Ask HN: Why do text posts have such low contrast? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why do text posts have such low contrast?

9 pointsBuildstarted5 comments

I'm curious why this color was chosen.

They look like they're flagged comments. I know my eyesight is getting worse as I get older but I can't be the only one who needs a custom css just to be able to comfortably read the posts.

View on HN

I know this does not answer your question but you can change any of the colors with uBlock filters. I can share mine but I must add the disclaimer it might make your eyes bleed. Adjust the colors based on your own preferences. I set my "topcolor" to #000000 in the UI and then the following goes into uBlock Origin "My Filters". A couple of those may not do anything any more.

    # HN Color
    news.ycombinator.com##html:style(background-color: #011 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background-color: #011 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.toptext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.age:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c00.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.cdd.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c9C.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c73.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c5a.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.cbe.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.c88.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.cae.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.cce.commtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.comhead > a:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.comhead:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.hnuser:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext > a:link:style(color: #588 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext > a:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.subtext:style(color: #191 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##.title > a:style(color: #191 !important; background-color: #011 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:link:style(color: #588 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:visited:style(color: #255 !important)
    news.ycombinator.com##a:hover:style(color: #191 !important; background-color: #011 !important)

I didn't know you could do that with ublock. Thanks!

> Posts without URLs get penalized. If you post with a link and then add the text as a first comment you have more visibility.

Source: https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re...

It’s definitely a rookie mistake to post a text comment when you want to explain a link, half because HN is that way and half because views are precious and if somebody visits your site it should ‘click’ with them (e.g. think of how much ads cost!)

I'm guessing it's to somewhat discourage text posts - more of a linksharing messageboard than a blogging platform with a commenting system.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com