[DW-only] Help?

[thefourthvine]

I feel pathetic posting about this, but: you guys, my DW friends page (whatever, reading page, circle page, We're Happy and We Love Each Other and We Have Big Snuggles page - I am not up on the terminology, okay?) is so ugly I can't read it. I have tried and tried. (Because when something doesn't work, try again to make sure it doesn't work has always been my motto. Yes, this works fine. No, really. NO, REALLY.)

All that black behind all that white gives me a shrieking headache. And I have clicked around some, but I cannot figure out how to make it less painful. Are there simple steps I can take? Ideally that will only take a few minutes, because that's all the time I have right now? Ideally ones that will also put the names of the people posting back under the icons, where I am used to them being? (I need a big clear label, maybe on a t-shirt or something, that says: Does not handle change well. Or indeed at all. Still pretty upset about the transition to walking.)

*whines helplessly*

Dreamwidth, you are shiny and I want to love you, but right now we just can't see each other, okay? Or, to be more specific, I can't see you and still see.

Comments

[miella]

Start by going to the Customize Journal page. The quickest thing to do is choose another layout (Zesty or Transmogrified). Other stuff is more complicated, but first see if one of those will work.

[azurelunatic]

There are some alternate layouts with simple steps to install here:
http://community.livejournal.com/noveltybox/12569.html

The names aren't under the icons, though.

[damned_colonial]

Do you find mine more readable? Mine's just Negatives with some colour changes. You can go to http://www.dreamwidth.org/customize/options.bml?group=style and pick some you like better than black and white.

[sinensis]

If you decide you want to import one of the available S2 styles from LJ, there are instructions here. I managed to do this without too much trouble, and I am basically a complete novice at dealing with styles and layers. (But I was motivated, because I love my LJ style.)

[sinensis]

you might also find a good alternative in dreamwidthlayouts.

[florahart]

Mine's just transmogrified with color changes that took maybe 3 minutes and no CSS.

Or, you can simply paste a custom layout into the CSS part of the customize journal thing. I don't care enough about layout to bother, but about half my list reports having done so with no drama...

[wistfuljane]

Easiest, easist way to do it. Go to Custom CSS and paste the following code under Use embedded CSS:

/*makes username float right*/ span.poster {float: right; padding: 5px;} body { background-color: #ffffff; color:#00000; } a { color: #3f3f3f; } a:visited, a:active { color: #f3f3f3; } a:hover { color: #cccccc; } .module-section-two { background-color: #ffffff; border-bottom: 5px double #aaaaaa; } .module-section-three { background-color: #ffffff; border-top: 5px double #aaaaaa; } #primary { border-left:5px double #aaaaaa; border-right:5px double #aaaaaa; left: 1%; width: 70%; } #secondary { left: 2%; width: 20%; background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; } #secondary a, #secondary a:visited { color:#3f3f3f; } #secondary a:hover, #secondary a:active { color:#cccccc; } #secondary .module-header { border-bottom:1px solid #aaaaaa; } #secondary .module-header a { color: #3f3f3f; } .module { background-color: #ffffff; } .entry, .entry-wrapper, .comment, .comment-wrapper { border:5px solid #ffffff; background-color: #ffffff; color: #3f3f3f; } .entry a, .comment a { color: #3f3f3f; } .entry a:hover, .comment a:hover { color: #cccccc; } .bottomcomment { border: 15px double #ffffff; background-color: #ffffff; color: #fffff; } .entry-wrapper .footer { background-color: #ffffff; } .entry-title a { color: #3f3f3f; } .entry-title a:hover { color: #cccccc; } .entry-management-links, .entry-management-links a, .entry-interaction-links, .entry-interaction-links a, .comment-interaction-links, .comment-interaction-links a { background-color: #ffffff; color: #3f3f3f; } .entry-management-links a:hover .comment-management-links a:hover, .entry-interaction-links a:hover .comment-interaction-links a:hover{ color: #cccccc; } .module-calendar { color: #000000; } .module-calendar a{ color: #3f3f3f; } .module-calendar a:hover{ color: #cccccc; }

IM me through Google Talk if you would like me to customize the style some more.

(Edited the code a bit to make it looks better and shorter.)

[cimorene]

There IS a difference between importing an lj style like the ones linked by smallbeer and using the DW native styles: part of DW's awesomeness is updating the LJ style system with all kinds of cool functionality. Using an imported style means you don't get that functionality. However, if you want to do it, grrliz has a bunch of custom Mixit themes and instructions here for installing them on Dreamwidth.

However, to keep using DW's awesome functionality, you can select Transmogrified (see it at dw_styles) or Zesty (see it at danglypartsiple) on the Customize page. Click 'apply this theme' and you're done, but you can also change the colours manually now through the Customization wizard if you then click 'Customize your theme'.

But you aren't limited to the default colors of Transmogrified and Zesty, either. There's already an amateur free style community at dreamwidthlayouts, and there are a couple of DW-native layouts with instructions for installing them there.

[bilyana]

If you consider switching to a custom layout, there's a very clear and easy-to-follow guide by grrliz on how to install certain lj layouts on dreamwidth.

And help regarding the journal names on the reading page can be found here.

[bilyana]

Oh well, just saw that your problem are not the disappearing journal names, so the second link is not gonna be helpful :).

[juliet]

FWIW, I had a similar problem with the black & white default, & Transmogrified works fine for me.

[gumbie_cat]

There are instructions for fixing the username thing here: http://dw-styles.dreamwidth.org/5062.html?mode=reply

[rydra_wong]

Everyone's already said the major things, but I'd just add that the limited choice of styles at the moment is because of the giant overhaul of the styles system they did; the plan is that there will be more.

So if you can find something that works for you at the moment, even if it's not ideal, there should be more options soon.

[chalcopyrite]

What Miella said about customize journal. I'm using Zesty's Celerity, and I get lovely black text, white background, very readable.

[ladyseishou]

I'm using Transmogrified but tweaked the colors by selecting style/colors from the dropdown menu (on the customize your journal page) and substituting the hexcode for colors I liked from the color wheel found here. The whole process puts me in mind of a paint-by-numbers kind of thing.

[roga]

Thank you for that! Worked for me :-)

[tevere]

I just did a basic colour change on the negatives style. Because, oh man, I hear you on the eye pain.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to change the size and font of the text *ponders*.

Quick Fix

[wordwitch]

1. Open a second browser or tab to http://www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm
2. Go to your Home page at http://www.dreamwidth.org/
3. Under the drop-down menu at Organize, choose Customize Style
4. Display will be open. Click on the second module, Style
5. Page will be open. Look at the first entry, Page background color, which will have all 000000s in it.
6. Switch to the other browser or tab.
7. Scroll down to the Color Code Chart, and select a less blinding color for your background.
8. Copy the six-character code beside your new color.
9. Switch back to the Customize Style browser or tab
10. Paste in the new color code beside Page background color

OPTIONAL:

11. Open Module and paste in the same or a complementary color code.

NOTE: after you paste in your color code, click into another text box, and the color beside your color code will change to match the code.

[dragonfly]

Uh, "me too" on the Just Change The Colors in Negatives Style suggestion. That's what I did. I tried the two other styles available and found that I actually liked "negatives" (the default style) best, I just wanted different colors. Then on the Customize Style page I actually had fun plugging in different color codes to get a pretty look.

There's lots of advice in the getting_started community. They even have a tag called Your Journal's Appearance, so you can only see posts about that.

[norah]

If you want to give me a temp password tonight I could give you my style, complete with tag tiers, thanks to help from Berry, Jane, and Murklins...I will do it FOR you! You can even choose a different color for the ...stuff, you know, links and header, if you don't like the blue-green I am using.

[wistfuljane]

*is nosy* I checked your layout and saw that you only wanted to makes username float right, correct? Then you only need to pasty this: span.poster {float: right; padding: 5px;}. The other code will only mess with the coloring of your layout since it's designed to work with Negatives' coloring/styling.

[lattara]

You could try dreamwidthlayouts - my current layout has been customized from the sink and tomes layout posted yesterday (if you want the specific code, just let me know; but you can customize it pretty much however you like.)

[runpunkrun]

Hey, that's really useful. Thanks. I'm using Transmogrified; is there a way to remove the padding between the icon and the username? I'd like the username closer to the bottom of the icon so that it doesn't get lost in the text.

[roga]

Awesome! Thanks again :-) Simpler than I thought it would be.

[wistfuljane]

Try this: span.poster {float: right;margin-top: -5px;margin-right: 3px;}

[out_there]

Everybody's already said the useful stuff, but I just wanted to say: WORD.

My first reaction to the reading page was to cry bitter, bitter tears and then settle for the Zesty White. (It has lime green subject lines which I hate, but it is mostly plain and very easy on the eyes.)

I figure I'll wait another month or two for the smart coding types to work out a few other layouts.

[minnaway]

Thank you! That makes me much happier.

[runpunkrun]

Ah ha! Negative margins. That's what I needed. Thanks.