Websleuths is changing our colors

[Auntie Cipation]

Ok, I have two weird things going on.

One is about the recent update to the site. I tend to keep a tab open (using Safari on an ipad) and either go to "Watched Threads" or simply refresh the page at the address bar.

Now, since the update, one or the other of those actions brings up this error message which I don't think I had ever seen before:

Refreshing again fixes it, so this isn't *TOO* annoying, but I did want @fraize to know just in case it's a clue to something else.

Second, about the "Join the Inner Circle" thing. At first I tried to decline, but it seems to keep asking every time I navigate to a new page. Super annoying!

So then I thought "what the heck, sign me up, I can always cancel later if it's not of interest to me." So I tried to enter my email address. But as soon as I type a number rather than a letter, it cancels me out. (so now y'all know that tidbit about my email address, that it includes at least one number along with the letters )

I have no idea if these things are happening to anyone else, just thought I'd report in.

Also, I think the crooked-typewriter font for thread titles is a bit juvenile, but I don't mind it -- but it's too faint! Can we bold it? It *is* a thread title, after all...

 

[Auntie Cipation]

@Gemmie do you use Yahoo Mail in their app? Because I use it in a browser and I have neither seen or heard about any color changes. My read emails are black, unread are bolded black.

 

[Gemmie]

@Gemmie do you use Yahoo Mail in their app? Because I use it in a browser and I have neither seen or heard about any color changes. My read emails are black, unread are bolded black.

View attachment 574291

Hi Auntie. No, I don't use any apps. I don't have a cell phone so I'm on a desktop. The top one in gray has been read , the bottom one is unread). That's the opposite of unread DMs/Alerts in Accessible dark mode which are gray and it's really hard to switch my brain back and forth. Oh well. I'll deal with it cuz I have to.

 

[Fraize]

My issue with Accessible in Dark mode is UNread Messages are gray. It's going to be difficult for me to tell my brain "OK, you're on WS now, so gray means UNread, and when I'm back checking email (I go back and forth VERY often), it means Read".

The intended logic is that unread-messages are highlighted, and read-messages are not. Unread-messages should stand out from the rest of WS's content, and since Dark-mode's background is black, un-read messages should stand out -- hence, gray.

I definitely hear you, though. I may look into ways to create a good way to highlight alerts so that they stand out without reminding you too much of Yahoo's dark-mode unread-mail format.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Hi Auntie. No, I don't use any apps. I don't have a cell phone so I'm on a desktop. The top one in gray has been read , the bottom one is unread). That's the opposite of unread DMs/Alerts in Accessible dark mode which are gray and it's really hard to switch my brain back and forth. Oh well. I'll deal with it cuz I have to.

View attachment 574292

I do know, from using yahoo mail on ipad, laptop, iphone, and occasionally the library computers, that there are a million different versions of yahoo mail out there. Whenever they come out with an update, it always seems to be possible to decline the update as well. Not to mention, now that I think of it, that browsers have versions as well, and using an updated or not-updated browser probably affects how sites like yahoo appear and function. Darn!

 

[JennieM]

Hi all!
I want to thank you all for your insights, and for voicing your concerns about Websleuths' color-schemes, and usability -- especially for folks with vision trouble. I want you all to know that I hear you and that I want to find something that works for the most people.
The challenge for me is to do it in a way that satisfies the following requirements:

1. Bring websleuths.com's overall look-and-feel forward using more modern-design standards. What Websleuths brings to the world is its incredibly talented armchair detectives. The content you generate brings eyeballs to the site, which generates even more interest and growth. If the site looks outdated, users may feel like the content is outdated as well.
2. Simplify maintenance of the code. Part of the reason for moving to our new web hosts is that they'll automatically apply updates to the server. When they do, simpler code will mean our content is less likely to break the site. If I have to maintain the old look-and-feel, every time there's a site update (about every 2 weeks), I have to put in a huge amount of time testing. Before the move, we would just hold off on pushing out updates until we were ready, and we were about 4 revisions behind.
3. Promotes a unified Websleuths brand. Maintaining more than one major color-scheme is confusing. Imagine if Pepsi decided they were going to adopt a red-version of their color-scheme? I'd imagine Pepsi-fans, used to their trademark-blue, would be confused (not to mention Coca-Cola would probably sue them)!

It's impossible to please everybody, so I try to please as many as I can without breaking those 3 requirements outlined above.
As I've said before, the Black-Orange theme will go away sometime soon. No specific timeline yet, because I think I can still make a theme that will make you Black-Orange stans happier (if not completely happy).
To that end, I've created a new theme called "Accessibility" with both a light and dark variant. They're essentially the same as the default Websleuths_2025 theme with the following changes that brings it closer to what Black-Orange did:

1. Changed the default font From Segoe to Trebuchet
2. Changed the line-height from 1.4 to 1.6
3. Changed the Header font from 'chandler-42-regular' (the typewriter font) back to default
4. Widened the content-area from 1200 pixels to 1400 pixels for those on desktop browsers.

While it's not a return to the warm tones that Black-Orange provided, these changes should improve readability for those having trouble with the relatively dense default theme.
For those who are choosing Black-Orange right now, please give 'Accessible' a try, and try toggling between light and dark modes. Give me feedback. If you're not comfortable giving feedback publicly, my DMs are open.
SERIOUSLY, thanks again for your dedication to making Websleuths the perfect site for you. I am so grateful for your support!

Really liking the Accessible theme, it’s the closest to the original Black-Orange theme although the colors are different. You have tried so much to please us all, thank you for listening to us and making these changes @fraize.

 

[Gemmie]

The intended logic is that unread-messages are highlighted, and read-messages are not. Unread-messages should stand out from the rest of WS's content, and since Dark-mode's background is black, un-read messages should stand out -- hence, gray.

I definitely hear you, though. I may look into ways to create a good way to highlight alerts so that they stand out without reminding you too much of Yahoo's dark-mode unread-mail format.

Thank you. Not that it matters but I'm not using dark mode in yahoo mail. It has a white background, and I'm not seeing a way to change from dark to light mode like on WS. It just is what it is. lol

Telling you that info in the event it helps you.

 

[Fraize]

Ok, I have two weird things going on.

[and proceeds to list some issues with Safari]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll review your user-access logs, and test in Safari. I don't see your particular session in my logs. Do you have some ad-block plugins installed, or have Safari set up to block all cookies?

The popup appears if you have already selected "please don't email me" AND you've never seen the popup before. We can only be sure if you've seen the popup by dropping a cookie on your browser. If you've got your browser set up to not retain cookies, it'll keep popping-up.

I'll keep looking and testing. If it keeps happening, Auntie, drop me a DM.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll review your user-access logs, and test in Safari. I don't see your particular session in my logs. Do you have some ad-block plugins installed, or have Safari set up to block all cookies?

The popup appears if you have already selected "please don't email me" AND you've never seen the popup before. We can only be sure if you've seen the popup by dropping a cookie on your browser. If you've got your browser set up to not retain cookies, it'll keep popping-up.

I'll keep looking and testing. If it keeps happening, Auntie, drop me a DM.

Aha! I *do* have an @ad-bl0cker on Safari. Didn't even think of that!

I'll play around and see if I learn more. Do you think the @d-bl0cker would cause the "webkit" error message? The easy answer would be for me to whitelist WS.

 

[Curious Me]

Hi Auntie. No, I don't use any apps. I don't have a cell phone so I'm on a desktop. The top one in gray has been read , the bottom one is unread). That's the opposite of unread DMs/Alerts in Accessible dark mode which are gray and it's really hard to switch my brain back and forth. Oh well. I'll deal with it cuz I have to.

View attachment 574292

How interesting yours looks so different. How do you get peace signs? Groovy. lol My yahoo mail used on my desktop hasn't changed. They took away my customized myyahoo page though. I have a certain color theme set in yahoo mail and my unread ones are the common bolder text and the blue dot.​

 

[Auntie Cipation]

How interesting yours looks so different. How do you get peace signs? Groovy. lol My yahoo mail used on my desktop hasn't changed. They took away my customized myyahoo page though. I have a certain color theme set in yahoo mail and my unread ones are the common bolder text and the blue dot.​

View attachment 574296

One of Yahoo mail's version had/has the peace signs, I remember that. That's what put the idea in my head about all the different versions they have out there and that that might be part of @Gemmie 's issues.

 

[Curious Me]

...Second, about the "Join the Inner Circle" thing. At first I tried to decline, but it seems to keep asking every time I navigate to a new page. Super annoying!

So then I thought "what the heck, sign me up, I can always cancel later if it's not of interest to me."

Is the reason I haven't been asked to join the inner circle because I have an ad b-locker on? It's okay, being in the in-crowd is enough for me. ​

 

[Gemmie]

How interesting yours looks so different. How do you get peace signs? Groovy. lol My yahoo mail used on my desktop hasn't changed. They took away my customized myyahoo page though. I have a certain color theme set in yahoo mail and my unread ones are the common bolder text and the blue dot.​

View attachment 574296

Here is what the OLD yahoo looks like (they haven't changed 1 out of 3 of my yahoo accounts. Shhhh.... Don't tell them).

All backgrounds on my emails are the same color (white. UNread is bolded, read is unbolded). THAT is the easiest for me. Not having to say "well, I'm on this site, so the background of UNread message should be such and such color". Either it's in your face (Bold) as unread, or it's not. LOVE THAT!

Oh, that peace sign. lol I had to go back and look to see what you were talking about. That's craigslist's logo. Here are Amazon and Penzey's spice logos next to their emails:

Appears those logos are where the old style format had the circle for read/UNread emails (which I want back, but that's my problem). Top 3 emails have been read, the bottom 3 are unread. That area has been replaced by logos (above).

 

[Gemmie]

Is the reason I haven't been asked to join the inner circle because I have an ad b-locker on? It's okay, being in the in-crowd is enough for me. ​

Nope. From the scuttlebutt I hear it's a Curious me blocker.

And that puts you in the outcrowd. lol

 

[Auntie Cipation]

One of Yahoo mail's version had/has the peace signs, I remember that. That's what put the idea in my head about all the different versions they have out there and that that might be part of @Gemmie 's issues.

Hm, if the peace sign is for craigslist, what am I remembering about Yahoo using it all over for a while?

Is the reason I haven't been asked to join the inner circle because I have an ad b-locker on? It's okay, being in the in-crowd is enough for me. ​

Nope, because I have one of those blad-sockers and I got the "inner circle" invite. I'm nobody special, @Curious Me, so you'll get your invite soon I am very sure!

And now I don't see the invite popup any more, so I'm going to assume that my first response, which was "no thanks" has been registered. But now I'm wondering if the email is for a limited number of people or if anyone can sign up (ie can I change my mind) and if so where is the place to do that?

Re-edit: got the invite again and copied/pasted my email address, avoiding the problem where it wouldn't "let" me type numerals. So now I'll get the newsletter, will see if it's anything I want.

 

[Curious Me]

That's why it looked so familiar other than my hippie days. It's okay if I don't get that invite to the inner circle. It's probably because I do have my WS profile and DMs blocked by personal preference. ​

 

[JennieM]

I’m using the Accessible and the only niggle is that it is faint - especially in the New Posts and Watched Threads pages. When you are inside a thread, it’s better because there is black text. The Accessible theme colors are very calming and soothing but they are making me or maybe I am just tired?

 

[Curious Me]

I’m using the Accessible and the only niggle is that it is faint in the New Posts and Watched Threads pages. When you are inside a thread, it’s better because there is black text.

Yes, I noticed inside the thread posts are easier to read in Accessible Light now since the nice changes made by @fraize. The text darker and more space above and below the words. Are you saying the below page, @JennieM? MOO, that page does look faint and still a little too light, hence, washed out. Blue text is not that easy to read. The text got smaller there? The middle thread is a read thread, but not sure it's much of a visual difference from the unread. My yahoo email also gives me a big blue dot

when something is unread. Can we have a dot too, @fraize? ​

JMO, that font & ink for Watched threads is easy to read, but I never liked the new magnifying glass logo. ​

 

[JennieM]

Yes, I noticed inside the thread posts are easier to read in Accessible Light now since the nice changes made by @fraize. The text darker and more space above and below the words. Are you saying the below page, @JennieM? MOO, that page does look faint and still a little too light, hence, washed out. Blue text is not that easy to read. The middle thread is a read thread, but not sure it's much of a visual difference from the unread. My email also gives me a big blue dot View attachment 574308 when something is unread. Can we have a dot too, @fraize? ​

View attachment 574305

View attachment 574306 JMO, that font & ink for Watched threads is easy to read, but I never liked the new magnifying glass logo. ​

That’s one of the pages I was saying - but really any pages showing just the thread titles are very faint.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I've been using the Websleuths 2025 version since the update, not having strong positive or negative reactions to any of the options. On that version, here's what the thread titles look like:

That's what I called the "crooked typewriter" font and hoped it could be bolded.

But then someone mentioned the "Accessible" option, which wasn't there last time I looked. With that option, the thread titles are a regular font, black. Like this:

So if the pale typewriter font really annoys me, I can always use the Accessible version instead.