Forum Update - new editor

[adrian]

Hi,

A short video to show some of the features of the new editor. All the options are still there, albeit in glorious flat monochrome. Several of the buttons will pop up menus with more options. The editor will save your typing so hopefully reduce lost posts if you loose a connection.

There is also a new feature to alert other member. So for example in a message type the @ character followed by the start of a user name and it will pop up a list of members matching that name. Select the member and when you post the message it will automatically create an alert for that member to say he has been mentioned in the post.

The code behind it is supposed to be cleaner and more efficient than the last editor so I'm hoping it will be a bit more robust.

Any questions?

 

[Neil]

Two questions:

When you place the @ user name in your post, does it work if there's a space or not between the @ and name?
Also when posted does the @ become invisible or does it show in the body of the text?

 

[adrian]

Hi,

No space after the user name and this is how it appears if I mention @Neil

 

[Neil]

Splendid, thank you.

 

[tomstaf]

Thanks for putting that together @adrian

Do you know if there is a way to get my font to default onto Arial rather than Times New Roman please?

Cheers

Tom

 

[Ressaldar]

Do you know if there is a way to get my font to default onto Arial rather than Times New Roman please? Cheers Tom

a good question Tom, it has bugged me since joining

cheers

Mike

 

[adrian]

Hi,

I'm not aware of any option available to set the default font in the editor. If I tweak the default font in the editor it still reverts back when the message is posted because the message is posted in the default style for the forum and everything starts to get messy.

By selecting Arial you are putting in extra code to override the default style and force the font into Arial for everyone to see.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Thanks for putting that together ...
Do you know if there is a way to get my font to default onto Arial rather than </span>

If you really want everything in Arial then the best way I think would be to use your own custom style sheet for the website. Systems like Stylish work if you are using Chrome or Firefox.

p.s. being a font nerd - the default font is actually Georgia rather than Times New Roman.

 

[tomstaf]

Hi,

I'm not aware of any option available to set the default font in the editor. If I tweak the default font in the editor it still reverts back when the message is posted because the message is posted in the default style for the forum and everything starts to get messy.

By selecting Arial you are putting in extra code to override the default style and force the font into Arial for everyone to see.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Thanks for putting that together ...
Do you know if there is a way to get my font to default onto Arial rather than </span>

If you really want everything in Arial then the best way I think would be to use your own custom style sheet for the website. Systems like Stylish work if you are using Chrome or Firefox.

p.s. being a font nerd - the default font is actually Georgia rather than Times New Roman.

OK. So being a font nerd what's your stance on the Georgia/TNR - do you think they are more formal type fonts? Fancy changing the coding behind the software so that everyones font defaults to Arial? Oh and can we bring the user ratings (number of posts dependant) back?

Cheers

Tom

 

[Heather Kay]

As far as I am concerned, I like Georgia. If anyone wants to force me to use Arial, then I'm afraid I shall have to rebel.

Georgia is one of the nicest of the fonts Microsoft bequeathed the World Wide Web. Arial, I'm afraid, is and always will be a bastard knockoff of the classic 1950s typeface Helvetica.

</typenerd mode off>

Still, each to their own. At least it's not Comic Sans!

 

[ZiderHead]

Its a shame there isn't a You nailed it, I totally agree! button Heather, in its absence a Like will have to do


(* Actually I much prefer a simple Like button to the array of ratings you can use in other forums.)

 

[adrian]

OK. So being a font nerd what's your stance on the Georgia/TNR - do you think they are more formal type fonts? Fancy changing the coding behind the software so that everyones font defaults to Arial? Oh and can we bring the user ratings (number of posts dependant) back?

From a personal point of view I really like Georgia and think it works really well on screen, and many essays, studies and texts support this view.

If you are interested in typefaces then I can throughly recommend this book.



It mentions various polls and studies on the worst fonts, least favourite etc. Obviously Comic Sans features in all these list, but then again so does Arial and Times New Roman. Georgia was designed in the 1990's by Matthew Carter designed specifically to work well on screen and it does this very well. If you prefer Sans Serif fonts then he also designed Verdana which many consider works better than Arial.

For further reading I can do no more than recommend this excellent treatises on the subject
Butterick's Practical Typography.
http://practicaltypography.com/index.html#toc

He has a great comment on Arial

Reading Arial is like trying to have dinner on a tippy restaurant table.

In context the paragraph is

My aversion to Comic Sans—king of the goofy fonts—probably comes as no surprise. But why Arial? Arial was created as a Helvetica substitute. To many, they’re indistinguishable.

But to typographers, Arial contains none of the consistency and balance that makes Helvetica successful. For instance, the ends of the lowercase a, c, e, g, s, and t in Helvetica are exactly horizontal. In Arial, those ends are sloped arbitrarily. Reading Arial is like trying to have dinner on a tippy restaurant table.

As a system font, Arial has achieved ubiquity akin to times new roman. And like Times New Roman, Arial is permanently associated with the work of people who will never care about typography.

You’re not one of those people. So use one of the fonts listed in helvetica and arial alternatives. Or use something completely different. But don’t use Arial.

He has similar scathing comments about Times New Roman

If you have a choice about using Times New Roman, please stop. Use something else. See font recommendations for other options.

Did you make your business cards and letterhead at your local copy shop? No, you didn’t, because you didn’t want them to look shoddy and cheap. If you cared enough to avoid the copy shop, then you care enough to avoid Times New Roman. Times New Roman connotes apathy. You are not apathetic.

So please feel free to apply to your own style sheets to render everything in Arial but it's not something that's going to feature on my to do list.

And finally - the user ratings are still there if you click on a user profile, it's just not listed against the user avatar each time. The new style is trying to go for a cleaner look but I can have a look at adding it back in the avatar if people are interested.

 

[tomstaf]

I know that Arial is thought of as the raggydoll version of Helvetica but it's the closest type on the WT font list. I think the reason I notice Geogrgia so much it because the homepage title, section headings, avatars etc are in a more Arial like font and then the posts dive into Georgia. Perhaps we should have an 'import you own font' button hehe

I'm now off to nerd over the font websites

Cheers

Tom

 

[adrian]

I notice Geogrgia so much it because the homepage title, section headings, avatars etc are in a more Arial like font and then the posts dive into Georgia.

The homepage title, headings etc should be displayed as a first choice using "Trebuchet MS". This another screen optimised font but this time a san-serif font which is why it may appear similar to Arial.

Whilst I can't say what the design drivers on the style were I do see some benefit in separating the two styles. In my opinion Trebuchet works well as the functional font, these are the items associated with the actions and navigation on the site, buttons etc. Then using Georgia for the posts which is a nice readable font it makes a nice clear distinction as to what is the content. It works even better if you turn signatures off.