If you are interested in working on this task, you can create a subtask for the language wiki (see the checklist in the task description below) that you plan to work on and assign the task to yourself.
Description
Namespaces are a core feature of all Wikimedia projects. They separate different types of content, for example, main articles, user pages, and discussions and are essential for the organization and functionality of a wiki. MediaWiki comes with built-in core namespaces (e.g., Talk, User, File), but these need to be localized per language in files like MessagesXX.php. Without this, contributors may see fallback or English namespace names, which leads to a bad user experience.
🛠️ What needs to be done
For the languages listed below, a Wikipedia does exist, but the corresponding MessagesXX.php file in MediaWiki is missing the $namespaceNames array.
This task is to:
- Collaborate with active community members, preferably administrators, to gather correct localized namespace names for each language.
- Submit a patch to the MediaWiki core repository by adding $namespaceNames to the corresponding file, based on gathered input.
🧭 How to proceed
- Visit the Wikipedia for the language in question.
- Find an active administrator or interface editor:
- Go to Special:ActiveUsers (replace xx with the language code)
- Or check the Administrators page (replace xx with the language code).
- Leave a talk page message politely asking for help identifying local namespace names.
- Submit the change to MediaWiki core, using the $namespaceNames format as seen in other MessagesXX.php files.
✅ Checklist
(9 languages for which Wikipedia exists, but $namespaceNames are missing in MediaWiki Core even in fallback language message files)
| Filename in MediaWiki core | Status |
| MessagesFf.php | Request for namespace translations ongoing on ff wiki See T394870. |
| MessagesIk.php | Couldn't find an active translator to reach out to. See here. |
| MessagesDz.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Tenzin (User was last active in 2009) |
| MessagesSt.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Coldfact (User was last active in September 2022) and User_talk:SANKOMOTA (User was last active in May 2025) |
| MessagesNy.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Icem4k. User was last active in June, 2024. |
| MessagesBo.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Dhondup. User was last active in April, 2021. |
| MessagesIu.php | Couldn't find an active translator to reach out to. See here. |
| MessagesEe.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Amuzujoe. User was last active in January, 2023. |
| MessagesTum.php | Request for namespace translations initiated at User_talk:Tumbuka_Arch. User was last active in November, 2024. |