footn200 said:Hmmm, come to think of it... Some members may not be aware they can hide views (teeny little [x] at top of Views column). Making that more obvious may be part of the solution. And we've established there's a lack of clarity in Modern's text compared to the crisp contrast in Classic... plus the read/unread designation. Points well-taken, and hopefully we can get some changes done based on them.

What else?

I finally found the little "x" button by views and while that does help in eliminating the wasted space I still think modern view needs more contrast. After a while, the lack of contrast just hurts my eyes. Thank you for your work/help.

As was said, the text in Classic links seems to be a darker blue and the contrast to the background makes it not only easier to read, but faster too, and time is important. Ease of reading is key. For example, in Modern-styled threads, the left edge of the message box has slightly darker gradient shading ... get rid of it. The more colors/shadings the more distracting and harder to read.

Even the "quote" box in Modern, being a different shade, is also distracting, plus the text is lighter and MUCH HARDER to read. The Classic indent with lines above and below may be plain, but the are perfectly readable and is easier (and faster) to read.

Also, make the space for the avatar/name info narrower like in Classic ... we're here to read the threads, not the left avatar column. Modern style seems more interested in form than function, but your readers are here for function, not form .

Interesting: when in Modern thread, and I switch to "full featured reply" it uses Classic style even though it's in Modern mode.

Make these changes so its more readable, and I'll switch to modern.