Light Theme Is So Underrated

[Davyc]

Visuals are subjective - what one likes, another may dislike. Having a choice is always a good idea, and then you can cater for both camps. The other spanner in the works to alter the perception of a colour schema is monitor settings; brightness, contrast, saturation all play a part in how a visual image is perceived.

Personally, I would say your content type will pretty much govern what you are presenting. Both my sites are set as default dark with no option for light, as yet (that's coming), because images present themselves better on a dark background so that they become the dominant focus on the eye.

There are merits for both and an important factor to remember when choosing a colour schema, what suits you, as the site owner, may not sit well with your members. To exemplify this, I can remember when I was developing websites for clients, one asked me to create his company website in all yellow and blue, because they were 'his' favourite colours. I advised against it, but he was footing the bill, so I obliged. It wasn't up one day, when he came back and said he was getting inundated with complaints about his horrible colour choices, lol.

There are plenty of websites out there that offer directions on what colours complement each other to give a balanced structure to your colour schema, they are worth exploring and may just give you a heads-up.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Dark themes have become so popular now that finding a site with a light theme as the default can be different and it can help you stand out and be more unique.

There used to be a time when many would set the light theme as default but give users the option to change to dark but I see many sites now setting the dark as the default.

 

[Deleted member 184953]

My remark concerned only the dark theme or rather the colour palette used. The least we can say is that this dark theme was not unanimous, at least from the point of view of readability

I need to make amends and correct myself. This is the first time I've visited the forum from a PC and I must say that the dark theme is particularly successful!! It's surprising on an iPhone screen, I find it less good and less readable, but on PC it looks great...

 

[Wildcat Media]

I need a dark theme due to my vision problems. So much so that I now try to avoid sites that do not offer a dark variation.

I think we need both.

And as I've said in other threads, if someone doesn't like the default colors or contrasts in XF's default style? You have all the tools available to tweak them to your liking.

 

[RobinHood]

And as I've said in other threads, if someone doesn't like the default colors or contrasts in XF's default style? You have all the tools available to tweak them to your liking.

As an admin you do, as an end user you don't. And 99.9% of end users will be stuck with whatever is default.

 

[Wildcat Media]

As an admin you do, as an end user you don't. And 99.9% of end users will be stuck with whatever is default.

A good admin or site manager/owner welcomes feedback from members. And any graphic designer would realize what good contrast is, as a good starting point.

But this is about the complaints here about the contrast in XF's forum, not our own...when we all have control over the color once we install our own copies.

 

[RobinHood]

A good admin or site manager/owner welcomes feedback from members. And any graphic designer would realize what good contrast is, as a good starting point.

This is my feedback to the admins of this forum, as someone who is a member of scores of xenforo sites, the vast majority of which will never change the defaults.

But even as an admin, why should we be the ones to have to employ a graphic designer to improve a product we've purchased?

I'm sorry, but default is important. I don't think I've ever seen a well received or popular dark theme on a major platform that uses as much solid black as the new XF dark theme. There's a reason most dark themes don't use solid black at all, and most of the grays aren't nearly as dark.

 

[Suzanne O]

This is my feedback to the admins of this forum, as someone who is a member of scores of xenforo sites, the vast majority of which will never change the defaults.

But even as an admin, why should we be the ones to have to employ a graphic designer to improve a product we've purchased?

I'm sorry, but default is important. I don't think I've ever seen a well received or popular dark theme on a major platform that uses as much solid black as the new XF dark theme. There's a reason most dark themes don't use solid black at all, and most of the grays aren't nearly as dark.

Because you can work with those of us who can tweak the colour scheme and make your forum look great.
It's better than the mouldy looking Optus blue colour.

 

[Mendalla]

And 99.9% of end users will be stuck with whatever is default.

Which is why the sensible default is to have it follow system, not "Light" or "Dark". That way, if my system is set to "Light", I get light, if it is set to "Dark", I get dark. And if I decide that I want it differently for a particular site, then I override it.

 

[Forsaken]

This is my feedback to the admins of this forum, as someone who is a member of scores of xenforo sites, the vast majority of which will never change the defaults.

But even as an admin, why should we be the ones to have to employ a graphic designer to improve a product we've purchased?

I'm sorry, but default is important. I don't think I've ever seen a well received or popular dark theme on a major platform that uses as much solid black as the new XF dark theme. There's a reason most dark themes don't use solid black at all, and most of the grays aren't nearly as dark.

The background makes the lighter greys look worse, because of how much they stand out. They are very close to the greys used in a lot of dark styles of existing styles.

 

[Suzanne O]

While you have this Optus blue colour as default you don't have to keep that colour. You can change it to whichever colour you like.
It's just that it's gotta be ok on the eye of your members.

For example you might like the colour green but you have some colour blind people on your forums that complain to you about the colour of the forum.

So you ask them what would suit them. They might give you some ideas.
It's what i ask my members often to see if they can handle whichever colours.