MDN Web Docs
cross-browser documentation center on web technologies
MDN Web Docs, previously Mozilla Developer Network and formerly Mozilla Developer Center, is a documentation repository and learning resource for web developers. It was started by Mozilla in 2005 as a unified place for documentation about open web standards, Mozilla's own projects, and developer guides.
MDN Web Docs content is maintained by Mozilla, Open Web Docs, and a volunteer community of developers and technical writers. It also contains content contributed by Microsoft, Google, and Samsung who, in 2017, announced they would shut down their own web documentation projects and move all their documentation to MDN Web Docs. Topics include HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Web APIs, PWAs, Django, Node.js, WebExtensions, MathML, WebAssembly, accessibility/ARIA, security, and others.
History
In 2005, Mozilla Corporation started the project under the name Mozilla Developer Center, and still funds the servers and staff of its projects.
The initial content for the website was provided by DevEdge, for which the Mozilla Foundation was granted a license by AOL. The site now contains a mix of content migrated from DevEdge and mozilla.org, as well as original and more up-to-date content. Documentation was also migrated from XULPlanet.com.
On Oct 3, 2016, Brave browser added Mozilla Developer Network as one of its default search engines options.
In 2017, MDN Web Docs became the unified documentation of web technology for Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and Mozilla.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “MDN Web Docs” is cross-browser documentation center on web technologies. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Docs, cross-browser and documentation, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “cross-browser documentation center on web technologies” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3273508. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2017 and 2016.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “MDN Web Docs”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow MDN Web Docs primary sources, MDN Web Docs archive and Docs research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “MDN Web Docs”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “MDN Web Docs” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.