This is a proposal for the general design — not for the particular colour schemes. There is [a separate request for a dark scheme](https://topanswers.xyz/meta?q=745).

* Model the right hand pane (chat) after the left (posts):
  * Move the bottom "room bar" <header>) to the very top to align with and visually extend the top bar (<header>).
  * Give the icon on the left a drop-down room selector (just like the site selector).
  * Give it a search field (which as opposed to the main search, only searches when you press Enter, and then takes you to a transcript search).
  * Move the starred and transcript links into the chat top bar.
  * Move the room title down below the input field
  * Put the active chat users after the room title

* Actives' bar:
  * Move #active-users to the bottom below the chat input field.
  * Extend #active-rooms to the full height.  

* Top bar:
  * Make the search field take up all available space.
  * Move profile button to bottom right corner, where chat users and active rooms meet.

* Everywhere:
  * Remove unnecessary borders.
  * Remove background contrasts.
  * Increase text-to-background contrast

* Breathe!

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## Comparison
Click on an image to enlarge it, then use the `<` and `>` buttons to switch images and compare!

The first image is the current situation:  
![Screenshot_2020-02-24 The Nineteenth Byte - TopAnswers(4).png](/image?hash=8dd1cb2379db57e412461ffa66eaac514c94c6360b096290418f69412dada237)

This is the current layout, but with light backgrounds, as mocked up by Jack:  
![Screenshot_2020-02-24 The Nineteenth Byte - TopAnswers(2).png](/image?hash=b1daf2bd7dfad2de860c7911156723c9bb903074009537057a5ee1832bd868b0)

Finally, my proposal:  
![Screenshot_2020-02-24 The Nineteenth Byte - TopAnswers.png](/image?hash=08eded104d84bd9f4b4d48ec2d24694d8209ad89554bbd587f48684ad54f8a71)