Blackthorn Field Notes — v0.9.1

Release Theme

Stability, readability, and trust.

This release focuses entirely on layout stabilization, spacing consistency, accessibility verification, responsive QA, and cleanup work before future feature expansion.

Phase 1A — Mobile Layout & Spacing Stabilization

Goals

Normalize homepage spacing rhythm
Fix Featured vs Latest section spacing collapse
Improve mobile readability and hierarchy
Verify responsive consistency across devices

Planned Work

Homepage Section Rhythm

Audit and normalize spacing between:

hero
search
featured section
latest section

Featured vs Latest Layout Fix

Resolve the mobile spacing issue where the Latest Field Notes heading visually collapses into the Featured Field Notes section.

Expected structure:

Featured Field Notes
[ content ]

(clear spacing)

Latest Field Notes
[ article feed ]

Mobile Typography Rhythm

Verify:

heading spacing
paragraph spacing
excerpt spacing
tap spacing
line-height consistency

Responsive QA

Test:

iPhone Safari
Android Chrome
tablet portrait
tablet landscape
desktop responsive layouts

Phase 1B — Accessibility Verification

Planned Work

verify larger text persistence
verify high contrast persistence
verify read aloud behavior
verify stop reading behavior
verify localStorage restoration

Phase 1C — Reader Utility Verification

Planned Work

verify native share behavior
verify fallback behavior
verify Save as PDF behavior
verify article-only rendering
verify dark mode print handling

Phase 1D — CSS Stabilization Cleanup

Planned Work

remove duplicate selectors
remove dead CSS
remove stale media queries
normalize spacing rules
reduce layout drift risk

Explicit Non-Goals

This release does not include:

reactions system
sorting/filtering systems
major homepage redesigns
branding redesign
animation systems
navigation restructuring

Release Notes Draft

Enhancement

Improved homepage spacing and mobile section hierarchy
Refined typography rhythm and mobile readability
Improved separation between featured and latest article sections

Accessibility

Verified accessibility control persistence and behavior
Improved mobile accessibility consistency

Maintenance

Cleaned up layout spacing rules
Reduced CSS duplication and layout drift risk
Performed responsive QA across mobile/tablet breakpoints