Bring Back the Blue Border!

[Texaggie79]

It appears that some blind FReepers have talked John into making the border a white background. This has caused several things. First, there is no division and the whole page is cluttered. Second, it looks very amateurish, while the blue border added a VERY professional look.

Don't worry, I'm not threatening to leave over it, like some whiners, but I just want to make a thread to see how other FReepers feel about the Blue border. I want to know who the blind FReepers are that think it actually looks better and would risk newcomers thinking that this is some rank amature site that has just started.

[tpaine]

Exactly. -- I never have been able to understand 'sidebar mania'.
What is the attraction? -- Why cut down on full width text & graphics?

Perhaps someday a whiz kid web designer will be able to explain it to us.

[tpaine]

Only in your mind.

[The Westerner]

During the testing phase, John mentioned that his intention is to make the site like Yahoo.

[rwfromkansas]

Why?

[Neets]

I'm in hell and I want ice cubes...ya think you can square me away???

[Texaggie79]

get some blasted color on the page.

I was thinking it looks like some coder just put some content on a page and the design team has not yet touched it.

It looks like data ripped from a GREAT site but they didn't take the classic style with it.

[Texaggie79]

get some blasted color on the page.

I was thinking it looks like some coder just put some content on a page and the design team has not yet touched it.

It looks like data ripped from a GREAT site but they didn't take the classic style with it.

[AppyPappy]

I have a search link on Latest Topics.

[Texaggie79]

Yahoo he wants. Go look at it then. It has line dividers and color titles to seperate each table. Imagine the clutter in yahoo if you took out all the bg colors and no division lines. That what we have here now.

[Texaggie79]

search LINK, but not the field at the top like in the main version.

[RnMomof7]

I posted a tongue in cheek thread this morning when I got up came and found a different FR than I left last night..I said something about being lost again (I had just started to "get" the new format when I went to bed last night:>)

I ended it by joking that I "missed the blue backround"..I thought that was exactly what John and Jim wanted to hear ... another complaint after all their work...but the joke went over someones head..

The thread was quickly pulled..

I really did kind of like the backround..but it is no big deal..some people have no sense of humor...

We will adapt to this..I still prefer the old format..but it is not the end of the world..I will learn.

[GailA]

News Max: The pale yellow with the dark blue print I can see, the medium blue with the white print I can see. The pale yellow with the red and black print are hard to see. Don't know why but certain color combos are a no go. Font size seems to be part of the problem anything under 10 pica. Also like say if you use a purple base and then a lavender print, then all I see is the purple with a blur in it.

Cataracts I'd guess is the problem. Had one out, one to go, and that is years away. I've gone on some pages with a black background and red, blue or green print. It's frustrating not to be able to be able to tell the difference.

[ThePythonicCow]

Those having difficulty seeing a particular color scheme should use Opera, instead of Internet Explorer. Opera has a couple of buttons that (1) turn off color and graphics, leaving a plain black and white text, and (2) turn off the web sites fonts, reverting to the local users fonts. I find that perhaps 10% of the sites I visit are easier to read with one or the other of these options. Opera runs well on both Linux and Windows.

It might seem like I'm being a cold hearted, mean spirited Republican suggesting that those of us with vision limitations should adapt to the site, rather than the site adapt to fit all. But that is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put. Those who find the visual fine tuning useful will find Opera useful on all sites, so should have it handy anyway. And the vast majority of Freepers will enjoy the more visually pleasing use of moderate color, such as in the background of the sidebar.

Slavish efforts to please all will please none, and resemble nothing more than the Political Correctness that we struggle against daily.

[tpaine]

So as a compromise, what if the wizards could provide the option to display the page in "Old Style?" Those of us with poor eyesight could then go back to reading clear, simple, wide-screen graphics of one color and font.

-------------------------------

Hear hear! -- The last time we went through this 'sidebar' nonsense, that is exactly how it was resolved.

Thanks for your common sense.

[Tall_Texan]

I miss the blue borders and the flag ribbon, FWIW.

Now, how can we set up our preferences to not receive all the "I hate the changes" and "I like the changes" threads?

That would be progress.

[sweetliberty]

"I never have been able to understand 'sidebar mania"

I think the sidebars are fine for most sites, even attractive. But what makes FR so great in my opinion is that there has always been more substance tnan frills, at least visibly. I love the graphics that people post on the threads, but that's entirely different. I think the sidebar is fine for the home page too, but in the forum I think it's better to stick with the text and lose the sidebar.

What I'd really like to see is a setting for those options so everybody could be content and we could all happily get on about the business of FReeping without all these distractions. I'm no computer whiz and I don't really know what's involved, but it would be nice if we could choose the old format or new, sidebar or no sidebar, and on the self search page be able to go back to the old way posts were listed. I know if I have been busy posting on a thread in "General Interest" and in the meantime I get posts in "News/Activism" by the time I get back to it, I have to plow through all this stuff, in blue font no less, to even try and find what it was I missed. It's a pain. I can live with, but I don't like it.

[rintense]

I agree. From a design perspective, having the blue background made logical separations between navigation and content areas.

Question: How do I put breaking news on the top of my sidebar?

[Vinnie]

I liked the border, but the left side is too cluttered. The center field is too narrow.
I think everything below the 'flag' on the left should go someplace else and widen the center. After all, that is where the 'meat' of the site is.
All the options, my this, my that should go under a button at the top.

[ThePythonicCow]

The pale yellow with the red and black print are hard to see.

You should download Opera and give it a try. It has options to turn off coloring (and a separate option to revert to your choice of fonts). Just toggle the "document settings" button to flip between your settings and the embedded web page settings.