Installing Chroma

This guide assumes you already have a working MediaWiki. If not, start with the MediaWiki installation guide.

What you need

• MediaWiki 1.43 LTS, 1.45 or 1.46;
• the matching PHP version (1.43: 8.1+, 1.45: 8.2+, 1.46: 8.3+);
• file access to your wiki directory (FTP, SSH or a file manager);
• permission to edit LocalSettings.php in the wiki root.

You do not need Node.js, npm or a compiler. Release ZIPs contain compiled CSS and JS.

Step 1: Download the right package

Open Special:Version to confirm your MediaWiki version, then download:

Your MediaWiki	Download
1.43 LTS	v0.6.0-REL1_43
1.45	v0.6.0-REL1_45
1.46	v0.6.0-REL1_46

The file is named Chroma-v0.6.0-REL1_xx.zip.

Step 2: Put it in skins/Chroma

In the wiki root, find the skins directory (next to LocalSettings.php and includes).

1. Create skins/Chroma;
2. Extract the files inside the ZIP into that folder;
3. The final path must be:

your-wiki/
├── LocalSettings.php
├── includes/
├── skins/
│   └── Chroma/
│       ├── skin.json
│       ├── includes/
│       ├── templates/
│       ├── resources/
│       └── i18n/

Do not nest the folder

If you get skins/Chroma/Chroma/skin.json, MediaWiki cannot find the skin. skin.json must be directly inside skins/Chroma/.

Step 3: Enable it

Open LocalSettings.php in the wiki root and add this at the end of the file:

wfLoadSkin( 'Chroma' );
$wgDefaultSkin = 'chroma';

Save and refresh the wiki. It should switch immediately.

If the file ends with ?>, put these lines before ?>; better yet, remove the closing ?> to avoid stray whitespace output.

Nothing changed?

Check in order:

1. Path: is skins/Chroma/skin.json present? Not skins/Chroma/Chroma/skin.json;
2. Config: are both lines in LocalSettings.php, with the correct case?
3. Permissions: can the PHP process read skins/Chroma?
4. Cache: refresh, or run php maintenance/run.php purgeParserCache --age 0;
5. Error log: check PHP/Apache/Nginx logs; they usually say what is wrong.

You can also open Special:Version and look for Chroma in the skin list.

Optional: mobile with MobileFrontend

To use Chroma on mobile as well:

1. Install MobileFrontend;
2. Add:

wfLoadExtension( 'MobileFrontend' );
$wgDefaultMobileSkin = 'chroma';

Mobile browsers then use Chroma's responsive layout instead of MinervaNeue. See Mobile.

Updating

1. Back up skins/Chroma and LocalSettings.php;
2. download the new ZIP for the same branch;
3. overwrite skins/Chroma;
4. purge caches and refresh;
5. check the version on Special:Version.

Uninstalling

1. Remove from LocalSettings.php:

wfLoadSkin( 'Chroma' );
$wgDefaultSkin = 'chroma';

2. Set $wgDefaultSkin back to another skin such as vector;
3. delete skins/Chroma.

Still stuck?

Open an issue with:

• MediaWiki version;
• PHP version;
• Chroma version/branch;
• a screenshot of the error;
• the relevant PHP error-log lines.

https://github.com/chroma-mediawiki/mediawiki-skins-Chroma/issues