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Monday, February 24, 2003
Posted
5:01 AM by Centerpoint
While stylistically, purists used to
publishing journals in the traditional media, are apt to use style sheet
conventions harking back to such 'hard copy' days, the retention of such
publishing standards wreak havoc in a digital media where text is
displayed on computer monitors. The combination of italics, especially,
and a fixed small font, can be a real challenge to read. Combine this,
then, with a choice of font colors and background which do not offer
optimum contrast, and the piece becomes unbearable to read.
Strike ONE - the block of text is in italics. Strike TWO - the block of text is in size 7 font - and I can't make it any bigger Strike THREE - the block of text is displayed in green text against a grey background - far too little contrast.
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Posted
4:48 PM by Centerpoint And yet the solution is so simple - remove the pre-set [unalterable] font-size parameter from the limited style sheet controls included in the template(s) - and voila - you've got user-defineable text. Even better, make all font sizes relative, and you have empowered the user to the max. Try it out here - go to your browser, and try this site out using different View settings. You will notice that the main blog section text increases or decreases in size, depending on your wishes - except the grey background box immediately above which has been 'typeset' in fixed 7 point type.
So, as the Blogmaster, how do you implement these few, simple changes.
Across-the-board instructions are impossible to give, as templates vary.
But we can give you a clue what to look for.
A typical blogger template may have a style section which looks like this:
In this case, the style format which controls the blog body, is the one named .posts If you follow that line, you will see the automatic template selections which blogger (or other blog host) made for you. The font preferences are Verdana, and then Arial, sans-serif, and the fixed font size is 12 Herein lies the problem. This reference to 12 points overrides any preference your reader sets in his browser. If you merely delete the sequence font-size:12px; from the .posts line in the stylesheet section at the beginning of your template, there will be NO locked-in fixed font size, and your reader will be able to set his browser to display your main blogging text in 5 distinct flavors, LARGEST, Larger, Medium, Smaller, and Smallest. After you delete this snippet of code, save the template and repost - then bring your blog up in a browser and make sure you have font size control. NOTE: A more elegant way is to replace all fixed-point dictates with em. [Example: font-size: 1em;] Start making all fonts 1em, and then go from there. You can introduce proportionately larger or smaller default sizes [Example font-size: .8em; font-size: 1.5em] Try it - you will LIKE IT.
By contrast, italics, which by definition slant to the right, are displayed in a much less favorable manner, with jagged edges on all the slanting lines. If you come from a 'traditional' [paper] publishing background, then you will be pre-conditioned to use italics whenever you quote some other source. In the bloggerworld, where we customarily and freely quote other bloggers' writings, the use of quoted or italicized text can get quite overwhelming. I, personally, use the blockquote for this purpose. The things you can do with a blockquote setup, is quite amazing. In addition to the indented text, you can specify different backgrounds, fonts, font size, etc etc which will be unique to text within the blockquote. The list goes on and on. However, there are other ways to accomplish the desired delineation between 'normal' text and 'quoted text' without using the blockquote markup command (if you want to reserve the use of the blockquote for some other purpose). For instance, you can merely set the quote apart as indented text, or with a different background color, or using a different font/font decoration effect [other than italic]. Here is an example:
While stylistically, purists used to
publishing journals in the traditional media, are apt to use style sheet
conventions harking back to such 'hard copy' days, the retention of such
publishing standards wreak havoc in a digital media where text is
displayed on computer monitors. The combination of italics, especially,
and a fixed small font, can be a real challenge to read. Combine this,
then, with a choice of font colors and background which do not offer
optimum contrast, and the piece becomes unbearable to read.
Here is another example While stylistically, purists used to
publishing journals in the traditional media, are apt to use style sheet
conventions harking back to such 'hard copy' days, the retention of such
publishing standards wreak havoc in a digital media where text is
displayed on computer monitors. The combination of italics, especially,
and a fixed small font, can be a real challenge to read. Combine this,
then, with a choice of font colors and background which do not offer
optimum contrast, and the piece becomes unbearable to read.
Lastly, compare these two 'same text' blocks. Compare the one directly below
On the surface, tiny outposts like Ramat Gilad appear to be ad hoc and unauthorized. Their population is small -- estimates of the total number of outpost residents range from 500 to 1,000. It's clear that they have some contact with the government -- who else sends the soldiers and the garbage trucks? -- but it is a relationship that for the most part is invisible. According to Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the low profile is by design. ''There is a time for everything,'' he told me and then sketched out a potential series of events for the next few months. ''Let's say there's a war in Iraq. Well, then the government can build 10,000 new housing units in Judea and Samaria'' -- the biblical names for the area that settlers prefer to use -- ''and it won't be on the front pages or all over the talk shows. So in the meantime, we can do this with the outposts. The government's hands are clean; they have no involvement. It's small potatoes, so it doesn't get covered outside of Israel.''
with this one
On the surface, tiny outposts like Ramat Gilad appear to be ad hoc and unauthorized. Their population is small -- estimates of the total number of outpost residents range from 500 to 1,000. It's clear that they have some contact with the government -- who else sends the soldiers and the garbage trucks? -- but it is a relationship that for the most part is invisible. According to Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the low profile is by design. ''There is a time for everything,'' he told me and then sketched out a potential series of events for the next few months. ''Let's say there's a war in Iraq. Well, then the government can build 10,000 new housing units in Judea and Samaria'' -- the biblical names for the area that settlers prefer to use -- ''and it won't be on the front pages or all over the talk shows. So in the meantime, we can do this with the outposts. The government's hands are clean; they have no involvement. It's small potatoes, so it doesn't get covered outside of Israel.''
What is the different with these two text blocks??
But isn't there a world of difference between these two paragraphs, in terms of their readability??
Finally, we will show you one more, subtle way to set apart
quoted text. This is merely an aesthetic consideration and lends itself best to longer
paragraphs in a block setting where the text lines are fairly wide (such as in 100%
screen width windows). Notice how the 'justify text' division tag justifies the text on the
right in the following paragraph. This gives your text more of a 'published' look, akin to the way most
professional journals published in book or magazine form are set out. Notice, also, how this paragraph also is set in justify right form.
On the surface, tiny outposts like Ramat Gilad appear to be ad hoc and unauthorized. Their population is small -- estimates of the total number of outpost residents range from 500 to 1,000. It's clear that they have some contact with the government -- who else sends the soldiers and the garbage trucks? -- but it is a relationship that for the most part is invisible. According to Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the low profile is by design. ''There is a time for everything,'' he told me and then sketched out a potential series of events for the next few months. ''Let's say there's a war in Iraq. Well, then the government can build 10,000 new housing units in Judea and Samaria'' -- the biblical names for the area that settlers prefer to use -- ''and it won't be on the front pages or all over the talk shows. So in the meantime, we can do this with the outposts. The government's hands are clean; they have no involvement. It's small potatoes, so it doesn't get covered outside of Israel.''
In summary, there are several alternate ways to displaying 'quoted text' blocks of text without use of the dreaded italic font. Obviously, quoted text needs to be set visually apart from your own, original prose. In the paper publishing world, this could be nicely done via use of italic text which, when published on paper, would display at 1200 dpi.
On a computer monitor, text is displayed at 72 dpi, and small, italic text
continues to be the bane of blog readers.  olor contrast is the last issue dealing with readability.
On the premise that two pictures are the equivalent of 2,000 words, let me show
the difference between a really cool-looking, artsy-crafty grey-on-dark grey blog text which will
generate oohs and aahs
from art directors critiquing your blog, and a simple [black on white] blog set out to provide maximum contrast, and therefore, readability.
On the surface, tiny outposts like Ramat Gilad appear to be ad hoc and unauthorized. Their population is small -- estimates of the total number of outpost residents range from 500 to 1,000. It's clear that they have some contact with the government -- who else sends the soldiers and the garbage trucks? -- but it is a relationship that for the most part is invisible. According to Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the low profile is by design. ''There is a time for everything,'' he told me and then sketched out a potential series of events for the next few months. ''Let's say there's a war in Iraq. Well, then the government can build 10,000 new housing units in Judea and Samaria'' -- the biblical names for the area that settlers prefer to use -- ''and it won't be on the front pages or all over the talk shows. So in the meantime, we can do this with the outposts. The government's hands are clean; they have no involvement. It's small potatoes, so it doesn't get covered outside of Israel.''
On the surface, tiny outposts like Ramat Gilad appear to be ad hoc and unauthorized. Their population is small -- estimates of the total number of outpost residents range from 500 to 1,000. It's clear that they have some contact with the government -- who else sends the soldiers and the garbage trucks? -- but it is a relationship that for the most part is invisible. According to Ezra Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Yesha Council, the low profile is by design. ''There is a time for everything,'' he told me and then sketched out a potential series of events for the next few months. ''Let's say there's a war in Iraq. Well, then the government can build 10,000 new housing units in Judea and Samaria'' -- the biblical names for the area that settlers prefer to use -- ''and it won't be on the front pages or all over the talk shows. So in the meantime, we can do this with the outposts. The government's hands are clean; they have no involvement. It's small potatoes, so it doesn't get covered outside of Israel.''
One final note of caution. If you are going to make these types of changes in your blogger template, be sure that you have the latest version of these browsers, Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Opera, and that you try out your new template on all three. There are differences in the way different browsers interpret HTML code, and you want to make sure your weblog looks professional and readable on all three major browsers. Let me also say - keep up the good work. Those of you who have been recommended to this page are on my daily "MUST READ" list of fellow bloggers. Posted
4:38 PM by Centerpoint I am an old geezer, with weakening eyesight, and although I use 19' and 21' monitors, some of the fixed font-size blogs are hard to read, and the combination italics with 8 point type is practically impossibe to read. One of my ambitions is to make this website a kind'a showpiece for what can be done, with the basic Blogger software, and the customizable templates Blogger permits you to use, to make a blog 'user friendly' - while still retaining some originality in terms of the 'look and feel'. For starters, take a look at the one-page tutorial which speaks to a so-called web-based manual of style, differing from traditional 'hard copy' publication manuals primarily insofar as it discourages extensive use of underlining and italiziced text. It is a worthwhile read. For some background on the use of styles, there are essentially three kinds of bloggers - oldtimers like Andy Rooney who still uses a manual typewriter - and hence is very fond of underlining text (since that is the only way you can differentiate text on a typewriter - other than ALLCAPS WHICH LOOKS TERRIBLE) The next class are those professionally trained in 'hard copy' journals or articles, where quoted text is often italicized. While their retention of the perfectly proper use of italicized text is laudable, in a browser environment the result is less than perfect, primarily as a result of monitors' layout of pixels which favor straight lines, rather than cursive or tilted characters which often take on a jagged look in cursive mode. Lastly, there are folks who shun conventional publishing wisdom or norms and find graphically pleasing ways to set off text from 'normal'. More on this in the tutorial referenced above. Posted
4:19 PM by Centerpoint Thanks for looking in. That noble intention did not last long. I have now abandoned the idea of trying to synchronize the content of the two blogs. Posted
4:09 PM by Centerpoint If you want a quick look at what's 'appening in the Blogosphere, go check them out.
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