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Apologies for the lengthy pause between my last comment and this one – my eyes needed a break…
I have a number of computers, only one of which is a Mac. I do NOT wish to get into a Windows versus Mac debate (!) – suffice to say I prefer Windows for many reasons (personal, subjective ones, naturally).
BUT, Mac OS X is unquestionably superior when it comes to text rendition.
There is a great free software utility called “MacType” (installed on all my Windows machines) which does a pretty good job of correcting Windows’ deficiencies as regards text display.
Here is a direct download link to the latest version:
(the above is a shortened url pointing to Google Code MacType download page link)
Save it to your PC, install it, run it. It’s pretty self-explanatory after that.
P.S. MacType is for ‘better-looking’ text, NOT more accurate font reproduction.
If you are into typography, where accuracy is paramount, you already know not to use it, right?
(The same as you’ve made sure you’ve disabled Microsoft’s “Clear-Type” anti-aliasing feature, naturally).
“Apologies for the lengthy pause between my last comment and this one – my eyes needed a break…”
Oh God, Pan is attempting humour once again. When will he learn, one wonders…
Pan, thanks for the font tip. The case that serif is more readable is convincing if not blinking obvious when you think about it.
I’ve added GM_addStyle(“body { font-family: serif; !important }”); to my script above.
Darth, However you do it you should improve the usability of the design. Such demanding contrast and type will discourage readers. This has been tested over and over. That you retain a terrible colour scheme on the whim of Craig makes me laugh. Is he the font of all wisdom?
Please change the orange colour! It’s distracting and a pain to the eyes !!
Not to mention that it reminds McDonald’s stationery!!“Is he the font of all wisdom?” – to which I’m sure you meant to add “Forgive the pun”.
Why Craig would want to see his rather pleasing home page portrait given an orange tint is a mystery to me.
I’m quite sure our host giveth nay a jot for vanity, but it is far from flattering.
‘Strewth, what’s happened? I go travelling for a week or so, and the site’s gone to the dogs!
Or at least, gone – as in the case of the BBC – “Hideously White”.
To call this “responsive” is rather a euphemism. It’s not “responsive” at all, it simply is geared to tiny little screens. Anyone using a decent sized screen (as God intended) is faced with a massive glare of overly white blank space, and tiny little lettering making up the content, occupying a puzzlingly small space.
Would anyone like to read a newspaper or a book with such glaringly (literally) inefficient use of space, yet requiring so much effort to read tiny font? Surely a major point in communications is clarity, and making the other struggle to understand you is to be avoided. This requires so much more effort than the old layout, that time spent here is going to be less appealing. Perhaps that was the plan all along.
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FWIW, I agree entirely with Pan’s apparently well informed views on all this, particularly in regard to orange-on-white. I’m always sorry to see retrograde “upgrades”, but imposing irritatingly small text is a curious “upgrade” indeed.
“This requires so much more effort than the old layout, that time spent here is going to be less appealing.”
That was my initial reaction on first sight as well, but I’m getting used to it, and I feel confident things will improve.
Despite the genuinely uncomfortable eye strain I have experienced this weekend on this blog, I think credit is due to Darth and his helpers for the (what must certainly be very considerable) time and energy they have spent on implementing the exciting new features (I have not yet really explored them, but I love the ‘Reply’ button feature.) I suspect they are doing it ‘more for love than money’.
“Perhaps that was the plan all along.”
No, Glenn, I think you’re way off base there. But thank you for your comment.
Darth – I have noticed that some of the comments are missing the ‘Reply’ button.
Here are two examples:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/03/dictator-bling/comment-page-3/#comment-584512
A glitch, maybe?
It’s because there can only be 5 levels of nested comments including the top. You can always reply to a less indented reply in the thread and make it clear who you are replying to if context requires. We could up this limit but it is not advised.
Thanks for your earlier kind words. All the feedback here is being collected and, after a break, we’ll play around with things on the test system this week. If we can come up with some modifications that Craig likes and help readers having a problem with this site then they will be implemented.
For those especially struggling with the font, be aware that things like noscript etc will block loading of the Google Fonts and a fallback will be used. The actual main font we use is the second most popular web font in the world but I know that doesn’t help for people who hate it 🙂
I like the new theme. Can’t say I find it too white/bright. Better without the sticky menu which takes up space and the navigation options it offers aren’t useful on a blog. I agree about the orange links, blue would be better.
The main improvement is threaded comments. I reckon it’s going to put Hababkuk out of business. Next time one of those bickering sessions breaks out, it won’t be spread over the entire thread, it’ll be confined to the comments of those who are daft enough to encourage him. It’ll be harder for him to disrupt and easier for us to scroll past.
Just one suggestion. If we want to reply to Craig’s post (rather than replying to another comment), we have to make our way to the top of the page. Using the *Home* key still requires us to scroll back down to the comment field. A link below the lowermost comment on each page to an anchor below Craig’s post would be useful.
Agree, but I like the warmer color, orange.
I like the softness of the font also. Looking at a commuter screen is not nice anyway imo, often a harsh cold light, hard edges. Mine is a small dim screen. But i’m always after less harsh and welcome this more feminine feel as long as it lasts.
Ps, sorry for any hassle I caused people, I know you must have big enough issues running this site. It’s frustration, nature of the material etc.
And yes, any hounding of people by others will no doubt look clearer in the tread.
For the small percentage of visitors on extreme high resolution monitors, who find the whitespace at screen edges distracting, one suggestion might be to zoom the page slightly. Ctrl/+ works on most Windows browsers as a shortcut.
From what I understand, the mods get no reward at all from the work they do here – only abuse from people who think they’re treated unfairly here (which they are not), and those who feel themselves above any criticism or moderator action.
I’ve no doubt it’s been a lot of work to make all these changes, and feel a bit churlish in saying I don’t like it. But I have to be honest, it seems worse than the old system by some considerable way. For instance, I used to be able to sit back and read this stuff from maybe a yard away from the monitor (that’s about a meter for youngsters). Now, I have to sit forward to a foot or so from the monitor and it’s still not easy. The colour scheme was fairly pleasant, now it’s hard on the eyes.
<i>No, Glenn, I think you’re way off base there. But thank you for your comment. </i>
A rather tongue-in-cheek reference to some oldies (over 35) where it might be preferred that they clear out, making way for the exciting, dynamic new Millennials who (as any ful no) have all the answers, and are the only people whose opinions matter. Too subtle, sorry.
It night be an anomaly but percentage of mobile phone readership of the blog has doubled in the last 2 days. I take it you don’t find zooming in slightly in the browser any help? Craig actually got me to change font sizes while he refreshed the page. This is the font size he picked. Maybe we could enlarge a bit more?
Oh, I wouldn’t go quite that far, other than in the strictly monetary sense.
They enjoy what must be an illuminating bird’s eye view of human nature, warts and all. Plus, I suspect they get to dine out occasionally on the stories they are able to tell of the extaordinary quirks of human psychology they witness (and perhaps analyse). At the very least I expect they get together ‘down the pub’ once in a while and have a darned good laugh amongst themselves, at the expense of some of us (and indeed, why shouldn’t they?).
I also cannot imagine anyone who lacks a very thick skin (like, say, that of a politician) volunteering for the job of moderator.
All the above is pure conjecture, of course.
I would add that they ARE (very) occasionally rewarded by well-considered messages of appreciation, and grovelling apologies from those whose consciences force them to try to atone for the misdemeanours they have commited against said mods…
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“A rather tongue-in-cheek reference to some oldies (over 35) where it might be preferred that they clear out, making way for the exciting, dynamic new Millennials who (as any ful no) have all the answers, and are the only people whose opinions matter.”
That’s good. Now I understand you.
“Too subtle, sorry.” – Apology accepted. Very gracious of you.
Damn, this new format is tricky…
My comment above is in response to glenn_uk, and is missing the first line (quoting Glenn):
“From what I understand, the mods get no reward at all from the work they do here”
Thankyou for explaining the nesting limit.
“be aware that things like noscript etc will block loading of the Google Fonts and a fallback will be used.”
I am familiar with NoScript, but am not currently using that particular add-on. I AM using Adblock Plus. Plus I use the MVPS hosts file as an extra layer of ad/distraction removal.
Can you please elaborate on the “etc” in “noscript etc”, and perhaps give us a clue as to how to go about entering ‘exceptions’ in add-ons like NoScript which will allow the free passage of Google Fonts, and any other scripts/urls necessary for the proper functioning of this new format?
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“It might be an anomaly but percentage of mobile phone readership of the blog has doubled in the last 2 days.”
Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
A comment like that does rather alarmingly add resonance to glenn_uk’s comment above about “clearing out the old farts” (I paraphrase, of course).
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Finally, just out of curiosity, what IS “the second most popular web font in the world”? (In fact, is there a ‘Top Ten’ list, somewhere?)
That some may like the softness of the orange is besides the point.This is a usability issue.
Disregarding the difficulty some have with low contrast is no different that refusing to provide a ramp into a community hall. You exclude people by obstruction. This is both your loss and theirs.
You wouldn’t exclude less able people just because the vicar and a couple of friends said they liked the stairs. You would tell the vicar he’s talking out of his arse.
Get rid of the orange links. Make them readable for those of us with less than good eyesight.
Pan
“give us a clue as to how to go about entering ‘exceptions’ in add-ons like NoScript”Google has the answer of course. Well several answers. The most sensible one being – why the fuck would you install noscripts to then create exceptions to potential harmful scripts.
A web site should function without scripting. It’s called HTML. HTML5 + CSS are unbelievably powerful these days. Scripting should only add bells and whistles.
I meant to say:
You would tell the vicar he’s talking out of his arise.
Another great feature of this new theme is that clicking on a thread takes you directly to the last page of comments, unlike the previous one which took you to the first page whereupon you had to click through to the last. I reckon this feature is going to save me up to 10 seconds/day = 3652.5 sec/year = 61 mins/year.
On the 18th March every year, I’m going to have an extra hour in bed in celebration of Darth Day.
I note that my relict but previously functional copy of Habbabreak no longer has an icon on the CW pages. It is still present in my add-ons screen as enabled, however. Habbabreak support was removed by Greasemonkey some time ago, but this may yet be an issue for Greasemonkey add-on scripts in general. In any case it forces me to view Ishmael’s posts. Any suggestions?
One disadvantage of the threaded comments is that it’s hard to keep up with new comments – they are scattered all over the thread. There are solutions out there. Here’s a WordPress plugin called ‘Comments Since Last Visit’ which uses cookies.
https://www.johnparris.com/wordpress-plugins/comments-since-last-visit/
I appreciate it’s much easier for us to write wish-lists than for you to fulfill them, therefore this is not a demand or even a request, just an idea.
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