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Installing the Dark Minds themes

Phoebe AurumJul 29, 2018, 1:04:32 AM
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I have got picked up on the opinion that the color choices for the site is not ideal. I mean a bright color scheme is the most logical choice for this website! If anything, there should be more bright colors!

Jokes aside, I prefer the default look of the site but that does not mean that I plan to ignore the complaints. Users are complaining about eyestrain and all they really want is a dark theme.

That is a reasonable complaint, that is a reasonable problem, but it is not like a high priority problem so it is not something the staff will rank as a thing to fix in the foreseeable future.

That is where I come in! I will help you get a dark theme installed that will function on this website and you will not have to use Firefox or Chrome to use these extensions (although you will have to visit the chrome store in some cases!)


Extensions


In order to change a browser experience you will need to download and install an Add-on or an Extension. Browsers often do not share the same extension store and may not include the extension or add-on you are looking for. Additionally, if you are using a specific browser that uses a modified legacy build of a existing browser you might find that you can reach that browser's store but you will not have the option to download certain extensions for the browser you are using because it is more suited for the original in its current version.

With that done, let us list all the add-ons you will be using. You will not need all them (or have access to all of them) at any given time but for reference these are the add-ons we will be using.

Font Changer

Install Chrome Extensions

Stylus

Add-on Everywhere

Tampermonkey

Stylish

The Dark Theme

We have actually have had a dark theme for a while now. User @Luculent made an article a couple of years ago pointing out that we had a dark theme and that all you needed was Stylish to activate the option and the themes still do exist. In fact, you can choose from 5 different themes. Two of them are on TamperMonkey and the other Three are on the Stylish Website found here.


One thing to note is that these themes will be suboptimal for the current version of the site. These themes were designed for an older version of the site, and as a result, some fine details with the layout will clash with the themes we have available.

With that, said lets try to install a theme.


Chromium based


For this example, I will be using Comodo Dragon! This browser naturally uses the Chrome extension store so you will not have to install "Install Chrome Extensions" to gain access to those extensions!

You will want to install Stylus, Add-on Everywhere, and Tampermonkey. Install all of them before trying out any of the themes. As an optional choice, I would also install Font Changer.

Now that you have installed those three extensions, you can change your theme! How do you do that? The first step is open up a Minds.com related tab and click on the add-on everywhere icon (not the one that floats around on the page). It should show you the Stylish Styles and User Scripts for the website (do not ask me what Minds Shekels does as I have not used it). Install all three (or the one you think you'll like the most) and once you do that click on the Tamper Monkey icon (may need restarting the page) and the options to turn the themes off or on will become available. Select a theme and restart the page. The theme should now be active!

You may notice how some of the text sort of blends into the background. I am looking for a good fix and now Font Changer fits that role, you can use Font Changer. Install Font Changer and change the Font Weight to "Bolder". You should see the Font a little better.

In order to use the global theme dark, use the link I provided earlier! If you have Stylus installed the button to install the theme should work (since before nothing happened when you clicked on the button). If the installation was successful, The Stylus extension should list the theme (by the way, there are two other Minds.com specific themes listed on that website!)


Chromium-ish based browsers


Browsers like Opera pretend that they are their own dedicated browser but they are Chrome based browsers and as such, they can actually install the Chrome store extensions! Install Chrome Extensions" and then install Stylus. After that go to the Stylish website and install the global theme (or the other Minds.com related themes that interest you!).


See Chromium based for installing the other themes. You can use this link if you were having troubling reaching the Chrome Extension store.


Other?


If you are using a genuinely unique browser that has extensions, you should see if you could at least find Stylish. Otherwise, there is not an option for you to change themes.


Bonus!


Once you wrap your head around using one theme, you should combine them! The themes actually work better when you combine them. At the very least, you get interesting results like the Minds Logo being transparent and a Dark Theme where the text is much easier to read!

Here are twelve examples of various combinations on one page but to get a real good idea of how they work you should try some combos and navigate the page with them on!


If you like any of them, let me know! I cannot do anything with the information but I would like to know anyways....