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Printer Friendly Codex

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February 23rd, 2008
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One of the most annoying issues I have with the Codex is the lack of a printer friendly link. There are plenty of times where I and many others would like to print out an article to keep handy for use later on, or to keep right in front of you as you are performing the steps to a particular set of directions. I was going to work on adding this printer friendly link to the Codex via CSS but thanks to Jeremy Clarke who appeared on episode 6 of the WordPress Weekly podcast, I now know of a way to enable this functionality.

As it turns out, you can register an account with the Codex website. For whatever reason, I’ve never noticed this until it was pointed out to me. Once I registered an account, I saw a wealth of options that I hadn’t seen before. After clicking on My Preferences to manage my account, I noticed I could change the skin that is displayed on the Codex. By default, the Codex (default) skin is chosen, but the one that closely resembles the look and feel of Wikipedia is called Monobook.

Monobook

After changing the skin, you’ll notice on the left hand part of the page that there is a section called a Toolbox. Within this tool box is the coveted Printer Version link which will change the article’s page layout so that it is printer friendly. I have gone back and changed my skin back to the default codex to see if registering an account produced this toolbox.However, there simply is no printer version link within the default skin.

Personally, I enjoy browsing the Codex through the Monobook skin. Thanks to Wikipedia, many people are already used to the layout, so it shouldn’t be that hard of a switch.

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  1. David says:

    That is a great find. I have struggled in printing out parts of the codex for reference, for learning, and the layout was as confusing as some of the terms. I am rushing off to register so I can print out those annoying features I just can’t get the hang of. Thanks.

  2. BoltClock says:

    Just so you know, MonoBook resembles Wikipedia so closely because it’s the default MediaWiki skin.

    You know what, I think I’ll stick to that skin too even though I hardly print anything.

  3. Len says:

    Just in case nobody knows, if you are currently registered at the WP Support Forums (wordpress.org/support) you’re already registered at the Codex. In other words, your Forum credentials will log you into the Codex.

  4. Michael says:

    Using the Monobook skip and I don’t see the Printer Version link…just see Upload File and Special Pages in the ‘toolbox’.

    @Len — I registered on the Forum, but then had to manually create an account in Codex. Though registering in the Forum did allow me to use the Forum login at Trac.

  5. Kirk M says:

    So that’s where it is. I never bothered to change my skin so I never noticed. Thanks for the info.

  6. Matt says:

    If anyone submits a print stylesheet to trac for the Codex we’d happily put it in the default template.

  7. Trisha says:

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a HUGE help to me – there are so many Codex articles I’ve wanted to print but wound up doing all kinds of cut & paste to get the info I needed to fit nicely on fewer pages (I hate wasting paper). Thank you for posting this nugget!

  8. Len says:

    @Michael,

    1. Using the Monobook skin: after you login click Main Page in the left sidebar and Printable Version will now be visible under Toolbox.

    2. You may right. I’ve been registered at both the Forum and Codex for ages and may have forgotten the actual procedure. I probably created a Codex account using my Forum credentials as opposed to having those credentials automatically log me in.

  9. Flick says:

    Having just installed MediaWiki I’m wondering about what skin to use as well. I have to admit I’m actually *not* a fan of the default wiki layout – any time I land on Wiki, it’s via google. If you’re thinking of using a skin that doesn’t look like Wiki, then have a look at the MediaWiki skin series – GuMAX – by Paul Gu.
    http://paulgu.com/wiki/Mediawiki_Skins

  10. GREAT! I have missed this for a long time, and did not know this possibility until now. Thank You very much indeed!



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