Combined and improved flyover panels

[Lefteous]

Currently there are already some flyover panels in TC. The directory hotlist and the drive combobox. I think these panels are very important in TC because many users use the keyboard in order to display these panels and pick an item to close the panel. These panels don't require any layout changes. They are only there when you need them. I think this is one of the reasons why the separate tree view isn't that popular.

Common interaction
A flyover is always opened by pressing a certain hotkey. Items executing a command close the flyover panel. There is no Okay button. It works very much like a menu. This is how the current panels work and also hot it should be.
Currently the panels vary a bit visually. This could be more consistent.

New and improved panels
So the idea is to add a new flyover panel which displays a tree view where the user can select the current directory.
This is also great for avoiding focus conflicts (between separate tree and filelist panel). Only while the flyover panel is opened the focus is set to this window. Otherwise it's always the file panel which has the focus.

Flyover panels have the advantage that you have to learn just a single hotkey in order to display them (e.g. Ctrl+D, Alt+F1). When you want to sort you view you have to learn one hotkey for each search crfiteria. So the idea is to have flyover panels for
- Sort criteria
- View selection
- Custom column selection
- Tab switch panel (Opera-style)

Each of these flyover panels needs a decent default hotkey. I guess there are even more flyover panels to think about.

One combined flyover panel
In addition (or instead) to the standalone flyover panels there could be a general flyover panel that contains all flyover panels and a way to navigate between them in some way - especially using the keyboard. It could be great to have a single hotkey that displays this general flyover panel. The last opened panel would be displayed first. Then the user could switch to another panel e.g. by pressing Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift-Tab.

Mockup
I've created a mockup with has some limited interactions:
For all hotkeys: You might have to click on the prototype before a hotkey works properly (each time) depending on the used browser.
- Press Ctr+E to open or close the flyover panel
- Press Left or Right to switch between the flyover panels.

http://lefteous.totalcmd.net/tc/ideas/flyover/

I hope you get the idea.

[HolgerK]

I hope you get the idea.

Great! Support++

One Ring (shortcut) to rule them all,...

Regars
Holger

[fenix_productions]

Nice idea although I don't think I would ever use it - too addicted to my own ways…

BTW For me this mockup works without issues only in Firefox.
Chrome: Ctrl+E moves focus to address bar and nothing else happens.
IE: focus goes to address bar but at least mockup menu appears.

[MVV]

For me both FF 36 and Opera 12 focus search panel on Ctrl+E, and it is a default setup.

[Lefteous]

2HolgerK

One Ring (shortcut) to rule them all

Yes this is one of the main points here - a single place to bring these things together. Of course displaying the flyout with a certain selector (instead of the last opened) panel should also be possible with a hotkey.

[sqa_wizard]

Looks promisingly ... fresh idea which enhances TC the right way!
Support++

[seb-]

Nice Idea.

I have setup a custom main menu with shortcodes so i can already reach everything i need with a few key strokes.

But this would simplify the use of these functions without the need to lookup or remember all the shortcodes for Menus with mnemonics.

Altough i really like the idea, I dont know whether i would prioritize it over other improvements.

But such a flyover menu should offer the possibility of a high level of customization.

It is really time for a thread/wiki/whatever where all improvement ideas are listed so that people can vote on their favorite ones and Christian can comment about the feasiblity...

[JohnFredC]

I like this idea very much. Very functional and nice looking, too!

..and in addition to the hotkey actuation, also suitable for touch devices.

A good example of the sort of well-designed UI enhancements I hope for in future versions of TC.

[Lefteous]

The mockup is now back online. It was lost during the totalcmd.net server relocation.

[raeubi]

Mockup looks great! Thank you!
Support +++

[ghisler(Author)]

Could you describe what would be the point of such a change?

Novice users wouldn't find the functions any more (there are currently dedicated buttons for e.g. history and bookmarks), and current users would have to
- learn a new hotkey
- need to perform multiple steps to get to what they now get in one step
- the size of e.g. the bookmark window would be much smaller, so you need to scroll first to find the directory you want to go to

[Lefteous]

2ghisler(Author)
The point of the combined panel is that you can display all kind of things with a single hotkey and once displayed switch to another subpanel very easily.
The point of heaving more real flyover panels is to perform more commands with less hotkeys. For example sorting requires to remember one hotkey for one sort order instead of just one.

This feature is real thought for keyboard users. If it should made available to novice users the existing buttons would have to be substituted by a single button.

I don't think learning a new hotkey is really a point here. It you want to remember just one hotkey than learn just this. If you want to learn the hotkey for each subpanel learn them. I think different user levels should be supported this way.

The size should be large enough. It doesn't have to be the same as in the mockup. If submenus, scrolling tree views or browsing approach is the best to displays hierarchies is a matter of taste.

Even if you are convinced that a combined panel would be major improvement or worse having more flyovers would be very handy.