add theme switcher when not logged in

[ke352802081770314]

Pitch

in the Mastodon Web-UI, when not logged in I am stuck with the server admin's choice of theme. I frequently go to a different server, using "ursprüngliche Seite öffnen" (open original page?) on a post because I want to see the full thread, and various replies will not make it to my server if nobody subscribed to the replying user. I would like to have an easily accessible theme switcher when not logged into that server. (currently I am not aware of any way to switch themes, to light mode in my case.)

Motivation

as explained, I often visit the original server for a post to see all replies. Someone told me off recently because I asked something that was already answered but not visible to me when opening the post/thread on my server. I would find it easier to read if I can choose my preferred theme. I am sure I'm not the only one.

[renchap]

The next Mastodon version will allow the admin to set the default theme to be automatic (dark or light) depending on your system settings. Would this solve your issue?

[ke352802081770314]

Thank you for your quick response. I don't think so. The admin may prefer to keep it fixed instead of choosing "user's system settings" because they wish to convey a certain image/design to people arriving at their server, and maybe it works well with their logo image. This is perfectly legitimate. So it does not always remove the user's need to choose their preferred theme. I think we agree that this ability is a good thing on your home server, and my point is that there is also a benefit in being able to switch when I'm a guest reader on another server.

Besides, please forgive me for being suspicious of anything that claims to be "automatic". I just checked, my Firefox has in about:addons -> Themes currently the choice "System theme - auto". My system is Ubuntu with LXDE. For me, this happens to result in light in normal browsing mode and dark in private browsing mode, but I can't tell you how it came to that conclusion. I also made some adjustments in userChrome.css. Alternatively, I may have picked any custom theme that is perhaps purple on pink. Would Mastodon then use these colors? What if they clash with certain UI elements? Or would it calculate whether the color scheme is closest to light, dark or high contrast, and use that? (You haven't mentioned the issue number of that patch, otherwise I would have looked up the discussion there before asking.)