Forum Theme Thanks

[jeffburg]

Hey @Rhetorica thanks so much for working on the theme. I have to admit at first I was worried because it was so dark. I see you keep chipping away at it and I like the idea to go for a NeXT Desktop App Theme with that iconic purple background.

Not sure if you want to post what else you plan to change, but I just wanted to post this message of thanks! I think its looking good already!

[ptek]

Yes the theme looks great

[ZombiePhysicist]

Agreed! It's looking very NeXT'y! Thanks for all the great and hard work!

[Rhetorica]

I'm glad it's got fans!

This layout is partly an experiment—I want to see how far I can push SMF before it starts really complaining and breaking. There are plenty of flaws (if you know where to look, mostly in the styling of buttons etc.) but I will admit the results could have been a lot worse. For the true purists out there, feel free to complain that I didn't emulate a gamma of 2.2. (Personally I think that should be left up to the display hardware, though.)

I also want to acknowledge that not every website should look like a desktop application—if the very first webpages looked like native NeXT apps, they would have been very confusing! With that in mind I'll be working on other themes eventually to cater to different sensibilities, including a dark theme and a CSS-free theme for vintage browsers (although I expect SMF will fight me on that.)

That said, this... let's call it anachromorphic design does have a powerful effect on both NeXT users and casual tourists, and I think enough time has passed now that it no longer simply feels lazy or deceptive. (This style would not have been possible to pull off twenty years ago!) So I'll definitely keep working on it and polishing it until it feels like the home we all expect.

[andreas_g]

I really like the design of our new home! There are some minor issues*, but most things already feel quite good.

*Maybe have a look at "My Messages". In my browser (Safari on macOS) there is white text on white background.

[Rhetorica]

I think the problems with the top bar should be solved now, at least mostly! There's still some very low-contrast text up there but I'll get it resolved in my next pass.