[sldev] Shortcut keys for rendering features

Able Whitman able.whitman at gmail.com
Sat Aug 11 01:41:21 PDT 2007


I think that Alissa is right, and that these keyboard accelerators should be
removed altogether.

The original bug for changing these shortcuts makes a strong argument that,
especially for international users, they can be accidentally invoked. And
Alissa makes an equally strong case that changing the keyboard accelerators
to use the function keys F1 through F10 will cause problems for users of
input method editors.

Yes, the downside is that existing users who are aware of the shortcuts find
that they will not work any longer. But I believe that this is outweighed
enormously by eliminating the confusion of users accidentally activating
them (if they remain unchanged), or by the confusion of users having them
interfere with their IMEs (if they change to use the F1 through F10 keys).

Instructional notecards on using the client debug options can be updated,
and Torley can write a follow-up blog entry clarifying the issue. I feel
strongly that the these shortcuts should be removed entirely. For me, the
most persuasive argument is Alssa's observation that "It is just an evil
surprise for no-dev end users to *hide*
 undocumented shortcuts.".

It's especially important to consider that removing the keyboard
accelerators doesn't remove the underlying feature. Such a change simply
requires navigating the Client debug menu to explicitly access a desired
feature. Given the large number of non-English residents in SL  (especially
when compared to the total number of international residents), I think this
is a small price to pay for improving the usability of the viewer for
international residents.

--Able


On 8/11/07, Matthew Dowd <matthew.dowd at hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> > > I'd like to keep these consistent and accessible across all platforms,
> > > even if they're hidden debug settings
> >
> > I just propose *removing* of all debug-only shortcuts.  I believe this
> > is the third time I propose this.
>
> There are however a lot of users that make use of the shortcuts. The new
> shortcut for rebake textures is one which will be being passed around in
> world. CTRL/SHIFT-5 for looking for objects stuck underground etc. Torrey's
> recent blog will have increased this.
>
> There is an argument that perhaps these should not be under debug but
> under the main menu structure (which arguable is due for a revamp anyway).
>
> Matthew
> _________________________________________________________________
> Feel like a local wherever you go with BackOfMyHand.com
> http://www.backofmyhand.com_______________________________________________
> Click here to unsubscribe or manage your list subscription:
> /index.html
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.secondlife.com/pipermail/sldev/attachments/20070811/bc36f351/attachment.htm


More information about the SLDev mailing list