Small technical question about one line of the main site CSS.

Question

I asked about this on the Weekend Chat but I want to ask here again directly, instead of it being buried the comments of the weekend chat that has now ended.

To be clear, this is NOT about inline html or CSS, nor about profile specific styling or wiki markup. This is about a single slightly incorrect line of the base.css used on the entire website. I have read the pages about inline html/css etc. They have nothing to do with what I'm asking. Just to hopefully clear that up up front. :)

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Who would I talk to about a slight tweak to one line of the main website CSS? (the styling for all the pages on the site, the base.css file.)

Since adding the backgrounds ability, http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Background_Images , I've noticed that the "drop shadow" behind the main content box (where the main content part of the web page transitions into the plain solid greyish colored background) is not so much a drop shadow as a beige colored glow. It looks fine on light backgrounds where it shows up as a faint shadow (as it's just a tad darker than the actual background color of #f0f0ef [       vs       ]), but on dark backgrounds it shows up as a light beige colored glow and looks a bit strange, because it's a specifically colored glow, and not a mostly transparent black shadow.

Changing the code for .wrapper in the CSS from the current

box-shadow: 0 0 10px 3px #d2d2cf;

to

box-shadow: 0 0 10px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.13);

fixes this. It basically exactly matches the current box shadow on the site, so you shouldn't notice any change on any modern web browsers, but instead of a light glow on dark backgrounds you'd get a correct shadow, which looks much better.

It uses rbga to set an alpha transparency on an actual black shadow, so it's a black shadow that's translucent to the point of being almost complately transparent. That way it correctly shadows whatever color the underlying background is.

Example of the current way vs "correct" way on a dark background here:
http://postimg.org/image/77kn9e0pl/

Example of the current way vs "correct" way on a light background here:
http://postimg.org/image/x6m0zbe4b/

Notice how it doesn't really change it for light backgrounds, but fixes it for dark ones.

If this isn't the right place, please point me in the right direction. :)

Thanks!

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I left a couple other large replies to clarify my point further as comments on the original question (or "answer" to be technical).

http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/149820/-weekend-chat---all-members-are-invited-22-may-2015-?show=150422#a150422

If you still don't quite understand what I'm asking, PLEASE read over those further 2 large comments (and remember that the other person deleted all of their comments, so it sounds like I'm talking to myself) before commenting here.

Thanks in advance! :)

Answer 1

Justin: Hello.  You don't know me, I don't know you and I certainly don't know codes/languages as run this site (and the world?).

To try to help you obtain answers &/or knowledgeable responses to your most interesting and succinctly presented questions, comments, etc. I can only suggest you address yourself directly to the attention of our 'Numero Uno' - Chris Whitten (designer, founder & all-round-good-fellow who, as I understand it, is principally responsible for the creation of this site).

If, as sometime happens, he is currently too fully occupied to give you an immediate answer/response please be patient as I'm sure your questions will be suitably addressed at the earliest possible opportunity.

His WikiTree ID is:  Whitten-1

Comments

Thank you Phil. :) If I don't hear anything back before too long (a day or two), I'll send Chris a PM and ask him if he has the time to take a peek at this question. :)

Thanks again!

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Justin,

Chris is normally very responsive and very prompt about it - typically within an hour or two, however at this time it may take more than a day or two.  I know he and the entire team are focused on getting ready for the global family reunion right now, so please be prepared to cut him a little slack on this.

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Ah, good to know Gaile. Thank you. :)

GFR definitely trumps a tiny tweak to the color of a shadow on the website. ;) haha

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Thanks, Phil and Gaile. :-)

And thank you, Justin! What a carefully-worded, clear recommendation. I'll add it to the to-do list. We were in the middle of some changes to the css anyway (to make it more responsive for mobile browsers).

Chris

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Chris, excellent! :) No rush. ^_^

Have a safe and wonderful GFR!