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Sunglass Time…

By Gregon

It’s amazing the things that you find out when you’re on Twitter.

Change is coming…

(Complaints should be sent to the lead designer – if you dare)

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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20 Comments

  1. Bizarro Greg
    Your pic with the retro 3D glasses is inverted, dude…

    —–
    It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
    It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

    Red Pill Junkie

  3. Oh, yeah! Silly me
    I forgot to mention something about the new design.

    Uuuuh… I don’t know. I would need to “take it for a spin” before signing the contract.

    And I am also one of the people that favor a black screen with white text. My reasons are ergonomically based, though: it is easier on the eyes to read white text on a black screen, than the opposite. Or maybe I’m too influenced by all those decades of AutoCAD 😉

    —–
    It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
    It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

    Red Pill Junkie

    1. Many web designers
      Many web designers studiously avoid white text on a black background because of the supposed readability issue. I think it is not such a big issue for those who don’t have a CRT screen.

      And the designer only has to tone down the contrast a little to negate the problem, whilst maintaining the design statement, but the stigma remains.

      ——

      I don’t believe in belief!

      Perceval

  4. not really
    I think it looks too corporate.

    The dark background is less stressful on the eyes.

    —-
    No amount of cursing at the round earth will make it flat.

  5. Notes
    Okay, so overwhelming apathy mixed with dislike. Exactly what I was aiming for… ;P

    While I don’t mind the white text on black, the overwhelming complaint I get about the site is that a lot of people find it unreadable – many won’t read any articles of any length because of eye strain. Plus, any serious articles (e.g. the one I wrote on Randi’s million dollar challenge) just don’t get treated as seriously, based purely on the ‘woo’ factor of black background.

    Never fear though, I plan on (eventually) offering a dark background version as well as a theming option for registered users. The default will be light background though. I say ‘eventually’ because I only have so much time.

    The new site will also change things up by offering more of a front page which leads you to the different content.

    I agree that some of the vibe is lost without the dark background, but I’m hoping to get some of that back with tweaks to the layout and a better logo (the current one is just a placeholder).

    And RPJ – those aren’t retro 3D glasses, they’re my daughters cutting edge Barbie DVD 3D glasses (tool of choice for viewing 3D pictures of Mars). Surely you have some yourself?

    Kind regards,
    Greg
    ——————————————-
    You monkeys only think you’re running things
    @DailyGrail

    1. theming
      I thought we already had that. Why can’t you default the site to white background and registered users can default their veiwing option back to black if they wish. Or am I making something sound simple thats not?

      “Life can be whatever you want it to be, as long as you do what your told.”
      LRF.

      1. Saying and doing
        [quote=thefloppy1]I thought we already had that. Why can’t you default the site to white background and registered users can default their veiwing option back to black if they wish. Or am I making something sound simple thats not?
        [/quote]

        The latter, heh. But that is what I plan to do.

        Basically the main upgrade is actually to the backend that runs TDG. Doing that will break the current website theme pretty badly (the upgraded backend uses a different theming system), so I needed to redesign TDG from scratch. I’ve taken the opportunity to use a different look and system – a complete change of direction basically. But, as I find time, I *will* also do a design using a dark background which registered users will be able to set as their default.

        In time, any change-phobic/light background-phobic people should be able to view TDG much as it is now if they want to (though probably without the double column block on the right-hand side.

        Kind regards,
        Greg
        ——————————————-
        You monkeys only think you’re running things
        @DailyGrail

        1. Figures…
          Don’t you know Reptilians from Orion are color-blind, mate?? XD

          —–
          It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
          It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

          Red Pill Junkie

        2. I understand
          to me, it’s not that important what the background is, but this was a unique site, with this theme, when it first appeared around 1998. The white on black is more of a “trademark” then anything else. Also it allowed for the blend of the great graphics on the header. Hope you don’t loose the impact of that with these new changes.

          “Life can be whatever you want it to be, as long as you do what your told.”
          LRF.

    2. No I don’t
      [quote]those aren’t retro 3D glasses, they’re my daughters cutting edge Barbie DVD 3D glasses (tool of choice for viewing 3D pictures of Mars). Surely you have some yourself?[/quote]

      No I don’t… I guess I gotta buy more Barbies 😛

      —–
      It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
      It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

      Red Pill Junkie

      1. Twitter is freakin gay
        Twitter is taking mental illness a step too far…..time to get a LIFE people, I cant even stand the name. Do these people have nothing better to do? ever heard of getting a REAL FRIEND? The wafting cheesy reek of desperation.

        1. Or…
          [quote=rotagen]Twitter is taking mental illness a step too far…..time to get a LIFE people, I cant even stand the name. Do these people have nothing better to do? ever heard of getting a REAL FRIEND? The wafting cheesy reek of desperation.[/quote]

          Maybe intelligent people use tools to their advantage, rather than ranting about it. I can certainly see the crap side to Twitter, but I’ve also found it a very handy tool for keeping up with the latest thoughts and links from a number of people I respect.

          Kind regards,
          Greg
          ——————————————-
          You monkeys only think you’re running things
          @DailyGrail

  6. Please, for the love of all that is crackpot, don’t change.
    I’ve read this blog regularly for years but this is the first time I’ve been moved to create an account to respond.

    When going over the sites that I religiously visit, I find one commonality: Light text on a dark background. Trying to read text on a “professional white background” is like trying to view sunspots with the naked eye. Don’t be that site.

    There is nothing woo about the current color scheme. There’s no underlined non-links in bright red on forest green, no poorly justified image placement, no IMPORTANT IDEAS in CAPITALS. Don’t sweat that. Besides, skeptics aren’t ones to engage in honest examination of the evidence. Like all fundamentalists, they’re happy enough to smugly dismiss anything that doesn’t conform to their worldviews.

    1. Ditto to Vitanuova
      [quote=vitanuova]I’ve read this blog regularly for years but this is the first time I’ve been moved to create an account to respond.

      When going over the sites that I religiously visit, I find one commonality: Light text on a dark background. Trying to read text on a “professional white background” is like trying to view sunspots with the naked eye. Don’t be that site.

      There is nothing woo about the current color scheme. There’s no underlined non-links in bright red on forest green, no poorly justified image placement, no IMPORTANT IDEAS in CAPITALS. Don’t sweat that.[/quote]

      Ditto to Vitanuova’s comments.

      I was also moved to create an account to respond. This old lady likes the current site just fine, and these old eyes find the dark background soothing and readable. I also agree that the current color scheme is a kind of branding. It sets Daily Grail apart from the just-like-everybody-else-shlock. It is unique without being way out there gaudy and/or repulsive.

      Thank you so very much for this site. Please, keep up the great work.

      Antique

      “The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” Eden Phillpotts

  7. to be honest
    I prefer the dark background as well. white or light background is extremely aggressive, and I have been designing operator interfaces for 15 years I can attest that most operators in an industrial setting prefer the light on dark vs. dark on light. Especially with multiple monitors, shining in their eyes all through night shifts drives them crazy. I tested that quite extensively and the aggressiveness the next morning was really different than using dark background… 🙂

  8. I come down on the Darkside
    It doesn’t have to be white on black, but one of the things I like about this site (and I think this is the first or second time I have commented) because it doesn’t have that corporate look and feel. I don’t oppose change, I would just prefer the change be an improvement. And, black on white is tedious. On the other hand, the yellow, light blue and white on the dark blue like in the boxes>>>>>
    are easy to read. Just sayin’.

    existential nihilist

  9. Like it.
    The most important thing is functionality.

    So, if you can easily get to what you want, that you can easily navigate around, then all is good.

    The color scheme certainly is easier on the eyes and most people can relate to pictures. I think that the modern internet mentality is to read the header if the picture draws your attention and if you are lucky, people will read the first paragraph and draw conclusions, then they rant.

    But jokes aside, this seems like a fine design to me, although functionality is hard to judge by just a picture.

  10. Please, please …
    White on black, please – like everyone else who has made this request, I find it soothing on the eyes and easier to read. White backgrounds glare at me, no matter how much I adjust the contrast, and I often give up reading the content simply because it’s making my eyes water.

    I love the Grail the way it is – couldn’t be easier to navigate, and the content is terrific. Don’t change it, please, please …

    Regards, Kathrinn

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