Hello,
I posted this yesterday at wikitech-l and was told to ask this question here at foundation-l.
I'm a member of the German language Wikipedia community and have a question that no-one could give me a definite answer to so far. I hope someone here can answer it, or point me to where I should go to get a definite answer.
The question is, what level of self-determination do the 260 language versions of Wikipedia have as to the design of their user interfaces (skins)? Can individual wikis choose independently modifications of their skins, and which of the available skins to use as the default for unregistered users, or is this controlled centrally by the Foundation?
For backgrund, this question arose after the German language Wikipedia (de.wikipedia.org) was switched from Monobook to Vector as the default skin on the 10th of June 2010, resulting in considerable criticism from the community. On the more sober side of the debate, it was asked whether it would be theoretically possible to return to Monobook as the default skin, at least for some time until the biggest known issues with Vector have been fixed. Under the theoretical scenario that a majority voted for a return to Monobook as the default skin, would it be possible at all to switch it back? Or would the Foundation not permit that?
The question seems to be a very fundamental one and I would also appreciate insights into the big picture. How independent are the language versions? To what degree can they govern themselves and to what degree are they bound by decisions made centrally by the Foundation?
Thanks, Martin