Alternate Typefaces and Fonts

[Hooded Pitohui]

The 'Shroom strives to provide its writers with the tools they need to make their sections match their visions for them as closely as possible. To that end, we try to provide writers with tools like tables, video embeds, and even comic galleries. Recently, another tool has come to our attention which we believe could be useful to writers. There are a few limited circumstances where it seems that being able to use multiple typefaces would be beneficial to writers, particularly writers producing fictional content in Fake News and Palette Swap who want to use it for a stylistic effect. With that in mind, we're going to try something, and we have made it so that The 'Shroom now supports a small selection of typefaces that can be used in addition to our current default typeface.

We're going to try introducing this as a tool and see it how works. Like we do with all tools, we'll be monitoring this to see how writers are using this, if it's as useful for the purposes we thought it would be useful for, and to make sure that it enhances, rather than detracts from, the overall quality of The 'Shroom. Please use this responsibly, as how you all use and respond to this will determine what changes we may make with this feature in the future.

I'd like to thank Lakituthequick for helping extensively with the technical side of this project and Edofenrir for helping to put together the following guide for writers.

---

Typefaces

It is possible for writers to render text in different fonts and typeface through the use of code. Changing the typeface can be done like this:

<p class="font-FONTNAME">YOURTEXT</p>

Simply replace FONTNAME and YOURTEXT with the name of the typeface and the text you want to alter.

Example:

Mario, please come to the castle. I've baked a cake for you.

<p class="font-courgette">Princess Toadstool</p>

At this time, these are the alternate typefaces which The 'Shroom supports. Please note that, should a typeface not be supported by a reader's particular device, text rendered in that typeface will instead be rendered in the default typeface used on the Wiki.

• PT Serif
• Courgette
• Federant
• Press Start 2P
• Indie Flower

Sensible Use

Using different typefaces and fonts can have a powerful effect on your work and leave an impression if used skillfully. Unfortunately, overuse of this feature can also strain a reader's attention and make a page look unfocused and confusing. Therefore, please use this feature sparingly, and only if you're sure changing the font is stylistically appropriate. Use it to evoke a certain feel or mood, not just as a means to force your section to stand out visually.

In short: Ask yourself why a different typeface is needed for your work, and if you cannot come up with a good answer, don't use it.

As with all other formatting elements, The 'Shroom staff is willing to help advise writers on the use of available typefaces. If you're worried that you've overdone it, or if you think you should use an alternate font somewhere specific and want to get a second opinion, feel free to ask a staff member.

The 'Shroom staff reviews pages before they are released and reserves the right to remove typeface changes if they seem gratuitous, unnecessary, or otherwise disruptive to the general flow of a page.


Suggesting Typefaces

It is theoretically possible for us to support any typeface on Google Fonts, but for technical reasons the number of options has to be kept to a minimum. You may request the addition of more options, but please only do so if you think having a particular typeface available is important, not just to arbitrarily increase the size of the list.

The 'Shroom staff will review your request according to the following qualities:

• Readability: Text rendered in this typeface is clear and can be read at a glance.
• Uniqueness: This typeface has a distinct feel that cannot be accomplished by any of the other options.
• Versatility: It is possible to use this typeface in multiple different situations; it will not be relegated to a single use and then forgotten.

 

[Magolor04726]

Was told to ask here about fonts, so... can we get this one or something similar, like a scrawl or something somewhat sloppy?

 

[Magolor04726]

Is it possible to get this style or something similar? (Something made of symbols that may or may not loosely resemble regular characters.)

 

[Raiko Horikawa]

That link gives me a 403 forbidden error.

 

[blixxara]

yeah me too

 

[fantanoice]

Have you thought about using fonts for accessibility? For instance, a font that someone with dyslexia can read?

 

[Magolor04726]

Scroll down to the tenth one, labeled Symbol.

Browse Fonts - Google Fonts

Making the web more beautiful, fast, and open through great typography

fonts.google.com

 

[Hooded Pitohui]

Is it possible to get this style or something similar? (Something made of symbols that may or may not loosely resemble regular characters.)

The link took me to a page for Symbol Std:


Looking at this one, and thinking about what you mean by the idea that it "looks like regular symbols," I don't really see the utility this would have. You can type a number of these symbols in the regular, default typeface, which, to me, seems like it would have the same effect if you want a string that looks like normal characters but has an "abnormal" feel. (If you lack the means to type them, the copy and pasting method works, too, albeit more slowly.)

In general, fonts and typefaces that fall into the "Dingbats" category probably aren't what we're looking for, because they break those rules of readability and versatility. They're not likely to have multiple uses for different writers with different goals, and they're definitely not something you want to be writing large chunks of text in, because then a reader is going to have to strain themselves and spend time trying to figure out what they're reading.

Have you thought about using fonts for accessibility? For instance, a font that someone with dyslexia can read?

You bring up something interesting, though I don't think I exactly know what the suggestion is. Could you elaborate on where and how something like that would be used to provide benefit? Accessibility is a key goal, of course. We do want our content to be accessible to everyone, balancing that with the technical environment we're working in and the accessibility options already in place, so I'd be interested in hearing more of your thoughts.

 

[Lakituthequick]

Yeah, Symbol does indeed look like it uses the regular letters to show "foreign" ones, which is terrible for accessibility. Use the correct Unicode characters for those.
(Fact that the linked font in particular is a paid font notwithstanding.)

 

[fantanoice]

@Hooded Pitohui
Something like this:
Dyslexia Font

I imagine people with the disability use a browser extension for normal text. But for the text in images we could have a normal version and a version people with dyslexia can read.

 

[Hooded Pitohui]

@Hooded Pitohui
Something like this:
Dyslexia Font

I imagine people with the disability use a browser extension for normal text. But for the text in images we could have a normal version and a version people with dyslexia can read.

Ah, I see what you're suggesting now. It would be the ideal. Unfortunately, it's not something we could do with practical ease (assuming we could find a free version out there, to begin with). Due to the nature of The 'Shroom as a volunteer-based publication, different writers are going to have different resources and different means of making images, and they may not all have a font like that on hand. It'd be impractical to have someone duplicate all the images with a different font, too.

That said, we aren't looking to exclude anyone. We do support alternate (mouseover) text on images. A writer can write the text in the image as alt text and it will be readable by a browser extension.