I don't get it.

[eliyes]

This will never cease to confuse me: why would someone post something for others to read, somewhere that invites feedback and, hey, isn't even friends-locked -- with a medium-ish lavender-grey background with slightly darker lavender-grey text? This makes it unreadable! This defeats the purpose! Why post it at all?

And, I mean, this isn't a case of the eye-blinding colours -- they're neutral, even pretty -- I'm just squinting so hard I can't see the words. My crow's feet are getting crow's feet. Thank God for whatever genius made it so that most journals can be relatively easily switched to the style I use on my own as long as I'm logged in.

If this sounds like you, well, smarten up -- but I assure you that nobody who has ever given me the slightest indication that they read my journal is the inspiration for this post. No, I got to this particular post in a fairly convoluted way, involving two and a half days of sliding around the net, from a few comms I'm on to their friends-lists, to posts on said list, to links in the comments of said posts, to memory pages of the commentators, to links from the memories pages to fic-rec posts, etc. etc.

Possibly the binge-reading is in part affecting my squinting, especially as I've also been doing it with books when not at the computer, but dammit, it was difficult to read. :<

.

Comments

[kiffie.livejournal.com]

If I ever come across something like that, I just 'select all' and read it that way. White on blue is distinctly easier than PURPLE ON PURPLE OH GOD WHY. DDD:

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

You can do this think where you just add ?style=mine to the end of most URLs in LJ and it will switch to the way your journal looks.

This doesn't always work, because some people with almost-black-blue backgrounds with white squiggles and fluorescent French Green text are fucking bastards who have coded their journal to not let you do that. *seethe* At which point I should try the "select all" thing but I'm usually to mad to actually read it. (FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESE, WHY?! Fluorescent French Green! DDD:)

I used to just copy and paste entire damned epic fics into a document reader prog, but not so much these days. Probably because I don't intend to print it all, I could kill a forest with my SGA fic bookmarks alone, seriously. It's past 30 page downs now.

[anibunny.livejournal.com]

This is why ?style=mine is my friend.

Of course, sometimes that drops off after navigating from communities and fake cuts and links. XP So yeah, I know exactly what you mean. People getting "creative" and overlooking the simple fact that, um, it needs to be readable. Ha ha ha. Another annoyance of mine are really ellaborate backgrounds with text over them.

My hate of all hate is towards people who use Fire Engine Red and Hyperlink Blue. Whether it is red text on blue or vice versa. Those colors are incredibly hard for the eye to tell apart and so can often strain them. Blah.

Your lavender on light lavender doesn't sound fun either. Any color with the same color only a few shades lighter or darker can't be good. With the way computer monitors can vary from one another, some people in certain lighting conditions and monitor configs might not be able to read it at all.

[justlikemagic.livejournal.com]

You're preaching to the choir. I know so many people on LJ with journal slike that and I cannot read a freaking thing. Drives me nutso. If you want funky colors, do it outside the text area please. Thus why my journal has a white bg with black text.

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

?style=mine was my single greatest livejournal discovery, I'm pretty sure.

Really elaborate backgrounds with text over them, yes. I know some people who have elaborate pictures, but the actual text has it's own solid-colour background. The bg moves with the text when you scroll, and if I'm tired it's actually rather freaky. XD

Oh, ugh. I used to sit behind this guy in English class in grade 9 (actually a really cool guy and a buddy of mine) who wore these patterned sweaters. He was tall and broad-shouldered and the front of my desk was right up against the back of his chair, so I really couldn't miss the sweaters, and some of the patterns... *shakes head* The b&w ones sometimes seemed to move, but not nearly as eye-wateringly as the blue&red.

Yeah, sometimes I figure it's a monitor thing, and I know there are websites that look fine on my PC but not my laptop, or vice versa. Still.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I suppose they might have had some background image that it would have shown up against that has since gotten fried. Or they are just an idiot with no idea that if you want someone to read your stuff, you make it so that they can SEE it.

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

Outside the text area is fine. I for one am incredibly persnickety about my journal layouts. I'm not skilled enough to do custom things, but I've picked up a little of how to alter colours in some of the pre-made ones, because sometimes they're perfect except for, like, the glaringly clashing colour of clicked links or something. (I'm also picky about how my tags go, and how the title and subtitle look, and the text area has to be much wider than the links, and I have to see the individual post icons on the main journal page, and the text area has to be on the right for some unknown reason, but still left-justified, et cetera ;3 )

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

The way the page is set up, I highly doubt it (there's a white background behind the lavender text bg, which is logically where such an image would go). I have been to webpages that had an image go wonky in the way you describe. Hell, I had one, once. (Back in the hoary mists of time and my phase of building character shrines to Ranma½ characters. *coughs delicately*) I finally got the image behind the text to work, but I never did get the thing to stop making the spacer bars out of my header image...

[random-redshirt.livejournal.com]

Ouch! Contrast: it is a good thing. At least, when one wants to read something.

[ladymoondancer.livejournal.com]

Okay, my theory is

they're a supervillain

trying to BLIND you.

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

;~; I believe you, is the thing.

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

Yes. I mean, too garish a contrast can be very bad -- lime green on cherry red, anyone? -- but, just, I want to see. *massive pout*

[justlikemagic.livejournal.com]

*g* My links have to be on the right for me, cannot explain why but they must ;)

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

I am strangely okay with this on other people's pages, so long as there is at least a border between the left edge of the screen and the text. Which you have. :3

I think I'm gonna have to blame too many fics in .txt formats where there wasn't a border over there for my preference in this case. Especially Strike Fiss, because I read a lot of his stuff, and he had a habit of rewriting series from the ground up.

[justlikemagic.livejournal.com]

Then you'd hate my website, it has no border between menu and text area, and the text is on the left ^_^

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

Eeee! D;

[justlikemagic.livejournal.com]

Now I know how to drive you mad. *evil cackle*

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

Oh, is that what you're after? I took that ride a few times already. ;3

[justlikemagic.livejournal.com]

I can't help it, I'm a button pusher.