[Pidgin] #494: Some funny font stuff

[Pidgin]

#494: Some funny font stuff
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  Reporter:  stupac2       |       Owner:  MarkDoliner
      Type:  defect        |      Status:  new        
  Priority:  minor         |   Milestone:  2.0.2      
 Component:  pidgin (gtk)  |     Version:  2.0        
Resolution:                |    Keywords:             
   Pending:  0             |  
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Comment (by ryanclem):

 Replying to [comment:13 kstange]:
 > It is part of the reason that it is possible to independently theme the
 conversation window's font size, so we certainly haven't ignored it.
 Could it have been addressed better?  Maybe.  Would a FAQ be sufficient?

 Personally I agree with the above user.  Pidgin is an awesome program and
 I totally respect all the work put into it.  However this issue has turned
 away a lot of my friends who would probably otherwise be users.  The
 common, everyday person simply does not care enough to sit there and edit
 text files, download and install DLL extensions, or use cryptic GTK+
 preference dialog boxes.  The common, everyday person has never even heard
 of GTK+ and would find it much easier just to use AIM than to fix this
 problem.  If you're actually looking to switch people over from AIM,
 you're going to have to at least have a VERY CLEAR, VERY SIMPLE option for
 adjusting the font zoom size that's BUILT INTO Pidgin.  The extended
 preferences plugin works great, but the user has to download the DLL and
 insert it into the plugins folder, then go to the plugins section, find
 the extended preferences plugin, open the config menu and then adjust
 their settings.  That simply is too much to ask the common user to do.  It
 would be fantastic if everyone were a power user and would happily edit
 their .gtkrc-2.0 file to their heart's content, but that simply is not
 going to happen.  I have so many friends who I told to download this
 program who imemdiately went "Ew it's too small I'm just going to stick
 with AIM." and it's a shame because they definitely would be using Pidgin
 otherwise.  The reason I stress all this so much is that I think it's
 important for you to realize that a lot of people have a major issue with
 this and it's something that may seem stupid to you, but that a lot of
 other people feel very strongly about.  Strongly enough that they will
 flat out not use your program, and considering it's so easy and simple to
 fix (Extended preferences plugin does a very good job of easily increasing
 the font size to a readable level) there really is no excuse as to why
 there hasn't been more done about this in the past.  The argument that
 it's a "defect in the official client's design" doesn't make any sense
 because the official client should be what you're basing it off of.  I've
 felt that this has been one of the only issues stopping the wide spread
 adoption by most of my friends, and it's a real shame that there hasn't
 been slightly more effort to resolve it.  Your claims that you haven't
 ignored it because it's possible to independently theme the conversation
 window's font size don't make sense because most normal users have NO idea
 that option exists or even what it means, much less where to find it.  It
 took me a while myself and I definitely consider myself a
 power user.

 To summarize:
 - This is a major issue to most people.  Regardless of if it's a problem
 in the official client or not, most users do not like the way fonts are
 being handled in the AIM protocol.

 - It's obviously something that can be easily fixed as represented by the
 extended preferences plugin.

 - The fix should be INCLUDED WITH PIDGIN.  This is probably the most
 important part.  Most people are NOT going to download an extra plugin
 just so that they can read their messages without them being huge.

 - The fix should be very obvious and easy to use.  AIM's font "Zoom" is a
 PERFECT example of how this fix should be implemented in Pidgin.

 - If the fonts are not going to be adjusted by default, there should be a
 VERY WELL PUBLICIZED FAQ about how to fix the issue, because people are
 not going to keep using this program if they can not quickly and easily
 make their fonts a readable size.

 I hope you don't think I'm writing all this in an angry manner.  I really
 do appreciate and respect all the work put into Pidgin, however this is an
 issue I feel really strongly about and simply wanted to express the
 seriousness of my concerns.  I hope you have an excellent day and I look
 forward to your response.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/494#comment:14>
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