colour/fonts - comments please!

[natasha]

hi every1
the blacks and greys on the screen can look really dull and depressing, and sometimes i have 2 squint 2 read the posts!  
is this happening 2 u or do i just have bad eyesight!!
natasha  

[lea]

hey natasha i totally agree!!!!

it hurts my eyes and im not old or anything.........i really think that the background should be white or something like that

from lea

[willcowskitz]

White, ewww....

[nilsjohan]

Thanks for your comments!

This is something we thought about a lot when designing the  forum.
It is a well known fact that dark text on light background gives the best readability, but we decided to do the opposite after recieving positive feedback about it from users.

The contrast and clearity is depending a lot on which monitor you have. For example a good quality TFT (flat) monitor gives great readability but a CRT can be very tiring for the eyes, especially if it is an older one.
One solution if you have problems because the text is too small or unclear can be to increase the font size in the browsers settings (can be found in the "View" menu in Explorer).

It would be good if as many of you as possible could leave your comments here regarding this. Do you have problems reading the text? Do you have suggestions for a different color scheme on the site?

[nilsjohan]

I just got an idea which at least is a temporary solution for tired eyes.
When a topic is open there is a "PRINT"-link (stands for Perfect Readability Instantly - Nomore Tiredeyes) in the bottom right corner.
Think intensively of a wish (for example "black text on white background") and simultaneously click the link using your left 4th finger. Your wishes will be fulfilled!:o

[nilsjohan]

Please post your comments here about the background and text colours of Piano Forum (regarding readbility and design.)

Do you have problems reading the text?
Do you have suggestions for a different colour scheme on the site?

[frederic]

Its probably just your monitor. Because my old computer has the same problem.
I love the background. Its very effective. By all means don't change it!

[amee]

Natasha and Lea,

Try brightening up your monitor light level; it should help.

The background is good but it would be nice if there was a little change now and then.  Just to add a bit of variety

[natasha]

how do i change mi monitor light level; do i fiddle around with the screw thing below the monitor that has a sun on it?
thanx
natasha  

[amee]

Yeah, try the sun button.

Hopefully it'll work.

[frederic]

It might be dirty also on the screen so give it a good wipe.

[nilsjohan]

And wipe your glasses as well...

If the screen is still unclear or makes your eyes tired you should try changing the monitor resolution and update frequency.

To do this, right click on an empty space of your desktop and chose "properties". Chose the flap "Settings" and try changing the screen resolution to 800x600 (if that is not already set).
To change the frequency, click the button "advanced" to the right of the resolution setting and then chose a flap called "monitor" or "screen" or something similar. Here you can try which frequency (Hz) which gives the less flicker and the calmest picture.

This description is for Win XP but it works similarly in other Windows versions. I don't have an English version so I am not sure about the exact translation of the names on the flaps and buttons but you will find it anyway.

[davy10tunes]

Please keep the dark background and light text.I find it much easier on the eyes

David

[lea]

we should have a vote/poll!!!!!!!

[natasha]

hey mi screen is not dirty!!!!
lol
natasha

[ludwig]

nilsjohan,

   I think that the black and grey background is good, and so is the yellow/gold font. Because it keeps with the theme of that "piano forum" tittle on the top of the page. I suppose you could have a couple of colour schemes just for a change for some people, it'll probably get a bit dull in time. When you have these different colour schemes, you can let members choose their own preferred scheme, from a options folders in profile. Also avatars could be fun, just a little picture under screen names, not too big, perhaps 48 by 46 or something... it'll probably take a little longer to load each page, but could be fresh. But i'm not too fussy about the layout of the forums =)

[chopinetta]

i think the black grey background and the light text is very nice. I'm using it on my website too! it just looks cool! if the background would be white, it would look too professional!  

[Chiyo]

I also find this color scheme very appealing.
For contrast problem, I think that on Flat-Panel computer screens white background and dark text look worse most times. (Like white background grey text).

Also, the 'gold' tone makes it very attractive~

Instead of changing the scheme, we might consider enabling user to select their own color scheme like phpBB allows to?

[amee]

This is slightly off topic, but I think some more emoticons would be cool!  And maybe not just smilies; something different?

Just my opinion.

[natasha]

agreed amee and yellow smilies get boring!!all yellow!!

[Franz_Liszt]

I like it the way it is  

[lc3606]

Sorry, I find the white on black very annoying and difficult to read.  I also find the smaller text area annoying.  I like to be able to resize the reading area to cover more of the screen.  But, what I would really like is a feature to view most recent posts in one listing - or "today's active threads" if nothing else.  That one is always annoying because you miss any late night posts, but it's easier than scrolling thru each thread.  Or is the feature here and I just haven't found it?  I'm rather new.