Community Wishlist Survey 2019/Reading/Night mode

Random proposal ►◄ Reading The survey has concluded. Here are the results!

Night mode

Problem: Wikipedia skins are very bright, and at night they can be hard on the eyes.
Who would benefit: Anyone who would prefer to read at night.
Proposed solution: Some kind of toggleable dark or night-mode like YouTube or TV Tropes. It would be most accessible as a feature for everyone and not just a new skin for logged-in users.
More comments: This had some support in the 2017 survey: Community Wishlist Survey 2017/Reading/Night-mode for read articles?
Phabricator tickets: T199634, T91201, T206094, T180890, T66731
Proposer: Premeditated Chaos (talk) 07:11, 5 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Projects, results

Dark mode user script by WMF

Section added for those interested in the developments after the survey concluded.

Dark-mode userscript by Volker E. (WMF) and other Foundation folks, usable since October 2019, showing complementer colors building on top of CSS filter: invert( 1 ) and specific cases fine-tuned for legibility.
WMF Dark-Mode project to implement this in MediaWiki.
RFC: Themes in core (phab:T122924) by Isarra, developer of Timeless skin.
- Many volunteer-made themes (userstyles) listed here.

Experimental Dark theme on Timeless skin, English Wikipedia main page

Skin themes – dark and gray themes for Timeless and Vector skins. Custom color palette, similar to discord's colors. Experimental volunteer project: there is some content that's hard to read with it.

Discussion

You should consider downloading an app or software that will adjust the tint and brightness on your computer. I currently use Flux and am looking at a rather-orange page. --Izno (talk) 02:15, 6 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Windows 10 has a night mode (called "night light") that removes much of the blue from the screen, which is easier on the eyes. However, I agree that a dark-theme night mode would be nice. Most WMF wikis are a wall of white/off-white background (Commons, where the page you're viewing often has large images filling the screen is somewhat of an exception). Removing the blue hue from the display is only a partial fix to the problem...a dark theme would be much better. AHeneen (talk) 08:43, 6 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@Premeditated Chaos: The 2017 survey item offers several existing solutions. Could you elaborate what blocks you from using functionality provided by your operating system, by a separate application, or by using StylishThemes/Wikipedia-Dark ? Thanks! --AKlapper (WMF) (talk) 11:18, 6 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't make this request, but in reply to @AKlapper (WMF):, Wikipedia-Dark doesn't support Safari and Stylish doesn't officially support Safari either. Stylish has also had security issues in the past. Personally, I'm not going to install a browser extension just to get dark mode for one site, and I imagine a lot of other people are in the same camp. Plus, many people likely aren't aware that's even an option. Additionally, while flux and similar are useful (I have flux installed and tuned to be more aggressive than normal), I still find Wikipedia difficult to use at night. Flux or similar apps simply do not do enough to make Wikipedia comfortable to use at night. A native dark theme would really be appreciated and I don't think it's an unreasonable request, especially considering the mobile app for Wikipedia already has this. --OverlordOdin (talk) 20:15, 8 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I use mw:Skin:Vector-DarkCSS. Works pretty well; could be made into a gadget pretty easily.. Galobtter (talk) 18:54, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Would it be imaginable to add this CSS in the option of Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering? It would make it more visible to users. Cheers, VIGNERON * ^discut. 14:58, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
VIGNERON, Isarra seems to be working in regards to adding the ability to choose variants for skins (such as a dark version). Galobtter (talk) 08:38, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Why not just use tools like this? ‐‐1997kB (talk) 10:50, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@1997kB Darkreader seems pretty awesome, better than the 'High Contrast' Chrome extension that I was using previously. I also agree that this is somewhat unnecessary and would be a waste of resources when there are so many good other tools available. That being said, as this is likely already in the top 10, it should be done with Automatic sliders for when you want it enabled and disabled (you can set your time zone on WP, why not). Moreover, it should add the option to add a 'dark' theme as the alternate to any theme selected, (e.g. dark Vector, dark timeless) and then give an option to enable this for certain parts of the day/night or as a toggle. — Insertcleverphrasehere ^{(or here)} 15:44, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Can we do this for this page as well? Nikkimaria (talk) 22:06, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Tom Ja claims it would save energy, but I doubt this is significant, as per https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/4373/does-a-webpage-with-a-black-background-save-energy, unless things have changed. PJTraill (talk) 00:37, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
@PJTraill It would not save energy for LCD screens (the vast majority of computer monitors), which have a backlight that is on regardless of whether the pixels are black (blocking the backlight) or white (letting the backlight shine through). However a lot of TVs and an increasing percentage of new smartphones have OLED screens, where the little diodes each release light themselves (thus less light=less power use). I would highly suggest that the night mode is also developed for wiki-mobile and the app as well for this reason. — Insertcleverphrasehere ^{(or here)} 09:09, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The apps do already have a dark/night theme. ESanders (WMF) (talk) 16:09, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Huge support for this. I already use f.lux and other blueblockers to mitigate a vision disability, as well as some dark themes for browsers. However blanket colour inversion is sometimes impractical for many reasons, especially when online and/or working with images. Native night modes are far superior to 'wall-of-white' for users like myself. Wiki night mode would be lovely imo. ifny (talk) 01:55, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Note that my very similar proposal (Community Wishlist Survey 2019/Reading/Accessibility settings for everyone) basically includes this feature, and a bit more. It is also intended to be available to logged-out users. Please consider building this, with an eye towards future expand-ability for those other accessibility/usability aspects. Quiddity (talk) 06:45, 1 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
See also mw:Requests for comment/Themes in core which is very relevant if it moves forward. Quiddity (talk) 23:57, 9 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Voting

Support This would be a great usability feature for Wikipedia on the web. It would also keep the site's features consistent with the app, which has two dark themes. OverlordOdin (talk) 18:19, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support SEMMENDINGER (talk) 19:29, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support James Martindale (talk) 19:47, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Badly needed, even when enwiki already has the dark mode with green text all over. George Ho (talk) 20:36, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Now both Apple and Google are introducing dark mode to their products. It has even energical benefits (devices consume less power), not to mention health benefits. Tom Ja (talk) 23:50, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Consulnico (talk) 23:56, 16 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Super Wang on zhwiki (Share your opinions) 00:00, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support DonBarredora (talk) 00:03, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yousou (talk) 00:26, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gehenna1510 (talk) 00:30, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Also make one for Timeless! Enterprisey (talk) 04:13, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hiàn (talk) 04:29, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ديفيد عادل وهبة خليل 2 (talk) 09:09, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk, contributions) 10:22, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ZellmerLP (talk) 10:29, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --Alaa :)..! 10:49, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nimrodbr (talk) 10:51, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support J. N. Squire (talk) 10:55, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Libcub (talk) 11:20, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yeah this seems reasonable; would love to have a Wikipedia night mode. SshibumXZ (talk) 17:15, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Cabayi (talk) 17:41, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Amir (talk) 19:15, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yes. I modified my CSS to make the content area darker as a semi-fix for this, but a properly designed skin that is nice on the eyes would be excellent. – Ajraddatz (talk) 19:49, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Nightdevil (talk) 20:00, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Yamaha5 (talk) 20:35, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Mehdi^Talk 20:37, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support —Thanks for the fish! ^{talk•contribs} 20:39, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Agusbou2015 (talk) 20:55, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Oops, forgot to vote for my own topic. Premeditated Chaos (talk) 21:27, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Your vote is automatically counted when you propose, Premeditated Chaos. This is a double vote. George Ho (talk) 23:56, 17 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Is it? I got a reminder on my talk page telling me not to forget to support it. Premeditated Chaos (talk) 00:51, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
They automatically counted proposers as "support" votes for prior wishlists. Seems that the person who notified you was unaware of it. --George Ho (talk) 02:25, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, I fixed the asterisk formatting on your behalf. George Ho (talk) 02:26, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Darwinek (talk) 01:35, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Kpgjhpjm (talk) 02:14, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wunkt2 (talk) 03:31, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support AHeneen (talk) 05:52, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Poya-P (talk) 06:23, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support This would be so great. Abductive (talk) 10:01, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Szalax (talk) 10:07, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Jules78120 (talk) 10:19, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support فرهنگ2016 (talk) 10:41, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Richard Nevell (talk) 10:49, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sharaky Talk 10:55, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Arbeite19 (talk) 11:14, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Мурад 97 (talk) 11:24, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Liuxinyu970226 (talk) 12:28, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support it would be very useful more could be a Gadgets and already has an example on Minecraft Wiki in Portuguese and German (MediaWiki:Gadget-nightmode.js and MediaWiki:Gadget-nightmode.css Eduaddad (talk) 15:00, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Coldbolt (talk) 15:10, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support — Draceane ^talk_contrib. 17:09, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ~ Amory (u • t • c) 17:18, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support stwalkerster (talk) 17:24, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Fatemi ♪ 18:54, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Wesalius (talk) 21:12, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support – Meiræ 22:28, 18 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Funkysapien (talk) 02:34, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support FR30799386 (talk) 07:16, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support — regards, Revi 07:25, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Seems simple; I see no downside. Benjaminikuta (talk) 10:15, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Veikk0.ma (talk) 12:48, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support It could even be the default! Recared (talk) 15:13, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support - tucoxn\^talk 16:37, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support -Xbony2 (talk) 16:43, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Unfortunately, this does not fix the blue hue at night, but it's a good start. (I'm not watching this page so please ping me if you want my attention.) Wumbolo (talk) 17:38, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support StringRay (talk) 22:18, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gareth (talk) 12:42, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Lord van Tasm (talk) 13:22, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support → «« Man77 »» ^[de] 13:34, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support I would be very happy to use Wikipedia and other Wikimedia wiki with night mode! Vulp here 15:08, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tim bates (talk) 21:52, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 22:52, 20 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Terra ❤ ^(talk) 03:10, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tisfoon (talk) 06:10, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Laboramus (talk) 07:37, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bencemac (talk) 08:16, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Penegal (talk) 08:41, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Novak Watchmen (talk) 13:47, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support BugWarp (talk) 15:07, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Gce (talk) 18:39, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Topper13009 (talk) 20:05, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support a thousand times, yes. Nihlus 22:44, 21 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support This seems like it would be really useful! TheAwesomeHwyh (talk) 12:13, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support CosmosAway (talk) 15:07, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support welcum to the dark side --Œ̷͠²ð·¨´´̢́̕͘³͏¯̞̗ (talk) 17:31, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Encycloon (talk) 18:39, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Arian ^Talk 19:33, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Petr Kinšt (talk) 19:34, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support SalmanZ (talk) 21:18, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Tetizeraz (talk) 23:15, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Emyds (talk) 23:20, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 23:49, 22 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support AnuJuno (talk) 06:37, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support MisterSynergy (talk) 09:59, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support This would be really helpful, especially if it was obvious and could be users without accounts, having the ability to switch between view modes in the browser might also have some accessibility advantages. Assuming that users of Wikipedia have accounts or know how to install browser extensions is not inclusive. John Cummings (talk) 16:23, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Sahaquiel9102 (talk) 17:28, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Might get some media interest. Mbrickn (talk) 21:15, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support James F. (talk) 22:42, 23 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Vctrbarbieri (talk) 03:13, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Matěj Suchánek (talk) 09:32, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Hmxhmx 10:27, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --SkyGazer 512 (talk) 13:41, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support There should be a button on all the pages, so you do not have to go to preferences. While this is approved, I'm installing High Contrast... --Mr Misterio2 (talk) 16:58, 24 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support WindowPain (talk | contribs) 08:58, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Soumendrak (talk) 09:00, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support--►Neriman2003 ^talk 11:12, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Helder 13:24, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ranjithsiji (talk) 22:32, 25 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support NankineseYang (talk) 00:48, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support From both a stylistic and functional standpoint, this would be awesome. — AfroThundr ^{(u · t · c)} 02:43, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Der Fussi 11:11, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ckoerner (talk) 15:54, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Whispering (talk) 21:35, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support - FlightTime (open channel) 22:06, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Miles.world (talk) 23:12, 26 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Louis H. G. (talk) 01:03, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support ifny (talk) 01:55, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support PJTraill (talk) 10:17, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Linguistical (talk) 16:26, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support PrussianOwl (talk) 20:17, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Qono (talk) 21:22, 27 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Ciao • Bestoernesto • ✉ 01:36, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Respublik (talk) 03:47, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support E1d4R (talk) 06:43, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Bennv3771 (talk) 10:21, 28 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Daniel Case (talk) 03:15, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Timendum (talk) 11:42, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Delta 51 (talk) 19:11, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Cymru.lass (talk) 20:35, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Ldorfman (talk) 20:51, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Netanel488 (talk) 20:51, 29 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support JTP ^{(talk • contribs)} 01:55, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support NicoScribe (talk) 11:25, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --OrsolyaVirág (talk) 14:23, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support Alucard 16 (talk) 15:31, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Support --GrandCelinien (talk) 17:07, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]