If you were here for our SOPA Resistance Day, you no doubt noticed that we took a different approach to "blacking out" Ars than some other sites, choosing instead to invert the site's default colors. Long-time readers might have felt right at home, as Ars was all about white-on-black text back in the olden days. It wasn't until 2004 that the white background became our default.

Our SOPA-blackout turned out to be very popular, with many readers asking in the comments if there was a way to keep it. The short answer is yes, and it's easy. We've always believed in keeping a connection to our roots with a black theme option, but not everyone knows about it. Simply go up to our main navigation area at the top of the page, and on the right side select the "Customize" menu. In the drop-down that appears, set the Site Theme to "Black" and you're good to go. You can switch back any time.

Black site lovers should be happy to hear that we're committed to keeping the theme alive too, even if it's only used by the hardest of the hardcore. Whenever we launch our next redesign, the black option will remain. We'll also consider how to make it easier to discover next time. We should also note that we've heard the requests for the black theme as an option on the mobile site and will keep that in mind.