WTF is with this new colour scheme?

[Bubulus]

I hate this new grey colour, it makes it harder to read posts and it looks ugly. I thought the flags looked fine before (without the borders). Is making the flags "look nicer" really more important than the ease of reading posts? I always felt UniLang was one of the most eye-friendly forums around, sadly, it isn't anymore.

I agree with this. In my opinion, changing the background so that flags look better is, as we say in Spanish, matar moscas a cañonazos (lit. killing flies with cannon shoots). Flags are, in my opinion, supplementary -there was a time when we didn't have flags, do you guys remember?- and the whole appearance of the forum shouldn't be compromised because of flags.

I certainly agree, what the hell did just happen here? What's the reason the colour scheme was changed? If it was just for that "making flags look better thing", that's pretty sad. I don't even think they look better with this background.

I do find it much easier to read text in black colour if it contrasts with a white background.

Flags looked already fine before. And btw, what's the matter with the white strip on the French one? [flag]fr[/flag]

Zeme said that white colour touching the border didn't look good in the flags because he had a hard time distinguishing the border from the background (I've never had such problem myself).

His solution? What you see right now. (Changing the background of posts to a semi-dark gray, the sides to a darker gray than before (a combination I find hard to my eyes), and changing the flags so that gray (THE SAME FRIGGIN GRAY AS IN THE BACKGROUND OF POSTS) appears in the border of white strips. The latter in particular even defeats the point, since now the flags ARE indistinguishable from the background on serious grounds, as they have the same sort of grade (which is what looks weird in the French flag you mention). It's so stupid.

If anything, I suggest that if he has problems distinguishing the white border of the flags from the original post background, then he could've created an alternative background scheme for himself? Instead of changing the flags so that they look defective and then changing the backgrounds with darker grays (which ended up being the same gray as the flag pixels changed, to boot).

I would suggest the following plan of action:

1. Save aside the current colour scheme, and return the old default one: it's simply easier to read on the screen if the letters contrast with the background, the current grays are annoying. If he wants to see the flags clearer, he could change the scheme with which he browses the forum for himself. As far as I know, at UniLang you'd normally expect to give text priority over the flags for the majority.
2. Reedit the flags so that the white borders are recovered: the border pixels changed to gray in the flags for French [flag]fr[/flag], Russian [flag]ru[/flag], Latin [flag]la[/flag], etc. would be changed to white, so stopping to look like somebody passed a razor through the white strips (and so they look perfectly rectangular/square, as they're supposed to).

Zeme?

[ILuvEire]

Why is it that the French flag [flag]fr[/flag] looks like it was cut out by a gentleman with Parkinsons, while the Italian flag [flag]it[/flag] doesn't? I fixed it in my signature by switching to the Quebec flag, thank god.

And, yeah, just adding another voice with Serafín's. These new changes are awful. And I still can't stand the gray box up there. Additionally, if there's no way we can go back to the nice older gray, we need to change the gray of the "Post a reply" page--it's still using the old, lighter gray.

All this for a few measly little flags. A travesty.

[loqu]

I totally agree with Serafín and I applaud his exposition.

By the way, I don't see a gray box at the top, but a white box at the bottom.



I'd choose to revert back to the old situation, it was a rather fine compromise.

[hlysnan]

I can see how the flags with white in them look different, but may we have a before and after picture? I don't think I can see the other differences.

Edit: I just noticed the grey background. That was white before, wasn't it?

[ILuvEire]

It wasn't white, it was a much lighter gray.

[Aurinĭa]

By the way, I don't see a gray box at the top, but a white box at the bottom.

²

[Bubulus]

Why is it that the French flag [flag]fr[/flag] looks like it was cut out by a gentleman with Parkinsons, while the Italian flag [flag]it[/flag] doesn't? I fixed it in my signature by switching to the Quebec flag, thank god.

That's because Zeme hasn't gotten around editing the Italian flag (yet), he's been changing them one by one (the Old French flag didn't used to have its borders chopped until a few days ago, for example).

I can see how the flags with white in them look different, but may we have a before and after picture? I don't think I can see the other differences.

Edit: I just noticed the grey background. That was white before, wasn't it?

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l445/Neqitan/Comparison.png

[Michael]

That's because Zeme hasn't gotten around editing the Italian flag (yet)

Uhh, he better not, ever, or I'll throw a temper tantrum of biblical proportions. I don't care bout y'all's other flags, but no flag in my signature shall have that abhorrence of a border. (Sorry zeme.)

[Jurgen Wullenwever]

I agree with the previous posters that this new setup makes it harder to read.

I hope it will be abolished soon, and that people have not wasted a large effort on it.

[Hunef]

I agree that the new colour scheme is not an improvement.

I hope it will be abolished soon, and that people have not wasted a large effort on it.

Probably just a simple global hex code change, or even simpler since people don't do coding anymore.

[MillMaths]

I thought there was something different when I logged in.

[JackFrost]

Why try to fix what's not broken? The colour scheme and flags didn't really bother anyone, except apparently zeme. I can't really help not thinking that he's done all of this to suit his own personal taste regardless what the others have to say.

He could've done this better by consulting the board and doing some beta testings for feedbacks instead of arbitrarily doing everything out of nowhere and seemingly ignoring this thread as well as the other one made by ILuvEire (could be him being too busy for the holidays though). That's how the last revamp was carried out nicely with little protests.

I don't mean to assume any bad faith as it's just how I see the whole picture. No offence is intended.

I agree with other members: revert back to the previous colour scheme and at least someone tell us what the hell is going on.

[Michael]

Aww, c'mon guys, we're being a bit too hard on zeme. He had good intentions, I must say that much, and his modifications weren't all so reckless. (He sure did an awesome job with Wikilang.)

[Chekhov]

I'm not angry with zeme, but he should have consulted us more first before making such a drastic change (assumed it was really he and he alone who did it). I think there's a consensus forming that it would be better to switch back to the white background, because this grey is really hard to read and increases eye strain. It's not worth it for a bunch of stupid flags. Just add borders to them (and fix the damn French flag, the proportions are all wrong).

[Michael]

Just add borders to them

NO. We just got done preaching against this.

[JackFrost]

Aww, c'mon guys, we're being a bit too hard on zeme. He had good intentions, I must say that much, and his modifications weren't all so reckless. (He sure did an awesome job with Wikilang.)

No one is hating on him. He could've at least tell us why and spare us from speculating.

[Chekhov]

NO. We just got done preaching against this.

Sorry, but it's better than enduring the macular degeneration that's bound to result from sticking with this horrible lack of contrast. (Grey on grey? Seriously? What the fuck was he on when he did that?)

[johntm]

I still don't see what the big deal about the new gray is. I'm not fond of it but it doesn't affect me at all. I can still read things fine (I didn't even notice the change until I saw these threads), just fix the flags back.

[JackFrost]

This is the Internet. We bitch about the changes.

[Chekhov]

I still don't see what the big deal about the new gray is. I'm not fond of it but it doesn't affect me at all. I can still read things fine (I didn't even notice the change until I saw these threads), just fix the flags back.

I find it hard to read, especially in dim lighting. There's no contrast.

It's a false dichotomy here: we should fix both the flags and the background, not just one or the other.