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Better dark mode

The current dark mode doesn't extend to actual posts which still maintain a white background. As a user with eye conditions that make them light sensitive, this can worsen light-induced pain and even be the cause. This causes problems especially on mobile where posts take up the entire screen as you scroll.

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Gotta say as well I am surprised that there's no accessibility options in the options menu but I understand that it's a small team so I'll eventually add more accessibility suggestions. Today is a high pain day with light sensitivity so that's what inspired this topic

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i’d definitely like this as well!! the current dark mode style is practically equivalent to light mode for me because i don’t use my web browser in full screen mode, so i get the mobile layout even on a computer.


the only concern i’d have about this feature is that css posts could no longer rely on the default post colors. existing css posts would look broken, and new posts would have to take care to preview posts both in light and dark mode. (perhaps the post composer could detect css and show a button in the preview tab to switch the color scheme, so that people remember) ((css media queries would also be useful…))


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hope the team is able to prioritize accessibility issues like this soon,  as I'm sure it will take some time to get a response/solution  due to the massive influx of new users.  


in regards to themes messing up custom css, maybe you could force a specific theme for your post, and have an accessibility "click to show" option for those posts, as we have for 18+ content.


for now I'd recommend using a workaround like the dark reader browser extension. By default it has a blacklist system where it is active on all sites except the ones on your blacklist, but you can choose the "inverted site list" option to only activate it on the sites  you desire to.


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This would be great! Honestly I would love custom theming too! Sometimes pure black themes are a little too contrast-y for my eyes and a built in way to do simple theme customization would be amazing.

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While I like the current dark mode I also totally agree it'd be great to have an option for a "true" dark mode that affects the posts themselves. I know many people who prefer a fully dark theme and I think this would make them more likely to wanna use cohost more.


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i just wanna weigh in and add that i would very much like this, at night it is really hard on my eyes to have black text on a blinding white background.  i do dark mode by default wherever i can, and if i can't, i look to userstyles (sadly none for cohost yet!).  even my word processor is in dark mode lol.  i will pay many donkey for this. 


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@switchback, et al, fwiw there are some user script themes that include dark mode and can be edited to one's preference. Dark Pumpkin and Mastodon may be useful for you. However it's only for desktop, not mobile, and only a bandage until staff has a moment to examine current site themes.


It's at the bottom of this post https://cohost.org/kiophen/post/466503-cohost-userscripts


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i'll never understand why anyone would think "i'm making a dark mode for my website. posts should have bright white backgrounds, right?"


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I feel that one reason to not have a full dark mode is the fact that some posts rely on the bright background for their effects.


I suggest adding a "suggest bright background" option to posts and allow folks to set a preference to "always"/"never"/"ask" to use the bright background.

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