Feature request: dark mode

Feature requests, and in-depth discussions of features and the way Mellel works

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dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

Hello. I'm using Mellel 4.2.9 with macOS Catalina. Most of my favorite apps have implemented a "dark mode" in recent years. Mellel is one of the few holdouts. I wonder if you are considering adding this feature. I know you'd make it look beautiful. Thanks.
mathefff
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by mathefff »

Bump this request. I was really hoping Mellel 5 will get dark mode. :roll:
dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

Thanks for your comment, mathefff. It is great to see that someone else here agrees that this feature would be useful! I thought I was alone :(

A few additional thoughts. Scrivener has done a beautiful job with their dark mode and so have plenty of the "minimalist text editors". But these are not WYSIWYG word processors like Mellel is, so I realize there could be important differences in that respect.

Meanwhile, the latest versions of Pages and Word make the interface dark, but leave the page color white -- unless, of course, you manually change the background and text color of your document. (Word used to offer a "Blue background, white text" setting, but sadly no longer ...)

If Mellel could figure out how to implement a dark mode that applies both to the interface and to the document itself, then that could positively set it apart from other word processors (and be a big selling point considering the popularity of dark mode these days).

Because Mellel does so many other things better than other word processors, I am sure they could make a fantastic dark mode, too!
elal
Got the styles thing figured out
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 1:46 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by elal »

I'm just not going to use it anymore. I can't stare for months on end at a blaring white screen ripping my eyeballs apart.
dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

I noticed recently that Nisus Writer Pro has a decent dark mode. Unfortunately it seems (at least in my brief testing) to be not as good in other ways as Mellel. Perhaps something to try out for now, at least. I am still very much hoping that Mellel will introduce a dark mode.
Icelander
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:59 pm

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by Icelander »

dgbeecher wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 5:26 pm Unfortunately it seems (at least in my brief testing) to be not as good in other ways as Mellel
Please give detailed examples.

Thank you.
dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

I'm not sure if I can give detailed examples, as I've only spent maybe thirty minutes trying to figure out Nisus Writer Pro. My impression is that the interface is more cluttered and less thoughtfully laid out than Mellel's. Although the dark mode is nice, the icons, palettes, and other interface elements are not to my taste. Plus, weird stuff like: if I switch to "Icon Only" mode on the toolbar, half the icons become cut-off and off-center. It just doesn't seem promising or worth the purchase. I am also having trouble figuring out how styles work in NWP. They do not seem to be as well organized as styles in Mellel. Although it did take some work to master styles in Mellel, I always felt that there was a comprehensive logic to the system. That logic is a large reason I love Mellel. I don't yet understand the logic of NWP's styles system ... although, as I said above, I've only briefly tested it. If it were not for dark mode, I would have already given up on NWP and returned to Mellel. Because of NWP's dark mode, I will test it a bit more. I hope these comments have been helpful, but if you are truly curious about NWP, you should check out the trial version they offer.
Icelander
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by Icelander »

Thank you for your examples.
dgbeecher wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:00 pm I've only spent maybe thirty minutes trying to figure out Nisus Writer Pro.
Learning Nisus in 30 minutes is impossible and sounds like a joke. The same applies to Mellel, by the way.
the interface is more cluttered and less thoughtfully laid out than Mellel's
This is incorrect. The interface is extremely customizable.
I switch to "Icon Only" mode on the toolbar, half the icons become cut-off and off-center.
I am stuck by High Sierra due to my old MacBook Pro, and I don't have dark mode. I can't remember anyone complaining about a this in the Nisus forum. New features are always well tested before new versions are released, so I can't explain what's wrong there.
I am also having trouble figuring out how styles work in NWP. They do not seem to be as well organized as styles in Mellel.
You need more than 30 minutes to understand how things work. Styles are actually much better organized than in Mellel. Switching between styles is also much easier.
if you are truly curious about NWP, you should check out the trial version they offer
Well, I have been using Nisus Writer Pro since 2008 and before that Nisus Writer Classic, starting around 1992. I also know Mellel pretty well. If you have been following my posts here in the forum you'll know that. :–)
Last edited by Icelander on Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

I understand quite well that I will need more than 30 minutes to understand how NWP works :-) It certainly took longer than that for me to figure out Mellel. But I do think that my first 30 minutes with Mellel were more promising than my first 30 minutes with NWP. I tried to make it clear that I was only sharing first impressions.

In any case, I appreciate hearing that you find styles to be better organized in NWP than in Mellel. Given your experience with both apps, that comment gives me courage to dig further into Nisus Writer.

But, to return to the topic of this post, I would much rather stick it out with Mellel, which I have become used to, and which I would still be happy with if it had a dark mode!
Icelander
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by Icelander »

dgbeecher wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:56 pm weird stuff like: if I switch to "Icon Only" mode on the toolbar, half the icons become cut-off and off-center.
Ah, I think I understand now what you mean. You are not referring to dark mode but to what happens when you right-click on the menubar and chose "Icon Only". Am I right?

From which mode did you switch? "Icon and Text" or "Text Only"? If you switch from these modes to the mode "Icon Only" you should see *more* icons on the menubar, not fewer.

Also notice, if you have more icons in the menubar than can be displayed, two arrowheads (») will appear at the far right end of the menubar. This is a new menu. Click on the arrows and you'll see the rest of the items.

Also notice you can save space by right-clicking on the menubar and chose "Use Small Size" icons versus normal size.
Icelander
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Posts: 366
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by Icelander »

Talking about menu icons…, you also need to know the following. You can create your own icons in Nisus and link them to any menu command and any macro you like. This can be very useful.

This can not be done in Mellel!

I'm sure no other Nisus user in the world has a menubar which looks like mine. I have customized mine. :–)
dgbeecher
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:05 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by dgbeecher »

I'm checking in again to ask if there are any plans for a dark mode. Judging by the low number of replies to this thread, I wonder if there is just no demand, in which case the developers are right to focus their attention elsewhere. But as for me, I'm sorry to say that if there's no progress on this front by the time my Mellel license comes up for renewal later this year, I'll be letting it lapse and moving on to other apps (probably Nisus Writer Pro -- thank you @Icelander for the tips offered above).
ruslaniv
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by ruslaniv »

Yes, dark mode would be very nice!
I think ALL the apps I use now support dark mode, so I'm baffled why Mellel has not adopted this, especially with so many great themes available like Solaraized and Dracula that already solved all the problems with proper color maps.
tineline
Got the styles thing figured out
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:29 am

Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by tineline »

Second dark mode! We're going to spend a lot of time on these huge documents, and by the end of my PhD I was so riddled with headaches from the white screen. Hoping to see it in the near future!

At this point, I'm considering actually writing smaller text bits into Pages, and then pasting them into Mellel, as bad as that sounds.
Icelander
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Re: Feature request: dark mode

Post by Icelander »

tineline wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:42 pm by the end of my PhD I was so riddled with headaches from the white screen
Have you tried to insert a black (or dark) page background in the Page palette and use it with white characters from the character attributes pane?
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