Make an Option to switch forums background color from white to black

[shadow.6174]

@"Gaile Gray.6029" said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

Hmm, while I agree it requires some work, it may not be that much of work. By using a well structured CSS it can be implemented in a reasonable time. In fact, even with client-side changes and some plug-ins/add-ons like Stylish it's possible to achieve that.

I understand the staff can be with a huge load of work at the moment with the expansion and now this forum rework, but disregarding such feature at all by assuming it's "too much work" or "not possible" sound just as "laziness" or lack of personal resource to maintain the system. Not implementing it right now it's understandable, but simply forgetting it for good is unreasonable. Oh well...

[MrFayth.3546]

Dark Mode for Firefox doesn't do too bad

[Piogre.2164]

OP, you can use Stylebot to set your own custom CSS for websites you visit.

[Fornax.7928]

Is it possible for the forum to have a selection of images hosted by Anet, which we can use to add flare to our posts.
For example, I just posted a link to a lore video related to Glint. It would be lovely if there were a stock image here of Glint, which i could insert into my post to make it more visually pleasing.A gallery of main story line characters with vanity shots of the Tyria and its general inheritance would be very very welcome. <3

[Sicarine.3985]

Gaile, (and apologies if this sounds in any way condescending) but we should not need legislation to enforce good accessibility. Many businesses if given the chance would also say "well people complained at first, but our profits are doing ok, so we're not gonna put in lifts or ramps". They can't do this. Legislation is in place to protect the common sense concept that accessibility is important.

Dark mode IS accessibility. It just makes good sense.

[Tesla Eot.1469]

For dark background anywhere on the web use Firefox >> get add on: dark background and light text

You can customize colors and if it bugs a page out you can 1 click to disable on that page.

[Aenaos.8160]

For black background on Firefox,I use Dark Mode.The forums look a lot better with the dark theme.

[Shikigami.4013]

@Tesla Eot.1469 said:For dark background anywhere on the web [...]

That is the problem here. The addons which were mentioned by you and others work everywhere or cause you additional work by forcing you to click something or use a hotkey to enable/disable them. I do not want that. The addon I linked works by just changing the old forum and leaving the rest of the web alone. It was a one-time install five years ago and it worked since then and you literally never had to do anything at all. I really hope the maker of that style (Dyroc) is still around and reads this thread :)

[Tesla Eot.1469]

I really liked the dark background after getting used to it, so I started using it everywhere. It's great and easier on the eyes, esp. at night. It has only bugged out gw2skills.net website; that's why I mentioned the bug part. I never used the addon you mentioned or spent that much time on the forums, but I get your point.

[Firebird Gomer.9563]

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

There is actually something wrong with the colours on the new forum site. The old site I could stare at and read for hours. its been like 30 mins since I started reading the new forums and my eyes hurt and I seem to be getting a headache.

[Smoaking.6125]

If you refuse to do Night Mod,e at least consider changing the white background to something not white. Even the gray quote box color as the background color would be an improvement.

[Neural.1824]

@"Gaile Gray.6029" said:but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

I've wanted a "darker" theme for the forum since launch, but forum rules are quite clear on posting repeat threads and/or necro-ing threads. If someone complains about a problem, and the rules state that they have that one opportunity to complain about it, and can't bring it up again, you can't therefore assume that they decided the problem was "ok" because they followed the rules and didn't bring it up again.I think it's pretty clear from the comments/threads about this subject that came up today, that a lot of people were hoping that a forum revamp would bring about these options.Please, at least ask them if they can tone down the background-white a bit, you can use the forum as a flashlight on your phone if it's dark.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

I suggest your web designers simply add a simple grey grain tile PNG. That would reduce the issue of severe contrast and would be kinder on the eyes. It's quickly done, too. :)

[Razor.9872]

@"Gaile Gray.6029" said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps I don't know as much as I think I do, but wouldn't the website designers only need to create a "dark" CSS file and have a button in your account options turn the CSS pathing on and off it? That shouldn't be too hard.

[shadow.6174]

@Razor.9872 said:

@"Gaile Gray.6029" said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps I don't know as much as I think I do, but wouldn't the website designers only need to create a "dark" CSS file and have a button in your account options turn the CSS pathing on and off it? That shouldn't be too hard.

Yep, basically that.

[Cronos.6532]

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:About uploading personal avatars: That is something we are not planning to implement, as (1) we cannot host images here for security purposes and (2) allowing the linking to off-site images can create... er... problems when the images are self-chosen but, perhaps, not self-moderated. That's my attempt at putting things subtly, but do you get what I'm saying there? The ability to link to images on third-party sites can lead to poor choices, like Balthazar in a bubble bath, dogs and cats living together, Faren in a speedo... oh wait... ;)

Anyway, to keep things on an even keel, we're going to host avatars, but we'll definitely look into expanding the choices in the future!!

The black silhouette at the top of the old forums always made me think there should be a feature in-game to save your character's current look as your forum avatar. The game already automatically generates head snapshots for dialogue, including of the player character, that could be used exactly for this purpose.

[zealex.9410]

@"Gaile Gray.6029" said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

Im sorry but what i took from this was "we know that this was a request since the og forum, but we ignored it when making the new forum and we dont intent to add it"

The new design isnt bad and the extra options are kinda neat but it legit hurts my eyes to stay long periods of time. A dark mode would be a good sent.

[PookieDaWombat.6209]

Quick suggestion: It was mentioned elsewhere, but I wanted to do so here as well. I just installed Night Mode Pro for Chrome and it works well. My eyes are not dying every time I load up the forum now and it makes it very easy to read things now.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

I remember a long ago complaint that reading the forums was like reading print off a lightbulb. It made me laugh, and wince, because it was such an accurate description.

@Gaile Gray.6029 said:In relation to switching the forums from white to black, that would require a substantial amount of work, and it's not something that we are planning. We saw the same request when the original forums launched, but they seemed to do ok with the one iteration, and we're intending to stay with that for the foreseeable future.

It wasn't really that they did ok. It was that people gave up talking about it. It was known that the old forums were not fixable so what was the use in saying anything. Now y'all made a brand new forum and it's still like reading print off a lightbulb. Y'all should have remembered those old complaints and also remembered the occasional posts that came up from new people asking for a darker forum, who got the unfixable forum explained to them (and then the thread died because it was pointless to ask for changes).

[StinVec.3621]

I spent a bit modifying my old 'Dark' Stylish theme for the new forums to get rid of bloated empty space (margins, padding), as well as altered some text sizes, colors, background and quoted block colors.

Used uBlock to hide some elements as well, so will likely hide them using the theme instead at some point (hid side panel images and footer).

I still have several tweaks that need to be done on it to resolve some weird background/text color issues, as well as alter the banner graphic, but this is where I'm at right now on updating it if anyone else wants to use it and alter it for their preference.

https://imgur.com/a/3WKKO

! @-moz-document domain("en-forum.guildwars2.com") {! body! {! background: #333333 !important;! color: white;! text-shadow: black 0.1em 0.1em 0.1em !important;! }!! textarea#Form_Body.InputBox.TextBox.BodyBox.js-bodybox.js-bodybox.textarea-autosize! {! height:auto;! min-height: 400px;! resize:vertical;! }!! a.Permalink time! {! color: red !important;! }!! h1! {! color: #ffffff !important;! }!! div.Message! {! color: #ffffff !important;! line-height: 1.3 !important;! }!! blockquote.Quote, blockquote.UserQuote! {! background: #000 !important;! }!! a.Username! {! color: red !important;! }!! div#CategoryGroup-news-info.CategoryGroup.Category-news-info! {! margin-bottom: 0px;! }!! div#CategoryGroup-support.CategoryGroup.Category-support! {! margin-bottom: 0px;! }!! div#CategoryGroup-game-discussion.CategoryGroup.Category-game-discussion! {! margin-bottom: 0px;! }!! div.PromotedContent! {! margin-bottom: 0px;! }!! .Item td! {! padding-top: 0px;! padding-bottom: 0px;! }!! tbody a! {! font-size: 16px !important;! }!! }

Or if you just want a quick extension, the black/green image on the link is the 'Simple night Mode' extension for FF that you enable on the browser by right-clicking a page and enabling it - again to disable. It's a really quick and easy one to use to apply night mode on all pages and sites.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

Yup, Night Mode Pro is awesome!

[drkn.3429]

Black text on white background is the least straining on eyes ♥

[mazut.4296]

Not only black, give at least few options. Black is to contrasted, I prefer some pastel tones!

[StinVec.3621]

Updated it some more to remove anything left that was white or annoying. Also altered a few more text colors and text box backgrounds in some situations.(Use FF, install Stylish, click to write a new style within stylish tab, paste the code from below and save.)

!!
! @-moz-document domain("en-forum.guildwars2.com") {!
! / Main page background and text colors /! body! {! background: #333333 !important;! color: white;! text-shadow: black 0.1em 0.1em 0.1em !important;! }!
! / Comment text box background color /! textarea#Form_Body.InputBox.TextBox.BodyBox.js-bodybox.js-bodybox.textarea-autosize! {! background: #9b9b9b;! min-height: 300px;! }!
! / Comment Preview text box background color /! div.Preview, div.Preview .Message p! {! background: #9b9b9b;! }!
! / Search page background and text colors /! input#Form_Search, div.HeaderNavSearch form! {! background-color: #9b9b9b !important;! color: white !important;! }!
! / Avatar Icon Size - default 50px /! img.ProfilePhoto.ProfilePhotoSmall! {! height: 40px !important;! }!
! h2.H, a.Selected, h4, h1, div.AdvancedWrap label.Heading, label.CheckBoxLabel, div.P.Inline label, select! {! color: white !important;! }!
! h2, h3, a.Permalink time, a.Username! {! color: red !important;! }!
! div.Message! {! color: white !important;! line-height: 1.3 !important;! }!
! blockquote.Quote, blockquote.UserQuote! {! background: black !important;! }!
! div.PromotedContent, div#CategoryGroup-news-info.CategoryGroup.Category-news-info, div#CategoryGroup-support.CategoryGroup.Category-support, div#CategoryGroup-game-discussion.CategoryGroup.Category-game-discussion! {! margin-bottom: 0px;! }!
! .Item td! {! padding-top: 0px;! padding-bottom: 0px;! }!
! tbody a! {! font-size: 16px !important;! }!
! div.HeaderBackground, div.Content-art.Content-art--left, div.Content-art.Content-art--right! {! background: url("") !important;! }!
! div.Container-bottom! {! display: none !important;! visibility: hidden !important;! }!
! }!
!

[PookieDaWombat.6209]

@drkn.3429 said:Black text on white background is the least straining on eyes ♥

Since tone is near impossible to tell through text medium, please tell me you're joking right? As I just woke up a little bit ago, I could be wrong and you could just be having a laugh right now and don't actually mean that.