Seeking New User-settable Preferences for Specify 7

We are finalizing the set of new user preferences to add to the next Specify 7 release. These are in addition to Specify 6 user preferences that we will carry forward where appropriate. Here is a table of new user-settable prefs for Specify 7, some related to accessibility with tie-ins to browser settings, all will be scoped to the user account level. Specify 7 (and 6) also have many implicit variables set by users through the user interface, and also ‘state’ variables to keep track of various user data. The preferences below will be settable in a new user preference setting form, similar to what exists in 6, but nicer. We would be happy to entertain suggestions for other new user interface preferences not currently in Sp6 or Sp7.

Proposed UI settings: Default Value Possible values Description
general.ui.language (automatic) (e.g.) en-us, ru-ru, ca, es-es User Interface Language
general.ui.theme system system, light, dark Follow system (browser) preference or explicitly set to light/dark mode
general.ui.reduceMotion system system, reduce, noPreference Whether to disable transitions and animations
general.schema.schema (automatic) (depends on database) Schema Langauge
general.ui.fontSize 100 Percentage User Interface font size as a percentage of default browser font size
form.ui.fontSize 100 Percentage Forms font size as a percentage of default browser font size
form.ui.maxWidth 1200 Integer Max form width in pixels
form.ui.fieldBackground Color Default field background
form.ui.disabledFieldBackground Color Disabled field background
form.ui.invalidFieldBackground Color Invalid field background
form.ui.darkFieldBackground Color Default field background (in dark mode)
form.ui.darkDisabledFieldBackground Color Disabled field background (in dark mode)
form.ui.darkInvalidFieldBackground Color Invalid field background (in dark mode)
form.ui.dialogFieldBackground Color Field background in a dialog
form.ui.darkDialogFieldBackground Color Field background in a dialog (in dark mode)
form.ui.background Color Form background
form.ui.darkBackground Color Form background (in dark mode)
form.ui.dialogBackground Color Dialog form background
form.ui.darkDialogBackground Color Dialog form background (in dark mode)
general.ui.transparentDialog FALSE Boolean Whether dialogs have translucent background (easter egg)
choosecollection.main.alwaysprompt TRUE Boolean Whether to always prompt user to chose collection. If false, uses last chosen collection
Treeeditor.TreeColColor1.Taxon Color Odd column color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor2.Taxon Color Even column color
Treeeditor.SynonymyColor.Taxon Color Synonomy color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor1.Geography Color Odd column color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor2.Geography Color Even column color
Treeeditor.SynonymyColor.Geography Color Synonomy color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor1.LithoStrat Color Odd column color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor2.LithoStrat Color Even column color
Treeeditor.SynonymyColor.LithoStrat Color Synonomy color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor1.GeologicTimePeriod Color Odd column color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor2.GeologicTimePeriod Color Even column color
Treeeditor.SynonymyColor.GeologicTimePeriod Color Synonomy color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor1.Storage Color Odd column color
Treeeditor.TreeColColor2.Storage Color Even column color
Treeeditor.SynonymyColor.Storage Color Synonomy color
1 Like

My suggestion is palette swap or other color options for different collections. I sometimes spend an embarassing amount of time looking for something in the icthyology collection that only exists in the invertebrate collection. The little text in the corner isn’t quite enough to always remind me of where I am in the database.
I don’t care if we can customize it or not, just some visual difference for multiple collections would be nice.

1 Like

Hi Paul –

Do you mean different color for each collection in the top level menu bar, maybe the specify logo an the colored rule at the top of the page, and the TLM mouse overs?

Sorry, I’ve just seen this reply and my suggestion has been handled by all the customization options that have been implemented since then. Thanks!