Looking at VFR

I was just checking out the appearance of VFR in Internet Explorer and it’s bad. The default print is very small, and making the print larger (by repeatedly pressing Ctrl++) distorts the entire page. Since I myself use the Firefox browser when editing VFR, you will probably get the best view of the site by using Firefox yourself. Using Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- to get a print size you are comfortable with works very well in Firefox.

VFR also looks ok on Apple’s Safari browser.

- end of initial entry -

David G. writes:

I like the look of VFR. Its design is simple, clean and readable. Don’t change it. While I wouldn’t say VFR is minimalist, it is non-pretentious and to the point. VFR nicely manages to avoid the sensational styles of the advertising flyer and the street carnival that plague so many other web sites. Changing the zoom level on the print to 125 has never been a big deal for me.

LA replies:

I would encourage readers to experiment with making the typeface a bit larger than the default, by pressing Ctrl++ once in Firefox. The typeface becomes much more attractive and readable, and the page has a more inviting and warmer look. I wouldn’t want to make the typeface itself permanently larger, however, as that would be too large for many readers.

Jake F. writes:

What version of IE are you using? I just looked at it in IE 8 and it looked fine, including when I resized the text.

LA replies:

That’s good to know. I was looking at it in IE 7.

November 6

Jake F. writes:

I just looked at it in IE 8 and it looked fine, including when I resized the text.

Robert B. writes:

I use Firefox normally on a Mac and its just fine. Even cooler, is what it does on my iPhone—unlike other sites, when I click to go into a posting to read it fully, I get a little button at the top that “reader” and when I click on it, it turns the whole posting into “book” format and automagically resizes the text. Your site is fine, leave well enough alone.

LA replies:

That’s fantastic, I don’t know why such a simple site should have such a good feature and be easily readable on a SmartPhone, but I’m glad to hear of it.

Scott B. writes:

I use Google Chrome, and VFR is absolutely fine—perfect text size, perfect border margins etc.

D. from Seattle writes:

I am using IE9 now, and until recently I was using IE8. I see absolutely no issues with how VFR displays in either browser. I don’t remember if I was a VFR reader back when I was using IE7 (can’t even remember how long ago it was), but I don’t remember anything so bad that would prevent me from reading it.

Clark Coleman writes:

I have been viewing in Google Chrome lately and it looks good. When I pull up Internet Explorer 9.0, the fonts look a little smaller than they do in Chrome. They look even smaller in the obscure K-Meleon browser.

With Opera, I can set my font magnification permanently, so that I don’t have to re-size as you suggested. I usually keep Opera at 120% by default, which makes web browsing much more pleasant. Perhaps too pleasant; I should stop and go read a book. :-)

Kevin Michael Grace writes:

I read VFR in IE8, expanded to 150% (my default resolution). It renders perfectly, with no distortion.

LA writes:

I appreciate getting this feedback from several readers using different browsers.

One issue I often wrestle with is the size of photos on the main page. In Firefox 3, when the type is made larger, graphics get larger too, and so the photos can get too large and spill over into the side bar.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 05, 2011 05:39 PM | Send