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I'm going to admit I wasn't even aware of the current design, probably because other apps function well for my phone, and I've been using the basic HTML alterna

by RenRav 7y ago

I'm going to admit I wasn't even aware of the current design, probably because other apps function well for my phone, and I've been using the basic HTML alternative on my desktop for many years. Neither of those examples actually look useful, the fix is definitely more easy on the eyes though. The empty space between the rows of email messages seems unnecessarily big. I get this was done for design's sake, and yes it looks 'pretty' and 'light' in the flat minimalistic way, and otherwise you'd have this dense chunk of the screen. I still think having twice (or comparing to mine, even three times more) the emails displayed on a per row basis makes scanning for things easier at a glance. That fix actually resembles something I do to websites, ad-blocking away all the unnecessary elements, siderails, wrappers, navbars, footers, etc. It's very cathartic spending a few seconds resculpting a website to reveal only the relevant content. And the end result always convinces me that less is more when it comes to web design, that regular text and simple formatting should be prioritized higher.

philsnow 7y ago
I also use the basic HTML view on desktop because 1) I don't want to leave the tab open with the modern UI since it inevitably uses up over a GB of ram by itself and 2) I don't want to close and reopen the tab with the modern UI since it takes O(10)s of seconds to be responsive. I remember getting access to gmail when it was in the invite-only phase and thinking that it was absolute magic, that this was the future, and that I'd never use anything else. It only took a huge pile of JS to undo that. I use basic HTML now for gmail and I've switched a lot of what I do to fastmail.
- crazydiamond 7y ago
  Any way to get the dark/terminal theme on Basic HTML? I am not getting any theme option in Settings. I used to have the Terminal theme for years before the new GMail. Standard Gmail does allow for a dark background, would like that in Basic HTML.
  - scns 7y ago
    There is a Firefox plugin called "Dark Background Light text"
  - theclaw 7y ago
    You might be interested in the Dark Reader extension: https://darkreader.org/ https://darkreader.org/ It’s able to make pretty much any website dark themed.
  - kekebo 7y ago
    Not a Gmail user myself, in case there's really no setting for it there are some userstyles (to be used with the 'stylish' browser extension) that seem to put gmail into dark mode: https://userstyles.org/styles/browse?search_terms=dark+gmail https://userstyles.org/styles/browse?search_terms=dark+gmail
yegle 7y ago
What's the easiest way to get access to the basic HTML view? I used to be able to switch to basic HTML following the link in the footer, but it's gone now.
- waterhouse 7y ago
  https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/ https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/
timpark 7y ago
The amount of space that messages take up can be configured in Settings > Display density. The screenshots look like they're using "Comfortable". I use "Compact".
sakisv 7y ago
Is it possible to use keyboard shortcuts with the basic view? Or, does anyone know of any addons/extensions to bring them in?
- sagebird 7y ago
  I think it is almost a non feature that gmail provide a choice of white space. As though a manager was too magnanimous in deciding so told his underlings— surprise! You’re all right! Let’s give the users a choice! Meanwhile the average user clicks whatever word they think is best and never looks at it again. Nothing solved. I really wish they just let the nerd who started gmail be a dictator for life. Don’t fuck with success.
everyone 7y ago
@RenRav Whats your workflow for 'ad-blocking away all the unnecessary elements'? Sounds like a lot of work to me, but I do not work with the web.
- chronogram 7y ago
  I’m not that user, but you can set a key bind to the uBlock element picker so you can quickly select and create rules all graphically. It’s like a scissor through a newspaper, not a lot of work at all!
- RenRav 7y ago
  It's mostly something I do after discovering a useful site I'll likely be revisiting in the future, sites with appreciable content but are otherwise marred with poor visuals. When you've been doing it for years revisiting the same sites, I think it pays for itself in terms of delivering more presentable information. Addons for Firefox include Aardvark, (generic) Element Hiding Helpers, Lizard, Nuke Anything. You press whatever shortcut is assigned and highlight the element your cursor is over (or highlighted text/section), an interface pops up, you specify the domain filter (twitter.com), and filter by attribute (import-prompt), OK, and the rule "twitter.com##.import-prompt" now forever hides twitter's annoying import flex module. The addons for Firefox I've seen are mostly GUI-based. An exception is Nuke Anything, which I believe can be done through keyboard and context menu options.
tomxor 7y ago
> The empty space between the rows of email messages seems unnecessarily big. I get this was done for design's sake Careful when complaining about spacing - when it comes to text, spacing is a functional decision, yes it will make it look pretty when done "right" but this is often also because it is more legible - function and aesthetic are the same when it comes to typography. Similarly others have complained about the spacing left and right (i.e it being excessively padded to be centered), but this is also for legibility - the very same reason newspapers have columns and not full width text.
- wtallis 7y ago
  It's not for legibility. GMail has plenty of padding to be readable even when set to "compact" density. If there's any functional justification at all, it's about being touchscreen friendly, even if you don't have a touchscreen.
- userbinator 7y ago
  the very same reason newspapers have columns and not full width text. Newspapers also do not have 6-inch margins on either side. Another irritation of mine is fixed-width sites. If I'm making my browser window wider, chances are I'm trying to widen the text, not expect it to stay in a narrow column in the middle with useless space on either side. If I wanted it narrow, I would've narrowed the window.
  - sunshinelackof 7y ago
    Typography often takes into consideration the width of the text explicitly and how it influences the style and tone of the document. While I don't imagine that everyone is doing this, it is a thing. The nearest analog I think of is maintaining the aspect ratio of an image. You might still understand the piece of media if it's not in its original format, but that was not the intent.
userbinator 7y ago
And the end result always convinces me that less is more when it comes to web design Careful with that phrase, as apparently a large number of designers think it means less content too!

by RenRav 7y ago

philsnow 7y ago

I also use the basic HTML view on desktop because 1) I don't want to leave the tab open with the modern UI since it inevitably uses up over a GB of ram by itself and 2) I don't want to close and reopen the tab with the modern UI since it takes O(10)s of seconds to be responsive. I remember getting access to gmail when it was in the invite-only phase and thinking that it was absolute magic, that this was the future, and that I'd never use anything else. It only took a huge pile of JS to undo that. I use basic HTML now for gmail and I've switched a lot of what I do to fastmail.

crazydiamond 7y ago
Any way to get the dark/terminal theme on Basic HTML? I am not getting any theme option in Settings. I used to have the Terminal theme for years before the new GMail. Standard Gmail does allow for a dark background, would like that in Basic HTML.
- scns 7y ago
  There is a Firefox plugin called "Dark Background Light text"
- theclaw 7y ago
  You might be interested in the Dark Reader extension: https://darkreader.org/ https://darkreader.org/ It’s able to make pretty much any website dark themed.
- kekebo 7y ago
  Not a Gmail user myself, in case there's really no setting for it there are some userstyles (to be used with the 'stylish' browser extension) that seem to put gmail into dark mode: https://userstyles.org/styles/browse?search_terms=dark+gmail https://userstyles.org/styles/browse?search_terms=dark+gmail

yegle 7y ago

What's the easiest way to get access to the basic HTML view? I used to be able to switch to basic HTML following the link in the footer, but it's gone now.

waterhouse 7y ago
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/ https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/

timpark 7y ago

The amount of space that messages take up can be configured in Settings > Display density. The screenshots look like they're using "Comfortable". I use "Compact".

sakisv 7y ago

Is it possible to use keyboard shortcuts with the basic view? Or, does anyone know of any addons/extensions to bring them in?

sagebird 7y ago
I think it is almost a non feature that gmail provide a choice of white space. As though a manager was too magnanimous in deciding so told his underlings— surprise! You’re all right! Let’s give the users a choice! Meanwhile the average user clicks whatever word they think is best and never looks at it again. Nothing solved. I really wish they just let the nerd who started gmail be a dictator for life. Don’t fuck with success.

everyone 7y ago

@RenRav Whats your workflow for 'ad-blocking away all the unnecessary elements'? Sounds like a lot of work to me, but I do not work with the web.

chronogram 7y ago
I’m not that user, but you can set a key bind to the uBlock element picker so you can quickly select and create rules all graphically. It’s like a scissor through a newspaper, not a lot of work at all!
RenRav 7y ago
It's mostly something I do after discovering a useful site I'll likely be revisiting in the future, sites with appreciable content but are otherwise marred with poor visuals. When you've been doing it for years revisiting the same sites, I think it pays for itself in terms of delivering more presentable information. Addons for Firefox include Aardvark, (generic) Element Hiding Helpers, Lizard, Nuke Anything. You press whatever shortcut is assigned and highlight the element your cursor is over (or highlighted text/section), an interface pops up, you specify the domain filter (twitter.com), and filter by attribute (import-prompt), OK, and the rule "twitter.com##.import-prompt" now forever hides twitter's annoying import flex module. The addons for Firefox I've seen are mostly GUI-based. An exception is Nuke Anything, which I believe can be done through keyboard and context menu options.

tomxor 7y ago

> The empty space between the rows of email messages seems unnecessarily big. I get this was done for design's sake Careful when complaining about spacing - when it comes to text, spacing is a functional decision, yes it will make it look pretty when done "right" but this is often also because it is more legible - function and aesthetic are the same when it comes to typography. Similarly others have complained about the spacing left and right (i.e it being excessively padded to be centered), but this is also for legibility - the very same reason newspapers have columns and not full width text.

wtallis 7y ago
It's not for legibility. GMail has plenty of padding to be readable even when set to "compact" density. If there's any functional justification at all, it's about being touchscreen friendly, even if you don't have a touchscreen.
userbinator 7y ago
the very same reason newspapers have columns and not full width text. Newspapers also do not have 6-inch margins on either side. Another irritation of mine is fixed-width sites. If I'm making my browser window wider, chances are I'm trying to widen the text, not expect it to stay in a narrow column in the middle with useless space on either side. If I wanted it narrow, I would've narrowed the window.
- sunshinelackof 7y ago
  Typography often takes into consideration the width of the text explicitly and how it influences the style and tone of the document. While I don't imagine that everyone is doing this, it is a thing. The nearest analog I think of is maintaining the aspect ratio of an image. You might still understand the piece of media if it's not in its original format, but that was not the intent.

userbinator 7y ago

And the end result always convinces me that less is more when it comes to web design Careful with that phrase, as apparently a large number of designers think it means less content too!