Text Links in Lieu of Image Buttons for Comment Commands in the Lynx Site Scheme
Title
Text Links in Lieu of Image Buttons for Comment Commands in the Lynx Site Scheme
Short, concise description of the idea
For comment pages on the Lynx site scheme, I would like to have text links instead of the image buttons/icons for the comment commands in the comment headers.
Full description of the idea
Because of the faster loading speeds, markedly decreased amount of JavaScript and other content, simplicity, and across-the-board usability for all machines and mobile devices, I strongly prefer to use Lynx as my default site scheme. However, one area I can see for possible improvement is the comment pages in Lynx. Right now, they display the same icons for comment commands (such as deleting, editing, freezing, screening, and so on) as the other site schemes do but do not provide alternative text in case the icons do not load for whatever reason.
Hence, I would like to have text links implemented for these comment commands in lieu of the icon buttons. In cases where the icons don't load, text would make it easier for me to tell right away what command I am about to perform instead of having to guess from the order of my mobile browser's image placeholders for these icons. Furthermore, text would require less content for my browser to load, resulting in faster download times.
One "major" drawback I can think of is that having the fully written out words might make the comment headers stretch out more than they normally would, causing lots of linewrap for deeply nested comments in long threads. This is something I could very easily live with, though I can't speak for others. ;) I suppose a way to avoid this would be to use shorter and/or abbreviated words.
An ordered list of benefits
- Less content for p-stat.livejournal.com to serve and for browsers to load on pages using the Lynx site scheme.
- Better usability of comment pages for mobile devices and older computers, especially those whose connection speeds are slow and or are unable to load many images.
- Since the Lynx browser is designed as text-only, this suggestion would make viewing LJ pages in the Lynx site scheme closer to its namesake browser's design. It's not that important a benefit, and likely arguable, but I still think it bears mentioning.
- The usual time and trouble to code and implement, etc., etc., etc.
- A special exception would have to be implemented for the Lynx site scheme in regards to how comment headers are handled. Not sure how much of a problem this would really pose overall, though.
- Text links might stretch out the comment headers, making them aesthetically unappealing to some people and/or causing additional linewrap in deeply nested comments in long comment threads.
- As always... probably at least one person might dislike this for some other reason I can't think of right now. =P