How to Customize the Theme and CSS of Your wiki.gg Wiki

Updated

To customize your wiki's look, wiki.gg points editors to three CSS pages: MediaWiki:Common.css for site-wide styles, MediaWiki:Vector.css for styles tied to the Vector skin, and Special:MyPage/common.css for personal CSS that only affects your own view. The Support Wiki lists these under "Styling my wiki" alongside a Theme Toggle and a general CSS help entry. You need an account and the ability to edit CSS pages on your wiki; if you cannot edit them, ask a wiki administrator.

Where to Start

The Support Wiki's "I need help with..." navigation groups styling resources under Styling my wiki:

Entry point What it covers
Theming Overall theme setup for your wiki
CSS help General guidance on writing CSS
Theme Toggle Switching between themes
MediaWiki:Common.css Site-wide custom CSS
MediaWiki:Vector.css CSS for the Vector skin
Special:MyPage/common.css Personal CSS for your account

Use this list as your map: start with Theming and CSS help to understand the setup, then decide which CSS page matches the scope you want.

Choosing the Right CSS Page

The three CSS pages differ in who sees the change and how broadly it applies:

  • MediaWiki:Common.css — applies to the whole wiki for all visitors, regardless of skin. Use it for changes that should be part of the wiki's identity, such as colors, fonts, or styling for templates and infoboxes.
  • MediaWiki:Vector.css — applies only when the Vector skin is active. Use it when your styling depends on Vector's layout or you want to adjust elements specific to that skin without affecting other skins.
  • Special:MyPage/common.css — applies only to your account. Use it to test CSS ideas, tweak your own reading experience, or try changes before proposing them site-wide.

A practical workflow: draft and test in your personal common.css, confirm the result looks right, then move the rules to Common.css (or Vector.css if skin-specific) so everyone benefits.

Applying and Checking Changes

  1. Open the CSS page you chose (for example, MediaWiki:Common.css on your wiki).
  2. Add your CSS rules and save the page.
  3. Reload a page on the wiki to see the effect. If nothing changes, bypass your browser cache or check that the selector matches the element you are targeting.
  4. For site-wide changes, review the result on several page types — articles, templates, and special pages — since a rule that looks right on one page can break another.

Common sticking points: edits to a personal CSS page will not appear for other readers, and Vector-specific rules placed in Common.css may not behave as expected under other skins. Keep skin-dependent rules in Vector.css.

Going Further

For deeper styling work, the Support Wiki also links to MediaWiki.org documentation, which covers CSS and skin customization in general. If your wiki needs new functionality rather than just styling, the Support Wiki's "Adding functionality" section lists available extensions and sample gadgets. For community help, the wiki.gg Discord server is listed as the place to discuss with other editors.