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-   -   Two user interface pleas (please!) (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=6136)

alanterra 2007-12-07 08:06 AM

Two user interface pleas (please!)
 
I haven't been using OmniFocus for about 6 weeks now (a few weeks of panic before a long trip, followed by a long trip with no computer), so this may be too late, but...

Two things drive me crazy on the OmniFocus user interface

1) The enter key should not open the comments. That is what command-' is for. The enter key should change the selection of an item from "insert text" to "selected" and vice versa.

2) I need a "ditto" key combination. Every time I start a project, I write down the steps, and most times the context, start date, or end date of a step is the same as the one before. (I know that there is a default context, but that takes planning. I want instant gratification!). So could we use command-" (shift-command-') to be "the same as the line above"?

And while we are on the subject, take a look at Quicken's shortcuts for dates. Quicken is a terrible program, but they have done one thing right: in a date field, the keys + and - (no command) bump the date by one day, and the ' key enters today. Much better than typing "today".

Love it. Gotta add my $ to the swell of income for the Omni Group!

A

curt.clifton 2007-12-08 07:14 AM

[QUOTE=alanterra;27887]
1) The enter key should not open the comments. That is what command-' is for. The enter key should change the selection of an item from "insert text" to "selected" and vice versa.
[/QUOTE]

I'll disagree here. The current keys mimic OmniOutliner. Almost all OmniOutliner shortcuts work in OmniFocus. As a heavy user of both applications, I appreciate the commonality.

[QUOTE=alanterra;27887]
2) I need a "ditto" key combination. Every time I start a project, I write down the steps, and most times the context, start date, or end date of a step is the same as the one before. (I know that there is a default context, but that takes planning. I want instant gratification!). So could we use command-" (shift-command-') to be "the same as the line above"?
[/QUOTE]

Select the line you want to duplicate and hit Cmd-D.

[QUOTE=alanterra;27887]
And while we are on the subject, take a look at Quicken's shortcuts for dates. Quicken is a terrible program, but they have done one thing right: in a date field, the keys + and - (no command) bump the date by one day, and the ' key enters today. Much better than typing "today".
[/QUOTE]

I'm with you here. The Quicken shortcuts for dates are really brilliant. They also include 'm' for start of [I]m[/I]onth, 'h' for end of mont[I]h[/I], and 'y' and 'r' for start and end of year respectively.

alanterra 2007-12-08 07:57 AM

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;27973]I'll disagree here. The current keys mimic OmniOutliner. Almost all OmniOutliner shortcuts work in OmniFocus. As a heavy user of both applications, I appreciate the commonality.
[/QUOTE]

Maybe your fingers aren't preprogrammed in the same way as mine, but I have this reflex when I am editing something that feels like a form or text field (an OmniFocus/Outliner line, an Address Book entry, etc), that I want to finish the edit with something that "enters" the data, and makes sure that any following key-clicks are not accepted as input. My contention is that the Enter key should have this behavior, but the truth is that there is no convention.

In Photoshop you close a text field with Enter. In AddressBook, you finish editing an address with command-L. However in Illustrator you get out of a text field with command-return, which drives me crazy.

But in Omnifocus there isn't such a keystroke at all, AFAICT. Return does this when you are in a pick-list field like Context, but when you are the Name field it creates a new entry (this inconsistency is another user interface annoyance IMHO). My contention is that if command-' is mapped to "Edit Note", why not use Enter for this function?

So, while I understand your point about continuity between Omni applications, my question to you is: Do you not need an "accept entry" key, or do you think that another key combination should be mapped to this, or does OmniFocus already have such a key and I haven't discovered it yet?

Thx

PS (Added later): A solution that would help solve my need would be that Return has the same function regardless of which field is selected--ie, that Return in the "Name" field has the same function as Return in the context field: one return closes the field, and a second return creates a new entry. Any thoughts on this solution?

curt.clifton 2007-12-08 08:14 AM

The key you're looking for in OF and OmniOutliner is 'esc'.

alanterra 2007-12-08 08:41 AM

OMG, you're right. This is the key that is used by many programs, esp. in Windows, to mean "abandon changes", so it has exactly the opposite meaning in OmniFocus. Maybe we should map command-Q to "Open..." and command-period to "Save" while we are at it.

Sorry, but I am flummoxed by the lack of standards in user interfaces, it just makes using a variety of programs so much harder.

Cheers

A

alanterra 2007-12-08 08:46 AM

[QUOTE=alanterra;27982]OMG, you're right. This is the key that is used by many programs, esp. in Windows, to mean "abandon changes", so it has exactly the opposite meaning in OmniFocus.[/QUOTE]

I didn't realize this, but OmniFocus follows the conventions of Address Book in its use of the Escape Key. See [url]http://www.betalogue.com/2007/07/31/address-book-use-of-escape-key-sets-dangerous-precedent/[/url] for more.

markb 2007-12-08 09:19 AM

heh, they do use cmd-k for Save (in Quick Entry), which in other programs means Delete

curt.clifton 2007-12-08 12:05 PM

[QUOTE=alanterra;27982]OMG, you're right. This is the key that is used by many programs, esp. in Windows, to mean "abandon changes", so it has exactly the opposite meaning in OmniFocus. Maybe we should map command-Q to "Open..." and command-period to "Save" while we are at it.

Sorry, but I am flummoxed by the lack of standards in user interfaces, it just makes using a variety of programs so much harder.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. It's great fun to switch back and forth between OmniOutliner and Excel. I'm so conditioned to press Esc when I'm done editing a cell in OO, that I'm forever discarding changes in Excel. I generally appreciate Omni's design sense, but I must admit that Esc to toggle editing mode always has seemed a bit bizarre. I suspect we're stuck with it though.

eronel 2007-12-08 12:45 PM

Wow! You opened my eyes. I am used to Esc switching between modes in the title and note because of OO. But I didn't realize it was a "feature" in the other fields. In fact, I had already filed a bug report on it for the date, context, and duration boxes because it seemed so wrong. I really think this should be changed for those fields. It's such a convention for Esc to back you out of list selections, etc.

xmas 2007-12-09 02:15 AM

[QUOTE=alanterra;27887]
And while we are on the subject, take a look at Quicken's shortcuts for dates. Quicken is a terrible program, but they have done one thing right: in a date field, the keys + and - (no command) bump the date by one day, and the ' key enters today. Much better than typing "today".
[/QUOTE]

I was not aware of these shortcuts before, sounds very nice and usable, as well as filling some common concerns people have.


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