My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Anything about use of this forum : NOT about cycling
thelawnet
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by thelawnet »

Just checked an archived version

https://archive.fo/eM4JJ

The text was 13px Helvetica with 19px headings. It is now 14px (larger) Helvetica with 19px (the same) headings

Also the colour of the headings has changed slightly.
Psamathe
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by Psamathe »

thelawnet wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 1:45pm Just checked an archived version

https://archive.fo/eM4JJ

The text was 13px Helvetica with 19px headings. It is now 14px (larger) Helvetica with 19px (the same) headings

Also the colour of the headings has changed slightly.
I assume you don't have the other fonts on your computer? Because post body text on my computer is Lucida Grande; or are we using different themes? (I'm on the dark version)
font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 13px;
In my personal opinion Helvetica is a much clearer font.

Ian
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admin
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

I've removed Lucida Grande and Verdana from the font-family lists, and increased the base font size by 10%.

So the Forum font should now be "boring" but almost the same for everyone, whatever type of computer they're using.

You might need to clear your browser's cache if you're still getting those less-common fonts.
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kylecycler
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by kylecycler »

I've got 'What Font?' installed and I'm seeing Helvetica in the regular theme and Trebuchet MS in the Dark theme (which I'm using). Helvetica is certainly larger and somewhat easier to read than Trebuchet, although Trebuchet works fine in the Dark theme, but FWIW I prefer Arial or Verdana to either.
Psamathe
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by Psamathe »

admin wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 3:21pm I've removed Lucida Grande and Verdana from the font-family lists, and increased the base font size by 10%.

So the Forum font should now be "boring" but almost the same for everyone, whatever type of computer they're using.

You might need to clear your browser's cache if you're still getting those less-common fonts.
In dark theme:
When viewing posts in athread Lucida Grande is still the font being used cleared caches, reloaded, etc.)
content.css wrote:/* Content container styles
----------------------------------------*/
.content {
clear: both;
min-height: 3em;
overflow: hidden;
line-height: 1.4em;
font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 1em;
padding-bottom: 1px;
When replying/entering a post the font list has changed
forms.css wrote: .message-box textarea {
font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
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Tompsk
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by Tompsk »

On my system the text on the forums is not as clear and also text is smaller than before. Not good and doesn't encourage me to use the site. When I select a thread to read posts it looks the same as before, i.e. a larger and more readable font. I'd guess someone in control thinks it is better!?
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

Psamathe wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 4:11pm In dark theme:
When viewing posts in athread Lucida Grande is still the font being used cleared caches, reloaded, etc.)
I haven't touched the dark theme yet, want to get the main one tweaked first, then I can just copy the final changes across.
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

Tompsk wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 6:00pm On my system the text on the forums is not as clear and also text is smaller than before. Not good and doesn't encourage me to use the site. When I select a thread to read posts it looks the same as before, i.e. a larger and more readable font. I'd guess someone in control thinks it is better!?
Which text, specifically?

"Someone in control" is the phpBB development team. You're looking at the default phpBB style, now slightly modified by me to increase font sizes, change font face, etc.

Yeah, the phpBB base theme is a bit "spaghetti code" with lots of stuff that could be tidied up. But it's free and likely to be common to many other Forums across the internet.
xerxes
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by xerxes »

Can't see any difference.
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

xerxes wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 7:52pm Can't see any difference.
Compared to what? Is this a Good Thing, or a Problem?
xerxes
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by xerxes »

admin wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 7:53pm
xerxes wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 7:52pm Can't see any difference.
Compared to what? Is this a Good Thing, or a Problem?
Compared to the way it was before. So no problem.
Slowroad
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by Slowroad »

The symbols on the left hand side have changed too. There is a flame symbol and a sheet of writing symbol. But if you hover the cursor above them they both say 'unread posts' so I'm none the wiser..
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gbnz
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by gbnz »

markjohnobrien wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 9:31am I don’t like the changes. Font is awful
:

+ 1. I presume there'll be perfectly valid reasons why it's been changed, accept any change will produce negative reactions (Nb. A critical learning point in any career :wink: ), whilst offering an apology to those who've put the work in. . But both the font and somehow the layout is unpleasant, making it less pleasant to view, compared both with the previous layout and other sites I use.
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

Font is now Arial or Helvetica or the sans-serif font your machine has installed. Should look very normal and boring.
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Re: My laptop, or has the forum typecast changed?

Post by admin »

Slowroad wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm The symbols on the left hand side have changed too. There is a flame symbol and a sheet of writing symbol. But if you hover the cursor above them they both say 'unread posts' so I'm none the wiser..
Icons are a combination:
  • Red = contains posts you haven't read yet.
  • Black = you've read everything here.
  • Sheet with lines = ordinary topic
  • Exclamation mark = sticky topic (always listed first)
  • With asterisk = contains a post from you
  • With padlock = topic thread is locked, no-one can post to it any more
When I get a spare moment I'll add these to the FAQ page.

The Flame icon was for a "hot topic" of more than 25 posts. Not really needed, as you can see how many pages of posts each topic has anyway. I've just disabled this feature.
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