Feature plan: Step 1 · Step 2 · Step 3 · Step 4

Debug mode: enabled

Original Query

We seem to have experienced a regression in the Word 97 and Midnight themes. The styling for a selected navbar button is correct sometimes, but usually incorrect. It should be a pressed-down state and a light gray in the Word 97 theme (I forgot the correct color in Midnight), but it's currently dark blue on the pressed-down state.

Understood Intent

Restore each theme's own selected-nav appearance on every page load: Word 97 sunken light gray (#dfdfdf), and Midnight sunken mid gray (#3c3c3c, per its stylesheet).

Problem

Since theme stylesheets were split out (2026-09-23), the theme sheet loads before site.css. The shared :root:not([data-theme="chicago"]) .nav-link.is-active rule has the same specificity as the Word 97/Midnight rules, so it wins by source order and applies the blue --active-* style. It looks correct only when a runtime theme switch appends the theme sheet after site.css. Chicago is unaffected because the shared rule excludes it.

Option A — Exclude the affected themes from the shared rule

Add Word 97 and Midnight to the shared rule's :not(...) list, as Chicago already is.

• Pros: smallest change; obvious intent

• Cons: site.css must list theme names; each future theme with its own active style needs the same edit; this class of collision stays possible elsewhere

Option B — Make the shared rule a lower-priority default

Lower the shared rule's specificity (for example, with :where()) so any theme that defines its own active nav style wins regardless of load order. Add a regression test for the specificity relationship.

• Pros: fixes both themes and any other theme with its own active style; no theme list; independent of load order; small diff

• Cons: only fixes this rule; other shared rules after the critical-CSS marker could have the same issue (needs a quick audit)

Option C — Restore theme-after-shared cascade order

Load or layer stylesheets so theme CSS always overrides site.css (load order or CSS cascade layers).

• Pros: fixes every equal-specificity collision introduced by the split

• Cons: conflicts with the first-paint/async loading design; layers would also flip higher-specificity shared rules, so the visual blast radius spans all 16 themes

Recommendation

Option B, plus a brief audit of other shared rules that compete with icon-theme overrides (fix only confirmed nav/button collisions; record the rest as follow-up). It's a releasable slice: selected nav renders correctly in Word 97 and Midnight on a normal page load, with each theme visually checked, including nav icons. Option C should be its own cycle if the audit finds widespread collisions.