Loading font from external website

[Marc]

I like the new font and don't see a proper reason why we shouldn't try loading the Open Sans font from Google. A browser falls back to the next available font very easily.

+1 from me

[imkingdavid]

I'm fine with using the external source.

[nextgen]

I like the idea raised by Arty, also would be essential to add a similar font if someone did not have access to the internet, either to do testing on localhost without internet.

[Arty]

Somewhat related news: http://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2013/05/14 ... rovements/

Firefox for Android now includes Open Sans font.

[keith10456]

I generally don't like depending on an external source. However, since the button/font would default to something if the external source becomes unavailable (as opposed to not having a button at all) then I think it's a good solution.

+1

[bantu]

Loading stuff from external sources should be a setting that is off by default due to privacy reasons.

Maybe we should just make a very generic "allow loading files from external sources" switch that is also used for jQuery etc. and ask for it during install.

If Firefox ships this font now, a lot of people can already use it. Or is that limited to the Android version?

[Arty]

That's limited to Android version.

Problem with enabling/disabling it is CSS isn't parsed. I think parsing CSS would be very good, but its too late for 3.1 because its too complex and proper implementation requires overhaul of template system that has been incorrectly designed from start.

[callumacrae]

+1 - I think the button looks pretty weird as it is, and including external assets isn't really a problem any more.

[DionDesigns]

+1 - I think the button looks pretty weird as it is, and including external assets isn't really a problem any more.

What looks weird are the images to the right of the button text. They serve no purpose other than adding additional resource demands to the page -- and, I suppose, the fact that "they were there before, so they must be there now".

I agree that Verdana is a poor font choice for buttons...but Open Sans isn't much better. It's a "poor man's version" of Droid Sans, and it is missing the hints and superior kerning of Droid Sans (the font upon which it was based) and most built-in fonts. I'd suggest using Arial for most systems, and Droid Sans for Android-based systems. Here's the relevant rule in buttons.css:

Code: Select all

/* Rolloff state */
.buttons div a {
	display: inline-block;
	line-height: 17.5px;
	height: 18px;
	font-size: 13px;
	white-space: nowrap;
	border: 1px solid transparent;
	border-radius: 4px;
	background: transparent none 0 0 repeat-x;
	padding: 2px 22px 2px 8px;
	font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica;
	position: relative;
	text-decoration: none !important;
	outline-style: none !important;
	vertical-align: bottom;
	*padding-right: 8px;
}

I suggest changing it to:

Code: Select all

/* Rolloff state */
.buttons div a {
	display: inline-block;
	line-height: 17.5px;
	height: 18px;
	font-size: 14px;
	white-space: nowrap;
	border: 1px solid transparent;
	border-radius: 4px;
	background: transparent none 0 0 repeat-x;
	padding: 2px 22px 2px 8px;
	font-family: Arial, "Droid Sans", sans-serif;
	font-weight: bold;
	letter-spacing: -0.3px;
	position: relative;
	text-decoration: none !important;
	outline-style: none !important;
	vertical-align: bottom;
	*padding-right: 8px;
}

And here is what the change would look like...the first button is the current rule, the second is the revised rule with Arial, and the third is the revised rule with Droid Sans.

bb31.png (3.03 KiB) Viewed 16784 times

[hanakin]

ok u have that backwards if you wish droid sans to ever be used it has to come first in the stack. I do agree though if we do end up serving some font from google droid sans is far better than open sans and the icons for the buttons are kind of pointless as they add no visual understanding of the function of the buttons other than the lock icon. we should consider removing them or updating them to be better understood. The problem is not all the buttons really need this extra clarity.