Wikipedia talk:Skin

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Maintenance[edit]

Is anyone maintaining the alternate skins? I just noticed that Cologne Blue doesn't have a link for admins to protect deleted pages. I'd fix it myself but I'm not up to speed on CSS. More generally, is anyone keeping the alternate skins up to date as new capabilities are implement on Wikipedia? ·:· Will Beback ·:· 22:22, 7 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt it. This is not the first glitch that I saw in these 3 older skins ((Classic, Cologne Blue and Nostalgia). —AlexSm 12:26, 8 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Right, only the MonoBook and Vector skins are currently actively maintained. The other ones just get occasional fixes when someone is in the mood.

--David Göthberg (talk) 04:10, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Purpose[edit]

Do some skins have specific purposes other than look? I notice that chicken has the purpose to be useable on low-res devices, avoiding the usual 2-column layout. Any other special purposes? --G.Hagedorn (talk) 03:17, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Provide skins as alternates[edit]

At least the Firefox browser supports “alternate stylesheets”, <link rel="alternate stylesheet" href="cologneblue.css" type="text/css" title="CologneBlue" /> to switch skins directly, without having to go through Preferences and Preview. Perhaps this could be implemented in WP? —j.engelh (talk) 10:45, 25 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User-creatable stylesheets[edit]

It would be nice if users could use their own .css file with WP. When they are logged in, the default stylesheet gets pulled in from a remote URL (by means of WP issuing a <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://yourdomain.com/wikipedia.css" /> for every retrieved page). It may not do everything right the first time in light of the Javascripts, but as an initial experiment this would be really cool. How about it? —j.engelh (talk) 10:45, 25 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, users can make changes to their stylesheet- you can edit yours by clicking this link: Special:Mypage/monobook.css... L'Aquatique[talk] 06:37, 26 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Skins[edit]

How would you create new skin that people could choose in their preferences page?--Glas (talk) 19:36, 3 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A non-Wikipedia-space page redirects here[edit]

monobook.js, monobook.

So should an admin delete them, or what?

7h3 0N3 7h3 \/4Nl)4L5 Pl-l34R ( _t / _c) 06:37, 30 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Update[edit]

Please update this page. A new skin "Vector" has released. The Junk Police (reports|works) 10:21, 3 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed - I see that someone has fixed it. Note that you could have done the edit yourself. --David Göthberg (talk) 04:15, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notes Section[edit]

I fixed some spelling and grammar on the first point under the "Notes" section. Even so, it is still confusing since it states that the page must be in all lowercase letters and then contradicts itself within the same sentence Twentyseven (talk) 07:11, 15 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed - --David Göthberg (talk) 04:06, 19 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Skin usage statistics[edit]

I asked about stats and was answered at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 74#Skin usage statistics: There is a Toolserver issue request is at https://jira.toolserver.org/browse/TS-592 Just noting here for future reference. -- Quiddity (talk) 19:09, 30 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Current thread at Wikipedia:Vpt#Skin stats. -- Quiddity (talk) 17:18, 17 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Vector screenshot[edit]

I added a screenshot for the Vector skin, but, since it is still in beta, a new one might be required when it's updated. How do I know if/when my screenshot is outdated? Rchard2scout (talk) 19:21, 3 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

MonoBook no longer default[edit]

Should this page be edited to reflect that? "you can only use the default skin, MonoBook" to "you can only use the default skin, Vector", removing "(default)" after Monobook in the previews, etc. --76.195.210.125 (talk) 19:19, 13 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. Gandalf61 (talk) 11:03, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Changing colours[edit]

I use Vector. I have checked the others, and I'm still using Vector.

The default colour for interwiki links is a shade of blue which is subtly different from other shades of blue on the page.

I'm in the midst of translating some English pages into other languages, so it would be convenient if interwiki links displayed in green, or plaid, or something really obvious.

I will experiment, but perhaps someone knows what to do off the top of his head.

Thanks, Varlaam (talk) 18:48, 18 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You can change the colour of links using CSS. I have a line in my file (User:Will Beback/vector.css) that specifies:

a.interwiki, a.external { color: #0044CC; }

You can copy and paste my file as a starter. You could split out the IWs and give them a different color in yours. I'm the least knowledgeable persona about CSS, but I know that'll work. Will Beback talk 20:36, 18 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You are not the least knowledgeable one. That honour belongs to me, and I'm claiming it.

Thanks a lot. I'll give it a go. Varlaam (talk) 21:29, 18 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Problems with skin changing back to Classic something[edit]

File:Show changes at Bradley Manning.JPG

What I see in edit mode when I click on "show changes"

File:Strange layout.JPG

What I see in read mode

File:Strange layout more.JPG

Fixed width[edit]

Hi. I wonder how to make Wikipedia appear with a fixed width. For us with widescreen monitors the text lines become too wide to read smooth. I found this script which is exactly what I need, but it's old and doesn't seem to work with the current version of Wikipedia. Help would be greatly appreciated! /Caelus sv (talk) 16:07, 9 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

the script you link to is for monobook skin. Below should work with new vector skin, but it will fix the screen to 970px, and wiki will display on the left on a big screen. I hope someone will help me make a max-width one, and it will be great if content is shown on the center other than on the left.

/* upper blue line */
#mw-head-base {
  width: 970px !important;
}
/* lower blue line + footer content */
#footer {
  width: 940px !important;
}
/* main content */
div#content {
  width: 940px;
}
/* personal tools and right navigation */
div#mw-head {
  right: auto !important;
  left: 0;
  width: 940px;
}

--Superxain (talk) 05:56, 27 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is there any way to centre the web page? Currently the resulting web page is align to the left. Fangfufu (talk) 13:49, 25 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

default javascript[edit]

If I put javascript in my "common.js" file, will it work for any skin I choose or must I move my javascript file whenever I change skins? Banaticus (talk) 22:36, 18 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nobody knows? It seems to work to me, but is this how it really works? Banaticus (talk) 23:18, 5 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Special:Mypage/common.js works for all skins; preferences page makes it pretty obvious. — AlexSm 23:34, 5 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Except for the mobile skin; that one only seems to load the jquery and mobile|mobile.references modules. Neither common.js nor mobile.js gets loaded in the mobile view; is there another way to add custom .js into the mobile site? sn‾uǝɹɹɐʍɯ (talk) 02:27, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Common.js[edit]

Just to make sure I am clear, if I put everything from my vector.js skin into common.js, it would work no matter which skin I choose to use on Wikipedia? Ryan Vesey (talk) 15:26, 21 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, show's how much attention I was paying. The same question was asked directly above me. Ryan Vesey (talk) 15:27, 21 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

MonoBook[edit]

I don't know who's been messing about with the MonoBook skin, but the new look, with huge gaps between sections in the left-hand navigation bar, is truly horrible. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:25, 5 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Monobook seems to be messed up as of today. –anemone projectors– 17:54, 4 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Please see WP:VPT#What just happened to the UI? --Redrose64 (talk) 18:06, 4 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I had no idea where to go about this. –anemone projectors– 18:15, 4 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

View deleted edits?[edit]

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T50939

Why is it that in "Cologne Blue" when I view a page that was deleted it doesn't show me the "view deleted edits" option? Hyacinth (talk) 23:56, 28 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I also have confirmed this issue, and I've filed a bug report. The Anonymouse (talk) 14:45, 29 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Limit Article Width for Readability[edit]

Here's some custom CSS I created so that articles retain a readable line-length in wide windows:

#firstHeading, #bodyContent {
  max-width: 780px;
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
  position: relative;
}

And here's a link to a Gist: http://git.io/NTBykg

I hope Wikipedia will implement a more responsive and readable default skin in the near future. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andybrice (talk • contribs) 13:46, 16 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

New flat skin?[edit]

There should be this flat skin that goes with the flat design of the latest version of iOS, Android, and Windows. It should also be the new default. UpsandDowns1234 (Talk to me) (My Contribs) 06:01, 16 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It should not be the new default, we don't all use mobile devices. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 07:06, 17 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

So, macOS Sierra, Windows 10, and the latest version of Chrome OS all use flat design. UpsandDowns1234 (🗨) (My Contribs) 16:21, 23 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

We don't all use those either. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:38, 23 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe implement version detection that will automatically adapt the skin if it detects a new version of the above. Either way, the skeuomorphic elements do not look nice in Microsoft Edge. UpsandDowns1234 (🗨) (My Contribs) 17:55, 27 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Statistics[edit]

If anyone is interested – here are some newer and more detailed statistics about skin usage: phab:T147696. -- Michael Schönitzer (WMDE) (talk) 00:13, 3 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

dark theme please[edit]

We need dark theme so badly. A simple, pure theme, just dark background and some light text color. A theme that works without logging in. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:4C4E:1F45:EE00:C008:F904:4A0F:C96B (talk) 01:33, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This is not possible. In order to use any non-default skin consistently, you need to log in. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 14:43, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry if I was disamigous. I did not asked how to do it. It was a feature request. So please make it possible. Maybe not a theme at all, just a checkbox. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:4C4E:1F5B:7A00:811C:F1C8:A92D:B62B (talk) 23:04, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I can't. None of us can, only the software developers. As such, you will need to file a feature request at phabricator: (see WP:PHAB), and in order to do that, you need to log in. As for the checkbox idea, this already exists, at Preferences → Gadgets as "Use a black background with green text" but to use that, you again need to be logged in. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:16, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Although I'm not the user you replied to, this was helpful to me. However, I noticed some issues: link previews might show some black on black text in some cases, and while editing the source for this Talk page, some menu buttons have white on white text. Do you think you can point me in the right direction so I can try filing a bug? rolandog (talk) 09:40, 20 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

As I noted before, phabricator: (see WP:PHAB). --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 19:42, 20 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Vector (skin) listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Vector (skin). Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. –MJL ‐Talk‐^☖ 17:55, 5 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

okay....[edit]

Something happened .... my eyesight isn't very good, and I cant really see what it is .... but I can tell that on monobook, some pages are zoomed in and others are not. Can somebody help me figure out how to get the whole site except the sidebars and images to appear larger than normal? My edits to my local monobook.css are not working... if I find one that works, I will delete this post. Thanks, —Soap— 19:25, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Some browsers have the annoying habit of setting the zoom on a per-page basis, not as a general setting. Firefox is not one of these; if you use Ctrl++ to zoom in on one page, it also zooms all other open tabs too, and persists when you follow links or use "back". Ctrl+0 will restore the default 100% level. BTW this is more of a WP:VPT question. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 19:56, 2 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the prompt reply. I know that it isnt browser zoom though .... some years ago I figured out a way to browse Wikipedia at 100% zoom (i.e. normal) such that the text would be magnified but the topbar and sidebar would not be. Someone must have changed a CSS file somewhere, i guess, but I dont see any recent changes on MediaWiki:Monobook.css or JS. —Soap— 00:23, 3 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Since other people dont seem to be affected by this it probably is just me .... Im going to have to figure out a solution on my own that gets things back the way they were. —Soap— 14:47, 4 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

"Wikipedia:Monobook" listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Wikipedia:Monobook. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. — J947 ^[cont] 06:24, 14 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Dark mode skin[edit]

Shouldn't there be a dark mode skin, probably based on Vector? — Preceding unsigned comment added by ArchieTNT (talk • contribs) 08:34, 15 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@ArchieTNT: At Preferences → Gadgets, enable "Use a black background with green text". --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 15:08, 15 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Why would anyone want this? I find white text on a black background harder to read. --Khajidha (talk) 21:18, 17 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

We could try turning User:MusikAnimal/nightpedia (or a similar script that uses CSS invert filters) into a gadget. I think you still might see a brief "flash" on every page load, but it would be lessened significantly if the CSS was behind ResourceLoader. There's mw:Extension:DarkMode which I hope to finish someday soon, but unfortunately I don't think it will ever make it to the WMF cluster. — MusikAnimal ^talk 02:16, 18 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The dark mode already exists in mobile Wikipedia. Wouldn't it be easier to start from that? El Millo (talk) 02:24, 18 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Facu-el Millo: Unless I missed a major announcement, it only exists for the mobile app, not mobile web (right?). The apps have their own rendering engine, so designers have considerably more control over the appearance, making a curated dark mode possible. On desktop and mobile web, the community's custom styles reign supreme and there's no possible way of predicting how they are implemented. To my understanding, this is why we haven't seen an official dark mode get deployed. My extension uses CSS filters to invert the colors and rotate them for readability, which is seemingly the only feasible solution (as opposed to chasing down every template ever made and overriding its CSS). Apparently it was not enough for the designers, though :( — MusikAnimal ^talk 04:35, 18 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I've also got a dark mode css in progress - The css is available at User:Dialectric/vector.css. Please feel free to try it out and make suggestions on my talk page. It works well for most general page and talk editing, but does not cover tables found on some admin and archive pages, and occasional in-article tables with set background colors. This skin was built off of the Skin:Vector-DarkCSS. The accompanying javascript is only for testing purposes and probably shouldn't be used.Dialectric (talk) 00:22, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Options for a dark mode are now covered on Wikipedia:Dark mode. Feel free to add anything relevant to the page.Dialectric (talk) 01:30, 26 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Modern skin changed?[edit]

Does anyone known whether the "Modern" skin has changed in the past couple of days? The interwiki links seem to have disappeared from the sidebar. Deb (talk) 12:51, 16 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Time to change the default skin[edit]

It is now 2021. (Yay!) The current default skin is from 2009/2010, when the term responsive web design had just been coined. Today, I can read Wikipedia decently on my phone, but on my computer screen (where I have full edit features that invite me to become active) whole paragraphs turn into a single ultra-wide line unless I change the size of my browser window just for Wikipedia. Yes, I know it has always been that way, but with 2021 standards, Wikipedia has become ugly and terrible to read. It's not Geocities, but it does feel like a thing from the past.

When I am not logged in, like almost all readers, I have no useful way of changing this behaviour. Adding "&useskin=timeless" manually to every URL is no useful way and nothing that would remotely occur to the average reader.

So please make mw:Skin:Timeless the default skin for Wikipedia. It may not yet be perfect in some fringe cases, but even if so, the reading experience for almost every page would already be so much better than it currently is. --2001:1715:4E33:AA10:E03C:BD00:9D58:4B0A (talk) 15:07, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Absolutely not: what is good for you is not necessarily good for others. You have a solution that is available to you immediately: create an account, log in, go to Preferences, select your preferred skin and save. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 18:59, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The now elderly default skin is something to think about though. We should not let Wikipedia look outdated, and neither should we expect all our readers to create an account. SK2242 (talk) 23:12, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Additional fonts[edit]

There's a discussion over at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers about the use of lowercase L as an abbreviation for litre, because it's easily mistaken for an uppercase i. As I just posted there, there's already a {{litre}} template that employs different fonts using style="font-style:italic;font-family:Trebuchet MS,Candara,Georgia,Calibri,Corbel,serif". If we could change the fonts to something like Noto Sans JP, Source Sans Pro, PT Sans, Ubuntu or Nunito, etc. the template might become more useful, but it would also require adding an @import tag to the main WP stylesheet(s). Is that out of the question? nagualdesign 03:07, 4 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

'Modern' not selectable any longer[edit]

I have noticed that the Modern skin is not selectable any longer in Preferences. While the option remains if the skin is currently in use, it disappears after it has been deselected. Is this expected (permanent) behaviour? If so, should the page be edited to reflect this? I was not able to verify if this is an intended change. --Eprillios #Talk 20:13, 29 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Why has Modern skin disappeared? Is it coming back? WWGB (talk) 04:03, 7 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Eprillios and WWGB: It's not coming back, just as Classic (remember that?) isn't coming back. Every now and then, some of the MediaWiki developers (the "devs") decide that the software looks old-fashioned and design a new skin. In the last few years we have had MinervaNeue and Timeless added, and Vector has been revamped. The devs also periodically retire older skins that aren't used much, first by removing them as a selectable option, then by actually removing the code. They remove these older skins for two reasons: partly to prevent the list from getting too long - in mid-2010, just after Vector was launched there were something like eight or nine; since then, we've lost Chick, Classic, MySkin, Nostalgia and Simple. But the most important reason is maintenance: every time there's a software update, it needs to be tested in all current skins, and if there is an incompatibility, either the software or the skin needs amendment. Cologne Blue and Modern are both in that limbo stage (working but not selectable), so won't be around for ever. If you presently use either of those two, and switch to (say) MonoBook (saving your preferences), you'll find that you can't switch back. You could check WP:VPT (and its archives) for more info. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 09:21, 7 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I miss Modern for its simplicity and elegance compared to Monobook. I just realized that I cannot go back after trying out other themes. Is there a way to set it back manually given that it is still installed on Mediawiki? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Version --Iketsi (talk) 02:25, 10 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I'm with you. It is my favourite skin, but unfortunately I lost it while looking at the alternatives. Hope I can get it back. WWGB (talk) 02:34, 10 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Iketsi and WWGB: Did either of you read what I wrote at 09:21, 7 August 2021 (UTC)? It's not coming back, unless you persuade the devs to overturn their decision (see phab:T287616 for the latest action, also phab:T180860 for usage statistics etc.), and this page (which is for discussing improvements to the page Wikipedia:Skin) is not the place to do that. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 14:37, 10 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)/Archive 191#modern_skin_on_Commons for a way to turn it on, please note - it is unsupported and will likely eventually break and/or be removed. — xaosflux ^Talk 19:55, 12 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Not entirely surprised. The Request CV Delete script hasn't worked with it for a very long time. Sad, by far the best looking skin for the desktop. Ravensfire (talk) 16:53, 19 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Here are links to select Modern and CologneBlue. Some things may not work properly and they may be removed completely at any time. If you use them and report interface issues then please always say you use them and say whether the issue also appears for you in Vector. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:36, 4 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Vector (2022)[edit]

There's a new theme called Vector (2022), and it was as one of the default themes in the Wikipedia preferences.

I believe there should be a something about that here.

Quick Quokka ^[talk] 23:15, 5 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Wikipedia:Monobook" listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Wikipedia:Monobook and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 March 31#Wikipedia:Monobook until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. ---CX Zoom(^he/_him) (^{let's talk}|_contribs) 12:52, 31 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Help[edit]

Can you please help me why I cannot Change my skin to Timeless from Minerva on a mobile phone from preference tab. Tousif ❯❯❯ Talk 09:02, 25 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Tousif.15: On "mobile view" only Minerva is available from software side. You can use Timeless on mobile view by appending ?useskin=timeless to the url of the page you're seeing, but you will need to do this manually for every page you visit. But, you can use Timeless on "desktop view", even if you are using a mobile. You can toggle between the two views at the end of the page, where it says "Desktop view" or "Mobile view" as the case be. —CX Zoom[he/him] ^{(let's talk • {C•X})} 12:47, 25 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

it is clearly written in mw:Skin:Timeless that it can be used on mobile view also and btw even after desktop view I cannot switch to it. Is there any video tutorial? Tousif ❯❯❯ Talk 03:41, 26 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Tousif.15: Once you are on desktop view, go to Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering, the first thing here will be "Skin". Just change to what skin you like. —CX Zoom[he/him] ^{(let's talk • {C•X})} 08:08, 26 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]