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[Seasonal · human approval required] St Patrick's Day: better design & features #233

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opened 2026-09-25 13:03:44 -04:00 by jared · 0 comments
jared commented 2026-09-25 13:03:44 -04:00
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St Patrick's Day seasonal theme: better design and features

Human approval required. AI may research, design, prototype and implement changes for this theme, but it may not approve or close this issue. Only a human (Jared) closes it, after reviewing the rendered result. Work happens on a branch (seasonal/stpatricks) and reaches lotus only when a human merges it.

Active: Mar 15 – 18 (auto), or any time via Settings → General → Seasonal Theme
Code: src/app/components/seasonal/themes/StPatricks.tsx + StPatricks.css.ts; schedule in seasonSchedule.ts

What it does today

Mint wash with shamrocks/four-leaf clovers at three depths, gold coin glints, gold sparkles and faint rainbow arcs.

Baseline: what it actually looks like (rendered 2026-09-25, not inferred from the code)

Left to right: desktop mid-animation (5 s in), desktop with reduced motion, phone (Pixel 7). Light theme, a real room with messages.

St Patrick's Day baseline

What the render shows:

  • At real size the clovers read as green splats/asterisks, not shamrocks — the silhouettes don't survive being this small.
  • Clovers sit on room names in the sidebar and on message text; many land in the reading column.
  • Rainbow arcs and coin glints aren't noticeable.
  • The seasonal floating button (bottom-right) overlaps the composer's send button on a phone.
  • Only the light theme was rendered for this baseline; dark (and the other colour themes) must be checked too.

Ideas to explore (not decisions)

  • Redraw the clover so it is recognisable at 16–24 px (or show fewer, larger ones at the edges).
  • A small rainbow/pot-of-gold moment in a corner instead of a full-screen scatter.

Hard requirements for any design

  • Text stays readable: nothing opaque or high-contrast over message text, names, the composer, headers or controls. Check WCAG AA contrast of text over the effect.
  • Reduced motion: a static version that still looks good (reduced prop).
  • Performance: transform/opacity animation only; no measurable jank while scrolling or typing; nothing runs when the theme is off.
  • No pointer interference: the overlay never blocks clicks or taps.

Required process: render and look, don't trust the code

Every iteration must be rendered in a real browser and looked at before it's proposed. Code review alone is not enough.

  • Screenshots of: desktop and phone, light and dark theme, reduced motion, and 2–3 frames of the animation (or a short recording), in a room with real messages.
  • Before/after images posted on this issue for each iteration, with a short note on what changed and why.
  • Checked against the hard requirements above, on the rendered images.

Approval (human only)

  • A human has reviewed the rendered design and approves it.
  • A human has merged seasonal/stpatricks.
  • A human closes this issue.
## St Patrick's Day seasonal theme: better design and features > **Human approval required.** AI may research, design, prototype and implement changes for this theme, but it **may not approve or close this issue**. Only a human (Jared) closes it, after reviewing the rendered result. Work happens on a branch (`seasonal/stpatricks`) and reaches `lotus` only when a human merges it. **Active:** Mar 15 – 18 (auto), or any time via Settings → General → Seasonal Theme **Code:** `src/app/components/seasonal/themes/StPatricks.tsx` + `StPatricks.css.ts`; schedule in `seasonSchedule.ts` ### What it does today Mint wash with shamrocks/four-leaf clovers at three depths, gold coin glints, gold sparkles and faint rainbow arcs. ### Baseline: what it actually looks like (rendered 2026-09-25, not inferred from the code) Left to right: desktop mid-animation (5 s in), desktop with reduced motion, phone (Pixel 7). Light theme, a real room with messages. ![St Patrick's Day baseline](https://code.lotusguild.org/attachments/07a28bdb-ca8a-4c70-94d9-ebac038a2aa8) What the render shows: - At real size the clovers read as **green splats/asterisks**, not shamrocks — the silhouettes don't survive being this small. - Clovers sit on room names in the sidebar and on message text; many land in the reading column. - Rainbow arcs and coin glints aren't noticeable. - The seasonal floating button (bottom-right) overlaps the composer's send button on a phone. - Only the **light** theme was rendered for this baseline; dark (and the other colour themes) must be checked too. ### Ideas to explore (not decisions) - Redraw the clover so it is recognisable at 16–24 px (or show fewer, larger ones at the edges). - A small rainbow/pot-of-gold moment in a corner instead of a full-screen scatter. ### Hard requirements for any design - **Text stays readable**: nothing opaque or high-contrast over message text, names, the composer, headers or controls. Check WCAG AA contrast of text *over* the effect. - **Reduced motion**: a static version that still looks good (`reduced` prop). - **Performance**: transform/opacity animation only; no measurable jank while scrolling or typing; nothing runs when the theme is off. - **No pointer interference**: the overlay never blocks clicks or taps. ### Required process: render and look, don't trust the code Every iteration must be **rendered in a real browser and looked at** before it's proposed. Code review alone is not enough. - [ ] Screenshots of: desktop and phone, light and dark theme, reduced motion, and 2–3 frames of the animation (or a short recording), in a room with real messages. - [ ] Before/after images posted on this issue for each iteration, with a short note on what changed and why. - [ ] Checked against the hard requirements above, on the rendered images. ### Approval (human only) - [ ] A human has reviewed the rendered design and approves it. - [ ] A human has merged `seasonal/stpatricks`. - [ ] A human closes this issue.
stpatricks-baseline.png
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jared added the enhancementuxarea: appearanceneeds-human-review labels 2026-09-25 13:03:44 -04:00
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Reference: LotusGuild/cinny#233