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Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 7:44 pm
by James Steele
monkey man wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:20 pm
As you'd expect James, I find this tough on my eyes 'cause I'm sensitive to glare, but I'm a firm believer in democratically-driven decisions and am therefore happy for all those who're loving the new theme.
Thank you as always for everything you do for us brother.
Are you serious? When I had the dark theme, I believe it was originally light grey text on darker grey and you had a problem with contrast and I spent several hours specifically trying to please you and tweaking the style sheet until I ended up with pure white letters on pure black, which then caused me to get roasted by someone else who said it was "insane" to have white on black. I seriously just can't win here. Looking around at Avid DUC and Gearspace.com just as two examples, this is not much different. I'm seriously just throwing up my hands now. You... just... can't... win... ever.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:49 pm
by monkey man
Sounds like there's been a misunderstanding Jimbo.
I get
zero glare from white text 'cause it's thin / insignificant area-wise. Never been an issue for me and I can't imagine it ever would. OTOH, large swathes of white, such as when it's the background, are another story;
that's always been an issue for me and it bothers many in this digital age, hence why "Dark Mode" and darker themes have become a thing in recent times.
I only asked if we could have more-contrasting text when it was lighter-grey on darker-grey 'cause I had difficulty, having to strain my eyes, in deciphering it. I wasn't the only one. As Baysey said:
bayswater wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 8:48 pmThe original skin was a grey on grey — like the standard Logic interface. Contrast was not good enough to make out what the text said.
Also, as I recall, I didn't pester you. You invited opinions and I stated my preference, which I use at forums such as VI-Control, SoundLoop, Rig Talk and GTPlanet (all white-on-black or white-on-dark) and left it up to you what you did. You very-kindly did your best to accommodate this preference even 'though you and I both knew you weren't obligated to do so. I thanked you repeatedly, saying that whatever you did, it would be respected and appreciated. I'm
terribly sorry if I came across as being difficult; that's
never been my intention in life, period.
I'm not the pushy type man; a pussycat in sheep's clothing.
As always, thank you so much again for everything that you do for us bud, and as I said in the post you quoted, I really
am "happy for all those who're loving the new theme". Well done mate!
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:43 pm
by James Steele
No... like I said, it's impossible to make everyone happy no matter WHAT you do. That's my inescapable conclusion.
The original dark theme had people unhappy, so I made tweaks to make those people (including you and bayswater as you have reminded me) happy and those tweaks in turn made others unhappy. You just can't please everyone. My problem, since my early years, is that I'm a terrible people pleaser and I try. And it's something you can never do.
So far, the reaction to this theme seems to be very positive and I'm just going to have to let it go as is.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 2:46 pm
by monkey man
Of
course mate; I agree 100%! Sorry about the long-winded post brother.
The short of it is that I've never considered myself "important". I was grateful that you asked us for our feedback back then and I gave mine, knowing in my heart that whatever the outcome I'd be happy that the forum at-large was being accommodated.
Apart from being super mod at Rig Talk, I've set up and run a couple of forums myself and I know how much work it can take to create and maintain them, efforts nobody "sees", and of course if one doesn't already know it, one quickly learns that it's impossible to please everyone; we just do the best we can and if a majority of members is happy it's usually job done.
Hopefully you're not yet tired of hearing me say this, so here goes:
You're a legend mate. We're all really-grateful for the hard work you put into our beloved Unicorn community. Hopefully knowing that you're appreciated helps make your efforts feel worthwhile.
Thank you again and well done Brother Sir Jimbo!
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:11 pm
by James Steele
I appreciate it. I can't help myself and it's something I have to live with that it really *does* bother me when I can't make everyone happy.
I had considered letting users choose from multiple themes including dark ones, but that presents other challenges. People who use a light theme may specify a text color in a post, oblivious to the fact that someone using a dark theme may not be able to read it. Then there's sort of the identity/branding issue where it's not consistent. So I decided against multiple themes for now.
Speaking for myself, this does indeed seem easier to read, albeit very generic and plain.
The next course of action for me is to re-examine the topics. For example, since there are no current MOTU-branded virtual instruments that I'm aware of, I need to decide what to do with the old forums like MachFive, Ethno, etc. The posts may be of value to people with very old systems.
An overall reorganization/hierarchy is something to look at in the future. Perhaps subtopics for third-party plug-ins classified by manufacturer. If you go to the main board page here, you'll notice that in the black bar that goes across (like MOTUNATION MAIN FORUMS) you will see a white box with a minus (-) sign. That's a button that will collapse the forum and hide those forums inside it. It's a third-party extension I recently installed. This makes me think that I could refine categories so things are a bit easier to find, and the ability to collapse main forums would make it less cumbersome to people who don't have an interest in certain categories. For example, off the top of my head I could have a main MAC category and main WINDOWS category. Although when it comes to DP much applies to both.
So much to think about for so little to no financial renumeration. hahaha. This is why you sort of get what you get with these types of forums. They are indeed a labor of love. Many a time I have somewhat defensively responded to criticism by suggesting that those who have a problem with user-run forums go over to phpBB.com, download the board software, install it on some server space and start their own board. I've had zero takers.
Only when it became *easy* by creating a Facebook group, for example, were there alternatives which ironically may get more traffic than this place. I just don't like the idea of Zuckerberg owning all the content. That doesn't happen here. Technically I suppose may I do, but I think of this place as a repository of knowledge for all users. And sometimes, even that OLD knowledge found in posts years old, helps someone.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 4:53 pm
by bayswater
James Steele wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:43 pm
The original dark theme had people unhappy, so I made tweaks to make those people (including you and bayswater as you have reminded me)
Yes, in the first iteration there was one screen that had almost no contrast, but you fixed that. It was fine then, and the current theme is fine too. Thanks for this and all the other things you have to do to keep this forum going.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 4:58 pm
by James Steele
bayswater wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 4:53 pm
James Steele wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:43 pm
The original dark theme had people unhappy, so I made tweaks to make those people (including you and bayswater as you have reminded me)
Yes, in the first iteration there was one screen that had almost no contrast, but you fixed that. It was fine then, and the current theme is fine too. Thanks for this and all the other things you have to do to keep this forum going.
No worries... and it may seem like it, but I"m not fishing for "attaboys." Just that sometimes I find myself frustrated when I think I've done a good thing and it isn't received as I had hoped. But I DO think that this is a nice theme and I should stick with it for now. It is indeed easier to read (for me, anyway) than the previous dark theme (which was called "Carbon") that I had modified.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 5:07 pm
by monkey man
James Steele wrote: ↑Wed Jan 04, 2023 3:11 pm
I appreciate it. I can't help myself and it's something I have to live with that it really *does* bother me when I can't make everyone happy.
I had considered letting users choose from multiple themes including dark ones, but that presents other challenges. People who use a light theme may specify a text color in a post, oblivious to the fact that someone using a dark theme may not be able to read it. Then there's sort of the identity/branding issue where it's not consistent. So I decided against multiple themes for now.
Speaking for myself, this does indeed seem easier to read, albeit very generic and plain.
The next course of action for me is to re-examine the topics. For example, since there are no current MOTU-branded virtual instruments that I'm aware of, I need to decide what to do with the old forums like MachFive, Ethno, etc. The posts may be of value to people with very old systems.
An overall reorganization/hierarchy is something to look at in the future. Perhaps subtopics for third-party plug-ins classified by manufacturer. If you go to the main board page here, you'll notice that in the black bar that goes across (like MOTUNATION MAIN FORUMS) you will see a white box with a minus (-) sign. That's a button that will collapse the forum and hide those forums inside it. It's a third-party extension I recently installed. This makes me think that I could refine categories so things are a bit easier to find, and the ability to collapse main forums would make it less cumbersome to people who don't have an interest in certain categories. For example, off the top of my head I could have a main MAC category and main WINDOWS category. Although when it comes to DP much applies to both.
So much to think about for so little to no financial renumeration. hahaha. This is why you sort of get what you get with these types of forums. They are indeed a labor of love. Many a time I have somewhat defensively responded to criticism by suggesting that those who have a problem with user-run forums go over to phpBB.com, download the board software, install it on some server space and start their own board. I've had zero takers.
Only when it became *easy* by creating a Facebook group, for example, were there alternatives which ironically may get more traffic than this place. I just don't like the idea of Zuckerberg owning all the content. That doesn't happen here. Technically I suppose may I do, but I think of this place as a repository of knowledge for all users. And sometimes, even that OLD knowledge found in posts years old, helps someone.
Indeed; I agree with all points and your thinking James.
I have the same problem "living with" not pleasing everyone. I guess it's just a price one pays for being a giver by nature.
Yeah, I've used the collapsible-list feature to good effect in the past in forums I set up. Very-handy, but honestly, not really needed except in cases where, as you suggested, sub-forums / categories contain a great number of subs.
On the multiple-themes thing and text colour:
At Rig Talk we have a light and a dark theme. Legibility issues are rare but occasionally one sees a post where, say, a member has specified an alternative black for text using the light theme without considering the fact that others who may be using the dark theme might have to highlight it in order to read it easily.
In the last year and a half there's only been one member who did this, and he did it often. I ignored it, thinking he wanted to say certain things "quietly" and it wasn't until another member just today pointed out to the dude that he ought to consider those who use the dark theme. A D'Oh! moment for me and uncannily-synchronous with our discussion.
As I said 'though, rare and easily-fixed with a heads-up to the poster, one that's likely to be issued by a member even, so I wouldn't worry about that too much if you ever choose to go down that path.
Yes, I agree this font is really-clear; easy-to-read.
I also agree that the old VI sub-forums should stay for their legacy value. Peeps who freeze their systems or run old computers for beloved VIs would appreciate it. I mean, where else are they gonna find this info?
I strongly agree with your FB comments too. I've never joined FB, TwitStar, InstantGlam or any of those big social-media thingies. Don't trust any of them is what it comes down to.
Lastly, and I'm sure you've heard this a lot as it's something we givers are told regularly - maybe try not to put yourself under too much pressure / be too-hard on yourself. Providing the basic service will please the majority; the refinement is icing on the cake... IMHO.
Luv ya man.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:56 am
by wylie1
A pair of these may help
- Monkeyglass.jpeg (34.95 KiB) Viewed 3264 times
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:04 pm
by monkey man
Flattering pic, I must admit.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:24 pm
by bayswater
monkey man wrote: ↑Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:04 pm
Flattering pic, I must admit.
You look much younger.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:39 pm
by monkey man
Yup, and I had all my teeth.
I know the older you get the better you were, but geez man, I was quite the looker.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 9:28 am
by Rick Cornish
Hey James.....
Maybe you did this when you rolled out the new, "light" theme, but I just noticed the new MOTUnation favicon. Cool!
Re: Happy New Year... here's the "light theme" people were asking for.
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:38 am
by James Steele
Rick Cornish wrote:Hey James.....
Maybe you did this when you rolled out the new, "light" theme, but I just noticed the new MOTUnation favicon. Cool!
Ha! Didn’t think anyone would notice! I added that a few days ago.
Re: Happy New Year... here's the
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 11:36 am
by Tritonemusic
James Steele wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:38 am
Ha! Didn’t think anyone would notice! I added that a few days ago.
I noticed it. Looks good!