Other Style Feedback

[BriiAngelic]

As someone who's a frequent light user, I kinda hate the RPNation Light mode. I way prefer the current light mode.
> It's way too clunky, like that extra bar just for when it was posted.
In most cases I don't care for the when, it's just an extra distraction. I perfer extraneous information or links to be smaller as i already have a bad time focusing. As it is now you only find these details if you really want them. I like that.

The only reason I could think of doing this strange blow up of things is for those with vision problems but in that case most browsers let you increase font size. (And this is not making light of it I too have vision problems, especially back when i was a kid and never updated my prescription)

That said it doesn't look as bad with the RPNation Dark.
I still don't prefer the distracting electric blue at the top of posts since its too much of a contrast. ( Also it keeps me thinking that is my post box)

Still, I prefer the two currently in use. If this new style does get added this will be the first time ever I'll have to default to dark.

 

[Idea]

So after using the new dark mode for a bit more, a few more things really came to stand out to me. First, the discoloring of some buttons makes them harder to see. They are by no means invisible or anything, but even right now- the middle of the day, when I'm fully awake not to mentioned I used the same button yesterday- it took a couple seconds to find the button and click on it. It would be frustrating at best to have to deal with that all the time.

Furthermore, this is the case on PC but especially on phone, the RP titles really have little contrast to the background either, sometimes it's like they are blending with one another making it harder to tell in which one exactly you'd be clicking. Again, this is nothing catastrophic per say, but it is significantly worse than what we currently have.

I personally like the new dark color scheme, but I do have issue with how things in it are blended together so much, the lack of contrast and lines.

 

[rainingxme]

I definitely like this new dark mode!

 

[peritwinkle]

I personally love the new dark mode! I'm a minimalist at heart and this feels much more modern and smooth. The Dark Wizard would it be possible to keep both options in case some prefer the old one?

 

[Pyroclast]

I'm a dark mode user and I have to admit, I prefer the old dark mode. The colouring looks softer and smoother to me. With the new one, the space between lines of text has narrowed which puts a strain on the eye. I'd probably adjust to it with time if the old dark mode was removed but I personally find it uncomfortable and difficult to read.

In contrast to what others are saying, I actually think it looks a bit dated in comparison but I'm still trying to work out why...I think it's having boxes within boxes, it all looks a bit edgier and less smooth...or maybe the blue bar at the top of each post reminds me of a Windows XP window. Whatever it is, I think it loses some of that aesthetic quality that the old one has.

 

[Darkmaster006]

I use light mode. New one looks gives me the impression of old forum styles, which isn't bad tho.

I like the green for selection and buttons (like the pages 1, 2, 3; and when you select text), and I like that the upper bar is slimmer (I'd love a feature to make it present or not at will when scrolling down, in general, though).

I'd change the bottom menu to blue, though, not black, since that's the theme and it's jarring.

The new separation of posts is cool, though I'm not sure which is "best", both use different ways of differentiating through posts. I do like that the 'Like, Quote, Reply' buttons are now sewn into the post area, they look more natural. I would give back the 'slim-line' to the 'writing post' are (like the ones in the post areas, but in a different blue or other colour, maybe light blue). The hour posted is easier to look at, which is good. The new style does look 'chunky' and more 'compact' in regards to the other, which looks more modern and uses more curvy ends (or it seems that way).

Overall, I'm not sure which is best, but I'd try it for a while and maybe stick with it. I'd love for it to be a 'Light Mode 2' in parallel with 'Light Mode 1', I mean, more styles is never worse, right?

As an aside, I dream of a 'light green' style, which isn't so jarring to the eyes as the light style, and is still 'light' and not dark (I have trouble reading in a dark background with white letters so that's a no-go), if you like the idea, I'd love it if you could work on it sometime in the future.

Anyways, thanks for reading, keep up the good work, may come back with some more impressions later.

 

[ashwynne]

Going to keep fiddling back and forth to really help with comparison but... a few things I'm noting (and currently I'm focused only on the dark modes because I have to build up my strength to delve into light mode ):

Initial Thoughts:
Overall, I prefer the original Dark Mode. Largely due to aesthetic/small quality of life reasons though I think they could easily be adapted to make the RPN Dark Mode more user friendly and visually appealing.
I'm also not sure if I like how compact it feels. The site in the old Dark Mode feels very much like it 'flows' a little softer whereas this setup seems more to be 'shouting'

Comparing Headers:

Cons:
- New layout has an awful lot of empty space to the right. Makes it feel sort of unfinished or like something is missing.
- Capitalization of my username makes me want to cry
- More of a 'feeling' but it lacks the same degree of personality. The emphasis on gray/black as opposed to blue/black feels more stiff and less friendly. Also not as easy on the eyes in general and (as I'm typing this) the comparison of the preview box vs where I'm actively typing is only a few shades different in colour which I find a little disorienting. White font also is harder on the eyes with this harsher contrasting colour scheme.

Pros:
- The Forums/What's New/Gallery etc. menu bar is a lot easier to see and navigate (however--and this may just be a me thing--I can count the number of times I've actually used the menu bar on one hand. Ordinarily I just scroll down and/or rely on the notification system and my bookmarks. I doubt this would change, even with the new layout)

Comparing Forums

Cons
- Lack of 'character,' could easily be fixed with slightly altered colour schemes and a return of the textured background
- 'New' notification looks better on the left side of the Forum headers where it's all lined up.
- Slightly mixed feelings on this, but I personally think having the sub forums written out looks better/is nicer to navigate than a drop down built into the forum sections. Maybe having them stacked rather than lined up side by side would look better:
General Discussion
Personal Discussion
#forumgames

Pros
- Cleaner and more organized to hover over the section titles and get the description of what each forum is for.
- The menu coming down with you but not the site banner definitely makes more use of screen space/takes up less room.

Comparing Active Discussions
(please forgive my awkward stitching/snipping job on the Old theme and the face that for this one the old theme is on the right and the new is on the left )

Cons:
- The way all the text is equally white (rather than grayed out depending on the 'weight' of importance) causes things to blend and seem busy. My eye doesn't quite know what to focus on which makes it tougher to zero in immediately on the important information (thread title, and the 'before posting' note in this case)
- Again it comes down to colour scheme imo, but the way everything in the new theme is vivid white makes it a lot clunkier. On the old theme things like username, time posted, and tags are all the lighter gray so they don't Y E L L at you quite so much, but in the new theme everything is given equal treatment and it makes it tougher to pinpoint the actual important info (ie. the title and category)
- Page number highlighting isn't great. Without really squinting it's super hard to tell what page I'm on in the new theme whereas with the blue highlighting on the old theme it's made very clear.
- Blue bars separating each post make it much more jarring to read and not flow nearly as well. Again, feels a lot clunkier and more aggressive.
- Capitalizing of the date feels weird to me considering the fact that date posted is not normally very important/relevant information in most discussion cases and so having it emphasized in this way feels a little strange.

Pros:
- I L O V E the 'chat bubble' concept for the text. With a different colour scheme and no blue bars (as seen in the current theme), I feel like this would be a lovely quality of life boost.
- Having the 'Other' tag in a more muted colour compared to the title looks more visually pleasing than the off-white and green in the old Dark theme.
- Again gonna reiterate that I really like the sticky menu bar sans the big site logo since it gives more reading room. HOWEVER! there does remain a lot of empty space and I feel like (as a little character building thing) it could add a lot to the atmosphere of the site to have a smaller version of the logo--or something representative of RPN--to the left of the menu bar as a splash of colour and personality.

Comparing RP Posts

Not much to say here beyond reiterating a few points, still wanted to post it up for comparisons sake though.

Cons:
- Again, blue bar between every post (although you can't see it in my screenshots)... not a fan
- Also still not a fan of the date and share/bookmark/post numbers standing out so vividly. It's distracting from the post itself
- Options and like bar at the bottom of the page feels a little large and clunky (smaller font size and lighter colour might be an easy fix)

Pros:
- Still loving the chat bubble approach!

Miscellaneous Notes
- Badges don't show up properly. They're much larger in the new theme which messes up the pixelization
- RP banners don't work/aren't showing up
- RP Indexes get stretched/seem to take up a lot more space
- Very jarring/too busy with the font all weighted the same colour wise when it comes to menus/trying to find what you want to click

Final Thoughts
I actually think the new theme has a lot of potential and it has aspects to it that I really like! Some small quality of life changes like shifting the colours/text weight so everything doesn't blend together so badly would make a big difference. As would softening up the colours to a more blue-black rather than the gray-black. Pull out the excessive blue bars as well, perhaps centre the RPN Banner so there's less empty space when you first open the site, and we're sitting pretty!
And please, please, don't make me see my username in all caps in perpetuity

As things currently stand I still heavily prefer the old theme but that could very very easily change.

 

[DreadBirate]

personally i prefer the texture of normal dark mode, but the RPnation version is alright

 

[Spectating Spectral]

I love the dark mode option, much easier on the eyes for me personally!

 

[Purr]

ashwynne You have summed up my thoughts and feelings better than I could have expressed. I agree with at least 90% of what you have written here. Thanks for writing all that!

The Dark Wizard I like the dark blue colors on the "Dark" more than the "RP Nation Dark" theme. While the RP Nation Dark theme is sharp, I find the colors bland and almost monochrome in nature. I feel there is more "life" in the "Dark" version. Plus, I like the background shading of the "Dark" and its little mixes of gray and black (I thought it was O.K. at first, but it's really grown on me!).

And yes! Thanks for looking for cool ways to improve the site, DWiz! Where would we be without you? *hugs* =)

 

[welian]

The new themes are quite nice, but the font is bugging me a lot. I don't like the all-caps text in the menu, and the default text for posts is kinda.... Sharp? I'd prefer Open Sans for the default text.

 

[MirrorGoddess]

I only joined last week, but I really like the dark mode. Super easy on the eyes which I definitely appreciate as a late night user haha

 

[truthofself]

rpn-staff, you are a godslove nori.​

THE INTRO having been here for nearly three years now, I've seen the site theme change I think once before. i briefly remember another time the theme changed, but I think it was mostly just the backgrounds and margins were altered for a sleeker feel. which isn't nearly as big of a change as these outright brand new themes that have been made up. i literally only use the dark theme, because of eye sensitivity for lights and colours, so let me just say, i love both versions, the old and this newer one.


CURRENT DARK MODE

intro this theme has always been a lifesaver for my eyes. the current dark mode features rounded corners, and a sea of blues to add character and make it easy to differentiate sections of the page. it's iconic, with its highlights of green, grey and bright blue.

IN-DEPTH THOUGHTS
the header i always found this head to be too busy, and not quite appealing to look at. don't get me wrong, the header is good, but it felt way to small. i often found myself losing where the header was (despite it being at the top), along with that, i often found myself clicking on the wrong thing. with this header, everything was squeezed into such a small confined space, with a what is honestly a stupid large search bar. conclusion: it serves its purpose, but is extremely small.

the forum's homepage i am in love with these ones. these work fantastically, and i just ADORE how there's the little blurbs that give insight into what each forum is, along with listing the possible sub-forums under the main-forum title for quick easy access.

threads & pms reply boxes you kind of get lost in, because they're all one colour and the spacing between one reply and the next is VERY small, however, that's slightly saved by the fact that the posters icon/name/title scroll down the side of the message, so you know when you change them, sometimes. the threadmark index is perfect, its small, sleek and just easy on the eyes. and replying is so nice, the post button is bright green, and the buttons go [ PREVIEW | POST ], as if its a step by step process. (you preview before you post, get it? lol) i also love that the quote/reply and stuff is a different colour, so they're easy to find.

bonus notes the highlighting different buttons and bars, and aspects to make them pop is extremely important imo. i love, how some things are bright blue, or green or a pale grey. it makes them easy to find and pops on the site. the textured background is SO GOOD. because the posts and most things are the solid navy blue, having the textured, and scratched up looking backgrounds helps you find where the boxes are, and helps you tell things apart. the basic font+size for this theme is really good because it's easy to read. over-all i have always loved this theme and continue will love it.

RPNATION DARK MODE

intro this theme is great, i really do dig it. it's sleek, simple, easy on the eyes, its features of the bright blue bars at the top of sections helps separate everything amidst the sea of grey, however, this new theme is very basic, and kind of makes me think of another forums site, because of that.

IN-DEPTH THOUGHTS
the header I LOVE IT. the icon of the site is much larger, which it should be its the calling card of the site. plus, it's not actually in the header anymore so it doesn't get dragged down with the sticky header, and the search bar has been condensed which is really nice!!!! everything is much bigger and bold so you can easily tell everything apart. the header may be thinner and smaller in a sense, but because of the removal of the sites icon & the search bar, the small bar is a lot better, because there's more space for the icons and menus to be larger.

the forum's homepage personally not a fan. i like how sleek everything is, and how sharp, but i miss the character and simplicity of the other theme. the [ NEW ] tags look a little awkward on the right side. furthermore, it just feels bland without the little informational blurbs, and having to use a drop-down to get to the sub-forums feels like a long process for those wanting to quickly flip through them. THOUGH, i do like that we can now close out certain categories. all the side panels feel out of place since they go a lot further down the page than the actual forum categories. (I know they did it on the old theme too, but since the old theme was slightly larger, it wasn't as bad as it is on this one)

threads & pms the chat bubble-like detail is so cute to me, i love it. but, the removal of the highlight colours for the buttons and options make its kind of hard to navigate, plus having the buttons be [ POST | PREVIEW ] really confuses me since they are reversed on the old theme. furthermore, the zoom of the site is a little insane, it feels too zoomed in, but if you zoom out, it feels too small. AND THREADMARKS, please god no. the threadmark index feels too large in this theme because it puts [ word count | # words ] on two separate lines, so it makes that line extra thick and just makes the index take up a lot of space. also first making a post on this theme, i had NO IDEA how to toggle bbcode because the toggle button literally is the same colour as the utility bar.

bonus notes the lack of colour and character makes me kinda sad because I'm so used to the old theme with all its colours, that remind you that you are on RPN. I do love the grey, but i think the blue was iconic. in additional, the badges on the profile look blurry as hell for me, idk if I'm crazy or they just are actually really blurry.

ENDING NOTES I think both versions of the dark theme are godly and amazing in their own ways. i was a bit nit-picky but, i do want to note that i love the work y'all have done and god i fucking LOVE these themes. thank u for listening.

 

[zippy]

Just some small things, like the background for the "Fantasy" tag thing not being a color is a bit bothersome.

Also, the preview and post reply buttons have switched places. Not a huge deal, but it is a bit distracting.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Just testing some dark pastel colors:

Maybe, I'll do the style in blue, pastel (different pastel colors besides pink), red, orange, brown, gray, what ever.

 

[countstellations]

always prefer dark mode, but as a new user I think any of the options are unobtrusive to the general use of the site! at least on a desktop, haven't gone mobile yet.

 

[Simba]

Dark > light always hahaha. But I'm stuck on RP light and I dont know how to change it.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Dark > light always hahaha. But I'm stuck on RP light and I dont know how to change it.

Top right corner of the sight banner, click the crescent moon

 

[Simba]

You're a blessing. Thank you. Light was a bit too bright for me