and include the following:

* '''[[Special:Prefixindex/CAT:|CAT:]]''' for shortcuts to the [[Wikipedia:Category namespace|Category namespace]]. See also [[:Category:Redirects to category space]]
* '''[[Special:Prefixindex/H:|H:]]''' for shortcuts to the [[Wikipedia:Help namespace|Help namespace]]. See also [[:Category:Redirects to help namespace]]
* '''[[Special:Prefixindex/P:|P:]]''' for shortcuts to the [[Wikipedia:Portal namespace|Portal namespace]]. See also [[:Category:Redirects to portal namespace]]

A more complete list is available at {{Section link|Wikipedia:Shortcut#List of prefixes}}.

Pseudo-namespaces are not in any way recognised by the wiki software; they are purely a community custom. Titles in pseudo-namespaces actually belong technically in the main (article) namespace and are treated as such by the software: they are case-sensitive and appear in [[Help:Search#Syntax|search results]] restricted to the main namespace. An alias is treated like a real namespace, resulting in a search for the [[WP:page name|pagename]] in its namespace, but the "pseudo-namespace:pagename" search is in mainspace, not its pseudo-namespace. For example, searching for "H:S" will not search '''Help'''.

To learn some of these shortcuts, first follow the pseudo-namespace link above, then follow one of the redirects listed on that page. It will take you to the target, where you then notice any {{tl|shortcut}} boxes to the right of the page, which may also list some additional shortcuts to that same area. By observing these steps repeatedly, you can discover ways to shorten your typing. You will use pseudo-namespace names more often if you are an advanced editor, highly active in many namespaces, or constantly linking to pages that have a pseudo-namespace shortcut.

To understand the appropriateness of redirects of this type, see [[Wikipedia:Cross-namespace redirects]]. All shortcuts are discoverable by [[Help:Searching|searching]] for redirects. There is also the category [[:Category:Wikipedia redirects|Wikipedia redirects]].

As a final example, every [[Wikimedia Foundation]] project has a "[[m:Help:Transwiki|Transwiki:]]" pseudo-namespace (sometimes a real namespace) for importing articles manually. A wiki project that would manually move many pages between [[wp:sister|sister projects]] uses this tag. Redirects/shortcuts are not directly involved here, as described above. Instead, the page title is [[WP:move|move]]d to "Transwiki:''namespace:pagename''", and that content is then copied and pasted into a new page name of that temporary title on the target wiki. When it is accepted, the title is then moved out of the '''Transwiki''' pseudo-namespace there and becomes a real page name in its respective namespace.