Believers' forum

[Administrator]

The Believers' area has a new look. My first attempt at "creating" a skin (which I didn't really "create," but instead modified another one to suit my needs). In order for the Logos reftagger to work, it has to have a dedicated skin. So, I spent most of last night and this morning teaching myself stuff about skins and experimenting, and voilà! New skin.

And, with that, we also have the reftagger up and running. Thanks again to Bob for that very handy hack!



So, tell me if you love it, hate it, or whatever.

[Michele]

The Believers' area has a new look. My first attempt at "creating" a skin (which I didn't really "create," but instead modified another one to suit my needs). In order for the Logos reftagger to work, it has to have a dedicated skin. So, I spent most of last night and this morning teaching myself stuff about skins and experimenting, and voilà! New skin.

And, with that, we also have the reftagger up and running. Thanks again to Bob for that very handy hack!



So, tell me if you love it, hate it, or whatever.

I'm not completely loving it..but I like plain, not busy backgrounds..I can also live with it. Though, I did think Gary's av looked a little possessed..not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you.

[Administrator]

I was trying to come up with something "representative" of faith, but I specifically did not want to make it any particular faith. The forum is for all believers: Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Baptists, Hindus, etc. I also necessarily had to have something relatively dark because the skin I modified has white text.

I'm certainly not married to that one, though. If someone has a particular background that they would like better, then let me know and I'll see if I can make it work. It has to be a pretty huge picture file (the one that's there is 1600 pixels X 1100 pixels or something like that), and I'd like to stay within the parameters of "inclusiveness," but other than that and being able to work with the other skin elements, I'm certainly willing to try other stuff to see what people like. Or, we can just scrap that and start over if everyone hates it. The one thing that is critical is that we have to have some sort of custom skin in order to make the Bible verse hack work.

[gary m]

I'm not completely loving it..but I like plain, not busy backgrounds..I can also live with it. Though, I did think Gary's av looked a little possessed..not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you.

That is Nisa, my slightly deranged Border Collie / Australian Shepherd mix. Demonic possession is a distinct possibility.

My only issue with the skin for the forum is the prominence of the Koran, which kind of bleeds through any foreground, dead center in the screen.
Also, what is the box at the bottom for "Bible Options"? Doesn't seem to do anything that I can see.

[Administrator]

That is Nisa, my slightly deranged Border Collie / Australian Shepherd mix. Demonic possession is a distinct possibility.

My only issue with the skin for the forum is the prominence of the Koran, which kind of bleeds through any foreground, dead center in the screen.

I struggled with the picture a bit, trying to get it to move that around a little, and that's about the best I could get. The book on top (I think) is a Talmud, then a Qur'an, then a Bible (no particular version that I can tell), and then beneath that, I think, is some manner of Hindu text. That is much less visible in the skin than it is in the original picture, but I just couldn't get it to cooperate for me and size that in better.

Also, what is the box at the bottom for "Bible Options"? Doesn't seem to do anything that I can see.

That is the Logos reftagger hack, a very cool hack that Bob brought us way back in 2009 when NEIP started. If you look at this post and mouse over the words "John 3:16-17," you'll get a balloon that pops up giving those two verses out of the book of John.





The little box at the bottom lets you choose which particular version of the Bible you prefer: KJV (King James Version), NKJV (New King James Version), NIV (New International Version), etc. There's also a little check box for Libtronix, basically a translation software. That creates the little "L" next to the verse in the picture above. This doesn't seem to work particularly well, and given that you and almost everyone else here speaks and reads English just fine, you probably want to just leave that un-checked.

[Michele]

I was trying to come up with something "representative" of faith, but I specifically did not want to make it any particular faith. The forum is for all believers: Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Baptists, Hindus, etc. I also necessarily had to have something relatively dark because the skin I modified has white text.

I'm certainly not married to that one, though. If someone has a particular background that they would like better, then let me know and I'll see if I can make it work. It has to be a pretty huge picture file (the one that's there is 1600 pixels X 1100 pixels or something like that), and I'd like to stay within the parameters of "inclusiveness," but other than that and being able to work with the other skin elements, I'm certainly willing to try other stuff to see what people like. Or, we can just scrap that and start over if everyone hates it. The one thing that is critical is that we have to have some sort of custom skin in order to make the Bible verse hack work.

I don't have issue with the theme, it's the darkness of the background with the dark box that I don't find easy on the eyes. I love the warmth of the brown..just not for my reading.

That is Nisa, my slightly deranged Border Collie / Australian Shepherd mix. Demonic possession is a distinct possibility.

Nisa is beautiful. We have a lot of Nisa's kin out here in our country. It was on that background that made her look possessed. But now that I went back to spend a minute of two looking at the background colors, I'm pretty sure it's Bob whose av is possessed.

[Administrator]

I don't have issue with the theme, it's the darkness of the background with the dark box that I don't find easy on the eyes. I love the warmth of the brown..just not for my reading.

OK, so if I'm understanding correctly, what you're basically saying is that dark-upon-light like the master theme (what you're seeing right now) is easier for you to read rather than light-upon-dark as this skin is? Correct?

I can certainly try to work within those parameters if that is the case.


One of the issues that the lovely and talented Ginger brought up when we first started talking about this is that we want to make NEIP as "readable" as possible for people, almost a "Reader's Digest EasyRead" type of easy on the eyes: larger fonts (if I can make that happen), good contrasts, things that people can look at without feeling fatigued. We've been "interviewing" skins to that end for a couple of weeks now, but member input is definitely critical. I happen to (amazingly) still have 20/20 vision less than three weeks prior to my forty-second birthday, despite a long family history of vision problems and numerous eye injuries over the years, plus decades of staring at a computer screen for many hours at a time as a function of work. So, to some extent, my opinion on this stuff doesn't really count, and I'm going to have to depend on others to guide me some.

[Michele]

OK, so if I'm understanding correctly, what you're basically saying is that dark-upon-light like the master theme (what you're seeing right now) is easier for you to read rather than light-upon-dark as this skin is? Correct?

I can certainly try to work within those parameters if that is the case.


One of the issues that the lovely and talented Ginger brought up when we first started talking about this is that we want to make NEIP as "readable" as possible for people, almost a "Reader's Digest EasyRead" type of easy on the eyes: larger fonts (if I can make that happen), good contrasts, things that people can look at without feeling fatigued. We've been "interviewing" skins to that end for a couple of weeks now, but member input is definitely critical. I happen to (amazingly) still have 20/20 vision less than three weeks prior to my forty-second birthday, despite a long family history of vision problems and numerous eye injuries over the years, plus decades of staring at a computer screen for many hours at a time as a function of work. So, to some extent, my opinion on this stuff doesn't really count, and I'm going to have to depend on others to guide me some.

Yes, I like this format of dark print on a plain, light background. But Gary hit on something, too and this thread is a good example. Scrolling through the posts with the constant showing of the words Koran and Bible in the background is distracting for me. Would a white dove on a white page be possible? Okay..jk!

I'm not trying to be hyper critical, Admin..thanks for asking for our opinions.

[Bob Loblaw 3.0]

Thanks for all the work!

I have a suggestion for the background: something from nature. A sunset, the blue sky with clouds, a starry sky, a beach and ocean scene or whatever. Those things can be related to by everyone in their own ways. To me, they speak of creation.

[Administrator]

Yes, I like this format of dark print on a plain, light background. But Gary hit on something, too and this thread is a good example. Scrolling through the posts with the constant showing of the words Koran and Bible in the background is distracting for me. Would a white dove on a white page be possible? Okay..jk!

I'm not trying to be hyper critical, Admin..thanks for asking for our opinions.

No, no ... not "hyper-critical" at all. I'm asking for these opinions because this is your (pl.) forum, so I want to shape it to what you like.

Thanks for all the work!

I have a suggestion for the background: something from nature. A sunset, the blue sky with clouds, a starry sky, a beach and ocean scene or whatever. Those things can be related to by everyone in their own ways. To me, they speak of creation.

I thought about that, but it sort of says "nature" more than "faith." While I personally find God in nature (all over nature), that's not actually faith to me, but instead proof to me that there is a God. Furthermore, I wanted to sort of leave that door open for the atheists/agnostics/secular humanists/whatever non-believers, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to represent that belief (or lack thereof, I suppose). It's only fair that I offer non-believers a skin to fit their particular outlook just as I do for believers, if they so desire. I'm not really sure what else I could use for that. A picture of Carl Sagan? The skin actually came with a beautiful space scene, but it was basically black and of course I didn't think that theme fit the idea of faith.

Perhaps I'm over-thinking this, but it sounds sort of like a dark background isn't really a great idea anyway, so I have no problem with going back to the drawing board. I should do well to consult our resident style guru on this anyway, I think.

[Bob Loblaw 3.0]

This is what the sky means to me:

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

If other people have their own take on it, that's their prerogative. I don't think you'll be able to find any 'collage' background that doesn't have some kind of problem.

Heck, just make a picture of a plain cobalt blue (or sky blue) background. That would make font display easy.

[Administrator]

This is what the sky means to me:

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God,and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

If other people have their own take on it, that's their prerogative. I don't think you'll be able to find any 'collage' background that doesn't have some kind of problem.

Heck, just make a picture of a plain cobalt blue (or sky blue) background. That would make font display easy.

Fair point. I also don't want it to look like a Windows start-up screen.


If we can live with what we have for a day or two, I'd like to get some other input on hopes that we can come up with something really great. Barring anything else, there are probably a dozen or more dark-on-light skins ready and in the box out there that I can put in with relative ease. We've always got that as a fall-back position.

[Michele]

No, no ... not "hyper-critical" at all. I'm asking for these opinions because this is your (pl.) forum, so I want to shape it to what you like.

I thought about that, but it sort of says "nature" more than "faith." While I personally find God in nature (all over nature), that's not actually faith to me, but instead proof to me that there is a God. Furthermore, I wanted to sort of leave that door open for the atheists/agnostics/secular humanists/whatever non-believers, mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to represent that belief (or lack thereof, I suppose). It's only fair that I offer non-believers a skin to fit their particular outlook just as I do for believers, if they so desire. I'm not really sure what else I could use for that. A picture of Carl Sagan? The skin actually came with a beautiful space scene, but it was basically black and of course I didn't think that theme fit the idea of faith.

Perhaps I'm over-thinking this, but it sounds sort of like a dark background isn't really a great idea anyway, so I have no problem with going back to the drawing board. I should do well to consult our resident style guru on this anyway, I think.

For me, I think about the dove that Noah released after the flood and it came back with the olive leaf so that Noah would know there was land. There's a lot of different symbolism when it comes to that little bird. It's also used as a sign for peace and love.

I think something simple and clean for the background would work..just throwing suggestions out there:







And, there's always this little fellow:

[Administrator]

This guy might work well. I absolutely love the one above it, but I already know it won't work because the top of the picture, the upper atmosphere, is too dark and dark text will disappear in that. Gorgeous picture, crappy for skins; it has to be a relatively consistent light/dark ratio across the whole picture for it to work. Chalk that up as "things Adam learned the hard way this morning fooling with this stuff."

I'll play with this one some tomorrow and see what it gets us.

[phillygirl]

I hate it.