https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/25170/ is a MediaWiki change that's under discussion right now; it would completely remove all core skins other than Monobook, Modern, CologneBlue & Vector. I thought you might be interested in reading or weighing in on this discussion. Anyone with Developer Access can comment in Gerrit -- for an account, just ask at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Developer_access .
Some more resources to look at, linked in the Gerrit comments:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/New_skins_system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_reports/User_preferences#Sk...
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Dantman/Skinning_system/Skin_examination
Sometimes we have to shed some backwards compatibility. And it sounds like removing support for these particular skins will enable us to innovate and move faster. But it's a good idea to publicize this sort of thing so legacy skin users can say "I'll maintain the legacy support because I love this skin so much!", or prepare to reskin, or find some new third way. :-)
Also, thanks to MatmaRex who has taken this opportunity to refactor the CologneBlue skin.
On 25 October 2012 02:15, Sumana Harihareswara sumanah@wikimedia.org wrote:
Sometimes we have to shed some backwards compatibility. And it sounds like removing support for these particular skins will enable us to innovate and move faster. But it's a good idea to publicize this sort of thing so legacy skin users can say "I'll maintain the legacy support because I love this skin so much!", or prepare to reskin, or find some new third way. :-)
Do we have any numbers on e.g. how many Wikimedia users use these skins?
- d.
Cross-posting from Gerrit. https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/25170/
I support this change because:
- 1. Getting rid of legacy templates simplifies our template system and makes it much easier for us to improve it or migrate existing skins to a new system. - 2. The user experience while using legacy skins is horrible. CologneBlue, Modern and Monobook are pretty bad. Vector is are barely adequate. We should be focused on improving Vector (or making a new skin) so our users can have at least one excellent skin. Anything that distracts from that focus is a waste of effort that doesn't help users. - 3. The statistics I've seen about people who are using legacy skins shows that they are a very small subset (easily less than 1%) and a majority of the accounts appear to be abandoned. I would love to see some hard numbers be shared here as well though.
- Trevor
On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 11:56 PM, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
On 25 October 2012 02:15, Sumana Harihareswara sumanah@wikimedia.org wrote:
Sometimes we have to shed some backwards compatibility. And it sounds like removing support for these particular skins will enable us to innovate and move faster. But it's a good idea to publicize this sort of thing so legacy skin users can say "I'll maintain the legacy support because I love this skin so much!", or prepare to reskin, or find some new third way. :-)
Do we have any numbers on e.g. how many Wikimedia users use these skins?
- d.
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