266142 - Bug listing display non-optimal for viewing

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Bugzilla :: User Interface, defect)

Description

[Steve Wardell]

Bug 252810 made a change to /template/en/default/list/table.html.tmpl to
alternate stype sheet tags (which by default alternates colors between white and
dark grey) for each row when viewing a list of bugs. This is not optimal and
seems to cause issues for some users as they tend to focus on one line vs the
other. I'd suggest either to lighten up the color or use a soft grey line break
between rows for separation as opposed to differentation with alternating
background colors as a user's eye tends to be drawn to one color over the other.

Since the alternating is already in place, perhaps the easiest thing would be to
change the default style sheet /css/buglist.css to use a softer color.

Comment 1

[Steve Wardell]

Attachment: Patch to soften colors

Comment 2

[Christian Reis]

Patch is fine by me, but Myk was the one that asked it be a "standard" colour
(though I question the existence of validity any such "standard"). It doesn't
bother me, but I agree a lighter tone would be nice if it's indeed bothering people.

Comment 3

[Steve Wardell]

One of the users who I showed the updated version to listed this as "MUCH better
for me." after it was changed with this patch.

I think the standard colors are the older thinking to stay within the 216 Web
Safe Colors when running at 256 colors, thou I do not see the currently used
color in the list of those 216 colors and color levels above 256 colors are now
standard. (Information from http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colors.asp ) With
that information in mind, I think we should be safe lightening up the color.

Comment 4

[Christian Reis]

Comment on attachment 163438 [details] [diff] [review]
Patch to soften colors

I know it's a regular diff, but it's a one-liner.

For future reference, all patches attached for review should be unified diffs,
with a preference for "patch -uNp".

Comment 5

[Myk Melez [:myk] [@mykmelez]]

(In reply to comment #2)
> Patch is fine by me, but Myk was the one that asked it be a "standard" colour

Au contraire, I merely noted the existence of standards (bug 252810, comment 23)
and suggested that it made sense to follow them (bug 252810, comment 30).  Of
the two known standard colors, the darker one (#e6e6e6) is virtually identical
to the color you originally selected (#e9e9e9).  The lighter one is identical in
brightness (total amount of light in the color) to the color suggested by this
bug, but with a bluish hue.

I think the lighter color suggested by this bug is reasonable, although it isn't
an unambiguous win.  It matches a standard in brightness, matches our current
choice in hue, and may be less obtrusive for users (like me) who prefer no
striping at all.

On the other hand, it violates a principle governing the use of contrast in
graphic design (when contrasting elements, make them significantly, not
slightly, different), is more difficult to discern for users who prefer
striping, and may be a more bothersome (because more subtle) distraction for
users who don't.

Let's give it a shot.

Comment 6

[Vlad Dascalu]

Checking in css/buglist.css;
/cvsroot/mozilla/webtools/bugzilla/css/Attic/buglist.css,v  <--  buglist.css
new revision: 1.2.4.3; previous revision: 1.2.4.2
done

Checking in skins/standard/buglist.css;
/cvsroot/mozilla/webtools/bugzilla/skins/standard/buglist.css,v  <--  buglist.css
new revision: 1.5; previous revision: 1.4
done