Dark mode
Every LinkMe theme supports dark mode with a palette tuned for the dark — not an inverted afterthought. Dark surfaces get their own contrast math: text lifted, accents adjusted, borders softened. The result should read as designed, not as a photo negative.
The three modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Auto (default) | Follows the visitor's system preference |
| Light | Always light, regardless of system |
| Dark | Always dark, regardless of system |
Auto is the honest default: night-readers get dark, day-readers get light, nobody chooses. Force a mode only when your content genuinely demands it — a photography portfolio might force dark so images carry the page.
What "tuned" means
- Text contrast — dark-mode text is lifted to readable contrast, not dimmed gray-on-gray.
- Accents — your accent color adjusts where a light-mode value would vibrate on dark.
- Images — photos and graphics render as-is; bright images glow on dark, which is a look you can lean into or counter with a subtle border.
- Elevation — cards and panels separate with surface shade rather than heavy shadows.
Your palette and dark mode
If you override palette tokens (see Fonts & palettes), you are choosing for BOTH modes. The token system gives each color a dark counterpart; set both, or leave a token unset and the theme's tuned default carries it. The classic mistake: overriding surface in light mode, leaving dark untouched, and shipping a half-custom site.
Tip
Test dark mode at night, on a phone, at minimum brightness — the conditions of your most loyal readers. If white text on your accent color squints, the contrast is wrong no matter how good the light mode looks.
Content that fights dark mode
- Screenshots from light-mode apps — glow like beacons; consider a thin border to contain them.
- Transparent PNGs with dark strokes — disappear on dark surfaces; give them a light plate or re-export.
- Hard-coded colors in custom CSS — the one place dark mode can truly break; write CSS against the theme tokens, not hex values (see Custom CSS).
Where to set it
Dashboard → Appearance — mode choice, with the live preview showing both before you commit (see Live preview). The change applies site-wide the moment you publish; visitors with the opposite preference see your choice, which is exactly what forcing means.
Note
Analytics make no distinction between modes — they count visits, not themes. If you want to know how many visitors actually see dark, the honest answer is "most of them, at night", and that is why both modes deserve a look before anything publishes.