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TheBat English » The Bat! - Configuring the E-mail Client
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How to change the font size of inbox messages, How to increase interface font size in message view
 
#1
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Does anyone know how to change the font size of the interface where we look at all our messages?

I just started using the Bat on my new Windows 11 64 bit computer but am not sure I will continue because I can't read the message list without leaning forward and straining my eyes. I've never had this difficulty online before. All the messages on the Bat only take up about 1/3 of my screen and are tiny - and the rest of the interface is blank.


I finally figured out how to change the tree font - a 16 font LOOKS like about a 10point font.  And through options, preferences AND editing the colors.ini file, I actually changed some other font size listing for messages to 200% and 16 point (though it certainly doesn't look like it changed much even after rebooting).

Giving up Eudora after 25 years has been difficult, and I thought that the Bat would be the best option for hundreds of thousands of emails and hundreds of folders, but I have to be able to read the screen that lists my messages. (And I'm not taking about writing and reading messages - that can be changed!). HELP!
Edited: tracy marks - 24 February 2024 01:56:18 (clarification)
 
 
 
#2
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I'm replying to my own post. I went back into the colors.ini file in the bat program directing (in user, roaming file on Windows 11, and changed every reference to font size from 0 to 1 and from 100 to 200% and from 9 to 14 - not only for the generic COLOR options but also for every single color option, since message headers, quoted text etc. remained a miniscule type size unless I changed every COLOR section. Then I saved the ini file.

Within the BAT preferences, I also looked for every possible reference to font size and changed everything to font size 14.  For some reason, in Windows 11, 64 bit, with Windows interface fonts at their largest settings, font size 14 in BAT looks like about font size 11.


Then I closed BAT, rebooted my computer and reopened BAT.
VOILA! Not exactly as good as I want (for some reason, the increase in font size seems to be creating a 1.5 line spacing effect, which is unnecessary) but a substantial improvement. I can actually read everything!

Hopefully this is helpful to other people struggling with the size of interface and message fonts. On various forums online, I keep finding posts by people who quit the BAT or refused to use it because of the tiny font size of the interface, with no obvious means of altering it. There is a means, but it is certainly not easy to figure out, especially when one is not particularly technically-savvy.
Tracy Marks
 
 
 
#3
126.6305  
Hello Tracy, and welcome to the TB user family. It can be a bumpy ride sometimes, but as a long-time user (~25 years, like you with Eudora) I can tell you it is definitely worth it. And thanks for the immediate feedback.

TB is highly configurable: almost everything can be moved around, shown/hidden, adjusted in various ways... It can take some time to figure out how to set up, but once you get it dialed in just the way you like it, it turns TB into a trusty daily workhorse.

Some things for you to consider:

- I'm using Windows 10, but 11 should be similar: there is a global Windows option to scale all fonts in display settings. Mine is set to 125%.
- There shouldn't be a need to change colors.ini, all the settings should be accessible from the Preferences. But if it worked for you, great.
- Workspace -> Window Split Mode allows you to adjust the arrangement of the folder tree, message list and message view panels.
- Preferences -> Other Options: you can use a denser display of folders and messages in the message list.
- Preferences -> Message List -> Switch to summary view...: you can turn this off to have a "classic" display of messages in the list using columns. This takes up even less vertical space.
- Check out View Modes to adjust the abovementioned columns in a consistent way.
- Preferences -> Viewer/Editor -> Use Classic Preview Pane: by default TB uses a "conversation view" introduced in v11 which has its problems. The classic view may be what you are more used to. If you decide to use the classic pane permanently, be sure to disable the indexer in Preferences -> General.

I may have missed something, but you can browse the documentation for more information. Older posts on this forum are also full of good tips.
 
 
 
#4
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Hi Tracy,
I sympathise, I have had considerable problems transferring from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and getting text size to be readable on my 4K screens. Not only in TheBat!  
 
 
 
 
#5
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Same here. If you are a college student and assignments are causing you pain in your head, then DoMyPapers https://domypaper.com/ can help with essays, research, and even dissertations! I used them and liked their work and how professional they were. Definitely recommend!
Edited: Colleen Lowe - 20 March 2024 09:06:20
 
 
 
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