 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia articles in article space are outward-facing to be seen by readers. Pages in other spaces are inward-facing to be seen and used by editors. Different policies and guidelines apply to outward-facing and inward-facing content. |
A useful distinction, at least to some editors, is that some Wikipedia namespaces are outward-facing and some are inward-facing.
- The primary outward-facing space, and the whole purpose of Wikipedia, is outward-facing article space (or main space). It faces the readers and can be seen by everyone in the Internet (all in the world).
- In contrast, there are many inward-facing spaces, which are intended to be seen by editors. The purpose of all inward-facing spaces is to provide information that is used by the editors of Wikipedia in developing the encyclopedia for the reader.
Google indexes article space, which faces outward for its readers, who are also Wikipedia readers. Google should not be searching any space other than article space. If Google searches any other space, it should not do that, but that is not under the control of Wikipedia.