Extension:VisualEditor/Skin requirements

VisualEditor's MediaWiki extension is mainly designed to work with the Vector, Monobook and Minerva skins, given the initial intent to work for the Wikimedia production site. However, it should be relatively easy to ensure your skin works with VisualEditor, especially if it is Vector-based.

Requirements
VisualEditor requires the following elements on the page to function:
 * serves as the main container for the editor. The toolbar will be attached here.
 * serves as the editable area. It must be a descendant of . Other descendants are greyed out and non-interactive while the editor is active.
 * serves as the entry point – clicking it will open the editor.

Recommendations
VisualEditor interacts with the following elements if they are available, but should not have any problems if they are not (beyond the relevant functionality being missing):
 * is updated with the page title (respecting DISPLAYTITLE) after the page is saved and when launching the editor from the wikitext edit form.
 * is updated with the redirect status dynamically when the redirection is changed and after the page is saved.
 * links are modified to allow launching the visual editor. The default structure (as in ) is expected, if they are present.
 * and  are updated with the modification time after the page is saved.
 * The IDs of content actions' links should begin with . Several content action links are modified or otherwise taken into account when present (,  , etc.).
 * The IDs of toolbar links should begin with  .   is updated after the page is saved.
 * The IDs of portlets (sidebar sections and other navigation menus) should begin with . Tabs in   have the   class added/removed when the editor launches.
 * serves to open the category editing dialog, and is updated dynamically when categories are edited and after the page is saved.
 * Some elements that could interfere with the toolbar are hidden while the editor is active, including  and.

Future
In future, we will probably generalise VisualEditor's MediaWiki extension to be pluggable into new skins. Suggestions as to how best to do this efficiently are welcome.