English > Feature Suggestions
Some improvements
rick.ca:
Some interesting ideas, but I have reservations. Skins are difficult enough to create without having to accommodate dynamic attributes. Normally, even the choice of font size has to be in balance with column widths and other layout considerations. Font colours have to go with background colours. Some of the same considerations could be applied while changing "appearance settings," but because finding alternate combinations of settings that "work" would probably require the settings be saved—by skin. If that's not complicated enough, then what about the user who is not familiar with skinning, and assumes any combination of appearance settings should work?
There is a viable alternative to this. A well constructed and documented skin is not difficult to modify to reflect preferences in font's, colours, etc. Different variations of the same skin can simply be saved as separate skins. Perhaps the biggest problem with the idea of appearance settings is most users would want and expect them to work. The sad truth is that modifying the skin, as intimidating as that may seem, is the only thing that always works. Providing appearance settings would only make it less likely users will make the effort to do so.
buah:
--- Quote ---If that's not complicated enough, then what about the user who is not familiar with skinning,
--- End quote ---
I agree. I torture myself to put (display) year in brackets, yet...
mgpw4me@yahoo.com:
All that's needed to ensure a font is visible is to not allow fonts to have the same color(s) as sections. There are lots of ways to set a 'minimal difference' that would ensure good visibility...or more likely a message box warning about the intended color change. To my knowledge, this isn't implemented in PVD itself, and I haven't seen many support queries about displaying black fonts on a black background. It's sort of obvious hard to miss seeing the difference.
The fact that skins are designed to be displayed at a specific resolution is a failing in the skin system. Fixed sizes (pixels or point sizes) means simply that if I have a different monitor setting from the skin designer, the skin doesn't display as it was designed. It may well be that there is text overflow when fonts are resized, but then, why can't the skin scroll as a web browser does when this occurs? Vertical scrolling is already implemented, so that's half-way home. Besides, my eyes aren't getting better as I get older, and it would be much more convenient to set the font sizes once in one place than do global string replaces in a skin file. People are more intimidated changing programs than changing selection boxes. The number of script update requests is proof enough that there is an intimidation factor.
Actually, with more thought, all that's needed to display a skin in a web browser is an XSL file (not exactly true...the xml from PVD isn't really browser compliant...but it's easy enough to fix). This means that a proper XSL file would allow the creation / editing of skins via an external app, which would probably be even better (if more people were familiar with such programs). Similarly xml files could be displayed via a custom xsl file that would provide <href> links around fonts and sections, allowing users in an HTA to set fonts / colors in real time without changing the original file...until they were ready to do so (not exactly trivial programming, but not rocket science either).
mgpw4me@yahoo.com:
--- Quote from: buah on April 25, 2010, 09:14:07 pm ---I agree. I torture myself to put (display) year in brackets, yet...
--- End quote ---
You mean like in this skin?
PVD VinT_1680p
buah:
Exactly mgp. But, it looks pretty ugly while it seems that there were unnecessary extra spaces after opening, and before closing bracket. Don't you think so?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version