Miss Ars being blacked out? Here's how to get back in black

It's easy to keep Ars black if you miss it.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/staff/aurich/2012/01/miss-ars-being-blacked-out-heres-how-to-get-back-in-black.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[crhilton]

YES YES YES! Finally.

 

[chiklersux]

I must be getting old, the black layout hurt my eyes and had to abort reading articles.

Nice to see you keeping the site 'fresh' for those whipper-snappers! Off to replace my hip.

 

[eJacqui]

YES YES YES! Finally.

We're glad you're happy! But it's not really "finally," as the option has always been there.

 

[Aurich]

I must be getting old, the black layout hurt my eyes and had to abort reading articles.

Yeah, I can't personally read for too long with it myself. I'm pretty sure there are improvements to be made in that department, as far as contrast and color use goes, it's something I've got on my list to explore.

 

[pokrface]

Glad to see the black site option is being kept alive I'm apparently one of the hardest of the hardcore, as I've used the black site option for as long as it's been available. Black text on a white background strains the eyes; white text on black is much easier to read, especially in a dark computer room.

 

[Voyance]

Nice, I really liked the black theme.

 

[bthylafh]

What, again? We finally got a really nice site layout, so how about leaving it alone?

 

[alexrh]

I am confused. Who is Miss Ars?

 

[Deleted member 1]

The black background isn't great, but it's less painful on my eyes than the regular one. I switched a while back when I found out about it.

 

[byuu]

> I am confused. Who is Miss Ars?

Yeah, I totally read that as a garden path sentence at first.

 

[jahg]

Glad to see the black site option is being kept alive I'm apparently one of the hardest of the hardcore, as I've used the black site option for as long as it's been available. Black text on a white background strains the eyes; white text on black is much easier to read, especially in a dark computer room.

Same as above - I've been using the black theme for a while now (I didn't even realize it was different yesterday...)

 

[signal11]

Glad to see the black site option is being kept alive I'm apparently one of the hardest of the hardcore, as I've used the black site option for as long as it's been available. Black text on a white background strains the eyes; white text on black is much easier to read, especially in a dark computer room.

I feel exactly the opposite.

I notice more distracting afterimage ghosting much more so on white text on dark backgrounds than black text on white backgrounds.

What's the current ste of thinking on this? Specifically, for LCDs.

 

[Jurrasic]

Hardest of the hardcore my ars! I loved the much easier on the eyes white on black and am switching it now!

It did throw up an error when I tried to post this after I had switched, and I had to switch back to black-on-white to post this. I assume that it's temporary.

 

[Fidelacchius]

Any chance of the banners or a similar art style used yesterday making a resurgence in the future? Gotta hand it to you Aurich, as a long time Ars reader, those illustrations were some of my favorite.

 

[J4yDubs]

Loved the nostalgia of the black yesterday. I remember the up roar when the switch happened, I even continued to use the black theme for a while, but I did eventually switch over. Yesterday was cool, but it made me realize that the current default colors are better for reading.

John

 

[nickf]

Black text on a white background strains the eyes; white text on black is much easier to read, especially in a dark computer room.

It's the opposite for me. White-on-black is murder for my eyes; I find the ghosting mightily unpleasant.

Glad that the option is there for those that prefer it though.

 

[Putrid Polecat]

Shweet. Is there any way you can add the black to the mobile site as well (and fix quoting on mobile)?

 

[pw38]

I have no customize option available to me. Is it browser dependant?

 

[MoonShark]

We've always believed in keeping a connection to our roots with a black theme option,

Uh, then why do I remember a big outcry when you guys tried to ditch it? That may have been pre-Aurich...

Black site lovers should be happy to hear that we're committed to keeping the theme alive too, even if it's only used by the hardest of the hardcore.

Heh, sometimes I forget Ars even exists in the normal white theme But of course only a tiny minority is going to pick the black theme when it's pushed away into a menu, instead of seeing what people pick from a true binary choice. By making one the default, you're asking a loaded question. Which, practically speaking, that's fine to do -- just don't pretend it's some scientific result.

Whenever we launch our next redesign, the black option will remain. We'll also consider how to make it easier to discover next time. We should also note that we've heard the requests for the black theme as an option on the mobile site and will keep that in mind.

Woohoo (emphasis mine)

 

[sep332]

But Aurich, where did all of your neo-constructivist images go?

 

[charleski]

Just want to add my praise for the awesome graphics and design you put together for yesterday Aurich. The WoB style was a blast from the past (even though, personally, I prefer the modern white background), and quite appropriate to the material.

For some reason I can't get the body text to go to Helvetica, though - it's Arial no matter what I choose. Maybe I have something set wrong in my Firefox options, though 'allow pages to choose their own fonts' is checked.

 

[gackley]

Oh Please! Mobile black! My whole head smiles when I find a white on black Android app on my new Galaxy S II wonderbox.

 

[MoonShark]

if only this option were also available in the Forums - why isn't it?

OMG black forums would rock.

 

[TinSoldier]

Ah, reminds me of the old Ars. I'll try it for awhile, thanks for point out the option.

 

[Ajar]

I've been using the black option pretty much whenever it was available. Glad to see it'll still be around in the future!

 

[xeoph]

Am I the only one that after selecting the black theme the "bubble" indicator is selecting the wrong theme?

If I'm currently on black, the white bubble is checked while if I'm currently on white the black bubble is checked. If I click on the already selected bubble it does toggle.... but, its more like there should just be a link for black or white not a toggle bubble since that's pretty much how it's working.

 

[BlueRocks]

I have no customize option available to me. Is it browser dependant?

Neither do I. Any reply yet?

 

[Deleted member 1]

I clicked with the expectation of seeing a pinup girl.

 

[Aurich]

We've always believed in keeping a connection to our roots with a black theme option,

Uh, then why do I remember a big outcry when you guys tried to ditch it? That may have been pre-Aurich...

There was a time when didn't support it briefly during one of the designs, that's true. It was just not getting used and a bit of a pain to maintain. We decided we didn't care, we missed it, and added it back.

We'll work on some updated stats for black site use, last time I looked it was something like 0.4% of our readership though. Maybe with some awareness that stat will rise a bit.

 

[Aurich]

Can anyone who's not seeing the customize menu post your browser with version #? I know there are some issues with IE 7 which we don't really support anymore for instance.

 

[Taoism]

if only this option were also available in the Forums - why isn't it?

As a paying member.... ++ to this!

 

[coppercore]

<3 the black theme! Just saying, keep up the good work Ars!

 

[FoO]

Glad to see the black site option is being kept alive I'm apparently one of the hardest of the hardcore, as I've used the black site option for as long as it's been available. Black text on a white background strains the eyes; white text on black is much easier to read, especially in a dark computer room.

Same. I was hugely upset when it changed and immensely grateful when the option returned... for all of the like three days it was absent xD

(then I moved to the subscriber full RSS feed and haven't really gotten to enjoy it since )

 

[skyywise]

It has been a while since I've looked at the black layout. Wasn't there also some darker shade of green as a tertiary color?

 

[TheFerenc]

Yeah, I didn't realize there was any difference yesterday either. I get so upset whenever I use someone else's computer, and Ars is in white. I immediately switch it, and they are often quite appreciative, not realizing they could do that.

I always sort of assumed most of the regulars used the black theme, but apparently not, if it's only about 0.4%.

 

[BlueRocks]

Can anyone who's not seeing the customize menu post your browser with version #? I know there are some issues with IE 7 which we don't really support anymore for instance.

Nail, meet Head.
IE7. Work mandated (large government department).
On my personal * shhhhhhhh * laptop, the customize button is available.

Thanks.

 

[Tikicult]

Now, we need an option bring back some green!

 

[Medic Terrible]

Made the switch to black background

 

[ducttape]

Yeah, I didn't realize that it was flipped to black for yesterday until I saw people talking about it comments. I've been running the black for a while. The forums always used a black background though didn't they? I don't remember them being black, just the main site.