User blog comment:Rupert Giles/Layout Changes: Breakpoints and Typography/@comment-3544775-20150519140420/@comment-126761-20150519141026

This simple answer is: the world has changed. Significantly more users are viewing Wikia on devices like tablets today than ever did in the past. The kinds of devices people use has diversified a huge amount even in only the past couple of years. Designing for that situation requires new approaches.

We would also ask: why shouldn't a user on a smaller device be able to edit? Anyone should be able to improve a community, regardless of what device they use.

The right rail on file pages is nothing new - it's been there for a long time.