IHateTheCapsLockKey.com, Colors, and Inline CSS
01 Aug
Since mentioning that I used Highlander to build IHateTheCapsLockKey.com, I’ve had some interesting comments in two areas:
- “I hate the colors. This site looks dreadful.“ - I am always amused by the “I hate the colors“ argument. I suppose there are few things more objective than what colors people like. Every color scheme in the world will be disliked by someone. I personally find it intriguing that the color of a website would taint one’s view of the topic or product described therein. I personally hope I never say “Gee, I like that product a whole lot, but I hate the colors on their website, so I think I’ll pass“.
I freely admit that I suck as a graphics designer. That is why I chose the colors with a Color Chooser website. There are a number of these cool sites out there. I simply played around with the numbers and chose some nice pastel-y colors that I liked. There are also tools out there that let you do the color selecting with your mouse – all in the browser. Pretty cool tools for a website. But folks seem to be upset about the colors, so I’ll take nominations: in the comments, feel free to choose thre complimentary colors, and I’ll put them in the CSS.
Now, I’m not sure that my lack of design skills reflects on the bugginess of Highlander (which worked terrifically for building this site), but some people seem to draw that conclusion. It’s an interesting conclusion. - “You have inline CSS — that is a bad practice“ — Well, any inline CSS in the site is put there by ASP.NET controls — particularly the Menu component. All of the CSS for the presentation of the site is in a separate CSS file that is part of the project. (Notice the <link> tag in the source.) I’m a big believer in sequestering off the CSS from the HTML, etc., but a careful look will note that expediency won out in a few spots.
Anyway, the site is fun to do, and I’ll be integrating Blackfish SQL into it slowly — probably the first thing I’ll do is to use it to simply gather email addresses for people that want to join the cause. 
I like the retro cga 4 color palette feel, but I recognize that is rare.
It isn’t about the fact that no one thing can please everyone and probably more about picking something that doesn’t displease most everyone. I will admit that the color scheme is garish, but at least it isn’t hotdog (ah, win3.1, what were you thinking?)
I don’t think it is possible to avoid inline CSS, and I doubt it is inherently bad, any more than hammer is inherently a weapon - it is all about how it is used. For somethings, seperate CSS is definitely the way to go, for others you need the level of detail that inline provides.
I am curious, however, why you would use a completely static site as show case for highlander, or look into integrating sql anything with it. Is there going to be something dynamic that requires it? (ok, there is the version page, but it is a pretty simple tool, I’m betting you’ll never need another version unless you add other language translations)
August 1st, 2007 at 9:45 amClinton –
I wasn’t aware that this was a "showcase" for Highlander — I just pointed out that it was written in Highlander.
Nick
August 1st, 2007 at 10:01 amSimply choosing the colours with a colour choosing website does not mean they colours are pleasant or appropriate. Sure, subjectivity has some say in it, but please — fuschia and cyan? And key-lime-pie green?
Also, I don’t think you finished a thought: "But folks seem to be…." … be what?
August 1st, 2007 at 10:03 amI like the retro look too. Sure it does not look like a company website, but for this website you probably don’t want it to.
Some random thoughts:
With a great domain name like IHateTheCapsLockKey.com I would expect the product to have the same name. Why did you choose CapsLockBeGone? I’d say change it to the domain name.
You may want to mention that anyone with a Microsoft keyboard (IntellyType software) can simply turn the Caps Lock off in the Keyboard options.
IMHO the t-shirt would look better if it said:
ihATEtHEcAPSlOCKkEY.COM
August 1st, 2007 at 12:19 pmNIck -> My bad, I guess I just got the impression that you were trying to show off highlander a little.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:12 pmClinton –
Well, I am, but not at the "showcase" level.
Nick
August 1st, 2007 at 2:22 pmCome on, the colours do suck…
August 1st, 2007 at 3:40 pmI don’t suffer from the Capslock-problem (learned touch-typing at school and to this day I rarely ever look at a keyboard while typing, so it was actually something useful I learned at school!).
However, the mention from a Product Manager that a certain site is created with a yet-to-be-released product, *will* be looked as meaning that it’s a showcase! That’s just human nature. So better clear all those references before it gets two widely known and shown, perhaps by competitors, as a *bad* example: people tend to notice flaws/bad examples more than good ones, even when they weren’t even supposed to be examples in the first place!
BTW: where do those donations go to? Some charity work? Or don’t tell me your job doesn’t pay the bills?
August 1st, 2007 at 3:43 pmFernando –
Here’s my point: I reject the notion that Highlander is "buggy" because you don’t like the colors on the website.
And all donations go straight into my pocket.
Nick
August 1st, 2007 at 3:55 pmI don’t mind the caps lock key, it’s that dame INSERT key that i was always misclicking and messing up the next few seconds of coding. Now i just remap it so it functions like a standard delete.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:55 pmFernando - I’m glad the money goes to Nick. If you’ve ever seen how charity donations work, you would know it was worse than watching sausage get made - Giving a person in need a 20$ bill can do significantly more good than donating 200$ through a charity works project (gawds, the LEGITIMATE scams I have seen…)
I have to agree, however, that the capslock fails to be bane of my existance. Once in a while, I even find it useful.
August 1st, 2007 at 7:47 pmLearn to touch type, then it becomes a non-issue. Seriously, when touch-typing you look at the screen all the time, so you know instantly when the caps-lock has been pressed. Also, you hit the caps-lock far less often. Finally, good keyboards like my beloved Microsoft Natural have a big gap between the ‘a’ key and the caps-lock, which again ameliorates the problem.
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:47 amI feel the support policy needs to be rethought.
Where’s the forums? The developer wiki? The users mailing list?
Does the app have an autoupdate feature built in so that I know I’m always using the latest version?
There aren’t any "with" statements in it, are there?
Even though it’s free, can I get a software assurance contract (for free) that ensures I get the newer versions (for free)?
And is there going to be a .NET version at some point?
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:41 amI find it a bit sad that you disregard *real* usability problems with a fleeting
> I am always amused by the “I hate the colors“ argument."
In the newsgroup I pointed you at an *actual* usability problem, not with the colors per se, but with the combination of some colors, which makes the text almost impossible to read for some people (and the web page tiring to the eyes, even if it is readable).
But you choose to ignore physics and medicine, and try to joke yourself out of the situation, instead of learning from the feedback.
Remember, just because *you* don’t have a problem with the color combination, it’s no guarantee that the same goes for the rest of the world.
<rant mode>
I’m sick and tired of "It works for me!" replies - when someone reports a problem it is because there *is* a problem (for them). "It works for me!" is not a solution.
</rant mode>
Thanks for Delphi and the CapsLock program, though. I appreciate them both!
AndersI
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:59 amHey, Anders –
Sorry, I don’t see you reporting a "real" usability issue here — I wasn’t laughing of anything like that. If there is an accessibility issue, I’m all ears.
And I certainly didn’t say "It works for me".
I’ll stand by my comment about colors in general.
Nick
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:06 amEvery person in the world has different musical tastes. Some enjoy rap, or classical, or rock. You could never find one song that would please everybody.
However, if you wrote a song where all the instruments were played in a different key…rest assured almost nobody would enjoy it. There are certain rules and structure to a melody that make for a potentially pleasing experience.
Colors are similar. Sure, you can just slap a bunch of them together, but it is a fact that certain colors look better together than others.
If one person tells you they hate your colors, it’s probably just a difference of opinion. If everyone else seems to agree, though…you might just suck at choosing colors. To ignore that possibility is simply lazy.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:16 pmDude, Nick, the colors do really suck!
August 13th, 2007 at 11:36 amOn software itself:
September 10th, 2007 at 10:32 amForget CapsLock key! The true evil are Windows Key aka "alt-tab me from Warcraft 3 while i’m under attack" and Power Off key placed for example between Delete, Insert etc. and arrow keys. Option to disable them would be a great feature (and it shoudn’t increase its "complexity" much :D).