Why haven't YOU tried out the other forum themes?

[Memory]

⚑ Moderators Note ⚑

Context Note: This thread predates the quick theme switching buttons that were later added to the forum - as of 2025, about 15% of people use a non default theme and most people have tried the others.

Themes in general are a very unpopular feature: only 4% of people active in the last 6 months use a theme - and in the forum's entire history only 9% of people have ever tried changing their theme.

  WHAT

I was wondering why these numbers were so low! The additional themes are super cool and if not only only 4% use them but also

91%

of people NEVER EVEN TRIED, then something has to be wrong! D:<#

I can imagine a bunch of explanations:

• Perhaps people just didn't know multiple themes existed; those who don't check most meta topics aren't likely to have heard of it from anywhere, and since the theme options themselves are kind of tucked away in Look and Layout, some people might not even know about them. (This thread might change that :])
• Some people might connect the word "theme" with light and dark themes or simple color modifications and never bothered to look at them.
• Most might simply be happy with the current theme and never bothered to check what others there are, or even looked at the thumbnails and went like "I'm good lol"
• Perhaps some just haven't tried yet!
• And what I believe to be the biggest issue: most user accounts are probably inactive and never were active enough to change around settings at all.

I'd like to have clarity on this topic so I made a poll. :]
Of course if the issue is that people don't check most topics or most accounts are inactive, this poll definitely won't be representative since they just won't participate in it, but maybe it can inspire some people to check and try out the alternative themes.

[wodaro]

I hit the "happy with the default theme" option but I might be in the 9%? I swapped between them months back when I first learned they existed but decided I like just the basic theme! It's fun!

[sig]

I tried them all, I just like the coziness of the default one! (It's also the only one that's both elaborate and dark, I think)

[Cele]

i'm lazy

[kandeez]

I didn't know about themes until I think you mentioned them in another post and it definitely took me a bit to find where they are. The default theme was so cute and cozy but if I spent too long looking at it and reading my eyes felt super strained sadly :( RN I'm using that mainly blue checker theme (i can't remember the name) and love love love it.
I think the culprit is that some probably aren't active enough to really go in and set up profiles and look through all the possibilities on here.

[NacreousDreams]

For a while, the only alternative was Cinni's Theme. I really like its aesthetic, but the low contrast between elements makes it hard to parse.

It makes it kinda bothersome to read thin fonts like Arial. Then you take the heavy use of gradients that are the same hue as the font and how small the text is, and it makes it kinda hard to read. It's not helped that the default theme is dark, but Cinni's theme is light- so it's even harder to read the posts of people who use bright font colors.

:TnT: I think if Cinni's theme had more contrast, or more dreamy colors like pastel pinks or yellows, to help separate its elements, I might switch to it indefinitely. Combine it with a forum feature to accommodate post font color based on dark or light themes (maybe invert the chosen color, or let users input different colors for each in their profile), and it'd not only help with brighter themes like this, but also scale much better with any new themes that get added in the future.

I like the vibe of the MelonLand Times, and it's not hard to read, so I'm gonna switch to that for a while, I think!

[TheFrugalGamer]

While I like all the themes, for day to day stuff I always prefer dark themes, and the default is currently the only one that is dark. Just putting that out there in case you need ideas for other themes. 

@Melooon, would you ever consider user-submitted themes for the site?

[Melooon]

default is currently the only one that is dark

Does no one read!? Newspaper theme auto switches to dark mode if you set your browser to dark mode!

(Here is the setting in firefox)

would you ever consider user-submitted themes for the site?

See this discussion here: https://forum.melonland.net/index.php?topic=7.msg10424#msg10424

[TheFrugalGamer]

I did not know this! Yeah I kind of skipped over the description text for that one, lol.

[dotmidi]

I have tried them out but I'm more into the default theme the most honestly. It has a really nice vibe with the rain and colors and.. everything in this theme is just perfect for me  couldn't ask for anything better

i may try and give the newspaper theme a shot again, but really dont think it stands a chance against the default theme    sorry

[Inkerlink]

Well, I'm quite fond of the default theme, so that's what I mainly use.
Cinni I don't use because I don't like light themes, they are very hard on my eyes.
Newspaper is also good but I just prefer the default over it. If I get sick of some peoples weird fonts I may switch to Newspaper in the future though.
And I quite like Melonland 98 too, since it's just the default theme but fun-sized. 
That's about it really, no super special reasoning or anything. *shrug*

[Tiffany]

Most forums I have been a member of don't have much options when it comes to theming unless it is light/dark themes so I didn't know to check tbh. I would love one with larger font lol. *cries in bad eye sight lol*

[Melooon]

I would love one with larger font lol.

Most themes use your browser's default font size; you just need to set a bigger font in your browser settings ^^

Here is the setting in firefox!


( This seems to be a trend, do people not know about browser settings?? )

[Tiffany]

Most themes use your browser's default font size; you just need to set a bigger font in your browser settings ^^

Here is the setting in firefox!


( This seems to be a trend, do people not know about browser settings?? )

I have had extra large set on Brave but the font on some parts of the forum are still really tiny but it might just be me.

[Melooon]

Ah that makes sense, yep its not totally complete although it does seem to work for about 95% of text from my testing