Shozam Community

I think that this an issue that should have been resolved in Beta.  I raised it before, but I think it needs to stay on the front burner.

(I was debating whether or not to put this into Tips and Tricks: Themes...) 

In the Theme Editor the FontSizeUnit can be Pixels, Points, Picas, Millimeters, Centimeters, or Inches.  When you apply those units from within the Theme Editor it seems obvious (at least to me) that Pixels and Points are the only two units that should be in play.  My guess is that you could really foul up a theme using the other units.

With that in mind, do Pixels and Points behave differently when viewed out there on the web.  Pixels sound like they would be an absolute value relative to the pixels of the monitor, but the text size is "adjustable" (at least in Firefox) by using the <Ctrl> 0, <Ctrl> -, or <Ctrl> = keys.

How does Shozam render Point sizes, which are usually absolute to linear units of measurement?

My suggestion is that either Points or Pixels be the only unit, but if a decision is made to allow both, there should be a clear explanation on how their behaviour differs.  Picas, Millimeters, Centimeters, and Inches should not be used.

Larry
 

Larry, Shozam does not do any of the font size rendering. That is done by the browser, based on the settings specified in the style-sheet. Shozam supports out-of-the-box all the CSS (cascading style sheets) unit meansures for fonts, as decided by the HTML governing body (W3C). So the Theme Editor allows all legal CSS metrics. Even though PX is most relevant to most Web designers, there are reasons why some of the other ones are being made available as well in the W3C CSS specifications. Before we take out some of the available choices, we will need to do more research as to who/what/why the other measurements offer, to ensure we do not leave some users and their needs out. We are not yet prepared to limit the choice that is elsewhere made available for font-size in CSS.

Razvan Neagu:

Larry, Shozam does not do any of the font size rendering. That is done by the browser, based on the settings specified in the style-sheet. Shozam supports out-of-the-box all the CSS (cascading style sheets) unit meansures for fonts, as decided by the HTML governing body (W3C). So the Theme Editor allows all legal CSS metrics. Even though PX is most relevant to most Web designers, there are reasons why some of the other ones are being made available as well in the W3C CSS specifications. Before we take out some of the available choices, we will need to do more research as to who/what/why the other measurements offer, to ensure we do not leave some users and their needs out. We are not yet prepared to limit the choice that is elsewhere made available for font-size in CSS.

Razvan,

While that management concept may be technically correct, I'm not sure that I agree with the concept operationally.

Using that idea that all legal CSS metrics would be allowed is exactly what caused the problem with the vertical line widths and the Firefox browser.

In a previous life I was in charge of upgrading my county's phone system from the old electro-mechanical to a digitally switched system.  There were 108 variable fields that could be used to configure each instrument. Do you think I laid all those choices in front of each user?  Of course not.  I sat down with my contractor and captured the traditional features and configured the ones that brought meaningful (remember that word "meaningful") enhancement to the user.  We briefed the managers of each department or section as we rolled out the installation.  We suggested that (a) they initially adopt a set of fairly standard installation features, and then let us know if there was something they thought the system should do; or (b) we could brief the manager and/or users on each and every one of those 108 variables and then ask each of them to decide how each phone instrument would be configured.  Guess how many decided to go for option (b)?

I think it would be safer to include just pixel and/or point units of measurement, and then manage by exception.  My guess is that the vast majority of Shozam users will buy the software because they don't intend to build their own CSS/Flash galleries from scratch.

It kinda depends upon which side of the curtain you are looking from.  Include all the units, and you'll increase the risk of another Firefox experience.

Larry 

I agree and we will. It is just a prioritization issue. We had some other aspects we needed to address first. We are working our way down the list...