RFC : Simple File Window Layout Editor

[Mario]

In addition to the existing File Window layout editor IMatch now includes a simple layout editor.

This simplified editor allows users to quickly select the field / tag to display in each of the four possible headers and 8 possible footers in file window panels.
It looks like this:



The general idea is to make it super easy to customize the currently selected layout, e.g. to quickly make it show the title or a date value. There is a live preview while the dialog is open so you see what you are doing immediately. While this simple editor is aimed at users new to IMatch, it should also be a welcome comfort feature for other users.
You can open the full-blown layout editor directly from this dialog.

The new dialog works great for many use-cases, but of course not for all
If a user wants to display data in multiple lines, change font size, color etc. he must do that in the normal layout editor. Same for creating new layouts, tabular layouts etc.

Question: I plan to let the user open this simple editor by clicking in the header / footer area of file window panels. This assumes that users normally click into the image to select a panel or double-click the image to open the Viewer etc. Are YOU in the habit of clicking in the header/footer and thus your workflow would be disturbed by this?

Reasoning: New users are unlikely to have read the File Window help. They may intuitively click the header/footer to change the data displayed there.


Let me know what you think in the replies.

[mastodon]

WOW, that is what I always wanted. Make a layout with easy selectable menus. Bravo, thank you! 

[Jingo]

Funny Mario... after thinking about the latest string of info about the thumbnails and knowing how long it took me to create my own layout.. I was going to create a Javascript App to do something similar... allow folks to choose a location, pick the fields they want to display and the app would generate the code to copy/paste.

This is MULTIPLE times better!!!  Much appreciated... this will be quite useful in bridging the gap between the power users and the non-power users!

[ben]

To answer your query.
I usually rather click on the header than the thumbnail itself.
..just a habit

If I click on the text in the footer or header I would rather expect the text to be copied to the clipboard or highlighted for editing.

[ColinIM]

(....)
Question: (....) Are YOU in the habit of clicking in the header/footer and thus your workflow would be disturbed by this?

This would be OK with my workflow.
When I'm clicking a thumbnail I tend to position my mouse comfortably towards the middle of its image area.

I've got two other thoughts on this:

1. Perhaps a small popup/Tool-tip could be triggered while we hover the mouse in those header/footer regions, hinting that there is (or there would be) a different function there?

2a. It will be very hard to resist some "what if" experimentation with my layouts, with a new editor-interface like this one 

2b. Given the 'power' of the full-blown layout editor which lets us invent and install very complex tag-based formulae in those fields, I'd be terrified of accidentally overwriting one of my hard-won 'tag inventions' while experimenting with this 'simplified' editor ...

2c. ... So, could we look forward to a generously deep 'undo' (or 'rewind') option with this simplified editor to bring us back to our 'known good' layout?

2d. ... Or perhaps - in the full-blown layout editor - add a 'lock this field' tick-box which we could use to protect one or more of our (possibly) complex formulae from being too easily overwritten by experiments in the simplified editor?

[Mario]

2a - 2d

If you click OK in the simple editor, your changes are saved to the currently active layout. Period. Keep things simple.

Don't click OK if you don't want to.
If you are in the habit of clicking OK in dialog boxes without really wanting to, save your layouts to a file via the normal layout editor. This gives you an unlimited number of undos.

I also thing that we have enough tooltips and popups popup up everywhere already.
Too many will upset experienced users and probably add more to the confusion of new users than helping them.

If telemetry tells me that nobody (aka only a small fraction of users) is using this I can add a 'once per session tooltip' or something.

[lbo]

Question: I plan to let the user open this simple editor by clicking in the header / footer area of file window panels. This assumes that users normally click into the image to select a panel or double-click the image to open the Viewer etc. Are YOU in the habit of clicking in the header/footer and thus your workflow would be disturbed by this?

Although I have not yet fully developed "habits" in using IMatch, I rather would place theoption in a context menu (right click) since layout edits are rather seldom, but selecting an image happens so often.

Oliver

[ColinIM]

(....)
If you click OK in the simple editor, your changes are saved to the currently active layout. Period. Keep things simple.
(....)  save your layouts to a file via the normal layout editor. This gives you an unlimited number of undos.

Ah! Yes. Solved, thanks.

Too many (tooltips and popups) will upset experienced users (....)

Yes    I admit I'm one who prefers fewer or zero popups, but I only mentioned the tooltip idea as a way of engaging with your own 'thinking out loud' question about upsetting our workflow (or not).  So perhaps, based on telemetry etc., a once per session tooltip for new users would be sufficient.

[Mario]

Learning these things from users 'in the wild' is one of the reasons for adding telemetry. I just don't know much about the majority of the user base. Learning a bit more will aide things like "when to show tooltips and where" or maybe to an "Did you know?" app that displays helpful hints based on what the user does (or does not use!)...

[Mario]

Although I have not yet fully developed "habits" in using IMatch, I rather would place theoption in a context menu (right click) since layout edits are rather seldom, but selecting an image happens so often.
Oliver

There is an option to disable the click behavior.
The simple layout editor is now the default and will open when you use the command from the drop-down menu.

The File Window context menu is already way too full. I will not add new commands to it. I actually try to remove commands from it.

[sinus]

Although I have not yet fully developed "habits" in using IMatch, I rather would place theoption in a context menu (right click) since layout edits are rather seldom, but selecting an image happens so often.
Oliver

There is an option to disable the click behavior.
The simple layout editor is now the default and will open when you use the command from the drop-down menu.

The File Window context menu is already way too full. I will not add new commands to it. I actually try to remove commands from it.

I do not exactly know, what "File window context menu" means, but I personally love to click on the right button of the mouse to have specific command.
For example I do this often in InDesign from Adobe, there are a lot of possibilities with the right mouse-click and I like it much more then fiddling with the menu.

[Mario]

When you right click somewhere (in IMatch or other applications) you usually open a context menu. This is the standard behavior and has been defined many years ago by the Windows style guide.
Directly triggering an action via the right mouse button makes only sense when there is no alternative or the application you are using is very simplistic.

The term context menu is used dozens (hundreds) of times in the IMatch help and elsewhere. Very strange that you don't know what a context menu is after using IMatch and other software for so long.

Please all stay on topic. This is about the Simple File Window layout editor.

[jch2103]

Question: I plan to let the user open this simple editor by clicking in the header / footer area of file window panels. This assumes that users normally click into the image to select a panel or double-click the image to open the Viewer etc. Are YOU in the habit of clicking in the header/footer and thus your workflow would be disturbed by this?

I had to open an IMatch session to check this, but, yes, I do normally click into the image to select/etc. That's not to say I don't sometimes click the header/footer, but I think that's pretty rare.

[dkorman]

Mario,

Very nice, indeed, and convenient.  Could one display an Attribute field as a header/footer?  I'd like to see a "clickable" URL in the layout.

Thanks as always,
David

[Mario]

Could one display an Attribute field as a header/footer?  I'd like to see a "clickable" URL in the layout.

You can display Attributes via a custom template and the corresponding variables. No active components or links, though.

[Aubrey]

I usually click on center of image.
Aubrey

[Carlo Didier]

I wouldn't open the editor just by clicking, because users may not pay much attention to where exactly they click to select an object. Why not in a right-click-menu which is pretty much a standard way to do such things and therefore more intuitive?

[Mario]

The idea is that new users should find it, even if by a happy accident.
Context menus seems to be a 'never heard about' for the upcoming generations anyway... 

The simple editor opens via the normal "Edit Layout..." command available in the toolbar anyway. It's the first stage now.
You can launch the normal editor from it. Or you hold down <Ctrl> to open it directly when you select the command from the menu. Yes. There is a message that explains that 

[PaulS]

I use the Default layout 99% of the time.  I can't remember if I ever customized that view but it only shows the file name and date in the header and footer.

When I select images, I click in the middle of the image to avoid setting collections, bookmarks, or ratings accidentally.

It would surprise me if I selected the header or footer and it asked me to change the layout.  My normal expectation would be that selecting would allow me to change the value of the items in the header and footer.  For a change in the layout, I would expect to use a context menu or menu item.

But due to my layout and current way of working, it would likely have little effect on me if the behavior were as proposed.

In any event, the simplified layout editor is certainly a positive improvement.

[Jingo]

I kinda agree... I think clicking in the header and opening the editor might not be the best place for this... would certainly prefer a button next to the layout dropdown that would allow you to open the quick editor instead.  I mean - once you set this up, you probably won't be making changes to it... I set my complex thumbnail view up many years ago... and the only time I go into the editor is to share the code with others on these boards.

[Mario]

Adobe Lightroom allows you to pick the 'fields' you want to display when you left-click into the header in a thumbnail.

So this behavior is not that uncommon and, judging by the number or Lr users in total and the number of Lr users which use IMatch, I thought it was a good idea.
If it gets in the way, you can disable it with an option (see above). Then the layout editor only opens when you explicitly select the corresponding command, as before.

[jch2103]

Question: I plan to let the user open this simple editor by clicking in the header / footer area of file window panels. This assumes that users normally click into the image to select a panel or double-click the image to open the Viewer etc. Are YOU in the habit of clicking in the header/footer and thus your workflow would be disturbed by this?

I had to open an IMatch session to check this, but, yes, I do normally click into the image to select/etc. That's not to say I don't sometimes click the header/footer, but I think that's pretty rare.

With the introduction of IM 2018.11.2, I discovered that I tend to click the header area more frequently than I thought I did! Not a problem, but I do need to retrain my muscle memory....

The improvements in 2018.11.2 are excellent!

[Mario]

If this really gets in the way (in my experience it takes only one IMatch session to retrain yourself) you can disable the header/footer click handling this under Edit > Preferences > File Window.

[Jingo]

If this really gets in the way (in my experience it takes only one IMatch session to retrain yourself) you can disable the header/footer click handling this under Edit > Preferences > File Window.

Ok.. I thought I wouldn't like it and time will tell if it really gets in the way of my workflow... but, happy to report that I tried out the feature and it was so easy to access that I tweaked my thumbnail display even further that I had it setup before... a real pleasure to use!

[Mario]

I think most users will like this (especially new users), and old hands too.
You can disable the header/footer click if it gets in the way: Edit > Preferences > File Window.

[sinus]

If this really gets in the way (in my experience it takes only one IMatch session to retrain yourself) you can disable the header/footer click handling this under Edit > Preferences > File Window.

Ok.. I thought I wouldn't like it and time will tell if it really gets in the way of my workflow... but, happy to report that I tried out the feature and it was so easy to access that I tweaked my thumbnail display even further that I had it setup before... a real pleasure to use!

Andy, looks good!

[Jingo]

Andy, looks good!

Thx Markus... finally settled on a template that works for my needs... and with my switch over to a 34" widescreen monitor, all panels that I use fit on a single monitor with only a large preview pane used on the secondary monitor.. and I was able to still get 9 large thumbnails across the panel!  I was even able to increase the text detail font size in the thumbnail! 

[Mario]

I like these new monitors from Dell:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-ultrasharp-49-curved-monitor-u4919dw/apd/210-arnw/monitors-monitor-accessories

Two of these on top of each other gives you some space to work with (finally!).

[Jingo]

I like these new monitors from Dell:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-ultrasharp-49-curved-monitor-u4919dw/apd/210-arnw/monitors-monitor-accessories

Two of these on top of each other gives you some space to work with (finally!).

- only 2?  For that price - might as well have at least half a dozen!

[Mario]

Electronics gets cheaper all the time...