Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I've increased the base font size across the site from 13px to 17px.

The official reason: I'm getting older and my eyes don't work as well as they used to. The practical reason: if I'm struggling to read the site comfortably, others probably are too.

With the amount of long-form content we're building here—personal stories, detailed accounts, extended conversations—readability matters. Larger text means less eye strain, especially during those longer reading sessions when you're working through multiple posts or writing your own.

If the new size feels too large or creates any layout issues, let me know.

my hope is that it just makes the site more comfortable to use for everyone.
— Susan

@Susan

Dear Susan:
I am in full agreement, the increase in the "base font size" on the Susan's Place site
is much appreciated and is very helpful to all of our members.
 
Many of the member postings and also our Staff policy Announcements can indeed be
a little longer sometimes... and the increased font size all throughout the site
is a benefit to all of us as we sometimes spend many hours, day and night surfing
our site and the Forum postings

            THANK YOU

HUGS, Danielle [Northern Star Girl]
      The Forum Administrator     Direct Email: alaskandanielle@yahoo.com

Quote from: Susan on Yesterday at 04:13:47 PM
I've increased the base font size across the site from 13px to 17px.

The official reason: I'm getting older and my eyes don't work as well as they used to. The practical reason: if I'm struggling to read the site comfortably, others probably are too.

With the amount of long-form content we're building here—personal stories, detailed accounts, extended conversations—readability matters. Larger text means less eye strain, especially during those longer reading sessions when you're working through multiple posts or writing your own.

If the new size feels too large or creates any layout issues, let me know.

my hope is that it just makes the site more comfortable to use for everyone.
— Susan

Yes! Thank you, @Susan.

My computer monitor is my 50" TV. That helps me read from 10-12 feet away in my recliner. Lately, I had to increase the zoom level in my browser to help me with that. Suddenly, this website was so much clearer, and I thought my computer had adjusted (I just updated my graphics driver).

The site looks great, and the text is easily legible.

I have also noticed that it seems to be running smoother since your other upgrades. It isn't something I can put my finger on, but it seems to be running faster. Sometimes, when switching between public areas and staff areas (like Ban Lists), there would be a slight pause while loading. I am not seeing that anymore, and I suppose it is due to the change from table-locking to row-locking.

In any case, it is great, and thank you!

At first I thought I'd accidentally zoomed in and left it, so I hit Ctrl-0, and it didn't change. Next, I zoomed out to see what that looked like, and I thought it looked pretty close to how it was before. I left it there for a bit and decided I do prefer the larger font.

So you gave me what I didn't know I wanted. We'll all get used to it and be better for it.

Thank you.

@Lori Dee
Dear Lori:
You are very correct in your stated observations:
    The site looks great, and the text is easily legible as a result of the
    increase default Font size and the site is indeed running smoother and faster.

As planned, the forum software update/upgrade certainly did speed up the response
time on the Forum ... 
As you correctly noted, the table-locking to row-locking change
that was accomplished in the software update is helpful in that regard but also
the other upgrades involving over 21 GB of data resulting in faster, smoother
performance under peak load.

Mindful of our New Years 2024 site crash:
Data integrity was prioritized over speed so that nothing would be lost or corrupted.
The server back-ups were double-checked and the long update/upgrade was carefully staged,
with required careful, staged conversion.
 
Given the size of our databases, a safety-first approach was taken: staged conversions
(database-by-database, table-by-table), integrity checks and repairs after each phase,
and live monitoring with conservative pausing to prevent server overload. 

After the primary forum database finished and passed integrity checks,
the site was opened with limited access for Administrators to perform live testing
before the site was officially opened.

Everyone's patience was appreciated while this lengthy update was happening... we
wanted it done right, with good results and improvements, and with an eye on preventing
unplanned site crashes.

The updates were carefully performed and managed by Susan with her technical expertise and experience.
THANK YOU Susan for your excellent work and willingness to spend long hours and your hard work
getting this done.    Well Done Indeed !!!!

@Danielle [Northern Star Girl]          @Susan [Founder of Susan's Place
The Forum Administrator                                      and Website Administrator]
Direct Email: alaskandanielle@yahoo.com

Quote from: Lori Dee on Yesterday at 04:37:11 PMYes! Thank you, @Susan.

My computer monitor is my 50" TV. That helps me read from 10-12 feet away in my recliner. Lately, I had to increase the zoom level in my browser to help me with that. Suddenly, this website was so much clearer, and I thought my computer had adjusted (I just updated my graphics driver).

The site looks great, and the text is easily legible.

I have also noticed that it seems to be running smoother since your other upgrades. It isn't something I can put my finger on, but it seems to be running faster. Sometimes, when switching between public areas and staff areas (like Ban Lists), there would be a slight pause while loading. I am not seeing that anymore, and I suppose it is due to the change from table-locking to row-locking.

In any case, it is great, and thank you!

I Like It!!!... Well Done Susan!!! 💕😀👍💕

I am trying not to admit that my eyes don't work as well as they used to, but they do appreciate the size change.

My prescription for my glasses had to be strengthened this year. I appreciate the bigger font. 🤓

THANK YOU!!

Hugs,

Allie