[imc-oxford-features] proposed style changes to OxIMC

[owen at riseup.net]

I noticed recently that our oxford CSS file is editable as an include file
from within the admin interface, meaning that we can very easily modify the
look (though not the content) of the oxford site.

There are a few things that have been bugging me for ages, so I'd like to
propose some small style changes. Not a radical overhaul (much as that may
be needed), just a few tweaks. If anyone else has ideas for improvements,
please suggest them too!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Padding on article body. There doesn't appear to be any, and it looks
crap. See for instance:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2008/01/389139.html
and note the way that the text starts right at the left edge of the white
box.
PROPOSAL: 20px padding to the left and right of article body text

2. Publish button. Wouldn't hurt to make it bigger.
PROPOSAL: Increase size of 'PUBLISH YOUR NEWS' text and increase padding
around it too so that pink box is bigger.

3. Link underlining. Currently it is hard to distinguish links within the
body of a feature. They are green on white, which is not massively easy
to distinguish from black on white. There is no underlining, until you
hover over them.
PROPOSAL 1: Underline links within features, with the underlining
disappearing when you hover over to provide a bit of interactive feedback.
Problem with this is it would be inconsistent with the rest of the site;
in the left and right columns there are lots of links.
PROPOSAL 2: Underline all links in the Oxford site, with underline
disappearing on hover. Increase line-height in left column, calendar and
newswire so the added underlines don't make things look too crowded.
This is more of change to the overall look of the site, but probably
justified.

I can't decide which of these I prefer. They both have pros and cons.
Underlining links in features without doing so elsewhere is inconsistent,
but underlining links elsewhere in the site looks a bit ugly, I think,
even after allowing extra line height. Opinions?

4. Oxford Actions 2003/2004/2005 in leftcolumn. I believe we were planning
to get rid of these as part of the proposed overhaul that never got
implemented (ages ago). PROPOSAL: Hide them using CSS.
(OK, I know I said we couldn't use CSS to change the structure/content of
the site but hiding things is the exception).
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That's it for now. If you have a decent web browser like firefox or opera
you can see a sneak preview of the proposed changes by:

1. Going to this page:
https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/webdevel.html
and dragging the 'test styles' box onto your bookmarks toolbar.

2. Going to oxford.indymedia.org.uk

3. Click the 'test styles' bookmark on your toolbar and paste the
following CSS code into the little window that opens, ie whichever
proposal you want to preview:
-------------------------------------------
/* proposal one - article padding */
.articlecontent {padding: 0 20px}
-------------------------------------------
/* proposal two - publish button */
div.publish {padding: 10px 20px}
div.publish a {font-size: 1.5em}
-------------------------------------------
/* proposal three v1 - feature links underlined */
.features .abstract a {text-decoration: underline}
.features .abstract a:hover {text-decoration: none}
-------------------------------------------
/* proposal three v2 - all links underlined and extra line-height */
a {text-decoration: underline !important}
a:hover {text-decoration: none !important}
div.events, div.leftcolumn, div.newswire {line-height: 1.5em}
-------------------------------------------
/* proposal four - hide actions in leftcolumn */
.leftcolumn .actions {display: none}
-------------------------------------------
(just use the bit between the lines, not the lines themselves).

4. Leaving the little window open in the background, have a look at the
main browser window and see what you think.


I'd like to hear what people think about these changes, as well as any
other ideas for style changes, and opinions about what the process should
be. Should I wait, say, a week for email responses, then go ahead if there
are no blocks? Do we need a meeting?

Owen the crazy cabbage flinger