Simetrical wrote: You seem to be confusing two issues: the ability to edit styles from within MediaWiki, and the ability to do it without technical know-how ...
Peter Blaise responds: Actually, I am trying to rise above both issues.
There was a call for putting energies into redesigning monobook.css for "commons" (to differentiate it visually so contributors knew they were at "commons" and not another wiki - apparently there is at least one person who got confused and wants the on-screen interface design to help distinguish between wikis for them).
In response, I suggested that instead, put energies into maturing the MediaWiki interface itself to become the place where ALL configuration is done.
In other words, NOT as much a cry for dumbing down the need for *.css skills (which MUST die anyway, eventually), but a cry for growing the sysops/bureaucrat/admin/developer/registereduser/bot/user/reader/printer/yada,yada,yada interface to take over more and more control of anything and everything anyone does in a MediaWiki.
Otherwise, we're just rearranging the deck chairs.
-- Peter Blaise