I'm in the process of updating the KernelTrap theme. So far the biggest difference is that the actual layout/presentation is now fully handled by CSS [blog]. Beyond that, I'm hoping to have time tomorrow to update the overall structure (explained below).
Please let me know if the new theme is intolerable on your browser. I've only tested with a couple of Linux browsers, and it seems fine there. This theme should at least be more respectful of your own font preferences and hopefully easier to read... I'm still learning CSS, and I'm fully open to suggestions...
Regarding the next set of changes, I'm planning on ripping out the mish-mash of links that are at the top of the page, and replacing them with two rows of tabs. Something like:
All | Features | News | Forums | Blogs All | Linux | FreeBSD | OpenBSD | NetBSD | GNU/Hurd
The front page will be most noticeably different, offering views of all the content, with the focus being in the order above, Features, then News, then Forums, then Blogs...
It will be possible to select 'All' and 'Linux' to see all content about Linux and nothing else. Or 'News' and 'FreeBSD' to only see FreeBSD news, etc... I will include a configuration option for users to allow them to set their default page to something other than 'all-all', as it will be set for guests.
The purpose behind this effort is that I'm hoping to soon start having more original content, and I want it to be more highlighted. And hopefully these changes will also make it a little easier to find the content you're interested in.
Everything is centred!
Jeremy, the new CSS stuff looks really nice in Mozilla, but in Opera everything appears centred!
I've provided a screenshot to show what I mean:
http://mike.nerdforce.net/files/kerneltrap.jpg
(taken ~16:40pm Oct 12 localtime, which is GMT+10 here in Sydney)
I hope this helps!
re: Everything is centred!
Hi!
the new CSS stuff looks really nice in Mozilla
Glad to hear it. :)
but in Opera everything appears centred!
Thanks for pointing this out! I've updated my CSS so it looks as intended in Opera now too... In other words, everything is no longer centered. ;)
Under IE (sorry, I'm at work)
Under IE (sorry, I'm at work), articles seem good; but comments (and the "Reply" box I am using right now) are centered. Other than that, everyting looks much better than before (IMHO).
However, I think that articles at the front page have too much text, and the page is too long. Just my two cents.
re: Under IE (sorry, I'm at work)
I don't have IE to test this on. Do comments look better now?
Great! :)
As far as the content itself, nothing has changed... I no longer hard-code any sizes, so fonts are probably showing up larger on your browser. I think it's configurable from your browser if you prefer...
In any case, the new front page I'm working on will address this issue. (It will be an overview of everything, and thus will have to take smaller samplings....) It's taking me a little longer than I'd hoped, so perhaps by next weekend...
Icons
This isn't really related (everything looks fine in Mozilla here), but how come some stories have icons and others don't? I kinda liked them.
re: Icons
Currently I believe no content has icons. But worry not, it's on my list of features to restore.
(BTW: The "stories" had icons, while the "forum topics" didn't. I intend to give them all icons with this theme...)
Colour scheme
It looks alright and all, but the top header needs to made they greys of the rest of the page, it kind of sticks out like dogs balls. And the yellow around the ad is a bit nasty, but otherwise I like the upgrade to CSS (styles should be easy to make now no?).
re: Colour scheme
The KernelTrap logo has a white background, and looks terrible if placed on the grey background. A new logo is in development, at which time the top header will better match the rest of the page. "Coming soon".
Hmm, it looks fairly subtle to me... The idea is to intentionally make the ad stand out a little bit, but not too much. Feel free to suggest a better hex code color...
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this. The entire page is now formatted with CSS styles...
Re: re: Colour scheme
Feel free to suggest a better hex code color...
how about #9fd4ec ?
(btw, how are you doing your quoting? changing the colour etc. hopefully not inserting a bunch of html :P)
re: Colour scheme
Close... I'm trying #c3dce0 now.
With <pre> tags. The <p> just signify a new paragraph (and thus result in an indent).
Re: Colour scheme
Looks much better now :) it still stands out, but is still relaxed like the rest of it. Could you possibly fix it so that the replies have the subject automatically? eg. autofill with "Re: subject", just a thought.
re: Colour scheme
I have plans for the comment module one of these days hopefully soon. (I'm planning to make comment moderation more powerful/interesting somewhat like Slashdot). At that time, I'll look into automatically adding a subject.
Difference between logged in/anonymous
I experience a difference between when you go to kerneltrap anonymously, I get the new theme. When I then log in, I get the old theme.
I am a bit conservative, my opinion is that the old theme is much more readable, when the new theme is flashier. I prefer readability.
/Magnus
re: Difference between logged in/anonymous
Anonymous users are assigned a default theme. The default theme for anonymous users is 'kt', the theme I have recently written.
As a user, however, you can select your own theme. You have previously selected the old theme, hence you see it when you log in. From your comments, I believe that this is your preference. If not, update your user configuration.
I need more information for this to be a helpful comment:
My goal was to actually make it easier to read, so I'm very much interested in where you think I've gone wrong... (I've never claimed to be a good web designer. ;)
I hope to leave the old theme available, but I'm not sure how it's going to work with some new site functionality I'm adding. I believe the old theme(s) will remain an option, and if you use them you'll simply not have access to the new layout functionality. This may or may not matter to you when the time comes.
Sorry for the non conclusive
Sorry for the non conclusive comment.
I beleive I get better readability from the higher contrast between text and background.
This lower contrast is the thing that also makes it flashier, more smooth, even though you pay through readability.
I use Mozilla 1.2.1/Windows2000 to view kerneltrap. My screen resolution is 1600x1200.
I beleive you could improve the readability to your new theme by just making the old colours a selectable option to the new theme.
The readability is actually better with your new paragraph styles, if the contrast between text and background is the same.
/Magnus
re: Sorry for the non conclusive
I'm toying with the idea of either a dynamic coloration, allowing a user to reconfigure the entire theme to their liking, or at least a handful of pre-configured style sheets. One of them could certainly be high contrast. This should be relatively easy -- I'll look into adding it soon.
I like the new theme, but...
I only see it anonymously because I'm using KernelTrapRight. Can you make a new version of this theme? Either's fine, really, but the only new theme I see offered is in the 3 column mode.
re: I like the new theme, but...
All in good time... ;)
I'll make left/right versions once I'm done making changes to the main version.
On second thought
The grays used in the text boxes are too similar and too dark. It's more difficult to read than the current/older theme.
"The grays used in the text b
I'm planning on making the theme configurable. At that point, you'll be able to configure the text boxes as you please... But I wouldn't expect this functionality for a few weeks at best -- I've other priorities at the moment.
(For me, the current contrast works better than black on white. I tend to work on my computer late at night when the world is dark, and I prefer the current combo)
My biggest gripe with the Ker
My biggest gripe with the Kerneltrap layout was that it uses an extremely small font. The text is completely unreadable on my (old) CRT. I have to enlarge the text a lot every time which is disturbing. The new layout has a larger font, which is good, but not always. For example when writing this I can hardly see what I type. How about not messing with the size? The default is probably rather fitting for me, that's why it's default!
re: My biggest gripe with the Ker
All font sizes are relative. The only fonts I say to shrink are in the side columns. 'small' on the right, 'smaller' on the left.
What browser are you using? The font size in the form looks normal to me on Mozilla...
Actually, I didn't even think about forms when I was writing the new theme. I'll update it soon to ensure it's 'normal' size there too (I'm left with the impression that some browsers use odd defaults like 'center all text' and make text 'smaller'? This is especially apparent with 'Opera' and 'IE'.)
the <pre> stuff does no
the <pre> stuff does not auto-newline, so its stretching the page across...
Re: the stuff does no
Interesting. Actually, I'd have expected this behaviour, but didn't see it on _any_ of my browsers. Hmmm... I'll fix it.
Right
I only see this with Konqueror, from 3.2 alpha2
re: Right
Ah, I guess I hadn't looked at comments from Konqueror. I was able to duplicate this. It's fixed now.
No more quoting previous comments with <pre>. Now use the more logical <quote> tag.
BTW: If anyone knows how to force a tag to issue a linebreak like <pre> and <blockquote> do, please let me know...
Screwy width on comments pages
I'm mainly a Mac guy, but read KernelTrap pretty much daily. I like to follow what's going on.
That being said, under both Safari and Mac IE, the comments pages are wider than the browser window. It seems that the more comments there are (or perhaps the more replies to comments?), the wider the page gets.
Dunno if this is a layout bug or a browser bug. Obviously those browsers are not your core audience, but if it's a layout bug I figured you might like to know.
Re: Screwy width on comments pages
Interesting that I don't see this behaviour on any other browser (including Windows IE). This is, however, how I intend <pre> to work. I will fix it, then use something other than <pre> to quote emails...
Absolutely. Thanks. :)
Re: Screwy width on comments pages
Looks to be fixed.
I noticed something else, though, in the reply to page, the parent comment shows the brackets where the "reply to this comment" link would go. There's no text or link, so I think it's safe to push down the priority list ;)
bad comments
http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/1793
This article looks broken in Mozilla. This happens because there is a comment with a subject containing '--'. The HTML source shows an HTML comment that contains the subject, and so also containing --, which is an illegal string in an HTML comment.
This causes Mozilla to become confused as to where the comment ends.
re: bad comments
Thanks for drawing my attention to the problem, and even more for explaining exactly what was causing the problem! :) It's fixed now...