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Message Font Style/ Font Size/ Message Spacing Poll:
- Thread starter Sirpopopop
- Start date
I'd rather have no spacing, but I am using a dark theme. The normal white forum skin is easier to read with spacing because of the shades of white and gray that the posts alternate between in not different enough.
I do like Helvetica better than Open Sans, at least. But I'm still an "option 1" guy.
I do like Helvetica better than Open Sans, at least. But I'm still an "option 1" guy.
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
Somebody get this man an ice cold Dr. Pepper™
Loving your minimalistic report, quote and reply icons. Those would look super slick.Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
I don't know if this has been brought up already, but can we increase the contrast/color density for unread threads? The light grey text makes it feel like it's already been read and unimportant, in addition to being difficult to read against the white background.
to me it needs a little somethin, but 2 gets the job done. Looks like 4 is killing for whichever reason, but that looks fine too, interface overall has been great.
4 is great, the spacing is something that I feel is needed for ease of legibility. Just a suggestion though, if you're going to be using Helvetica, why not use it's updated version, Helvetica Neue? Unless that isn't supported, then that's fine I guess. It's just an even better version of an already wonderfully accessible font.
Also, listen to basically everything impiri said:
Also, listen to basically everything impiri said:
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
I really dig this, I'd totally be on board. A bit unconventional but it works. I currently have a custom script to shrink the board width as I agree, I can't deal with super wide forums on desktop.Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
This post needs to be featured!Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
Hmm, i think this would be nice on wide screens, when the window is maximized, say from 1080p on. But it would take up a huge chunk of vertical space with longer posts. Hmmz, now I wanna play with the layout!
Some form of collapsible menu for extraneous information such as when it was posted, quote, report, reply buttons can be hidden, kinda feel like there is some more elegant much more compact solution to be found.
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
Can I change my vote to make things look exactly like this? Perfection.
I think a dark theme would change some of your minds. Spacing doesn't feel necessary to me using the unofficial one with the contrast it provides.
Nice to have an explanation for why I found Open Sans easier to read.
It might not really matter if people are just used to seeing it used as body text, but Helvetica really isn't meant to be used outside of large headlines. The main reason for that is because its apertures (how open a letter is) are really closed. And closed apertures don't lend itself to smaller letters nearly as well as open ones. I'm a fan of Open Sans in general, but if you're not satisfied with it, I'd look for an alternative that still has open apertures.
I made a quick image showing what I'm talking about:
Bumping the point size for Open Sans up to 12 should also help deal with any rendering issues people are having. But, in general, open apertures and a good x-height (how tall a lowercase x is in relationship to the uppercase letters – the lower the contrast is, the more readable the overall type is at small sizes) are good for blocks of text like you'd see in forum posts.
I voted for #2, but it's hard to gauge how things look with such tightly-cropped screenshots.
Nice to have an explanation for why I found Open Sans easier to read.
I don't have an answer, but it bothers the hell out of me :p
Getting off the topic of the thread a bit, but...
The current theme suffers from a strange combination of busyness and low information density. Rearranging some elements would allow us to enlarge the fonts, make threads more scannable, and still fit more post content in less vertical space. For desktop users (window width over ~960px), we could put user information and post metadata to the right of the avatar, like so:
This accomplishes a few goals:
One of the biggest gains is that despite the larger elements, this will reduce the vertical height of most posts by about 50 pixels per post compared to their current height. This means less scrolling, less eye travel, and less distraction.
- Post content is easier to read because the maximum number of characters in a line tops out at about 96. Currently, this can go well over 200 characters, which makes following line breaks on long posts unnecessarily difficult
- The attention-grabbing dark gray buttons have been replaced by semi-transparent icons for interacting with the post. These can become more prominent as the cursor approaches them, a la [insert modern messaging app here]
- Avatars remain a key visual anchor that signifies a familiar poster's identity and are prominent enough to be quickly scanned. The poster's name is now closer to the content to reduce the amount of eye travel required, and its baseline matches that of the first line of the post for a seamless transition
- Font sizes are larger, easier to read, and will anti-alias well in more browser/OS combinations
Mobile is a different story altogether, but this post is too long as it is.
This draws more attention to the member's info than the actual post.
Normally, my brain immediately wants to read the first words to the right of avatars. Placing member info there (with the name in bold!) makes me fixate on that area instead of the post content. And boxes in lengthy posts like post #137 would not only be long as hell but wide too.
The area would also become harder to ignore when everyone has different name and tag lengths.
The button solution is elegant. There might not be enough contrast for users with poorly calibrated displays though.