Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Texas Cyberthal]

Org intersperses bits of code in prose, such as datestamps, drawers,
keywords, etc. The code distracts when reading the prose. The solution
is to make the code less prominent.

That way it's easy to read the paragraphs of prose without
interruption. If one wants to focus on a code bit, it's still easily
readable. Prose needs to be larger to be human-scannable, but the code
bits aren't in paragraphs, so they can be smaller. Code only needs to
be readable when the eye is centered on it, whereas a prose paragraph
must be read with multiple saccades.

Org should provide a way to make all the code bits smaller with one settings:

#+begin_src elisp
(custom-set-faces
 ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
 ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
 ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
 ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
 '(org-date ((t (:foreground "#7590db" :underline t :height 0.8 :width
normal))))
 '(org-drawer ((t (:foreground "LightSkyBlue" :height 0.7 :width condensed))))
 '(org-special-keyword ((t (:foreground "#bc6ec5" :height 0.7 :width
condensed)))))
#+end_src

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Tim Cross]

It strikes me that much of what seems to be required for 'legible' org
would possibly be handled by an org 'theme'. As it is possible to
combine themes, it should be possible to create a 'org pros theme',
which users could add to their existing theme. This theme could adjust
face sizes, colours, fonts etc. For things which cannot be modified
using a theme, we could define profiles e.g. a pros profile and a coding
profile. Provided these are adequately documented, new users will be
able to try them out.

Changing defaults is far more problematic as it has the potential to
impact a large number of existing users who have their environment
configured the way they like already. In this day and age of cut and
paste, pre-configured setups and stack overflow solutions, we cannot
assume that these users are advanced enough to 'fix' or restore their
setup when defaults change.

I also think it important to not consider this to be a simple pros v
code use case. Personally, while I do use org to write pros quite often,
my main use of org is for organisation of information, tracking tasks,
planning and notes. In the majority of my workflows, a lot of that
'code' information is important and not something I would want hidden or
de-emphasised all the time. Rather than changing defaults, what I think
is really needed is something along the 'profile' lines - a way to
reliably switch to a pros profile when I'm writing pros and switch out
to a 'standard' profile when not.

Texas Cyberthal <texas.cyberthal@gmail.com> writes:

> Org intersperses bits of code in prose, such as datestamps, drawers,
> keywords, etc. The code distracts when reading the prose. The solution
> is to make the code less prominent.
>
> That way it's easy to read the paragraphs of prose without
> interruption. If one wants to focus on a code bit, it's still easily
> readable. Prose needs to be larger to be human-scannable, but the code
> bits aren't in paragraphs, so they can be smaller. Code only needs to
> be readable when the eye is centered on it, whereas a prose paragraph
> must be read with multiple saccades.
>
> Org should provide a way to make all the code bits smaller with one settings:
>
> #+begin_src elisp
> (custom-set-faces
>  ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
>  ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
>  ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
>  ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
>  '(org-date ((t (:foreground "#7590db" :underline t :height 0.8 :width
> normal))))
>  '(org-drawer ((t (:foreground "LightSkyBlue" :height 0.7 :width condensed))))
>  '(org-special-keyword ((t (:foreground "#bc6ec5" :height 0.7 :width
> condensed)))))
> #+end_src


--
Tim Cross

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Bastien]

Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com> writes:

> Changing defaults is far more problematic as it has the potential to
> impact a large number of existing users who have their environment
> configured the way they like already.

Yes, indeed.

-- 
 Bastien

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Adam Porter]

As Tim said, this is really a matter for theming.  There are several
themes and example configs available that make Org buffers "pretty".
For example:

https://github.com/kunalb/poet
https://github.com/jonnay/org-beautify-theme
https://lepisma.xyz/2017/10/28/ricing-org-mode/

As well, faces are easy to customize using:

  M-x customize-apropos-faces RET org RET

There may be improvements to be made, but the defaults shouldn't be set
to match the preferences of any one user.  Remember that people have
been using Org for years, and theming and faces are very personal.  ;)

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Matthew Lundin]

Adam Porter <adam@alphapapa.net> writes:

> There may be improvements to be made, but the defaults shouldn't be set
> to match the preferences of any one user.  Remember that people have
> been using Org for years, and theming and faces are very personal.  ;)

I strongly agree. All of the changes mentioned in these legibility
threads could be accomplished through theming and Elpa/Melpa packages
one could recommend to new users who easier ways to add variable pitch,
unobtrusive markup, etc. It would be trivial to point a new user to
install them through the package manager. It would be a bad precedent to
add idiosyncratic customization options to cater to personal aesthetic
preferences. As Adam says, everyone's theming preferences are personal,
and they are best addressed through add-on themes and packages.

Matt

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Samuel Wales]

On 2/4/20, Matthew Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org> wrote:
> and they are best addressed through add-on themes and packages.

agreed.

Re: Make code elements in prose unobtrusive [legibility 6/6]

[Russell Adams]

On Tue, Feb 04, 2020 at 09:38:57PM -0600, Matthew Lundin wrote:
> Adam Porter <adam@alphapapa.net> writes:
>
> > There may be improvements to be made, but the defaults shouldn't be set
> > to match the preferences of any one user.  Remember that people have
> > been using Org for years, and theming and faces are very personal.  ;)
>
> I strongly agree. All of the changes mentioned in these legibility
> threads could be accomplished through theming and Elpa/Melpa packages

I've been monitoring this thread, and I have to agree strongly with the idea of
themes. I think if you feel strongly about the newbie experience, maybe you can
help setup and maintain a single binary Emacs distro with your theme as the
default.

I'm the complete opposite of the original poster in all of these threads. I
avoid applications with variable width fonts. I treasure that my terminals all
have the same fixed width font and it isn't overridden by every document or
application. I find variable fonts to be an aesthetic hassle. I wish I could
read more items on my terminal or in fixed width in Emacs. It's very high speed
and consistent. The modern web is a particular hassle with bright backgrounds
and highly inconsistent and illegible fonts.

However, if that's what makes you happy in Emacs, feel free to customize it that
way. You can always have it your way in your config. ;]


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