Throughout the years the look and and feel of WoltLab Suite didn't change a lot. We've seen some minor changes here and there like profile images, card design for articles etc. but in the end the design didn't truly change. It is what it was. And that's not entirely a bad thing because changes always mean that users, designers and developers need to adapt to these changes. But that does also mean that the flaws of the style system stuck with us for quite some time now.
So let's take a look at some of the ideas that might change the look of WoltLab Suite in the future. Please note, these ideas are taken from WoltLab's GitHub. It's not clear if and when they will be integrated with WoltLab Suite.
Font Awesome 6
Currently, and from its very beginning on, WoltLab Suite uses the now pretty much outdated version 4.7 of Font Awesome. It was considered that an (official) upgrade to Font Awesome 5 within WoltLab Suite will not take place due to design flaws in that version, e.g. some icons looked blurry, others didn't exist anymore (in the free version).
There's currently a pull request that's aiming to integrate Font Awesome 6 to WoltLab Suite - but still work in progress.
It is likely that we'll see this?
Well, I'd say it's not impossible because we already see some work done - currently for WoltLab Suite 5.5. But it also wouldn't be the first time that something gets stripped before the release of a final version of WoltLab Suite. So, I'd estimate it around 50% and for WoltLab Suite 5.5.
Redesign of the moderation panel
According to the issue over on GitHub the moderation panel is considered to be old and to have a bad UX (user experience). A redesign would most likely improve things (hopefully).
Is it likely we'll see this?
Yes, I do think so. From what I've seen there is at this time only the idea available to the public. There is one problem that I see now: Apps from third party developers might depend on the moderation panel. So if you'd change too much you might end up with compatibility issues. So I'd say 20% that we'll see this soon and it's most likely that we'll see this with WoltLab Suite 6 - if they'll do a complete overhaul.
Style Features
The GitHub issue “Style Features” suggests a set of new features for WoltLab Suite's style system like a new sticky navigation below the logo (on Desktop), a page frame and the search bar would always be visible.
Is it likely we'll see this?
Not for WoltLab Suite 5.x - and I think that way for a long time. Not only since I've read the latest comments on this. Don't get me wrong, we'll need all of this for the one or the other reason. But since it will break compatibility and it would be best if the style system gets reworked completely 0% chance for WoltLab Suite 5.x and we might see this in WoltLab Suite 6, which will break compatibility.
Color Schemes For Styles
The idea of this would be that a designer could define several color schemes for a style and that there would be a toggle to switch between them. The administrator could then sort and disable color schemes. They could not be edited as long as the style was protected - but it would be possible to copy and edit a scheme.
Is it likely we'll see this?
Well, I guess this will face the same issues as the Style features mentioned before. So, again 0% chance for WoltLab Suite 5.x and we might see this in WoltLab Suite 6.
