Rockbox Technical Forums

Rockbox Development => Feature Ideas => Topic started by: Neil Parks on October 30, 2014, 02:15:39 PM

Title: reasonable font
Post by: Neil Parks on October 30, 2014, 02:15:39 PM
I have installed Rockbox on an Ipod Nano (1st gen) and a Sansa Clip+.

In both cases the default font is so subminuscule that the first thing I had to do was--with great difficulty--try to find the font settings so I could select one that is of human-readable size (somewhere in the 14 or 15 series).

I suggest that in the future you should default to a reasonable font size, and then let people with perfect 20/20 eyes select something smaller if that is what they would like.

Thanks.

Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: saratoga on October 30, 2014, 07:05:15 PM
In both cases the default font is so subminuscule that the first thing I had to do was--with great difficulty--try to find the font settings so I could select one that is of human-readable size (somewhere in the 14 or 15 series).

Usually its better to just install a theme with a larger font.

I suggest that in the future you should default to a reasonable font size, and then let people with perfect 20/20 eyes select something smaller if that is what they would like.

You can submit changes to the default theme for other people to evaluate, but overall people seem fairly ok with the stock settings so they would have to be quite compelling I think. 
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: Neil Parks on October 30, 2014, 09:51:02 PM
I don't care at all about themes.  I just need text that can be read without a microscope.
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: saratoga on October 30, 2014, 10:00:37 PM
I don't care at all about themes.  I just need text that can be read without a microscope.

If you want a larger font, the easiest way to do that is to pick a theme with a larger font. 
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: Neil Parks on October 30, 2014, 11:11:25 PM
Phooey.  I thought that "themes" were an optional extra, not a necessity.   The manual does not make that necessity clear at all.

Quote
Themes. The appearance of Rockbox can be customised by themes. Depending on your
taste you might want to install additional themes to change the look of Rockbox.

OK, I'll go back into RB Utility and have a look.

Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: saratoga on October 31, 2014, 12:04:01 AM
Phooey.  I thought that "themes" were an optional extra, not a necessity.   

They are optional.  As you noted above, you can change the fonts other ways, or not change them at all.
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: [Saint] on October 31, 2014, 09:58:36 PM
There's no need to use another theme for this at all, at least, not if you don't want a font that is drastically larger than the current.

Simply install our font pack, if you haven't already done so, and then on the device navigate to:

Settings - Theme Settings - Font - <the_font_you_want_to_use.fnt>

Press select on your desired font, and your work here is done.

Please note: this will only work for theme that do not "hard code" the theme WPS/SBS font(s) (cabbiev2, the default, does not), and that the default theme (cabbiev2) can handle larger fonts to an extent but it is largely built to use a specific font size and elements of text may start to get pushed out of their boundaries if you select a too large font.


[Saint]
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: Neil Parks on November 01, 2014, 08:39:14 PM
Quote
There's no need to use another theme for this at all, at least, not if you don't want a font that is drastically larger than the current.
We're going in circles here.  I specifically DID need something drastically larger.
Quote
Simply install our font pack, if you haven't already done so,
I did install the font pack. 
Quote
and then on the device navigate to:
AHA!  That is the problem!  Navigating the device with the submicroscopic default font is exactly where the difficulty is.  The default font and/or theme that initially starts up when nothing different is selected needs to be more human-readable than the current default.
Title: Re: reasonable font
Post by: [Saint] on November 01, 2014, 09:00:12 PM
My eye sight is _shocking_, I mean...bad. Terrible.

And the Nano1G cabbiev2 default font is still plenty large enough to enable me to at least change the default font. Even if it wasn't, we have a voiced UI, that is enabled by default (it has to be, to accommodate those with no eyesight whatsoever).

We need to strike a balance between usability, and functionality, judging by the lack of complaints, I believe we have done this. We can't realistically fill up the screen with a 30px font and push all the other menu items off screen.

We can't create a situation that caters for everyone. But we can create a situation that works for most people, and give the others they tools the require to make the changes that suit them.

You know what to do, and how, the rest is in your hands.


[Saint]