4 ms·

I wish I could read that article, but full-width sentences and tiny typeface are painful. The beautiful large typography and layout of Medium is one reason it's

by strict9 13y ago

I wish I could read that article, but full-width sentences and tiny typeface are painful. The beautiful large typography and layout of Medium is one reason it's winning, despite its sometimes laughable content.

pavlov 13y ago
In Chrome, the "Zoom In" command is in the View menu. Zoomed in by two increments (125%), the font size and margins of the article become reasonably close to the Medium gold standard. Hopefully this may help you finish reading the article.</mildsarcasm>
- strict9 13y ago
  I already browse at 125%. It takes 200% to get to a comfortable readable level, and that doesn't address full width sentences. Too much effort for a wall of text. Typography matters.
  - lmm 13y ago
    If you don't like reading text at that width, why's your browser that width? Surely you don't want to have 2/3 of your screen blank white.
    - djur 13y ago
      Many websites assume you have at least 1024x768. Trying to browse at less than that without some kind of intrusive style munger is awkward.
    - dovel 13y ago
      Or you could try designing a better site if you want people to read your content. Trust me, I'm sure we can all live without it. Line length should never be that long. Also, many sites are not just one column of text so there are many reasons I would have my browser this size.
    - mkr-hn 13y ago
      You can put a lot of stuff in the other 2/3. Stuff that readers will enjoy. I keep a top post widget on my own blog. People seem to like it, and I know I like having easy access to more stuff from a writer whose words I didn't mind reading. The aversion to criticism you've shown in this thread makes me think I won't want to see anything else from you, so maybe it's for the better in your case.
      - lmm 13y ago
        > You can put a lot of stuff in the other 2/3. Stuff that readers will enjoy. I keep a top post widget on my own blog. People seem to like it, and I know I like having easy access to more stuff from a writer whose words I didn't mind reading I found that kind of stuff offputting. It was one of the things I really noticed when thinking about why I preferred to read on Medium: there are a few social things at the end and those very subtle comment things, but for most of the time while one's reading it really is 2/3 blank white. (I sometimes use clearly to make medium wider - didn't want to complicate the post by mentioning that). > The aversion to criticism you've shown in this thread makes me think I won't want to see anything else from you, so maybe it's for the better in your case. Sorry to hear that. I was pleasantly surprised the post made the front page, pleased to see 7 comments... and then it turned out none of them were engaging with my words, they were all just complaining about the presentation (and worse, they're all the same complaints, and ones I've seen before. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this (given that I'm happy with the design and disagree with those complaints) - I doubt people would read a FAQ). Which I guess is what I get for writing a post on the subject of presentation, but it was still pretty disappointing.
        mkr-hn 13y ago
        Presentation is everything. It's not just a cliche they put in business books and MBA lectures. Screen-width text is fine if you only want it read by people with the patience to use third party tools for an unknown author.
        lmm 13y ago
        I prefer full-width; I find it more readable, and I wish more sites would use it. Given that, it would feel hypocritical to not use full-width text on my own site.
- Kluny 13y ago
  I also made the window half-size to reduce the line length... ugh.
cliveowen 13y ago
Not only it's completely unreadable, but it's way too long. I bet I could make the same point in a couple paragraphs, tops. People who show no hesitation in throwing a wall of text at other people show how much they really care about the reader's time.
- andreaja 13y ago
  Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Not everyone writes with you in mind as their ideal reader. Some people write for themselves and publish to keep themselves honest, though I don't presume to know what OP's motives and goals are in this case.
  - mkr-hn 13y ago
    It's still not a bad idea for the OP to know conventions/standards in case (s)he decides to write something for the public. The OP's HN profile does point to the blog, which tells me other people were in mind during the writing process.
    - lmm 13y ago
      If I put a note in my profile that I like full-width text (like HN) and think the font size (larger than HN) is reasonable, do you think that'll stop me getting these same comments every time I post something to HN?
      - strict9 13y ago
        Since you're posting your articles to HN, you obviously want people to read what you write. If you want more people to read your writing, then consider making it more accessible and easier on the eyes. People exist with visual disabilities and giant walls of text in layouts such as yours might as well be a magic eye puzzle. Yes, you like it and can do what you want, but you're throwing sand in the eyes of people you want to read your stuff.
        13y ago

by strict9 13y ago

pavlov 13y ago

In Chrome, the "Zoom In" command is in the View menu. Zoomed in by two increments (125%), the font size and margins of the article become reasonably close to the Medium gold standard. Hopefully this may help you finish reading the article.</mildsarcasm>

strict9 13y ago
I already browse at 125%. It takes 200% to get to a comfortable readable level, and that doesn't address full width sentences. Too much effort for a wall of text. Typography matters.
- lmm 13y ago
  If you don't like reading text at that width, why's your browser that width? Surely you don't want to have 2/3 of your screen blank white.
  - djur 13y ago
    Many websites assume you have at least 1024x768. Trying to browse at less than that without some kind of intrusive style munger is awkward.
  - dovel 13y ago
    Or you could try designing a better site if you want people to read your content. Trust me, I'm sure we can all live without it. Line length should never be that long. Also, many sites are not just one column of text so there are many reasons I would have my browser this size.
  - mkr-hn 13y ago
    You can put a lot of stuff in the other 2/3. Stuff that readers will enjoy. I keep a top post widget on my own blog. People seem to like it, and I know I like having easy access to more stuff from a writer whose words I didn't mind reading. The aversion to criticism you've shown in this thread makes me think I won't want to see anything else from you, so maybe it's for the better in your case.
    - lmm 13y ago
      > You can put a lot of stuff in the other 2/3. Stuff that readers will enjoy. I keep a top post widget on my own blog. People seem to like it, and I know I like having easy access to more stuff from a writer whose words I didn't mind reading I found that kind of stuff offputting. It was one of the things I really noticed when thinking about why I preferred to read on Medium: there are a few social things at the end and those very subtle comment things, but for most of the time while one's reading it really is 2/3 blank white. (I sometimes use clearly to make medium wider - didn't want to complicate the post by mentioning that). > The aversion to criticism you've shown in this thread makes me think I won't want to see anything else from you, so maybe it's for the better in your case. Sorry to hear that. I was pleasantly surprised the post made the front page, pleased to see 7 comments... and then it turned out none of them were engaging with my words, they were all just complaining about the presentation (and worse, they're all the same complaints, and ones I've seen before. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this (given that I'm happy with the design and disagree with those complaints) - I doubt people would read a FAQ). Which I guess is what I get for writing a post on the subject of presentation, but it was still pretty disappointing.
      - mkr-hn 13y ago
        Presentation is everything. It's not just a cliche they put in business books and MBA lectures. Screen-width text is fine if you only want it read by people with the patience to use third party tools for an unknown author.
        lmm 13y ago
        I prefer full-width; I find it more readable, and I wish more sites would use it. Given that, it would feel hypocritical to not use full-width text on my own site.
Kluny 13y ago
I also made the window half-size to reduce the line length... ugh.

cliveowen 13y ago

Not only it's completely unreadable, but it's way too long. I bet I could make the same point in a couple paragraphs, tops. People who show no hesitation in throwing a wall of text at other people show how much they really care about the reader's time.

andreaja 13y ago
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Not everyone writes with you in mind as their ideal reader. Some people write for themselves and publish to keep themselves honest, though I don't presume to know what OP's motives and goals are in this case.
- mkr-hn 13y ago
  It's still not a bad idea for the OP to know conventions/standards in case (s)he decides to write something for the public. The OP's HN profile does point to the blog, which tells me other people were in mind during the writing process.
  - lmm 13y ago
    If I put a note in my profile that I like full-width text (like HN) and think the font size (larger than HN) is reasonable, do you think that'll stop me getting these same comments every time I post something to HN?
    - strict9 13y ago
      Since you're posting your articles to HN, you obviously want people to read what you write. If you want more people to read your writing, then consider making it more accessible and easier on the eyes. People exist with visual disabilities and giant walls of text in layouts such as yours might as well be a magic eye puzzle. Yes, you like it and can do what you want, but you're throwing sand in the eyes of people you want to read your stuff.
      - 13y ago