Skin:MonoBook

MonoBook is a skin. It was the default man-skins>Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Skins|skin for wmf>Special:MyLanguage/Differences_between_Wikipedia,_Wikimedia,_MediaWiki,_and_wiki#Wikimedia|Wikimedia Foundation websites from mw-hist>MediaWiki 1.3|MediaWiki 1.3 (2004) until mw-hist>MediaWiki 1.16|MediaWiki 1.16 (2010). It replaced the usemod>Skin:Standard|Standard skin as the default, and was in turn replaced by the usemod>Skin:Vector|Vector skin.

MonoBook later adopted support for responsive web design for narrow, mobile phone displays, and also added the use of progressive enhancement to maximize compatibility. With JavaScript deactivated on the mobile view, for example, the personal tools, page actions, and sidebar are located at the page bottom with anchored shortcuts from the top buttons which appear as clip art icons instead of text links. The mobile view also reveals an anchored "to top" shortcut at the page bottom.

Installation
This skin is included in the 1>Special:MyLanguage/Download|MediaWiki download tarball. You only need to install it separately if you installed MediaWiki using a different method.

User settings
The responsive styles for MonoBook can be disabled or enabled via a user preference:  , which defaults to true.

Historical notes
It became the most popular and most widely supported skin in the MediaWiki ecosystem until it was finally superseded by the  skin as the default on May 13, 2010 (, ), as a result of the efforts of the </> to improve Wikipedia user experiences and potentially draw in more contributor participation. It served as a common backup for Vector and is still present on many wikis using older versions of MediaWiki software. See 1>m:Special:MyLanguage/Layout design document</>|Layout design document and 2>m:Special:MyLanguage/MediaWiki 1.3 comments and bug reports/Archive</>|MediaWiki 1.3 comments and bug reports for related discussions during MonoBook's development.

MonoBook originally featured navigation tabs at the bottom of the content area in addition to the top, in resemblance to Nostalgia, the earliest skin.

Current status
1>meta:Special:MyLanguage/Turning off outdated skins#Why are you keeping these four skins?</>|In 2013, MonoBook became primarily supported by volunteer developers, not the Wikimedia Foundation. As of 2019, it is one of the four volunteer-supported skins used on Wikimedia projects: MonoBook, <tvar|1></>, <tvar|2></>, and <tvar|3></>.