Two suggestion for the forum before I can start using it

[jedd]

Hello there,

I've been aware of the project for a little while, and I'm now interested enough to come here and suggest ideas, and possibly help with more practical tasks.

However, I don't want to destroy my eyes when trying to type or to read forum messages:

Regarding the inputs (while posting a topic or a reply), the font is marine blue over a very similar background (light blue -> grey gradient): due to the low contrast I have to get really close to my screen to make sure what I'm typing is correct.

My suggestions?

• Make the font a bit darker;
• the background gradient is not a bad thing per se, but it should be really close to a pure #fff white.

The worst part however is reading topics: black font with a white outline over a grey texture? Really? How do you guys manage to communicate under such conditions? It may have looked pretty to the person who designed this, but it's just a nightmare for my eyes. And I have a rather good eyesight compared to most of people so I don't think I'm the only one who's concerned about this.

Again, this pretty easy to solve:

• Drop the text-shadow CSS property. It makes reading twice as hard;
• the background should be brighter if the text is black, darker if the text is white. Moar contrast!
• Drop the texture effect: it only makes it harder to distinguish the font that's on top of it. (You can keep it on the sides and the spaces in-between messages though.)

I would finally like to mention that I have done a fair bit of web design and went really deep into ergonomics myself. I have extensive knowledge in HTML and CSS so if you need me to make an edit of the stylesheet I could very well do that.

Thanks for reading me. I look forward to see these readability problems solved so I can start enjoying my time on these forums

jedd

[sirherrbatka]

My lord!

Sorry that you can't use our forum because of default style but please note that that you can use other style. Just set up it in prefernces.

You humble servant.

[jedd]

My lord!

Sorry that you can't use our forum because of default style but please note that that you can use other style. Just set up it in prefernces.

You humble servant.

Thanks for dragging my attention to that. I can indeed use another style. However that only solves the problem for me.
If you're really looking into ways of luring more people into development you will need to address accessibility problems like these so people don't shun away after reading their first message on this forum. I would have done just that if I wasn't so interested in the project and passionated by MW.

Thanks

[ElderTroll]

It is true. Whenever I try look at the forum on my phone I have to zoom to insane sizes before it is legible. Lowering barriers to participation (especially when it's simple) is just a good idea. Anyone who is really attached to the current settings can set them manually.

[Rhys]

I use the phpbb default theme myself as well. Prefering the full width and plain background.

[Zini]

Agreed. The contrast on the current default theme is terrible. Had to get new glasses to deal with it without straining my eyes too much (actually my old glasses broke; otherwise I would have used a software solution instead of a hardware one). I always considered the default skin a temporary solution. There was talk about creating a custom skin, but nothing came from that unfortunately. Maybe we should consider re-evaluating the default skin.

[sirherrbatka]

Indeed.

I propose to look for a nice old paper like style and use the necrod awesome icons with it.

[psi29a]

I use the default theme... just because it is practical and to the point.

The dark fantasy theme is very kitch and does nothing to help the forums functionality and usefulness.

[sirherrbatka]

https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/styl ... tage/demo/ ← nice one!
https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/style/softwood/demo/
hm?

[psi29a]

https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/styl ... tage/demo/ ← nice one!
https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/style/softwood/demo/
hm?

What is wrong with the default? (Hint, it still looks better than the options given.)