Pages can be organized hierarchically by creating subpages. A subpage is a page whose name is connected to another page with a slash (/). This creates a parent-child relationship between the pages and provides additional navigation context.
Pages and namespaces
Every page in a wiki belongs to a namespace. The Main namespace is used when no other namespace is specified. Other namespaces provide predefined contexts for specific types of content.
Namespaces and subpages serve different purposes:
- A namespace defines the context in which a page is stored, for example, Minutes or Controlled Document.
- A subpage creates a hierarchical relationship between pages within a namespace.
Users normally do not need to select or configure namespaces manually. When specific functionality is available for a particular type of content, the corresponding entry point or creation option automatically provides the appropriate context.
For example, the Minutes overview automatically places a page created as part of a meeting in the appropriate namespace and page hierarchy.
When to use subpages
Subpages are useful when several pages belong together and their relationship should be visible in the page structure.
Typical examples include:
- Large topics: Divide a large topic into several focused pages while keeping them connected through a common parent page.
- Content sections: Organize related information into a hierarchy, such as an employee handbook with separate pages for working hours, benefits, and workplace guidelines.
- Detailed information: Separate detailed information from a general overview while maintaining the relationship between the pages.
A relatively flat page hierarchy is recommended. Deeply nested structures can make content harder to navigate and maintain, even though MediaWiki technically allows multiple levels of subpages. The practical technical limit is the maximum length of the page URL, which is 255 characters.
Create a subpage
A subpage is created by adding a slash and the subpage name to the parent page name.
For example:
Employee handbook
Employee handbook/Working hours
Employee handbook/Working hours/Flexible working
In this example, Working hours is a subpage of Employee handbook, and Flexible working is a subpage of Working hours.
Subpage hierarchy
A subpage retains the name of its parent page as part of its full page name. The hierarchy is therefore part of the page name itself.
For example:
Installation guide/System preparation/Windows
The page Windows is associated with Installation guide/System preparation through the page name. The hierarchy is also shown in the breadcrumb navigation.
There is no separate hierarchy level that needs to be created or configured. The hierarchy results from the page names.
Display subpages
Subpages can be displayed as a list on a page. This can be useful for creating navigation pages or overviews of the content below a parent page.
The available functionality for displaying page lists depends on the Galaxy version and configuration. For information about the current options for displaying page lists, see Display page lists.
Subpages and other ways of organizing content
Subpages and categories serve different purposes:
- Subpages organize related pages into a hierarchy.
- Categories classify pages by shared characteristics or topics.
A page can therefore be part of a subpage hierarchy and belong to one or more categories at the same time. See Classify pages with categories for information about categories.
