1) Are the interfaces for the Skin/SkinTemplate class
families
documented anywhere?
Not as far as I know.
2) Do the Skin interfaces actually provide any
facilities for
abstracting page design?
Again, not as far as I know.
Indeed, some things are even hardcoded; for example, I'm having a hard
time figuring out how to change the output of the category links (I need
a proper list - i.e. LIs inside an UL element)...
3) Is there perhaps an existing skin with a more
transparent design I
might use for study and modification?
I've recently started creating my own skin, and went through MonoBook,
labeling the respective PHP parts with their respective function.
If you're interested, I could send that to you - though it might be messy...
I could also send you my current skin, but that's in its very early
stages still.
-- F.