PF Style 2026

[Greg Bernhardt]

If that all makes sense. Again, just one mans opinion.

It does and we will likely moderate in the near future. For now, we're not standing on our own very well. Chat search has greatly harmed participation, so we must make it very clear what our differentiation is and value prop.

 

[symbolipoint]

#151, QuarkyMeson
The post still seems unfocused but in trying to interpret, I feel like you and I and hopefully others want the forum structure to be more easily found, and want actual members participating. Such as I try to interpret make sense.

 

[Dale]

I wanted to get a few days experience before forming an opinion. I use primarily the dark mode on a mobile device, and I really like the new UI. I like the organization of the front page and feel like it encourages my activity in forums that I typically don’t visit.

 

[symbolipoint]

The main page when logged-in has two main columns, not rows. Not able to remember exactly which section of the forums are where, and not remember the names of each of those sections, needing to scroll up and down several times to see what is where. Also all that partly duplicated stuff at the top before the main sections of the forum. So much scrolling up and down. What was in the past, the forum had one main set of sections (all in one main column) and to reach each of them, we only needed to scroll downward, mostly.

edit: for slightly more clarity, when the forum sections begin, we find the heading called Browse by Field. We must scroll down to see it. Then in that area or region we find two column, instead of one column, so to reach the subsection or sections, we may often need to scroll up and down a few times.

 

[symbolipoint]

I believe this one was said before, but in light mode, trying to highlight a section of text gives a background highlight coloration which looks too much like the non-highlighted background. So light it is that I do not know if text is or is not being highlighted. That is one of the first things needing to be adjusted for. I was attempting to highlight a comma so I could then turn it (and actually 'them') into bold; but I saw no indication of highlight taken place - because I could not see it.

 

[LightningInAJar]

PF style 2026 has been released. It's a warmer, more modern and academic theme. Please thread in your feedback and suggestions. I'll be making numerous tweaks over the coming weeks. We have a dark style to try out. If you select system in the mode selector it will sync with your system settings for dark/light. If you prefer the old style, you are welcome to continue using it till the end of the year by using the style selector at the bottom left of the footer. I've been enjoying using the new style over the past week. I hope you do too!

View attachment 372988

View attachment 372989

This is a good view currently.

 

[symbolipoint]

I will use that link bottom left (footer) where you say, and set myself to see the older style. Hopes be able to switch back to the new style too.

edit: I'm not sure that the style changed.
edit: Nope. Did not change. Not seemed to let me choose.

 

[symbolipoint]

I will use that link bottom left (footer) where you say, and set myself to see the older style. Hopes be able to switch back to the new style too.

edit: I'm not sure that the style changed.
edit: Nope. Did not change. Not seemed to let me choose.

I figured this out. The link gives two choices in the bottom displayed row. Top row only says 'default...'. The bottom row shows TWO choices: Physics Forums; and Physics Forums 2026. Upon choosing "Physics Forums", the style gives me the previous appearance and arrangement.

 

[symbolipoint]

I am still in the 2025 & earlier Style. I complained briefly a few posts ago about inability to clearly see highlighting when in "light" style of the PF 2026 style. What I find using the earlier style/2025, is that when I highlight some text, the text becomes white and the background of the highlighting becomes a medium blue. That arrangement makes the highlighting easy to see.

 

[atp_ent]

I'm not a fan, because it looks vibe coded and the slogans that market the human side of the site look AI generated.

 

[sbrothy]

I'm not a fan, because it looks vibe coded and the slogans that market the human side of the site look AI generated.

This one is in reply to another "topic", as you can see. But this is how I feel by vibe coding!

 

[SiennaTheGr8]

In dark mode, the log-in button isn't accessible (in terms of color contrast).

 

[symbolipoint]

SiennaTheGr8
How did you do that (post #162)? Must be a way to put the forum in Dark Mode through the computer because seems to be cannot change display mode until member OR user or visitor signs into Physicsforums.

 

[QuarkyMeson]

SiennaTheGr8
How did you do that (post #162)? Must be a way to put the forum in Dark Mode through the computer because seems to be cannot change display mode until member OR user or visitor signs into Physicsforums.

On mobile I’m defaulted into dark mode.

 

[symbolipoint]

On mobile I’m defaulted into dark mode.

Mostly expecting for what to do on Windows 10 or 11. Maybe worth my checking on mobile, too.

 

[symbolipoint]

In dark mode, the log-in button isn't accessible (in terms of color contrast).

View attachment 373130

He's right! The "Log in" button is difficult to read in Dark mode; but it is active and it can be used to bring up the log-in form. (I checked this using mobile Android device.) Readability needs to be adjusted or changed if possible.

 

[SiennaTheGr8]

He's right!

Always!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

He's right! The "Log in" button is difficult to read in Dark mode; but it is active and it can be used to bring up the log-in form. (I checked this using mobile Android device.) Readability needs to be adjusted or changed if possible.

This should be fixed now

 

[boneh3ad]

Is anyone else unusually bothered by the mix of serif, sans serif, and monospaced fonts?

Very much just an opinion thing. Safe to ignore me.

 

[CrysPhys]

@Greg Bernhardt

My initial reaction to the new look was substantially negative: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/pf-style-2026.1085732/post-7315900

But since you have responded to my (and other members') issues, I applaud your fixes.

* I too find the new font and color scheme *much* harder to read; hence reduced functionality.

Can you be specific?

I previously did not respond to this issue because other members raised similar issues concerning readability of the new look vs. the old look, and you were making changes on the fly. Issues with fonts, particularly font weights being too light, have been satisfactorily resolved for me. In light mode, I still find some of the color selections garish and harsh and some combos leading to poor contrast. In dark mode (with one exception so far; see below), however, the color schemes work well for me; and I'm happy with dark mode (on a PC).

I could readily skim categories and sub-categories to determine whether there were any new posts of interest. That has now disappeared.

I acknowledge this and working to provide a solution. One of my principles was to try to break from legacy forum homepage format by providing activity signals outside of the forum cards. I still think that is possible and worthwhile. I am working on a homepage revision atm.

Again, thank you for restoring the timestamp of the most recent post in each sub-forum. Other members besides me consider this essential info. The solution you have come up with is a good compromise to satisfy members like me who focus on a limited subset of sub-forums and your desire for signalling new activity. The "Browse the forums" tab near the beginning of the home page allows me to avoid needless scrolling through material I'm not interested in and efficiently get to the sub-forums I am interested in. Kudos to you.

This should be fixed now

I access this site only on a Windows PC via Chrome browser. It allows light and dark modes. Here's how the new home page appears in both modes prior to login. The poor contrast of the "Log in" button remains in dark mode; but since I'm aware of its presence now, it's not a big deal. Not sure whether it's too much of an outlier to be worth dealing with (i.e., not sure how many users this affects).

Again, Greg, thanks for your responsiveness.

 

[PeterDonis]

Is anyone else unusually bothered by the mix of serif, sans serif, and monospaced fonts?

Yes.

 

[CrysPhys]

Is anyone else unusually bothered by the mix of serif, sans serif, and monospaced fonts?

Very much just an opinion thing. Safe to ignore me.

As long as different fonts are consistently used for different purposes (e.g., heading titles vs. body text) and the number of different fonts is not excessive, I'm OK with it. Now that the dust has settled somewhat, I'm happy with the current mix.

 

[Sagittarius A-Star]

An earlier post recommended using Ctrl++ to zoom in. I didn't know it was that easy. It works well.

You can also hold the Ctrl key down and use the scroll-wheel of the mouse.

 

[CrysPhys]

You can also hold the Ctrl key down and use the scroll-wheel of the mouse.

Not all mice have a scroll wheel. Also, if you're accessing the site via a web browser (such as Chrome or Firefox), you can zoom in/out via the browser menu.

 

[symbolipoint]

I am currently viewing phyicsforums using the previous Style (before July 2026), and in Light Mode.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The poor contrast of the "Log in" button remains in dark mode

Try now

 

[CrysPhys]

Try now

Mission Accomplished! Checked it out on dark mode on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge on Windows PC; see below. Also checked it out on dark mode on my iPhone Safari to confirm nothing got messed up on mobile. AOK. On iPhone, it took me a while to find the "Log in" button. I had to chase away the ads that were hiding the button at the top of the screen. Thanks.

 

[symbolipoint]

post# 177
Those look nice.

 

[CrysPhys]

Is anyone else unusually bothered by the mix of serif, sans serif, and monospaced fonts?

Very much just an opinion thing. Safe to ignore me.

@Greg Bernhardt. Several other forums that I'm on have the capability to conduct polls. Does the Physics Forum website software support polls? If so, it would be useful to collect questions such as the one cited above into a poll. In the absence of a poll capability, we could have a separate poll thread with separate posts for different poll questions. Members could then vote by using the "Like" button (e.g., "checkmark" emoji for "yes" and "sad" emoji for "no"). I think this is a good time to pause and do a sanity check on how members feel about all the new changes ("great improvement", "turns me off so much that I'm out of here", "I like the old way better; but I can live with the new way, I guess", ...). Your thoughts?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Does the Physics Forum website software support polls?

Only in some non technical forums like General Discussion