Postby Bradster » Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:40 am
Looks like I'll be the voice of dissent for this round.
(Crash Override @ Feb. 10 2011,18:25)QUOTEYou're right - not gonna be an archive and I don't like the word Wiki because I think it's ugly and it's a meaningless neologism like "blog".I actually think the term "wiki" is far from useless, and its original etymology is mostly irrelevant now. "Wiki" has taken on a very specific meaning since the meteoric rise of Wikipedia, and its use indicates to visitors two simple but specific points: 1. the site is likely to be encyclopedic and referential in nature, and 2. the site is constantly evolving as people contribute to and edit it. I can't think of any term that is as concise and widely understood than "wiki" for what it is.
(Crash Override @ Feb. 10 2011,18:25)QUOTESimple is good because it helps the search engines identify it. If we called it the Thalian Zone or something in the same way they gave Memory Alpha to Star Trek, I doubt Google would get the connection.Do note, of course, that Memory Alpha's full title is "Star Trek Wiki - Memory Alpha". Even on subordinate article pages, the title is "Article Name - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki".
(Crash Override @ Feb. 11 2011,06:52)QUOTEWhen we skin it can we have a dark background? I really don't like white backgrounds. It makes it seem too much like 'work'.With very rare exceptions (none immediately come to mind, but I'll have to peruse my bookmarks after this), I'm not a big fan of sites with white-text-on-dark-background color schemes, both as an end user and as a developer. It is very difficult to build a light-on-dark layout that is attractive and legible. Without carefully balancing a depth of midtones, harsh contrasts will easily overwhelm the reader, cause eye strain, and make the pages feel uninviting.There are lots of clinical reasons why light-on-dark layouts are easier on the eyes. Backlit LCDs leak lots of light making "black" backgrounds never truly black, viewing environments are usually well-lit and create a lower contrast boundary with light display backgrounds, white-on-black display text suffers from halation, white-on-black text requires a greater number of visual fixations to read, white-on-black patterns (like rows of text) cause more focused stimulation of the rods which leads to ghosted afterimages, and so forth and so on.To put a fine point on it, dark-on-light is so incredibly commonplace simply because it's physically easier to look at.In the end, it comes down to weighing personal choices of style with practical usability. If you're really married to the idea of white-on-black, so be it.