I’m looking to get member feedback on the design of the site.

Lemmy comes with many default core themes. Some parts of these themes are broken with dark mode. For example, upload boxes might show white if your system is set to light mode.

I want to set a decent default theme. If unaware, you can change your theme in your account settings. There are 10 different themes currently.

There are 12 different theme options:

  1. Browser Default
    • When this is set, it uses Darkly or Litely depending on browser settings
  2. Browser Default Compact
    • When this is set, it uses Darkly Compact or Litely Compact, depending on browser settings
  3. Darkly
  4. Darly Red
  5. Darkly Compact
  6. Darkly Pure Black
  7. Litely
  8. Litely Red
  9. Litely Compact
  10. Vaporwave Dark
  11. Vaporwave Light
  12. i386

I currently have the default set to Browser Default Compact, which should set dark or light mode depending on whether your browser is dark or light.

I use Vaporwave Dark, personally.

What do you use? Which do you prefer?

I could make something new. I tried some new ones that broke with an update. I didn’t fix them after the update, so I removed them. I could create new ones again.

Let me know what you think. This is a discussion/poll on what I should do as a default.

Thanks, Jason

  • @Myrhial
    4•1 year ago

    I think the current defaults are fine. I only ever use dark mode but some people use both. Respecting an existing preference is the way to go imo.

    Compact is a preference, it can feel very cramped but some people have strong feelings about utilising screen space (honestly some non compact stuff is really silly, so I get it).

    Vaporwave is neat if you like it but not generic enough for a default.

    I think there is a good balance in the number of choices. I wouldn’t add to it unless it’s something distinct. I honestly wouldn’t put time into making a site theme. You could do just a colour scheme but full themes are hard. I say this as a web developer based on my own experience. Also, from that, I’ve found that if users are happy, you’re doing a really good job. Because if something is wrong or feels off you’ll hear it fast.

    • jgrim of SublinksOPMA
      2•1 year ago

      I agree. I’d mostly do a color scheme. Lemmy’s UI doesn’t support themes exactly. It’s mostly a matter of tweaking Boostrap 5 variables.

      I don’t like Green as the primary color of the auto dark/light mode themes; however, the auto swapping between dark/light mode based on your system is hardcoded and will not work with newer theme schemes.

      I’m somewhat limited in what I can do. I can change colors, some positioning, and fonts. Anything CSS/Boostrap 5.

      I was thinking of making a couple:

      1. Easier to see with larger font and high contrast
      2. More compact in light/dark mode.

      Before I even get to it, I have some other things to wrap up. I posted this to see gauge the members.

      Thanks for your feedback, it’s helpful.

    • jgrim of SublinksOPMA
      1•1 year ago

      I’d like it more if the blue was more dull. I understand it matches the old monitors but we don’t have to live with that anymore haha

  • @infinitevalence
    2•1 year ago

    Love the Vaporwave Dark but the font is hard for my dyslexia to read.

    Also light text on light background is challenging as well.

  • @terkaz
    2•1 year ago

    I use “Darkly Red”. Light themes are too bright for me. Maybe a theme that resembles old yellowish book pages would be nice. On mobile, the sidebar is hidden by default and you can see it by clicking on the button - this is a nice feature that lets you see content more centered.

    • jgrim of SublinksOPMA
      2•1 year ago

      That’s a good idea. The light theme I made before had a yellowish tint but wasn’t super noticeable. I’ll keep that in mind. Perhaps it would make sense for me to make a new theme.