Can't seem to find clarity on /admin section

I am just learning rails and using pick axe to do so, so I am using whathever version of rails that pick axe is using (I think its 1.2.6) instead of 2.0. I am going to be re-creating a current online store project that i have done in CakePHP to learn more about rails. I have searched the forums and found some answers regarding having an /admin section for my site. I dont think that its very proper programming to have everything in an admin controller like some of the posts i have read seem to suggest so I'm a bit lost.

In cakePHP, I would being admin functions with admin_. These were only accessible by placing a /admin/ in the URL. Is have read about the namespacing in rails but that seems to only be used in 2.0. Am I missing something?

I would really appreciate any clarity that anyone could bring to this problem for me.

Thanks!