Forum skin color.....

[Tightwad]

After my recent eye surgery I find that I'm very sensitive to brightness that white background skins cause on forums such as this forum. The other forums I vist all have a light kaki or beige background skin which help me read them a bunch.

So is it possible to offer a skin color choice of light kaki or beige.........

Beige - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaki_(color)

[spot]

Which browser are you using?

I spend most of my time with a light-gray background to the entire Internet, not just ForumGarden. Turn off "Allow sites to choose their own colors" and it all gets far easier to browse.

You could also consider turning down the brightness and contrast on your monitor.

[Tightwad]

spot;1356456 wrote: Which browser are you using?

I spend most of my time with a light-gray background to the entire Internet, not just ForumGarden. Turn off "Allow sites to choose their own colors" and it all gets far easier to browse.

You could also consider turning down the brightness and contrast on your monitor.


I run Mac's with Safari and Firefox. I also run a program called "Shades" that lets me adjust the contrast/brightness on the fly. By using Shades I can tone it down some but it's the color that gets me the most. That said, I find that the black & white background skin is just dreadful to read for more than 15 min for me. This is why I asked for a beige or lite khaki background skin color. To get an idea look at the quote skin color here of pale green with black type to see how much easier it is to read than the black on white skin used otherwise.

I will also share with you that on one of the other forums I visit did a forum change to offer beige skin the other member there comments were all positive........and grateful....since it made forums visit so easy on the eyes.

[spot]

Have you actually tried setting the override background color in Firefox, just to see how it looks? It would change what you get for all sites, not just asking them one at a time. I think it's a better option for you but you'd need to give it a go to find out.

[CARLA]

Depending on your browser you can change the colors in FIREFOX fairly easy. In IE8 or IE7 it is at the bottom of the Tool, Internet Option General tab. Then look at the bottom you see color it allows you to change them a bit I now have mine with a grayer colored back ground in some areas on this site. The white isn't as bright now.

[Tightwad]

spot;1356460 wrote: Have you actually tried setting the override background color in Firefox, just to see how it looks? It would change what you get for all sites, not just asking them one at a time. I think it's a better option for you but you'd need to give it a go to find out.


CARLA;1356463 wrote: Depending on your browser you can change the colors in FIREFOX fairly easy. In IE8 or IE7 it is at the bottom of the Tool, Internet Option General tab. Then look at the bottom you see color it allows you to change them a bit I now have mine with a grayer colored back ground in some areas on this site. The white isn't as bright now.


I think that all are missing the fact that I RUN A MAC.

At the present time there is no APP that I can add to either Safari or Firefox that run on Mac's. If there were I'd have installed already. Also Internet Explorer is NOT compatible with Mac's and hasn't been for several years.

I thank all who've tried to help but I simply can not do anything on my own which is why I asked to have a secondary default "beige/khaki" skin added to the forum.

This is why I haven't been very active on this forum even though I like the topic offerings a lot. It's also possible that there might be more traffic join this forum if it were more senior friendly by offering a secondary skin to better accommodate their old eyes as well.

[spot]

Are you saying the Mac version doesn't have a Firefox Preferences option to do something like this? I had no idea, but I'm surprised. This isn't an add-on, it's simply a program preference.

Attached files

[Tightwad]

spot;1356460 wrote: Have you actually tried setting the override background color in Firefox, just to see how it looks? It would change what you get for all sites, not just asking them one at a time. I think it's a better option for you but you'd need to give it a go to find out.


CARLA;1356463 wrote: Depending on your browser you can change the colors in FIREFOX fairly easy. In IE8 or IE7 it is at the bottom of the Tool, Internet Option General tab. Then look at the bottom you see color it allows you to change them a bit I now have mine with a grayer colored back ground in some areas on this site. The white isn't as bright now.


spot;1356479 wrote: Are you saying the Mac version doesn't have a Firefox Preferences option to do something like this? I had no idea, but I'm surprised. This isn't an add-on, it's simply a program preference.


Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. My Mac Firefox content preference panel is two or three items and that's it. I played with them to no avail.

Please know I wouldn't ask If I could fix it myself.............

[spot]

Tightwad;1356480 wrote: Yep, that's exactly what I'm saying. My Mac Firefox content preference panel is two or three items and that's it. I played with them to no avail.

Please know I wouldn't ask If I could fix it myself.............


I wonder whether you have a very old Firefox version?

Changing colours in Firefox 3 Mac describes changing the settings on a Mac with Firefox 3. I'm not attempting to argue, I'm trying to be helpful.

[Tightwad]

spot;1356483 wrote: I wonder whether you have a very old Firefox version?

Changing colours in Firefox 3 Mac describes changing the settings on a Mac with Firefox 3. I'm not attempting to argue, I'm trying to be helpful.


On my! Please don't think for a second I take your kindness as being argumentative in any fashion.

I bookmarked the link you offered and will try again since my Firefox is up to date.

That said, I fail to have the words to thank you for your patients and kindness.

Later.................

[CARLA]

LOL... When my MAC user brings hers into the office this week I will play with and find out how to change colors.

[YZGI]

Tightwad;1356455 wrote: After my recent eye surgery I find that I'm very sensitive to brightness that white background skins cause on forums such as this forum. The other forums I vist all have a light kaki or beige background skin which help me read them a bunch.

So is it possible to offer a skin color choice of light kaki or beige.........

Beige - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaki_(color)


Racist!!! Aint nothin wrong with white skin...:sneaky:

[Tightwad]

Sorry folk's, changing skin colors on my Mac ain't working for me.

That said..... Is there some reason that a secondary color can't be offered on the forums?

Just about everything else is offered as a forum offered choice so why not color??

[spot]

Tightwad;1356582 wrote: Sorry folk's, changing skin colors on my Mac ain't working for me.

That said..... Is there some reason that a secondary color can't be offered on the forums?

Just about everything else is offered as a forum offered choice so why not color??
Speaking as the forum technician, it's because nobody here has ever written an alternate to the main design.

Taking a quick glance, someone would need (I'm guessing wildly here) to make gradient changes in several dozen color-specific graphics elements (like, for example, the matched-green "Reply To Thread" button at the end of this post) and the following 3757 lines of code which specify just the site's appearance, scattered through a dozen files:

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/css.p ... ntrols.css,

and then find out how to package them into a selectable style. Hang on, let me google... Here we are. Vbulletin 4 Style Guide | vBulletin Guru - a blow-by-blow account on how to make the changes. I still don't know how to make it selectable by a user though. But I could, I agree, find out.

I'm aware of two things. One is that no prebuilt style can be used on ForumGarden because we're not using the default code. The other is that the last time I tailored a new style, on a far simpler site, it took me around 20 hours and looked lousy when I'd finished. Graphic design is not my strong point. Editing buttons gives me nightmares.

This is, I feel, an accessibility issue. I'm strongly of the opinion that changing the Internet one site at a time is an uphill task for anyone. I'd be more than happy to talk you through changing the Firefox preferences on your Mac if you want to try, that being something I'm qualified to do and confident of achieving successfully. Does "ain't working for me" mean that your Firefox navigation is different to the Mac Firefox 3 example? Or does it mean the results didn't match your expectations.

[Tightwad]

"Does "ain't working for me" mean that your Firefox navigation is different to the Mac Firefox 3 example? Or does it mean the results didn't match your expectations."

It means that try as I might the best I could get with Firefox (forget Safari !!) was to strip all background color. That is way to bright.

I'm not a techie so I can't tell anyone why what might work for them doesn't work for me....on a Mac.

So at this point I'll have to say is if it can't be done on FG end then it can't be done and move on.

Thanks ever so much for looking into it for me.

[spot]

Tightwad;1356588 wrote: "Does "ain't working for me" mean that your Firefox navigation is different to the Mac Firefox 3 example? Or does it mean the results didn't match your expectations."

It means that try as I might the best I could get with Firefox (forget Safari !!) was to strip all background color. That is way to bright.

I'm not a techie so I can't tell anyone why what might work for them doesn't work for me....on a Mac.

So at this point I'll have to say is if it can't be done on FG end then it can't be done and move on.

Thanks ever so much for looking into it for me.I do know you're using a Mac. I used to write a monthly magazine column about Apple computers in Practical Computing. Though that was before Firefox, admittedly.

Here's how I'd get it just the way I'd want it in your circumstance, from where you've reached. We can deal with Safari in good time if we can find a setting you prefer to the current default, Safari's equally flexible.



Firstly, set Firefox 3 to use your own colors instead of those of the site. That's the bit where you turned off "Allow sites to choose their own colors".

Then type about:config where you'd normally type a web address, and say "yes" when it asks if you're really sure you want to do that.

Filter browser.display.background_color and open the option with a click or two and enter a value of #eeeeee

That will dim the background a bit, once you click OK.

You can progressively try #dddddd or #cccccc or #bbbbbb to darken it a bit more at a time until you find a comfortable setting. That will then be the background for the entire Internet.

If it were me I'd change the font color to a dark brown rather than black, but that's just the way I see best. You do that by clicking the button for Font Color on the same panel where you turned off "Allow sites to choose their own colors", and choosing as dark a brown as you can distinguish. Or maybe Dark Blue, that's worth considering.

Once you've got the background comfortable, try selecting View / Zoom In a couple of times, that might make things easier too. You should get the same result with holding the Command-key and pressing Plus two or three times. Zoom Out ought to be Command-key Minus.

[Bryn Mawr]

spot;1356460 wrote: Have you actually tried setting the override background color in Firefox, just to see how it looks? It would change what you get for all sites, not just asking them one at a time. I think it's a better option for you but you'd need to give it a go to find out.


Thanks, I've just changed mine and it's made it far better.

I might well change it back after my eyes sort themselves out but, for now, it is much easier.

[Tightwad]

spot, I tried it your way but it didn't work. i even printed it out to follow step by step and no go. I hereby withdraw my request since I'm not a techie. Thank you very much for efforts on my behalf.

I will visit not as often as I like but as often as my eyes will let me 'cause this is a really nice forum.

[spot]

Fair enough. Maybe if you put the print in a drawer and you have a tech-minded visitor one day, you could get him to show you what the changes look like.

[Tightwad]

spot;1356645 wrote: Fair enough. Maybe if you put the print in a drawer and you have a tech-minded visitor one day, you could get him to show you what the changes look like.


Yes, two of our four sons are very good with Mac's so in the drawer the print out goes! Thanks again.