[Updated Aug 2, '06] New Theme Now Available

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Christopher
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Post by Christopher »

I have been using this theme for since it was released and though I like it, every time I look at it there seems to be something missing. The header and footer are too all green and the body is too all blue. Maybe a touch of some third color might help tie it together. I searched for color palattes and found pages like this one that maybe can give you some ideas.
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Ree
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Post by Ree »

The theme is ok, but I think the text in posts is too small. IMO the default subsilver font (style and size) is optimal.
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pickle
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Post by pickle »

arborint wrote:I have been using this theme for since it was released and though I like it, every time I look at it there seems to be something missing. The header and footer are too all green and the body is too all blue. Maybe a touch of some third color might help tie it together. I searched for color palattes and found pages like this one that maybe can give you some ideas.
I've heard this from a number of people. While I don't necessarily agree, I have to admit my colour theory isn't perfect. Unfortunately, the contest is closed at this point so I don't think it would be fair to make such a sweeping change to the theme.

Ree wrote:The theme is ok, but I think the text in posts is too small. IMO the default subsilver font (style and size) is optimal.
I don't want to change the font - call it artistic stubborness ;). However, does anyone else agree that the message text is too small?
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

i think there needs to be a small margin around the whole page...looks too close to the browser edges IMO
Roja
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My findings

Post by Roja »

Okay, some comments.

I took the time to try it out a few times, on a few machines, to get a feel for things. These are only my opinion, and as an extremely biased SubSilver fan, they should be taken as just that - extremely biased.

Nevertheless, I'll share my thoughts:

- The green is just flat out too bright for my tastes. Its far too eye-catching. The fact that its almost 1/3rd of my visible browser screen at 1024 makes it all the more obnoxious. Perhaps if it was less tall, it would be less jarring, but I doubt it.

- I don't like the fonts in the header. Too large? Too curvy? Don't know why, just don't like them.

- Almost all the other fonts are too small. Putting fonts up one size, on the other hand, makes things quite comfortable. Except for the header. :)

- I can't put my finger on it, but the form fields feel much nicer. I suspect its a shadowing thing, but I like it. A LOT.

- I love the dark blue. Love. I'm using the word love about a color. LOVE.

- Need some padding bad on the sides and bottom. What can I say, I like the boxes from Subsilver. Feels 'unrestrained' otherwise.

- The "View your posts, view all unread posts", etc links being horizontal makes my head want to asplode. SubSilver got that one right, I think. Right hand side, stacked vertically just makes more sense.

- I can't decide what I think about the mouseover effects. The usability guru in me likes it, because its contextual, and increases the clickable area. The design junkie in me thinks its just too big. Dunno. I'm 50/50 on it.

Overall, I don't think I'd use it every day. It is however a different theme, a different take on things, and you got at least a few things very, very right.

Definitely a worthwhile effort, but coming from someone as biased as me, it just doesn't feel quite right.
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pickle
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Re: My findings

Post by pickle »

Rebuttal (sp?): There were a number of your comments I would have replied to with "Fair enough", so I just didn't bother including them.
Roja wrote:- The green is just flat out too bright for my tastes. Its far too eye-catching. The fact that its almost 1/3rd of my visible browser screen at 1024 makes it all the more obnoxious. Perhaps if it was less tall, it would be less jarring, but I doubt it.
Fair enough. I like it though - so it's staying ;). The reason it takes so much space is because of the menu on the right hand side. I put the menu there rather than horizontally...because I think it looked nicer
Roja wrote:- Almost all the other fonts are too small. Putting fonts up one size, on the other hand, makes things quite comfortable. Except for the header. :)
I've been hearing that from a few people - expect the font size to change this week
Roja wrote:- I can't put my finger on it, but the form fields feel much nicer. I suspect its a shadowing thing, but I like it. A LOT.
I didn't change any of the style declarations from subSilver, I just made the border thinner
Roja wrote:- I love the dark blue. Love. I'm using the word love about a color. LOVE.
Ha - nice to hear
Roja wrote:Overall, I don't think I'd use it every day. It is however a different theme, a different take on things, and you got at least a few things very, very right.
Thanks!
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Ree
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Post by Ree »

I like the blue a lot as well. :)
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nickman013
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Post by nickman013 »

Yeah the blue is nice!
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nickman013
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Post by nickman013 »

Also I dont know if I am the only one seeing this but the quotes, codes, and php boxes go off the page.

A link to the picture is here,

http://i2.tinypic.com/rc4qyg.jpg
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

nickman013 wrote:Also I dont know if I am the only one seeing this but the quotes, codes, and php boxes go off the page.

A link to the picture is here,

http://i2.tinypic.com/rc4qyg.jpg
they don't for me in IE or Firefox.
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John Cartwright
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Post by John Cartwright »

Me either, weird.

FF 1.5.01
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nickman013
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Post by nickman013 »

Well, I am on a Mac, using Safari (mozilla).
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

I'll see if I can make some tweaks to get it looking right.
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nickman013
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Post by nickman013 »

Thanks feyd, Let me know if you need me to test it out for you or anything. I beleive you got my AIM, or MSN screen name, if not PM me or somthing.

Thanks!
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patrikG
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Re: My findings

Post by patrikG »

pickle wrote:
Roja wrote:- The green is just flat out too bright for my tastes. Its far too eye-catching. The fact that its almost 1/3rd of my visible browser screen at 1024 makes it all the more obnoxious. Perhaps if it was less tall, it would be less jarring, but I doubt it.
Fair enough. I like it though - so it's staying ;). The reason it takes so much space is because of the menu on the right hand side. I put the menu there rather than horizontally...because I think it looked nicer
I go along with the green being too bright, I would prefer it to be more subtle as well :)
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