Explore new default keyboard bindings

While discussing solutions to https://github.com/cynicaloptimist/improved-initiative/issues/416 we hit upon the idea of trying to remap the default keyboard bindings so that they don’t require modifier keys which can be problematic for a couple of reasons.

chrisbloom7 […] Differences in keyboard configurations between operating systems make it hard to communicate hotkeys to users without UI work to toggle between them based on system detection. Combo hotkeys can present accessibility problems for users with coordination and stability issues. And of course there is always the risk they will interfere with native hotkeys. I appreciate that you allow for custom hotkey bindings. Perhaps we could take this a step further and allow hotkeys to be disabled entirely in the settings?

cynicaloptimist I like your last suggestion- a check box to just disable all hotkeys would simplify this issue for some users. Hotkeys may be problematic (fair enough), but they are very core to the original vision of Improved Initiative as a ‘one-handed’ combat tracker. However, I’m not collecting metrics on how often the hotkeys are actually being used so I could be way off.

chrisbloom7 Yeah, I can understand that. It is really hand[y] to quickly move around with the keyboard instead of relying on the mouse and finding the correct icon. I make use of the j, k keys a lot in encounters. One additional thought: perhaps instead of relying on modifiers like ALT, CTRL, etc, which usually have special functions, the defaults could be strictly singe keys, shift+single key, or combinations of single keys/shift+single keys for related functions (i.e. t m to toggle the menu and t l to toggle the libraries).

Goals:

• Use single- or double-key mappings as defaults for all key bindings
• These shouldn’t override custom key bindings (this is existing behavior, just noting for completeness)
• Add a button to allow resetting all custom key bindings to defaults (all at once)
• Add a toggle to disable key binding all together

Possible stretch goal: add some metrics collection for keybindings?

Here are the current defaults for reference:

[cynicaloptimist]

I like my keybindings but I’m not married to them. I’m not planning to do any work related to this issue in the immediate future; I’m currently working on porting the main Combatants by Initiative display over to a React Component, and making the inline commands configurable. I’d take a look at your next set of suggestions if you’d like to share them- then we could probably shake out a final “new default” by combining the best ideas that we’ve come up with.

[chrisbloom7]

I got side tracked and haven’t finished my own list of keybinding suggestions. Should I continue to work on them if I can get them posted soon (like within the next couple days) or are you moving ahead with the keybindings you came up with?