Unofficial Keyboard Layouts


I was able to roll my thumb on it like it was one button press.
Agreed. Fn-space just feels so intuitive as well, I might be inclined to say that I don't want a dedicated tab button, and I use tab completion all the time.
Not that I wouldn't like or use a dedicated tab button, but given the choice between a dedicated button, vs using fn-space and using that button for pretty much anything else, I would choose fn-space and anything-but-tab button.
An Fn-Space roll is good enough if you need a single tab or maybe two. It gets annoying if you need many tabs in succession, like when you're indenting something, using tab completion a lot, doing alt-tab between many windows, and so on. It's a key you often need to press several times in a row, like backspace, arrows, space, etc. That's why it needs to have a dedicated key.

For the same reason, I think it's more important that Delete gets its own key than that Insert gets one. Or brightness adjustment keys versus wifi/bluetooth/hdmi toggles.
 
It gets annoying if you need many tabs in succession, like when you're indenting something, using tab completion a lot, doing alt-tab between many windows, and so on.
I do do these things and still have no issues hitting it in rapid succession. Maybe my thumb larger than yours.
 
Made a few smaller revisions and added six face buttons to the layout. Should work well with most thumbs. :wub:
 
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It gets annoying if you need many tabs in succession, like when you're indenting something, using tab completion a lot, doing alt-tab between many windows, and so on.
I do do these things and still have no issues hitting it in rapid succession. Maybe my thumb larger than yours.
No issues, but is it as comfortable as a dedicated key? When I need to press tab multiple times, there tend to be spaces in between etc.
 
Missed ED's post about using Askarus's shoulder mod idea in the Pyra. Hallelujah.
 
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Oh Craig, how ever do you come up with such brilliant ideas. ;)
 
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OK, I confess: I was too lazy to read through the whole thread, but perhaps the keyboard should:

A.) be without any symbols on it (like this: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/keyboard/12.jpg)

B.)not with a mat for the keys, but single buttons (if affordable)

maybe both. Everybody can then build the layout themselfs (like LEGO somwhat)
A) is a bad idea, it is not user friendly to enforcblind typing. The keys have to be labeled. But I do think it's a good idea to not put Fn labels on all keys, even if they do have a default binding. E.g. maybe Fn+O could be mapped to ö by default, but maybe some people prefer to map Fn+O to ø or ° or whatever. If it is likely that over 50% of the people are not going to use the default mapping (either because they don't need the symbol or because they want to remap it to something else), then I think it's better to not label the key. 

B ) is a good idea, but probably too expensive / difficult.
 
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The idea is you put the standard number of keys to the right of A-Z on the three rows, and mark them as per usual on English/US layout, then you put a little æ ø or å in the corners. ö ü ä would maybe be more apt since germany has more people. It doesnt really have to be marked either, just have the extra buttons there, where they are expected for normal international typing, rather than somewhere else.
 
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Revised you know what.
 
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For me the fundamental question when considering keyboard layout should be : Does the current prototype represent the desired basic layout for the production model? I can only hope that it does not. From my perspective the hardware keyboard is one of the things that really makes the Pyra / Pandora stand out from the crowd of smartphones / tablets, therefore every effort should be made to make the keyboard as functional as possible. It's appreciated that the speakers will have to go somewhere but putting them in a place that directly interferes with the functionality of the keyboard is incredibly short sighted IMHO.

I've attached what I'd rather see as a default layout, does anyone believe that this would not be a significant improvement in keyboard layout / design when compared to the current prototype?

kb-layout.jpg
 
I've attached what I'd rather see as a default layout, does anyone believe that this would not be a significant improvement in keyboard layout / design when compared to the current prototype?

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kb-layout.jpg
I prefer the number keys below the game controls and don't need a dedicated row for space bar and modifier keys. I always use the shoulder buttons as modifier keys, which is much more practical than keyboard keys that are competing for thumbs. Putting all those non-letter keys in the easy to find spots (the edges) is not a good idea.

The only issues I have with the layout shown in the FOSDEM video are: only 4 action buttons (want 6), one or two more columns of keys would be nice to give [];'{}:" a normal position and to help international keyboard remappers, and I don't want three shift buttons (two on the keyboard and a shoulder button).
 
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The number of keys and their position is already fixed, according to ED. Keyboard layouts will be a pain if you use anything but english qwerty symbols.
 
Mostly, yes. The keyboard layout above wouldn't even work hardwarewise - there need to be some pegs in the case to fix and secure the PCB as well as some other components. We can't use the full space.

And the space between the gaming contols and the keyboard is too narrow here as well - you'd easily hit accidental keys when playing games.

Cramping stuff as much as possible isn't always useful.
 
Mostly, yes. The keyboard layout above wouldn't even work hardwarewise - there need to be some pegs in the case to fix and secure the PCB as well as some other components. We can't use the full space.
It's hard to comment here without knowing what's been fixed in terms of case design, but from my perspective the only real difference between this and the prototype layout is the 6 additional keys on the top row (1,2,3,0,ins,del) could the pegs not be placed below these keys to the left and right of the gaming controls?

And the space between the gaming contols and the keyboard is too narrow here as well - you'd easily hit accidental keys when playing games.
Good point, the proposed layout was provided to give a general idea, exact spacings could be changed to prevent accidental key presses. By that I mean things like removing the key to the left of the Q + the backspace key could be done or everything could be moved down slightly.

Cramping stuff as much as possible isn't always useful.

100 % agreed, however that's exactly my problem with the prototype layout, the keys are cramped together and commonly used keys will require additional modifiers due to the waste of space of using dedicated keys for toggling wifi etc.

It could be just me who feels that the layout proposed here is a significant improvement on the prototype if this is an accurate representation. However I do think that this is worthy of serious consideration / community discussion before leaving the prototype phase.
 
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