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Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

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Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#21

Post by fragmede »

nawgz wrote: post #3
thrower123 wrote: post #2

I hate this trend. Give me back menus and toolbars. I avoid using VS Code for this reason.

The other day I used the Command Palette to symlink `code` as a command to open `vscode` without having to type `ln -s /path/to/vscode /usr/bin/vscode` which was quite nice because trying the symlink version gave me confusing errors. I am unsure the UX is there to help make that discoverable in a menu; you'd be so deep that it'd be behind multiple sub-nests at a minimum. Seems much better to have a flat search for th…

For anybody else looking, that particular command is called Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH.

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#22

Post by marcodiego »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #15
fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #13

Every macOS application has a command palette in the help menu: command-shift-/ will bring it up and you can incrementally search all the commands in the menus.

This is one of those tiny seemingly inconsequential things that keeps me hooked on Mac OS

This was available on ubuntu unity in 2012.

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#23

Post by marcodiego »

Ubuntu had that with their Unity UI since at least 2012:

  https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yzdfLbKQy08/XMqOc0TkS0I/AAAAAAAAV80/oe6jGTCdAiwLQrk5cfI6e82TAyo2y6fFACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2019-05-02%2B13-29-46.png

  https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1SSxfxI-2WQ/XMqNh1byhBI/AAAAAAAAV8s/uf3v9x3_mP806tPp-chXntSUNIuyD5f1gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2019-05-02%2B13-25-33.png

  https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNj-HJIiWIc/XMqRaQZUjaI/AAAAAAAAV88/d0VgS8q3Yb8AFaJ-EOVtM2PAXf2jJlijgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot%2Bfrom%2B2019-05-02%2B13-42-23.png

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#24

Post by Xevi »

blondin wrote: post #8

> "People need to feel that they can try things without damaging the system," recommended Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines. well, for what it's worth, many modern apps aren't following that guideline. for a long time i have questioned the disappearance of tooltips in user interfaces. especially when everybody seems to come up with their own iconography nowadays. the answer i got from UX people is that "you can't ho…

> the answer i got from UX people is that "you can't hover or have tooltips on mobile". they are trying to achieve uniformity between mobile and desktop.

Yes you can. The generally agreed upon way to do this is by long pressing whatever you want to see a tooltip over.

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#26

Post by staindk »

blondin wrote: post #8

> "People need to feel that they can try things without damaging the system," recommended Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines. well, for what it's worth, many modern apps aren't following that guideline. for a long time i have questioned the disappearance of tooltips in user interfaces. especially when everybody seems to come up with their own iconography nowadays. the answer i got from UX people is that "you can't ho…

I'm always glad when an app with confusing buttons has 'tooltips' implemented that pop up when you long-press a button.

I think long-pressing for more info on touch screens feels quite intuitive, similar to how hovering feels intuitive when you have a mouse pointer.

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#27

Post by robertwt7 »

I can't remember the last time I browse through the menu bar / tool bar / start menu in windows / apps list in apple.

In vs code, i do command pallette, in iTerm i use fzf, in mac i use spotlight, in iphone i use spotlight to find apps, in windows i press start then start typing to search..

It is true, it is the norm! It's just super convenient

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#28

Post by _dain_ »

underwater wrote: post #12

The article paints command palettes as a return to terminal inputs. However there are two massive differences. Firstly, the use of fuzzy search and natural language makes the commands discoverable. Secondly, there is a feedback mechanism that shows what the command will do before it's run. Together, these massively lower the learning curve.

zsh completions with fzf replicates somewhat in the terminal

Re: Command palettes: how typing commands became the norm again

#30

Post by _dain_ »

thrower123 wrote: post #14
JadeNB wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hate this trend. Give me back menus and toolbars. Everyone has their own preferences; personally, every time I open Word, I am confused and disoriented and have no idea where to look for what I want. I think it's best for no-one to try to impose their UI preference on everyone, and for all of us just to use the software with which we find it easiest to interact.

This is the way everyone not responsible for creating it has always viewed the Office Ribbon UI. Most cursed creation in software.

counterpoint: I'm an Excel power-user and I really like the ribbon UI. when you use the alt mode you can fly through it and opportunistically/incrementally learn the keyboard shortcuts.
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