Montserrat rendering solution

theking2 · Feb 17th 2025

This forum is almost unreadable on a GNU/Linux based system as in both Firefox and Chrome the Montserrat font is rendered extremly thin. I might miss the proper hints or what ever.

The sollution is to override the font with something legible, like DejaVu Sans. Luckily it is set in the body tag so it can be reset easily with a plugin like Custom CSS for firefox or Custom CSS by Denis on chrome browsers. The code to set is

Code

 body
,input[type='submit']
,button
,a.button
{
  font-family: 'DejaVu Sans';
}

I probably missed out a view.

votdev · Feb 17th 2025

I am using it on Linux with Firefox (135) without issues.

theking2 · Feb 18th 2025

Quote from votdev

I am using it on Linux with Firefox (135) without issues.

doesn't help me, does it.. see screenshots. but that button white ultrathin font on a none contrast background. Why make it hard to read button texts I wonder.

but I'm not complaining only offering a solution

elspeth · Apr 22nd 2025

Having this issue, too. On a GNU/Linux machine, the site is basically unusable without editing the CSS on both chromium- and gecko-based browsers. Even if I zoom in, the thinness of the characters and the contrast level between the characters and the background still makes everything pretty difficult to read. Changing the "style" in my user settings for the forum (as suggested in another thread) alters colors, but not readability. Browser plugins can significantly increase your browser's attack surface and using them shouldn't be a prerequisite for using any given website. I don't mean to complain, either. And I recognize that this is an opensource community project, for which I'm very grateful. But, it would be really great if someone with the power to do so could fix the site's CSS to address this issue. I'm lucky to have very good vision and, given how much I'm struggling to read anything here, I imagine the site is entirely unusable for people with types of mild-to-moderate visual impairments that don't normally warrant learning how to use a screen-reader

ryecoaaron · Apr 22nd 2025

Quote from elspeth

On a GNU/Linux machine, the site is basically unusable without editing the CSS on both chromium- and gecko-based browsers.

No problems with Debian 12/13 or Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 using Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, or even Edge. I can't explain why you are having issues.

Jopa · Jul 10th 2025

Thank you, theking2, very much for showing a way out of this. Even if it's just an intermediate solution - I see plugins like elspeth - it helps for a meantime.

To all, who don't have any problems: There is a joke about developers always stating "On my system there are no issues at all..." And this issue is probably quite easy to solve, if anyone, developer or not, just would tell, which font exactly we, who have the problem, need to add to our systems.

It's not to blame anyone, but missing fonts are something, you are not aware of, until they get annoying. Like in this case, or even worse, as I had at work recently: There was a .xls from a customer, which my office was able to show well on monitor, but when trying to print, I got just blanc pages. Because office could substitute the font used, but not installed to a similar, but printer (driver) could not. Nowing about and working with font for 45 years now, I just added the font used in that .xls to my some 500 already existing and could print that table.

Only in this case I was not able to find the right Montserrat font to add yet.

ryecoaaron · Jul 10th 2025

Quote from Jopa

To all, who don't have any problems: There is a joke about developers always stating "On my system there are no issues at all..." And this issue is probably quite easy to solve, if anyone, developer or not, just would tell, which font exactly we, who have the problem, need to add to our systems.

And what if the font is installed on the user's system but the user is using some browser plugin causing the problem? The point of me reporting the list of OSes and browsers that are working is for the user to compare against what they are using. I don't install additional fonts or use browser plugins at all. If you are having a problem, trying install Debian 12/13 or Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 and firefox from mozilla repos. If everything works, then maybe it is something you are doing on your other install(s).

Jopa · Jul 10th 2025

You are right. And btw: I'm a developer for my own. More hardware but not only mcu software, too. And having some 280 fonts installed on my home pc and some 500 on my pc at work. But as both are windows machines, I'm still not knowing, what "standard" Linux fonts are. And where I can find the right Montserrat download, that would do the job and not urge me to use workarounds like plugins.

And no. I won't install Debian or Ubuntu. I'm using latest Waterfox - a branch of Firefox, coming out to reduce it's absolutely to frequent updates - which is using same mozilla repos. And for me everthing is working fine. Except websites using Montserrat font.

Jopa · Jul 10th 2025

I overlooked to mention, that windows tells you anything about the fons installed. And my told me, that Montserrat was not installed, So I searched for that font and got one "Standard" and "Bold" couple, but this did not do it. So again: Which is the right Montserrat font, I can download to overcome the unreadable issue?

Jopa · Jul 11th 2025

I still spent some time looking after the Montserrat font. Just to find out, that this is already a family of 18 members now.

Find details at github.com/JulietaUla/Montserrat/

Shall I really download them all and rename one after the other to simply "Montserrat" to find out the one that fits for the omv forum? Or should I better spend my time with looking for system global substitutions for all "Montserrat" fonts? The existing as well as future.....

Sorry, but I just cannot beleive, that even Volker does not seem to be engaged to make his omv forum comfortably readable for everyone.

Best regards

ryecoaaron · Jul 11th 2025

Quote from Jopa

I'm still not knowing, what "standard" Linux fonts are. And where I can find the right Montserrat download, that would do the job and not urge me to use workarounds like plugins.

I don't know what the "standard" linux font is because I don't pay attention. I just install Debian and it works. Plugins are not normally required because it just works on my Linux systems (a Windows vm too) and thousands of other users.

Quote from Jopa

And no. I won't install Debian or Ubuntu

Jeez. It was an idea. You don't have to install it. You could just boot from usb and use it live.

Quote from Jopa

Which is the right Montserrat font, I can download to overcome the unreadable issue?

No idea. chatgpt will probably help you more.

Quote from Jopa

Sorry, but I just cannot beleive, that even Volker does not seem to be engaged to make his omv forum comfortably readable for everyone.

Maybe he doesn't know how to help. Maybe he allowing his very competent moderators to help on the forum. Maybe he has a family that is more important. He generally stays away from the forum because people can be unpleasant. He would have to deal with hundreds of posts per day. As someone who has tried to do it, it is not worth it. Making the forum more comfortable for people doesn't help him develop OMV that he volunteers his time to. Getting a font to work in a browser on a windows machine is really not even an OMV problem.

Jopa · Jul 11th 2025

So, TO is obviously one of the <1 promille of users, for which it does not work, and me another one. And Volker was at least no so busy with other things, that he could not write the second post in this thread. Which, btw and sorry, was just like in the joke: "Everything fine at my site".

And your reply reads to be the same: "Everything fine at my side". And then even: chatgpt will probably help you more.

Great. You declare it as my own problem, or better: the problem of those, who have it. That includes the TO, elspeth and probably others, who were not aware of this thread.

Away of that, I'm more than a bit disappointed about your last reply. In the past, you were a reliable "expert" for me, but now you don't even know about such simple basic things like system fonts...

And again to Volker: I know, what he is doing, and as you mention his family, please tell him my best wishes. Hope, he never will have similar with his family as I have with mine actually.

votdev · Jul 11th 2025

Fonts are downloaded automatically so that the browser can make use of them. They don't need to be installed on the system.

This is exactly why webfonts exist and why the forum software makes use of them.

Jopa · Jul 11th 2025

Thank you Volker, for the screenshot.

I see clearly now and can tell the "mechanism" of the unreadable issue. The font Montserrat[wght] aka Montserrat Thin actually is the lightest font I've ever seen, and its unreadability has nothing to do with OS, browser, plugins or other software, nothing with font source (local or web), but with the resolution of display.

Think, all fellows, who have the issue, (still) use Full HD like me or even below. And rendering a font as light as Montserrat Thin for such "low" resolution just may result in lines only one pixel wide or even interrupted, making text hard to read or unreadable at all. With higher resolution (2K+ or better) there maybe some pixels rendered blanc, too, but this does not impact readability.

For own trials I searched and installed some of the Montserrat fonts on my pc and used them with Custom CSS. For me Montserrat Light is nice with omv forum, ExtraLight is normally readable as well, but still a bit "shallow". See examples from Windows font viewer below.

Best regards

votdev · Jul 11th 2025

The homepage and forum have switched to Inter font which is also the default font in the OMV UI.

Jopa · Jul 11th 2025

Great. And Inter is even a bit denser than Montserrat.

Thanks very much.

ryecoaaron · Jul 16th 2025

Quote from Jopa

Away of that, I'm more than a bit disappointed about your last reply. In the past, you were a reliable "expert" for me, but now you don't even know about such simple basic things like system fonts...

Sorry to disappoint you. It is nice that you basically tell me I'm not an "expert" because I don't know much about webfonts. Not paying attention to default fonts on a desktop does not mean I know nothing about fonts but whatever.

Jopa · Jul 21st 2025

Hey reycoaaron,

well, as you probably read, unreadable issue is solved - and had nothing to do with software as such, and so with your omv expertise. Sorry, that I mixed it at first.

Best regards

topo01 · Jul 26th 2025

Thanks a lot for changing the font as this issue drove me nuts on my secondary machine (Win10).

And thank you Jopa for your perseverance.

Jopa · Aug 2nd 2025

There was a maintainance recently, and looks like montserrat wght font accidently got reestablished....

From source code of this page:

Code

<!-- Stylesheets -->
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://forum.openmediavault.org/wsc/style/style-9.css?m=1753650872"><link rel="preload" href="https://forum.openmediavault.org/wsc/font/families/Montserrat/Montserrat%5Bwght%5D.woff2?v=1753647188" as="font" crossorigin><link rel="preload" href="https://forum.openmediavault.org/wsc/font/fontawesome-webfont.woff2?v=4.7.0" as="font" crossorigin type="font/woff2">

Montserrat rendering solution

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