Ease of using the Search/Create bar
Considering the importance of the Search/Create bar, I would like to be able to select the text inside this bar more easily. I very much would like to endorse Steve Krug's call for a Don't Make Me Think approach which would enable you to start a new search or create a new document without having to remember ⌘L or needing to position the cursor precisely above this inconspicuous narrow gray bar and then click three times. I would also like to see the contents of this bar zoom in and out with the text in the editor.
-
I'm not following you.
1. How do you propose moving the cursor to the search bar? Currently, you can use the menu bar, the command shortcut, or the mouse to switch focus. What other way is there?
2. Why do you have to click three times?
0 -
Perhaps the software could detect that the arrow was moving quickly towards the search bar and most there when the first click occurs? Or the bar could be slightly wider?
You need three clicks after positioning the arrow correctly. The first click will position the cursor inside the text in the search bar, the second click will select the first word, the third click will select the entire sentence in the search bar. One could move to the x on the right hand side instead and start typing, but moving away from the text you want to select does not feel natural.
0 -
Typing ⌘L solves all of these problems. Moves the cursor and selects all. Is that not an option?
0 -
Perhaps there is something going on with your computer? Or I am still not understanding the issue. When I am editing, I can move the cursor to the search bar and click once -- the cursor is exactly where I put it, ready to go.
If you want to replace the text that is already existing in the search bar (e.g. an entirely new query), then Cmd-A is the normal macOS mechanism for selecting all (As you note, you can also use multiple clicks to accomplish the same thing, but I virtually never do that). You can then type and go, replacing the previously existing query text. This works fine for me in nvUltra.
Or, as Brett, and I, and even you, mention -- Cmd-L does all of this at once. If you don't like Cmd-L, then macOS allows you to redefine menu bar shortcuts to (almost) whatever you like.
0 -
Since the search/create bar is at the core of this app I would expect to be able to move on to the next task without giving the interaction with the software much thought. So just click, type and go. Perhaps it would help if the software would select the entire sentence on the first click. I just checked, that is exactly how Safari's address bar behaves. Perhaps this is what was bothering me: nvUltra's behavior is different from Safari's.
0 -
That seems to be the default for the address bar in at least a couple of browsers (e.g. also Chrome), but not the default behavior for search boxes (including Safari and Chrome). nvUltra's search/create bar functions as a hybrid of both. To change it as you request would then require other users to use multiple clicks to activate the search bar to a specific cursor location (e.g. keep the leading folder, but prepare to overwrite the filename). And there is no shortcut to do that.
We'll continue to look at this, but the recommended approach if you want to quickly activate the search/create bar and select everything is to use the Cmd-L shortcut (or a custom variant thereof).
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments