A note about the site: .oaklog is designed for optimal performance on free Mozilla browsers such as Firebird and Firefox. Some of the features discussed here may not work on other browsers. .oaklog wholeheartedly encourages its users to make the switch to open-source.

Your preferences page offers many ways that you can change the way you see .oaklog. To access the preferences page, click "my bio" on the right menu, then click the "edit preferences" link at the top of your bio page.

background and text color

When you first visited .oaklog, the background was a pale green (or, prior to 4/14/04, light grey). You may have already changed this color by clicking the colorbar under the site title in the upper right corner. When you click a different color on the bar, the background color immediately changes.

The white/black swap button on the left end of the bar switches your text color from black to white and back, and brings up a second, darker range of background colors; an even larger spectrum of background colors is available on the preferences page. If you prefer a background color not included in the colorbars, enter the six-digit color code in the "hex value" field.

status message color

By default, status messages and recent list entries appear in bright red. You should select a status message color that contrasts well with your background but is easily distinguished from your text color. Select a status message color in the same way as you select a background color, above.

text box color

You use text boxes all over oaklog, whenever you add entries or posts or list items. By default, your text boxes have white backgrounds. If you'd like for these boxes to complement your background color, select the "transparent" option under "text box color." A complementary text box color will set itself automatically.

background texture

The new "background textures" menu provides a variety of designs to liven up your background. You can select any of the textures or else the "no texture" option. Textures and background colors operate independently of one another, so changing one will not affect the other. Like the background colors, textures only affect the way you see the site.

frontpage options

If you'd like, you may customize oaklog's front page by turning elements on and off. If you prefer not to see some rankings displayed on the front page, you can turn those sections' front-page displays off in the "frontpage features" section. If you choose not to see the latest book entries, for example, on the front page, you can still access book.oaklog through the top menu.

talk options

Sometimes people have a lot to say and messageboard threads balloon up to hundreds of posts in length. Rather than click through and scroll down to see the latest posts in a thread, you can change your thread order to display the twenty most recent posts. By default, you see the oldest entries first; to change the thread order, select "reverse (newest first)."

font size

The size of .oaklog's font is fixed. Mozilla browsers allow you to change your font size anyway: just hold the Control key while scrolling up or down with the scroll wheel of your mouse. Be aware that large font sizes may distort oaklog's layout. If you use a different browser and the font size is too small or too large for you, you can adjust your computer settings to raise or lower your display resolution.