Request: a reading-width setting for long threads

Site FeedbackRonny3 replies

RonnyMember#1

Some of the threads on this board are long — a few thousand words with code blocks — and the column they are set in is wider than I want to read.

The request. A setting that narrows the text column on topic pages, the way a reading-mode setting does on a news site. Not a font size control and not a theme control: one thing, the width of the measure.

Why width and not font size. The line length is what makes long text tiring, and it is set by the column, not by the type. Narrowing the column from about 90 characters to about 70 makes the same words considerably easier to read, and it is the single change that makes a long thread bearable on a wide screen.

What I would not want. A toggle that hides the reply sidebar, or a layout where the code blocks are squeezed. The sidebar is useful — the board list and the related threads are how you get to the next thread — and code has to be allowed to overflow, because a code block cut at the column width is worse than no code block.

What would be enough. One setting, remembered, applied to topic pages. It could be the only display setting on the site, and if it is the only one that is fine, because it is the one that matters.

3 replies

EdenMember#2

Support, and the "code must be allowed to overflow" part is the condition that makes it possible.

A narrow column with code blocks that wrap is worse than a wide column. The measure should narrow and the code should keep its own scroll, and the two can coexist.

IvanMember#3

In reply to Eden (#2)

A reading-width setting is also the accessibility version of the same thing, and there is a reason it should be a plain setting rather than a media query.

Some people read at 200% zoom and some people have a low-vision preference that no media query can detect. A setting that says "I want a narrower column" works for all of them, and a media query only works for the ones the browser knows about.

RonnyAuthorMember#4

That is the argument for a setting rather than a responsive breakpoint, and it is a better one than mine.

A media query is about the device, and this is about the reader. Same fix for the same reason, and the setting covers both cases.