Wikipedia reposted this
Wikipedia has changed a lot since 2001, even as its mission has stayed the same. Behind every article is a technical infrastructure that has steadily evolved to support a growing, global readership. Wikipedia runs on MediaWiki, a software first written by Magnus Manske in 2002. Today, MediaWiki supports more than 300 languages and is designed to handle enormous amounts of information for billions of readers worldwide. It is also highly customizable, allowing communities and users to shape how Wikipedia works and how it looks. One of the earliest ways readers experienced that flexibility was through "skins", which changed Wikipedia's visual design. Beginning in 2004, the Monobook skin defined Wikipedia's look and feel for a generation of users. In 2010, it was replaced by Vector to modernize the site's appearance, and in 2022, Vector was updated again to make the desktop experience clearer and more intuitive for newer internet users. As reading habits shifted, Wikipedia adapted. Support for mobile devices began in 2007, with the mobile experience many people recognize today taking shape in 2016. Dedicated Wikipedia apps followed, launching on Android in 2009 and iOS in 2012. More recently, updates such as dark mode and faster page loading reflect ongoing work by the Wikimedia Foundation to improve accessibility and performance, including upgrades to data center infrastructure. These changes show how Wikipedia continues to evolve technically, while remaining focused on providing free access to knowledge for everyone. Celebrate this and other Wikipedia milestones on this time capsule ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gbBzKc-s #Wikipedia25