Ubuntu Skin

This is a modified version of the Vector-2022 skin for use in the upcoming Ubuntu wiki.

Installation

Requirements

• MediaWiki 1.44 or later
• Composer

Install via Composer

Add the following to your wiki's composer.local.json:

{
	"repositories": [
		{
			"type": "vcs",
			"url": "https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-mediawiki-skin"
		}
	],
	"require": {
		"ubuntu/mediawiki-ubuntu-skin": "dev-main"
	}
}

Then run:

composer update

Configure

Add the following to LocalSettings.php:

wfLoadSkin( 'Ubuntu' );
$wgDefaultSkin = 'ubuntu';

# Logo — uses the Ubuntu logo bundled in the skin.
$wgLogos = [
	'1x'   => "$wgResourceBasePath/skins/Ubuntu/resources/images/ubuntu-logo.png",
	'icon' => "$wgResourceBasePath/skins/Ubuntu/resources/images/ubuntu-logo.png",
];

# Enable dark mode for all users
$wgUbuntuNightMode = [
	'beta'       => false,
	'logged_in'  => true,
	'logged_out' => true,
];

---

Testing

This section includes guidelines for testing the skin locally.

Requirements

• Docker and Docker Compose
• Make

Quick start

make setup

Visit http://localhost:8080 — username: admin, password: UbuntuWiki2026!

Clean up

make clean

Compared to Vector 2022

The Ubuntu skin is a standalone MediaWiki skin based on Vector 2022 (the default Wikipedia skin), customised for the Ubuntu community wiki. It is loaded as a Composer package and registered as the skin key ubuntu.

Relationship to Vector 2022

Ubuntu is a full fork of Vector 2022, not a child skin. All Vector 2022 templates, JavaScript, PHP components, and LESS stylesheets are included and maintained independently. The skin is functionally identical to Vector 2022 except for the changes listed below.

The HTML class names in the page (e.g. vector-page-toolbar-container, vector-menu-tabs) are intentionally preserved from Vector 2022. Only the internal PHP namespaces, resource module names, and config keys have been renamed.

Changes from Vector 2022

Visual / CSS

• Dark header bar (#333 background) applied to .vector-header-container, .vector-header-start, .vector-header-end
• Ubuntu Sans font applied to all body text, headings, and UI elements — self-hosted as woff2 files, no Google Fonts request
• Ubuntu logo displayed in the header instead of the wiki logo wordmark
• Search box styled with dark background (#3d3d3d) to match the header
• Icon colours set to #919191 (grey) across header and user links, with hover colour #cccccc
• Sticky search toggle (duplicate search icon) hidden
• Footer links for privacy, about, and disclaimers hidden
• "Powered by MediaWiki" footer icon removed (via LocalSettings.php)
• Custom template styles for Ubuntu-specific wiki templates: note, warning, tip, info, doccan, inuse, message, related-articles

Defaults

These are set in skin.json under DefaultUserOptions and apply to new users only:

Preference	Vector 2022 default	Ubuntu default
Main menu pinned	1 (pinned)	0 (collapsed)
Page tools pinned	1 (pinned)	0 (collapsed)
TOC pinned	1 (pinned)	1 (pinned)
Appearance panel pinned	1 (pinned)	0 (collapsed)
Limited width	1 (on)	1 (on)
Font size	0 (default)	0 (default)
Theme	day	day

Responsive

• UbuntuResponsive defaults to true (Vector 2022 defaults to false)

Naming / Registration

Thing	Vector 2022	Ubuntu
Skin key	vector-2022	ubuntu
PHP namespace	MediaWiki\Skins\Vector	MediaWiki\Skins\Ubuntu
Composer package	mediawiki/vector-skin	mediawiki/ubuntu-skin
Resource modules	skins.vector.*	skins.ubuntu.*
Config keys	wgVector*	wgUbuntu*
Main skin class	SkinVector22	SkinUbuntu
i18n name message	vector-specialversion-name	ubuntu-specialversion-name
i18n description message	vector-skin-desc	ubuntu-skin-desc

Bundled Assets

• resources/fonts/ — 4 Ubuntu Sans variable font files (latin + latin-ext, all weights and styles)
• resources/images/ubuntu-logo.png — Ubuntu logo for the header
• resources/skins.ubuntu.styles/ubuntu-custom.css — all custom CSS overrides
• resources/skins.ubuntu.styles/ubuntu-fonts.css — @font-face declarations for self-hosted fonts