Light and dark themes, UK dates and pounds in Base by Zaweba

You may spend hours looking at a database: tables of records, long forms, query results. How it looks on screen matters more than it does for an app you open once a week. Base by Zaweba follows the shared Zaweba look, with a dark navy theme and a light one, so you can work in whichever suits your eyes, your screen and the time of day.

Alongside the theme, two other small choices shape how the app feels to British users from the first click: dates appear as dd/mm/yyyy, and money is shown in pounds.

Dark navy or light

The dark navy theme suits long sessions and dim rooms. Rows of records sit against a dark background, which many people find easier on the eyes over an evening of data entry. The light theme suits bright offices, printed output that you want to compare on screen, and people who simply prefer dark text on a pale background.

Neither changes anything about your data. Forms, reports and the datasheet hold exactly the same records in both. Pick the one you like and switch if your habits change.

Because the look is shared across Zaweba apps, moving from Base to another of them feels familiar. Menus, panels and colours behave in a consistent way.

Dates the British way

Base shows dates as dd/mm/yyyy, so 03/11/2026 means the third of November, as it should for UK users. That matters more than it might seem. A database full of dates in the American order is a constant source of slips, especially in the first twelve days of each month where either reading is possible.

The same convention runs through the app, from the datasheet to forms and reports. When you write prompts for parameter queries, it is worth saying "dd/mm/yyyy" in the prompt so anyone typing a date knows the order expected.

Money in pounds

Currency fields show in pounds. Invoices, price lists and stock values read naturally, and reports with subtotals and totals look right for a British business or club without any setup. When you export to an .xlsx workbook, money arrives as pounds there too, and dates arrive as real Excel dates, so the spreadsheet matches what you see in Base.

Designing forms that work in both themes

If you design forms that other people will use, remember that they may not be on the same theme as you. Use the colours Base offers for conditional formatting (red, amber, green, blue and grey) for their meaning rather than relying on fine contrast, and check an important form in both themes before handing the database over. A warning that stands out clearly in one should still stand out in the other.

Comfort for long sessions

A few other habits help on long days. Keep forms uncluttered, with the fields people use most near the top. Use the navigation pane's search rather than scrolling. Choose the theme that you can look at longest without strain.

Small things, but a database is a tool for daily use, and tools that are comfortable to use are the ones people keep using. With a theme you like and dates and money shown the way you expect, Base gets out of the way and lets you concentrate on the records.