User guide / Make it yours

Scenes

Full-page animated backdrops for the Subbook site. Pick one, tweak it, or switch it off.

On Settings → Themes & scenes you'll find a row of scene tiles: None, Sky, Space and Water. Only one scene is active at a time, and choosing a tile is what turns it on. A scene tile you've selected shows a small pencil that opens that scene's settings. Each settings page opens with a little sketch of your choices (the real scene renders behind the Subbook page).

Note

Scenes run in their own isolated frame so they can't interfere with the Subbook page, and the Sky scene draws off the main thread so scrolling and clicking stay smooth. If anything ever feels slow, switch the scene to None or turn on Improve visibility.

Sky

A realistic sky behind the page, with clouds that part around your mouse.

Setting	Choices
Cloud type	Cumulus (puffy) · Stratus (layered) · Cirrus (wispy) · Clear (no clouds)
Cloud density	Light · Medium · Heavy
Time of day	Morning · Noon · Sunset · Night
Rain	On/off, with intensity Low · Medium · Heavy, and an optional Rain splashes off table header (drops bounce off the top of the shifts table)
Live weather	Follows the real weather in a city you choose
Improve visibility	Plain, opaque table
Reset sky settings	Back to defaults

Live weather

Live weather is optional and asks permission first. When you turn it on a box explains: Bettersubbook sends Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com) the place name you type and the coordinates of the place you pick. Nothing else is sent: no shifts, no calendar, no account, nothing to the Bettersubbook developer. Choose Allow or No thanks, and you can turn it off at any time.

Type a city and matches appear as you type. Pick one and the cloud type, time of day and rain follow the real weather there (refreshed about every 20 minutes). Live weather overrides the manual options while it's on.

Space

A scrollable night sky with real constellations for the Northern Hemisphere. The page behind the table is a tall virtual field, one compass direction per “page”. Your facing direction first, then the other three, so scrolling gradually reveals all four sets of stars.

Setting	Choices
Facing direction	North · East · South · West
Constellations	On/off. Hover near a bright star for about a second to reveal a constellation's outline. It fades after 30 seconds and can be rediscovered.
Asteroid impacts	Now and then a rock hits the top of the table header. Set How often: Rare · Sometimes · Often. Preview an impact scrolls the header into view on the Subbook tab so you can see one.
Improve visibility	Plain, opaque table
Reset space settings	Back to defaults

In Space, the table header keeps the site's own look, and the requests bar becomes a compact spaceship-hull strip hugging its tabs. The table's orange lines follow your accent color.

Water

A calm underwater backdrop.

Setting	Choices
Tone	Light fades to a pale, sunlit surface. Deep stays a richer blue all the way down.
Floating	The search bar, tabs and table bob very gently.
Improve visibility	Plain, opaque table
Reset water settings	Back to defaults

Scenes with themes and dark mode

Scenes combine with everything else: a theme still sets your accent and font, and dark mode still applies. The accent color also tints the table lines inside every scene.

Something missing or unclear? Tell us and we'll fix the guide.