Site Suggestion: DARK LUSH - Reading in the dark.

24 Mar 2013

Hi Peeps

I have a site suggestion, lets see if anyone else thinks it might be worth looking into.

I read a lot of the Lush stories when chilling out in bed.
The white background does tend to glare after a while, even with the brightness turned down on my screen.
Apple devices have an option in the settings to 'Invert Colours' which will effectively create a White on Black version of everything on the screen.
This also effects images as well, so what you end up with is something like this:

I would be more inclined to create a secondary CSS file for the site, with these modifications already coded to create a custom 'Dark Lush' theme.
I saved a copy of the site and had a play with the files - 3 minutes work produced this VERY rough and ready example:

This has 4 additional advantages:

1 - None of the images are inverted.
2 - It can be completely bespoke for the Admin to design as they feel best.
3 - A single button could be attached to each page in a convenient location which will switch to this alternative view with one click - no messing about in your device settings.
4 - Android devices do not have that 'Invert Colours' feature so it would be a universal improvement.

Your thoughts?

A very hungover, Liz x tard

@Lizerotica

25 Mar 2013

Yay, someone volunteering to write us a second CSS!

A second (or more) CSS would be nice. It would be time consuming to do though, all those rounded corners under the header image, for the buttons etc, would need fixing up. Headers would need changing to suit the dark background, and all the rest of it.

What do you do when you want to look at sites like Facebook and Youtube for a while? I've resorted to sunglasses in the past!

I'm not sure we want to go that route, did you see how profiles on myspace ended up? It was one of the reasons that site tanked, pages ended up looking garish and like garbage.

25 Mar 2013

Being dyslexic certain backgrounds and colors can be a real problem when reading. MySpace got too freaky for me, some people's pages I couldn't stand to look at as they became like looking at visual chaos. I do best with a semi-bold dark color font on a white or even better, cream colored background. Blue or green type is a real struggle.

25 Mar 2013

As Buz pointed out, what colors used can be a problem. I LOVE the look of "dark" sites personally, but if you don't pick the right font color it can actually stress the eyes very quickly. Black background with pure white text is a good example of that. So you would need to go with shades of gray for the main text segments, or other more "soothing" colors yet still contrasting to the black. It is really why you don't see a whole lot of sites out there that use this color combination, and many that do IMO don't do it well.

Plus merging images into a fluent and NICE looking design using a dark background is not easy. As Nicola pointed out, it can look pretty trashy and very "slapped together". Another reason why you don't see a lot of good looking dark sites as well.

I HAVE seen forums that offer different "skins" and color combinations though, and I do think it allows the member to really customize the experience for what is best for them. I don't mind a classic look (like this forum currently uses) though. But yes there have been times that I did think it was glaring a bit at me. LOL But honestly, that was probably more due to myself at the time than the site itself. ;)

25 Mar 2013

Hi guys,

Allowing custom 'themes' would be a bloody nightmare! smile

Totally agree on that point, it would really ruin the Lush experience.

Actually, what I had in mind was something along the lines of a 'Reading Pane'. A small box located on each story page which allows the following:

1 - Incremental size increase/decrease of story text.

2 - A couple of basic colour palettes for the use of say, dyslexic people.

A lot of websites cater for this by designing their site so as not to have pure black (#000000) on a pure white (#FFFFFF) background. This is because many dyslexic users are sensitive to the brightness of pure black text on a pure white background due to its high contrast. This can cause the words to swirl or blur together.
One of the palettes could use a slightly off-white colour for the background, like a light grey. You could also use a dark grey for the text instead of a pure black to cut the glare even more.

3 - 'Night Mode' would be as mentioned above, a selectable toggle button. Non-permanent and activated by loading the secondary CSS file. When you navigate away from the current page, it reverts back to the standard CSS. It could be a dark grey instead of black.

Just a thought :)

L

@Lizerotica

26 Mar 2013

Quote by Liz
Hi guys, 2 - A couple of basic colour palettes for the use of say, dyslexic people.

No sissy colors* cause y'all know I'm a 'macho macho man, yes I am — a macho man!" (dancing)

*colours (for my Brit friends)

26 Mar 2013

There maybe some technical details to resolve, but generally I like the idea. It makes reading lush stories on kindle/ipad/surface while in airplane/bed easier and not attract unwanted attentions.

Welcome to visit my tumblr page at http://HK4167.tumblr.com for erotic arts. Or http://slice-of-moment.tumblr.com for non-erotic arts.

26 Mar 2013

Quote by Buz

No sissy colors* cause y'all know I'm a 'macho macho man, yes I am — a macho man!" (dancing)

*colours (for my Brit friends)

@Lizerotica

26 Mar 2013

Quote by nicola
Yay, someone volunteering to write us a second CSS!

A second (or more) CSS would be nice. It would be time consuming to do though, all those rounded corners under the header image, for the buttons etc, would need fixing up. Headers would need changing to suit the dark background, and all the rest of it.

What do you do when you want to look at sites like Facebook and Youtube for a while? I've resorted to sunglasses in the past!

I'm not sure we want to go that route, did you see how profiles on myspace ended up? It was one of the reasons that site tanked, pages ended up looking garish and like garbage.

All doable.
Food for thought smile