Can we please get a dark mode?

lenins7

I understand Zotero is open-source and free for all to access. But the devs have been aware of the demand for a dark mode for a number of years now, and I feel like this should be a development priority.

nhan000

This should help https://github.com/Rosmaninho/Zotero-Dark-Theme

ThomasJorna

There's a plugin that does this now (https://github.com/thomasfkjorna/zotero-night)

shl007

Just to link this to a related thread, I posted some questions about the above add-in --> https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/96719/new-plugin-night-for-zotero#latest

Speaking of dark mode (the topic of this thread), I also thought I saw Zotero 6 being referenced with a dark mode --> https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/95761/dark-mode-issues-with-zotero-6 ... But I think this post is implying go to separate add-ins instead like the one above?

jokingspace

I’d be interested in native dark mode also from a low-vision accessibility perspective.

imzoc

+1 for dark mode. It's the only thing that Zotero desperately needs to increase their users' workflow.

andreemcaron

My bleeding eyes really want dark mode too ;)

thurstonet

I have to say Zotero Night plugin is really really good. There are 3 different modes for PDF's independent of the app, and its just one button. Very impressed.

jazow

I agree; the plugin for dark mode is really good.

gael_berard

Just here to reaffirm we need darkmode

alexandrehuat

I get migraines easily with artificial white lights and that is why I have all my applications in dark mode if not in dark high contrast mode. A dark mode should definitely be added to Zotero. Zotero’s users are not occasional computer users, they often spend hours in front of a screen, so our eyes need rest.

OldSlippers

Using and enjoying the Night add-on. If only the images would not be inverted.... I often read texts with lots of images and the add-on is unusable then. :(

agam2222

Zotero Style plugin provides also additional options for dark mode ,some may be better for reading pdfs
=Zotero Style (Ethereal Style for Zotero)
https://github.com/MuiseDestiny/zotero-style/releases

tim820

Zotero Style has a pile of neat features in addition to several dark modes in the 2.6.7 latest release, compatible with Zotero v6 (with even more in pre-release versions, some for Zotero v7 only) including:
- annotations appear in the Notes tab in the main library view (under regular notes); clicking on one opens the PDF and jumps to that annotation
- number of items in each collection appears next to collection name in left pane
- alternating rows in item list coloured differently in Windows
- relationship graphs for collections
- nested tags

OldSlippers

Does Zotero Style still invert images in dark mode though?

agam2222

@tim820
Thanks for highlighting some more useful features I did not notice before in Ethereal Zotero style plugin .
@OldSlippers
Colors of images are changed but you have multiple degrees of pdf dark mode to choose from directly within Zotero Pdf reading pane, so you can try and choose the best one that works for you. You can even add your own custom colors and decide invert levels as you wish.

You can long press you customed colors to change or remove them if needed.

This is demonstrated here (press demonstration)
https://github.com/MuiseDestiny/zotero-style#pdf-styles
Hope this helps

OldSlippers

hmm one day there will be a feature to add dark mode for text that simply skips the images. Artworks, paintings, colour photographs, etc simply need to be seen in correct colours and even BW photos should not be inverted if they need studying. But reading text in dark mode is very pleasant. One day....

joaofrgomes

I have been using the Night plugin by @ThomasJorna, but I heavily customized the css stylesheet on the Nord theme so it uses by default to use more neutral dark colors, closer to macOS's default, and Apple's own SF fonts instead of the outdated Lucida Grande.

If anyone, including the authors of the plugins, wants to take a look at it, I can make it available. I'm not much of a css developer, so I brute-forced it and probably messed about with values that didn't even need to be touched, but it works and can be good reference for anyone more adept than me to make a more refined “standard” version of Nord.

gshehata

@joaofrgomes, I'm interested in your theme.

sonnenmann44

@joaofrgomes
I'm also interested in your customizations. I am currently trying to change the north theme to the Kanagawa color palette. I'm doing it by editing the night.css file from the night@tefkah.com.xpi archive, but only half of it works. I can change the colors in the main menu but not in the PDF view (sidebar, buttons etc.) and also not the font family. Which files are you editing for your customizations?

joaofrgomes

Hey all! The new theme from the latest alpha version of Night, for Zotero 7, is much closer to my attempt at a native one, as while we've seemingly lost the ability to reskin the contextual menus to a dark theme, at least they look native, and the interface finally uses the default system font, SF Pro, without having to download it separately from Apple (which is already the case with the default theme from Zotero 7).

As such, I'll soon be doing a new version of my own mod for Zotero 7; it should be a simpler affair, as I no longer have to mess with fonts, but I will still have to compare the three .css files, from both the original and my edit from the Zotero 6-compatible version and from the new one, before I can come up with my update. It will take a while, but stay tuned!

In any case, if you really want to stick to Zotero 6 and change the system font, for sure, I can make the .css file available somewhere and share it with you.

FeralFlora

Native dark mode has been implemented in the Zotero 7 beta re-design. It's a bit darker than the plugin options, but hey!

dstillman

If you made changes via userChrome.css or extensions.zotero.note.css, be sure to revert them in Zotero 7 to see the native dark mode as intended. Same with the Night plugin.

For feedback on the native dark mode, please start a new thread.