Nebula Unread Indicator - too many variants and needs improved visibility in folder pane
Categories
(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)
Tracking
(Not tracked)
People
(Reporter: ieales, Unassigned)
Details
(Keywords: dupeme)
Attachments
(3 files)
TB unread folders open
| Comment hidden (abuse-reviewed) |
(In reply to Ian Eales from comment #0)
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 Edg/128.0.0.0
Steps to reproduce:
Nothing. TB updated to Nebula
Actual results:
Unread indicators are now non bold numbers in circles instead of legible bold digits. MUCH harder to read.
I have come across people in the Support Forum who mentioned the issue with legibility and some with poor eyesight cannot see this at all until they select the folder.
We evolved Black on White because it easier to read. Now all but the inbox are white on black. This entire HiRes windows 11 single pixel is nonsense on a monitor. It might be ok on a tablet or phone, but not a desktop with dual monitors.
Not sure what you mean by 'we evolved black on white'.....
This is the sort of helpful information required to understand your setup.
Do you mean you have selected the following:
- 'Menu app icon' > 'Add-ons and Themes'
- Select 'Themes' - have you selected the Thunderbird default 'Light' theme or something else ?
Expected results:
You did not write any expected result for the 'unread' count in Folder Pane.
Which version of Thunderbird provided the clearest view?
In version 115.15.0
Using 'Light' theme
In Folder Pane
'Unread' count - white font on dark grey background - very clear.
'Total' count - Black font on pale grey background - very clear.
Selected folder with focus - blue background
'Unread' count - blue font on white background - very clear.
'Total' count - Black font on pale grey background - very clear.
Using 'Dark' theme
In Folder Pane
'Unread' count - white font on grey background - very clear.
'Total' count - white font on grey background - very clear.
Selected folder with focus - blue background
'Unread' count - blue font on white background - very clear.
'Total' count - white font on dark grey background - very clear.
In version beta 131.0b3
Using 'Light' theme
In Folder Pane
'Unread' count - white font on dark grey background - very clear.
'Total' count - Black font on pale grey background - very clear.
Selected folder with focus - pale blue background
'Unread' count - blue font on white background - clear to me but this is not as good.
'Total' count - Black font on pale grey background - very clear, but pale grey background is not clear against pale blue.
Using 'Dark' theme
In Folder Pane
'Unread' count - white font on grey background - very clear.
'Total' count - white font on grey background - very clear.
Selected folder with focus - blue background
'Unread' count - paler blue font on white background - very clear.
'Total' count - white font on mid grey background - very clear.
Perhaps it would help if you upload an image showing your issue.
Please make sure to restart in TRoubleshoot Mode to ensure you do not have any addons/themes etc interfering with image.
This entire HiRes windows 11 single pixel is nonsense on a monitor. It might be ok on a tablet or phone, but not a desktop with dual monitors.
Suggest you modify your setting because every monitor is different and not everyone has the same size pixel.
Menu app icon > Font Size
click on the + sign to increase UI font size.
Helpful information is useful, please follow the etiquette rules.
You may have a valid point, hence request for information, so we can see an improvement is required.
I don't use dark theme. Just the standard interface.
Paper was originally quite dark and inks did not contrast well. Over time technology was able to make pure white paper which is easier to read.
I have better than 20:15 vision, so it's not a PBTK problem, but a failure of developers to understand.
I realize many like light on dark themes, but they are more fatiguing and more difficult to comprehend.
Comment on attachment 9425112 [details]
TB unread compact MUCH harder to read than previously.
AND the color used to contrast making them more legible.
NOW they are just more monochromatic nonsense.
Thanks for images.
The images show the data is clearly visible with good contrast. So contrast and clarity does not seem to be the issue.
You seem to be objecting to anything displaying with a dark background.
Basically you would prefer no circle - just dark font text for number displayed in column tables like it used to be back in version 102* and version prior going back decades.
You are using a Light or System theme - It would be helpful to state what you are using.
Your images shows:
The dark grey background of circle icon contrasts strongly against the pale white background of the folder name area/row.
The white font for number contrast strongly against the dark grey background.
I've swapped over to Light and notice there are several different displays for that unread count depending upon whether folder is selected or has focus or whether it has subfolders and whether it is in a collapsed state.
There seems to be 4 variants just for the circle icon and number it contains for only 'unread'.
If you include 'new' which by default is also unread there are 5 variants.
Actual Results
If that selected folder is 'Inbox', has subfolders and is collapsed state and has focus:
Variant 1: Blue font for number in a circle white background - against a pale blue row/cell background- which is poor contrast.
If that selected folder is Inbox, has subfolders and is collapsed state but no focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - good contrast.
If that selected folder is Inbox, no subfolders and has focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against a pale blue row/cell background - good contrast.
If that selected folder is Inbox, no subfolders but no focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - good contrast.
If folder is selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in collapsed state then :
Variant 3: Blue font for number in a circle with deep blue edge and white background - against a pale blue row/cell background
If folder is not selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in collapsed state then :
Variant 4: Circle has dark grey outline with white background and dark grey font for number - good contrast.
If folder is selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in expanded state then :
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against a pale blue row/cell background - good contrast.
If folder is not selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in expanded state then :
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - good contrast.
Any folder - with 'new'
Variant 5: darker blue circle background with white font
Would you be suggesting the following for Light themes:
- All circle icons have a dark edge to outline of circle/lozenge icon - dark grey for unread and deep blue for new.
- All circle/lozenge backgrounds to be white for light themes.
- Font colour used for number to be black if unread and possibly blue for new if contrast is ok
Basically keeping it more simplified - black font on white background with circle perimeter either dark grey for unread or blue for new.
There are also different variants in Dark theme.
Dark theme:
Actual Results
only unread - not new
If that selected folder is 'Inbox', has subfolders and is collapsed state and has focus:
Variant 1: Blue font for number in a circle white background - against a pale blue row/cell background- no so easy to see number
If that selected folder is Inbox, has subfolders and is collapsed state but no focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with mid grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - contrast not good
If that selected folder is Inbox, no subfolders and has focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with mid grey background - against a pale blue row/cell background - contrast could be better.
If that selected folder is Inbox, no subfolders but no focus:
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with mid grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - contrast could be better.
If folder is selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in collapsed state then :
Variant 1: Blue font for number in a circle with white background - against a pale blue row/cell background - contrast could be better.
If folder is selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in collapsed state but no focus then :
Variant 3: Circle has mid grey outline with dark grey background and mid grey font for number - poor contrast.
If folder is not selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in collapsed state then :
Variant 4: Circle has mid grey outline with very dark/black background and mid grey font for number - poor contrast.
If folder is selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in expanded state then :
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with light grey background - against a pale blue row/cell background - good contrast.
If folder is not selected, not 'Inbox', has subfolders and is in expanded state then :
Variant 2: white font for number in a circle with dark grey background - against very pale grey row/cell background - good contrast.
Any folder - with 'new'
Variant 5: darker blue circle background with white font
Possible alteration for Dark themes'
- All circle icons have a white edge to outline of circle/lozenge icon for unread and blue for new.
- All circle/lozenge backgrounds to be dark grey/black for unread
- Font colour used for number to be white if unread ( maybe blue for new if contrasts ok against dark grey)
Basically keeping it simple - white font on dark grey background with white circle/perimeter outline for unread and blue outline for new.
Do we really need 5 variants?
Does circle/lozenge font colour, background, outline need to alter if folder is an Inbox or if folder is expanded or collapsed when all are unread?
People need to be able to easily see the number and possibly know if new mail. It's not helpful if some are visible and others appear almost hidden or they change just because you expand or collapse the folder.
Can we take a look at this situation because I have had some people in Support wondering why they can only see the number if they select the folder. Not everyone has perfect eyesight. Can we improve this please.
Do we really need 5 variants?
NO.
- It's a waste of coding time
- It's confusing to the user to have all the different indicators.
- Just because you can do it, does not mean you should.
KISS - Keep It Simple ......
AND as far as legibility, digits several point sizes larger than those in the circles are MUCH, MUCH easier AND QUICKER to read.
(In reply to Ian Eales from comment #8)
AND as far as legibility, digits several point sizes larger than those in the circles are MUCH, MUCH easier AND QUICKER to read.
The Font Size is controlled by you.
Menu app icon > Font Size > click on the + sign to increase general UI font Size.
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Reporter | |
Comment 10•1 year ago
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I don't need the whole interface font size increased. It's unchanged in over a decade.
Look at the screen capture of the UI. Inbox and Drafts are much more legible than the silly white number in the grey circle. My missus has vision issues and she finds the new & retrograde changes unusable. INCREASING THE FONT SIZE DOES NOT HELP.
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Reporter | |
Comment 11•1 year ago
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The unread indicators are more difficult to read than the folder name. They did not use to be prior to Nebula.
This change is of no advantage to anyone and a waste of programming effort.
FTBF - Fix the Bugs First !!
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Comment 12•1 year ago
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This might be a duplicate of one or more existing bug reports - I haven't checked.