Jack Douglas
We already [allow](/meta?q=56) a limited choice of normal and monospace fonts which can be selected on [your profile](https://topanswers.xyz/profile)
If you want another font added, please answer below with your suggestion (one font per answer), so we can vote and figure out what is in demand.
The fonts must be available under a suitable license such as [OFL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIL_Open_Font_License). A good place to look might be this [font library](https://fontlibrary.org/en/search?order=pop&license=OFL+%28SIL+Open+Font+License%29), and if you want sans-serif in particular (for example) you can [filter out the rest](https://fontlibrary.org/en/search?order=pop&license=OFL+%28SIL+Open+Font+License%29&category=sans-serif).
Top Answer
samcarter
# [JetBrains Mono NL](https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/#font-family)
I would like to suggest `JetBrains Mono NL` (the NL version without ligatures) as possible code font.
I like it because it is easy to read and a bit heavier than other code fonts which imho makes it a nice partner for Charis SIL as text font.
### License
It is free an open source. It's [website](https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/#font-family) says
> JetBrains Mono typeface is available under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 license and can be used free of charge, for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
### Example
Answer #2
David
# [IBM Plex Sans](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Sans)
- sans-serif[^f1]
- OFL licensed
- 14 members in the family = different weights of regular, italics, bold, and bold italics
- extensive set of Latin characters (909 glyphs) to cover "[100 languages][1]"; also seven non-Latin scripts
**Rationale**: aside from its very broad language coverage, [IBM Plex Sans][2] is especially clear and enhances legibility in a Sans font by using a "bar" upper-case `I` *and* a swung foot on lower-case `l`.[^f2] Here it is compared with the current sans options on TA:
**Sample**
[1]: https://www.ibm.com/plex/languages/
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Plex
[3]: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/IBM+Plex+Mono
[^f1]: There is also a mono and serif in this family, linked on the Google Fonts page. I find the serif a bit busy, [but the `mono`][3] could be a good match if needed for code blocks.
[^f2]: This is, so far as I'm aware, quite a rare combination. If you know of other sans fonts with this feature, please let me know in a comment. Thanks!
Answer #3
David
# [Charis SIL](https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/charis) \[added to site: 2020-01-12\]
- serif (almost "slab")
- OFL licensed
- four styles (regular, italic, bold, bold italic)
- "In total, over 3,600 glyphs are included, supporting stylistic alternates for a number of characters as well as a large number of ligated sequences."[^f1]
**Rationale**: A large glyph with extended Latin ranges, it is one of the few fonts that also correctly handles stacking diacritics. I work with "scientific" transliteration of classical Hebrew, and Charis SIL handles my "stress test" string perfectly (see screen shot, below):
bərēšīṯ bå̄rå̄ʾ ʾɛ̆lōhīm ʾēṯ haššå̄mayim wəʾēṯ hå̄ʾå̄rɛṣ
It [also includes][1] the Cyrillic range.
Charis is based on [Bitstream Charter][2], and works very well both on screen and in print.
**Sample**
[1]: http://software.sil.org/charis/support/character-set-support/
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitstream_Charter
[3]: http://software.sil.org/lcgfonts/font-subsets/
[^f1]: It is also available in "[sub-sets][3]" if the full repertoire of glyphs is not required.
Answer #4
David
# [Merriweather][m1]
- serif
- OFL license
- eight members in family: normal and italic in four weights (light through "black")
- it currently supports the following unicode ranges: Latin-1, Latin-2, Cyrillic, Turkish, Windows Baltic, Macintosh Character Set
**Rationale**: From the [Google Fonts][g1] description:
> Merriweather was designed to be a text face that is pleasant to read on screens. It features a very large x height, slightly condensed letterforms, a mild diagonal stress, sturdy serifs and open forms.
And [from the designer][m2]:
> Merriweather offers a Renaissance warmth while using proportions which are space-saving. It is suitable for editorial design, news and other kinds of space sensitive typography. Merriweather is an evolving project and will be updated.
It is the relatively large x-height, with correspondingly low ascenders/descenders, and open counters (and, to my eye, a certain elegance!) that make this an attractive choice for long-form reading. (I don't use anything else on Wikipedia, for example.) It has come a long way in terms of range of glyphs supported since its early release. For general purpose reading on websites it has become something of a staple, it seems to me.[^fn1]
I debated with myself whether to "poll" for Merriweather or [Gelasio][ge] (also by [Eben Sorkin][es]), but don't want to flood this Q&A with "near neighbours". The differential for Charis (which has already been added as an option on TA) is that Charis implements diacritics in a more robust way than Merriweather (and most other fonts, tbf) so will serve linguists, e.g., in particular. Merriweather is a more general purpose option. I hope TA can support it!
**Sample**
[m1]: https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/merriweather
[g1]: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Merriweather
[ge]: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Gelasio
[es]: http://sorkintype.com/
[m2]: https://github.com/SorkinType/Merriweather#basic-font-information
[^fn1]: This is not just anecdotal: according to Google Fonts, "Merriweather is featured in more than 4,200,000 websites".