Wikipedia:Skin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia, as a website powered by MediaWiki, is a skinnable website, which means the presentational style of the pages can be changed, provided you have a Wikipedia account. If you don't, it means you can't switch to another one so can only use the default skin, MonoBook. However, this page features screenshots of all the different skins along with links allowing to load the Wikipedia's Main Page using them, regardless of having an account. There are a total of 7 alternative skins.
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[edit] Screenshot
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[edit] How to change the skin
Once you have an account, go to the "Skin" section of the page my preferences. With the default skin, this page can be accessed at anytime from the link "my preferences" placed on the top right corner. Choose your skin and click Save. Then, all pages will be loaded with the new selected skin.
For a complete description, see Help:Preferences#Skin.
[edit] Customisation (advanced users)
Default Wikipedia skins are defined in several CSS and JavaScript files. Some of them are only editable by persons having write access to the Wikimedia Foundation servers and some are simple wiki pages belonging to the MediaWiki namespace. These wiki pages can be seen directly on Wikipedia, but to prevent vandals from breaking the whole website appearance they are fully protected, hence making them only editable by administrators (however any changes can be suggested on their talk page).
Besides these files, users can customise the way default skins appear using specific subpages of their user page. These subpages are viewable by anybody but can only be edited by themselves and administrators. Modifying these wiki pages only affects their owner. The name of theses subpages depend on the skin selected in the preferences.
| Skin | Default CSS | Default JS | Personal CSS | Personal JS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chick | MediaWiki:Chick.css | MediaWiki:Chick.js | User:<username>/chick.css | User:<username>/chick.js |
| Classic | MediaWiki:Standard.css | MediaWiki:Standard.js | User:<username>/standard.css | User:<username>/standard.js |
| Cologne Blue | MediaWiki:Cologneblue.css | MediaWiki:Cologneblue.js | User:<username>/cologneblue.css | User:<username>/cologneblue.js |
| Modern | MediaWiki:Modern.css | MediaWiki:Modern.js | User:<username>/modern.css | User:<username>/modern.js |
| MonoBook | MediaWiki:Monobook.css | MediaWiki:Common.js | User:<username>/monobook.css | User:<username>/monobook.js |
| MySkin | MediaWiki:Myskin.css | MediaWiki:Myskin.js | User:<username>/myskin.css | User:<username>/myskin.js |
| Nostalgia | MediaWiki:Nostalgia.css | MediaWiki:Nostalgia.js | User:<username>/nostalgia.css | User:<username>/nostalgia.js |
| Simple | MediaWiki:Simple.css | MediaWiki:Simple.js | User:<username>/simple.css | User:<username>/simple.js |
- Note
- These pages are named after the skin but must be written without any white space and in lowercase to work properly. Since the first letter of titles on Wikipedia are automatically capitalised, MediaWiki:Monobook.css and MediaWiki:monobook.css refer to the same page).
- For the list of all CSS and JavaScript files involved in the rendering process, see Wikipedia:Catalogue of CSS classes.
[edit] JavaScript
On Wikipedia, JavaScript can be used to add new features such as add find/replace textboxes or give advanced rollback options. There are scripts to customise everything, from default font style to custom buttons.
Many script pages can be imported and used. Different scripts can also be used in conjunction with each other to accomplish several tasks at once.
In order to add pre-existing scripts to your User JavaScript page, add {{subst:js|name of script}} to the file. More detailed instructions can be found here.
