#33689: Django theme color variables are inconsistently named and poorly
documented
-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Reporter: Murray Chapman | Owner: nobody
Type: | Status: new
Cleanup/optimization |
Component: contrib.admin | Version: 4.0
Severity: Normal | Resolution:
Keywords: theme dark mode | Triage Stage: Accepted
color variables documentation |
Has patch: 0 | Needs documentation: 0
Needs tests: 0 | Patch needs improvement: 0
Easy pickings: 0 | UI/UX: 0
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Comment (by Murray Chapman):
Replying to [comment:1 Carlton Gibson]:
> (Out of interest, were you proposing to create the style guide? 🙂)
This should probably be done by someone with a modicum of visual design
talent, which I don't have 🙂, and familiarity with the Django admin's
existing visual style.... which I don't see documented or described
anywhere. There are probably people more passionate and experienced about
this than me, so I'll defer to any of them.
I can offer some guidance based on a long career building websites,
though:
Scope::
(''Not suggesting that these need to be done as part of this ticket,
but they should be kept in mind'')
* be mindful that visual theme overlaps with usability, accessibility,
brand identity, and widget design
* there are things beyond color that should be made variables (e.g.
margins; border width/radius)
Consistency::
* variables should be consistently named, and refer to concepts rather
than specific use cases or colors
* it should be easy to determine the target of a color: Text?
Background? Border? Shadow?
* text/background color variables should always be paired (current
implementation makes assumptions about text/background pairings that are
difficult to deduce)
Completeness::
* every color should be a variable (some are still hardcoded)
* every variable should be documented and an example given
Accessibility::
* accessibility issues like visual impairment and color blindness
should be considered (good work already done on improving visual contrast)
* usability best practices strongly discourage using color alone to
communicate meaning or state (e.g. don't use a red background and assume
people will know that means "error". Should be accompanied by verbiage or
an icon)
Maintainability::
* very helpful for developers would be a visual "crib sheet" that
shows all colors/widgets on a single web view. Ideally this would be part
of `contrib.admin` (so developers can test theme changes) as well as in
the online documentation
* future commits to stylesheets should be policed for hardcoded
colors, ideally via automation
* technical designs should be mindful of ease of maintenance and
future expansion (e.g. introduction of other CSS variables for things like
border widths)
Django has '''excellent''' documentation and a high-quality/consistent
visual design; I'm hoping we can get this formally defined/declared
somewhere so plugin/extension authors can build consistently on top of it.
--
Ticket URL: <https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/33689#comment:2>
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