XF 2.3 Set light variation as default for guests
- Thread starter BassMan
- Start date
Solution
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
I would love to have this option.
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
For me, no. The light version is more on brand for us. I'd like to lead with that but offer the dark version for those who want it. 
Rusty Snippets
Well-known member
Pretty much me too. I detest dark themes, but everyone under 60 wants it!For me, no. The light version is more on brand for us. I'd like to lead with that but offer the dark version for those who want it.
Yeah, you want enforce your vision on users who already signaled that they want dark.I'd like to lead with that but offer the dark version for those who want it.
So yes, this definitly defeats the purpose of
prefers-color-scheme.It's okay if you do not want to honor user preference, but if you do so please don't pretend that you want to.
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
The venom here is unnecessary. I have valid reasons for wanting to default to the lighter theme, just as you have your reasons for preferring not to.
D
Deleted member 184953
Guest
just out of curiosity I would like to know them…
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
That's what I intend to do.
I was just adding my voice to the others who feel it would be more ideal to have a setting, if possible.Sure! I can only speak for myself, as other may have different reasons. My main reasons are:
1) I've been running our community for about 20 years now and we've stuck with the same basic look and feel over the years. In user testing, automatically switching to the dark theme caused confusion and some panic by the members. Their feedback was that such a drastic change, they thought we'd been hacked, they landed on the wrong site, or something had gone wrong. It may also be relevant that our user base skews a little older and not as open to big changes.
We have a very small sample size for testing, but 100% of the users who automatically loaded the dark theme on our test site had this same feedback. I'm hoping to avoid this confusion when I enable the dark version on our main site. Notifying them the dark theme is an option and they can choose to switch (rather than loading it automatically) will head off a lot of confusion and support requests.
2) Our branding centers around the word, "bright," so psychologically and for branding purposes it makes more sense to default to a site that is light rather than dark. It's what people have come to expect from our brand.
Those are my main two reasons for my preference and comment. For the time being, I think @CedricV's suggestion is our best option.
Mr Lucky
Well-known member
But this would only happen if their own device preferences were set to dark, so it should be a pleasant surprise not confusion and panic. Do they panic when suddenly Google is dark based on their settings?
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
I don't know how they react to Google changes. I'm working with the information I have from their feedback on our site specifically, which is that they found the sudden change very confusing.
Based on that, easing them into it by first notifying them dark theme is now an option seems best for our user base.
CedricV
Well-known member
This is not being toxic or anything but I wonder if they panic from a dark style, what kind of audience they are?That's what I intend to do.
Sure! I can only speak for myself, as other may have different reasons. My main reasons are:
1) I've been running our community for about 20 years now and we've stuck with the same basic look and feel over the years. In user testing, automatically switching to the dark theme caused confusion and some panic by the members. Their feedback was that such a drastic change, they thought we'd been hacked, they landed on the wrong site, or something had gone wrong. It may also be relevant that our user base skews a little older and not as open to big changes.
We have a very small sample size for testing, but 100% of the users who automatically loaded the dark theme on our test site had this same feedback. I'm hoping to avoid this confusion when I enable the dark version on our main site. Notifying them the dark theme is an option and they can choose to switch (rather than loading it automatically) will head off a lot of confusion and support requests.
2) Our branding centers around the word, "bright," so psychologically and for branding purposes it makes more sense to default to a site that is light rather than dark. It's what people have come to expect from our brand.
Those are my main two reasons for my preference and comment. For the time being, I think @CedricV's suggestion is our best option.
Are they so sensitive to dark appearances?
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
That is a possible factor, as our site is about family-friendly writing and storytelling. Many on our site are people of faith.
One of our test users suffers from migraines and mentioned that she does typically prefer a dark theme. However, she didn't like it popping up automatically as dark because she thought she landed on a different site, even though as a test user she was expecting a theme change. It threw her for a loop.
So a dark theme does have its place on our site. Just maybe with a little warning to avoid confusion with our existing user base.
D
Deleted member 184953
Guest
Obviously a dark theme overnight can surprise many members, perhaps you should have communicated about this before updating to 2.3. We are frightened by what we do not know; once we are informed, things go better. But now that the panic is over and you have surely explained things, everything should be back to normal in a short time, why want to change things now when the damage is done?
PrettyPixels
Well-known member
I have only implemented the changes on a small test site and invited a sample group for testing and feedback. I haven't upgraded the main site to 2.3 yet. Based on the testing feedback, I'll keep the style variations disabled until the users have adequate notice. I'd like to head off as much panic and as many support tickets as possible.
Russ
Well-known member
I personally would love to see an option like this:
We've had a default light/dark color scheme on communities for 14 years. Now that the system detection has officially been out for 14 days, we're questioning why some communities may still want a default mode set on their own community?
We've had a default light/dark color scheme on communities for 14 years. Now that the system detection has officially been out for 14 days, we're questioning why some communities may still want a default mode set on their own community?
Last edited:
beerForo
Well-known member
This should be possible and a suggestion should be launched.
For brand identity purposes and uniformity. In fact what he is suggesting is the way most websites operate that I visit. Take Facebook for example. They offer Dark off/Dark on/Use system settings. Use system settings must be explicitly selected once a member, the default is Dark off. Guests and those logged out will see the brand as they want it represented (white and blue). If your system is set to dark mode use the incognito browser to see how many websites you visit are not in dark mode. You may be surprised.
Mr Lucky
Well-known member
Partly because it’s quite difficult to get variations working well in Wordpress. So many different themes. I haven’t yet found a decent plugin.
Similar threads
- Question
- Question
