We are currently designing a site that allows users to contribute there own news and information. We are using the fckeditor to allow people to write there articles. However they are able to choose their own font and size. I am asking member of the forum to vote whether users should be allowed to use their own font as part of their freedom and being and individual. They will only be able to choose web standard fonts of course. We as a team currently conflict on what we should allow. Some think it should be standard font and size. Others think the user should be allowed to pick. Should users be able to change the font and size on a user contributed site?
It obviously depend on the kind of site you're creating. But make sure all the fonts look good in your design, else you would end up making things worse
It is a user contributed news site. I myself do not think it makes since to have a bunch of different news articles with different fonts. However others on the team feel the user should be able to choose. Gives them a little freedom. I am just trying to see what others in the world feel.
You probably won't notice that much difference if you let users choose their own fonts. I mean, here at DP users can completely customise their font face, colour, and styling - although 99.99% of people keep it as the default. I voted no, simply because I believe consistency is more important than letting users make their article look pretty.
Of course the reality is that newer graphical Browsers permit users to disable (CSS) Style sheets, enlarge or reduce text size (also via the keyboard) or substitute their own personal style sheet thus enabling their own choice of fonts. James
I would be wary of letting people choose their own fonts. The only reason being some people without any knowledge of design or style just simply want to try to be create and end up choosing something that won't fit into your current design. If that happens then the rest of the site starts to look a little off and then before you know it more and more people do the same thing and it becomes a very distracting and turning off users in the end. The example that I would give you is try to imagine reading a book and every other paragraph was designed using different fonts and sizes and styles. Just imagine how long it would take you to read a normal book of about 150-200 pages. On top of that how many times would you just give up and look for the other book that provided the same content but with a consistent look and feel. Just a thought.