Over the last few days we’ve run this poll in our sidebar.
{democracy:44}
Feel free to share your reasons for your answer in comments below.
About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
I generally prefer light backgrounds. Lots of type on a black background is hard on the eyes, but if there’s more graphic than type, black can be very effective.
I prefer dark background.. But white on the text box..
I really like dark blogs, but like I voted, it does depend on the style of the blog. I think a light or dark blog can be effective in it’s own way.
When I first started blogging I had a dark background and I was encouraged to change it. Which I did and I have been complimented numerous times on my site. So I think a light background is the best way to go.
If it’s a photo blog, those look great on a dark background. Text is easier to read on light backgrounds.
It all very much depends on the design and other factors. You cant just have a hard and fast rule but usually light is in :)
I went with “always light” but I’d qualify that with “lighter rather than darker.”
My current theme has a gradient going down the page, and while it starts out a bit darker than I’d like (and depends on browser rendering as well), I do like the look of black text on it.
On the other hand, my TweetDeck colors are gold on black. Go figure?
Maybe it is my old eyes– Dark bg and dark letters drive me crazy. I try to tilt my laptop screen, but can’t read much of it.
Dark text on a light background is much easier to read, and also easier on the eyes.
I don’t care either way, and use a mix of both on my site — content is on a light background, navigation is on dark. But I’m suprised that dark backgrounds got so little support. Light text on a dark background is supposed to be easier to read with less eyestrain.
I use all dark backgrounds on my blogs. It looks nice I think. You can’t read a white background for too long. It is too bright for me.
All the blogs I’ve created have light backgrounds. I like them better because they look cleaner and they’re easier to read.
Ligth backgrounds. Just because of the readability.
I better prefer the light one (white), because it’s easier to read. For example try to read an article in blog, which have dark background and after reading try to look somewhere else. I think that the feel won’t be very nice, but better effect for reading articles is white ( light) background. So I choose better white backgrounds on blogs.
It would be also interesting to here answer for question: What do you prefer better, reading on paper or monitor screen. And here I think the answer will be only one – paper, but it’s more expensive, so I think it is very good question to discuss.
Sorry for off topic.
i think light is better then dark because in light background u can sape your blog a simple look
http://indiandigg.com
I was taught at a writing class in college that it’s best to get a dark background with light text. In fact, I prefer it. White backgrounds are too ordinary and can make your site/blog look too bright. Dark backgrounds with light text has that constant pulled-in power, especially if you are going to look into it for a while. To me it also makes your site/blog a little dramatic.
Black backgrounds make my eyes hurt. If I spend any time on a site like that it gives me a headache.
Dark…or Light…you will have a different crowd of visitors. It’s just like a average person and a gothic or punkish person.
-Mike
White on black makes my eyes go squiffy. I will always prefer dark text on a light background.
It depends upon the blog, but most of all i prefer dark colors.
It depends upon the blog, most male likes dark but female likes light. i prefer dark colors.
Always light! 2 reasons:
1) Dark hurts my eyes and makes it difficult to read long passages
2)Dark (esp. Black) backgrounds often look like a Star Trek or 1992 design. Not always, but often.
Dark backgrounds are ok but most of the time when a dark background is used, they don’t use a font color to go with it that is soft on the eyes. White on black, for example, is much harder to read than black on white.
Dark is for art, light is for info. Lighter blogs are way easier to surf through.
Great topic, I love dark but its no place for a blog.
Peace.
It really depends on the blog because if you have a business blog then you have to think about putting a color that helps you put the advertising banners without having any trouble and without making your site look bad. On a personal blog I really love dark because light colors are sort of dull.
Mohammad Afaq
http://afaqtrafficblog.blogspot.com
Still working out if I should change the appearance of my blog, it’s very minimalistic and easy on the eyes, but could thing be better if I just went to the tried and tested Black fonts on white screen?
Most blogs (all blogs..) I follow are black on white.. with links in classic blue.
Maybe I”ll just have to blog about my blogs color scheme and ask for help for my trusty readers.
Feel free to take a peek and comment on my colors.
This is very interesting. Currently my blog has a dark theme which I have thought about changing for a while now. I do use white text to try and keep it clear the only text that is hard to read is the tagline under the blog title which I admit is only in that colour due to laziness.
Always dark text on a light background. The main page background is unimportant as long as the content is dark text on a light background.
I like light backgrounds. If I find a blog and it’s on a dark background with light print, I won’t even bother reading it.
Light background for text heavy blogs. Dark background with light text is fatiguing on the eyes. However, photo blogs can be lovely with a dark background.
I won’t read blogs with a black background and white text. My eyes can’t take it. If it’s something that I want to read then I’ll subscribe in my reader, read there, and only click through if I feel compelled to comment.
LIGHT – Extremely nice when reading lots of text and tutorials. I think it is best even if you have a dark background to provide a light background behind the text. Preferably white.
DARK – I would use dark only on blogs with lots of images and logos. Even then they seem to be too modern and not enough about content. I always feel when going to a dark site that there wont be enough content. Maybe I am just weird though.
I get really tired of seeing so blogs with white backgrounds. Gray is easier on the eyes. (That’s why I chose gray for my blog)
I do like the lighter backgrounds more than dark ones.
The text is harder to read on the dark ones. There are some occasions where the dark is ok, but very rare.
I notice that photographers use dark background
showing off their photographs. I definitely dislike the
dark backgrounds.
Bright backgrounds are good too.
Happy blogging everyone.
JoAnn
I love dark….and the articles more light cause give more focusing from visitor
I went with a light yellow. I initially used white, but some people didn’t like it. The yellow seems to be friendly to the eyes.
I prefer dark text on a light background. It is much easier on the eyes. It doesn’t cause a severe eye strain when trying to read. Especially if the post or article is a long one.
for me not too important, and focus on what is preferred by the visitor is more important
There’s a reason you don’t find novels on black pages. Hmm, now I’m wondering if there are any out there… :)
Lynn at Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile
http://infantbibliophile.blogspot.com
Dark backgrounds, provided text is an appropriate light color. (Not necessarily white.). It’s much easier on the eyes. There’s a reason writers tend to prefer a dark background/light text setup while writing – and plenty of specific software aimed at writers to prove it. Besides… a white background just looks lazy. And that cream-ish fake resume paper stuff just looks ridiculously pretentious.
I have read that you should never use a Black color blog, but for some reasons there allways the one’s i build, I think the dark colors with white text, stand out, I guess the Niche should determin your color scheme, But like I said I allways go Back to Black
Black backgrounds make my eyes hurt. If I spend any time on a site like that it gives me a headache. Light Background is very nice for me.
http://www.Guruadda.com
After a while of reading light text on a black background, my eyes start to jitter, even when I look away from the computer screen. The same seems to be true with any light color on black. With other dark colors, like brown or blue, I don’t seem to have the same problem.
I think having a white color as your background is not good for your eyes.
Also if your background is black and your letters are all white. It is the same thing. It is not good for your eyes.
Remember when you look at your computer you are looking at a light bulb. Make the background a little darker so that less light shines out of your computer to your eyes.
So, I think you need to have a little dark enough background (I like e6e6e6) and your letters should be all back or something really dark. Then you can protect your eyes better while you are updating and working on your blog or website, right?