Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Discussion related to "Everything" 1.5 Alpha.
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raccoon
Posts: 1017
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:24 am

Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by raccoon »

I was wondering if I might start a thread to discuss consideration for which settings should be turned on (or off) by default, in 1.5. There are a number of settings that just seem to make sense to enable by default, and I feel like the average user is missing out on.

UI -> Single Click Tray [single_click_tray=1] --- I think most modern windows programs use this behavior, so it would be consistent to enable this by default.

Search -> Replace forward slashes with backslashes [convert_forward_slash_to_backslash=1] --- I can't think of a situation where the user would not benefit from this option, and only suffer with it turned off.

View -> Alternate row color [alternate_row_color=1] --- This seems like an obvious quality of life improvement if enabled by default.

I do like that Results -> Full row select [full_row_select=1] is now enabled by default. Thanks. :) But I feel like this setting should sit next to Alternate row color and not be on two different pages... I understand that row select is the result of a mouse interaction, but it's more about visual appearance than it is about activity behaviors.

I think the Installer should give the user the ability to specify a Toggle window Hotkey, or, give the user the option to select from a few presets to get more people using this fabulous feature. (I use the Pause key. WinKey+E might be a good preset as Everything basically supplants most Explorer use habits.)

History -> Always show search suggestions [search_history_always_suggest=1] --- This seems like it should be enabled by default, though I admit I'm not entirely clear how Search as you type might be more enjoyable with search suggestions turned off. Just seems like it's better if turned on.

Indexes -> Exclude -> Exclude Folders: should probably have System Volume Information in there by default, as I have had more user issues with this than necessary, and there's just no added value in seeing or interacting with this NTFS system folder, ever, never ever. ((I would also advocate for the exclusion of $RECYCLE.BIN by default, but I acknowledge it could be useful to some people sometimes if it were not excluded.))

Thanks for your consideration. :)
therube
Posts: 4978
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm

Re: Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by therube »

I'll just babble...


Single Click Tray
Rare that the Everything icon would even be hidden

Slashes
Coming from UNIX - well before DOS, forwards are natural & far more convenient.
An average Windows person, I wouldn't even think they'd know what a forward is.

Alternate row color
Some would hate it. I would.

Toggle window
Not sure I know what that is?

Suggestions
Not sure what the default is? Enabled here.

Exclude
I'm of the type, show me everything. And if I don't want to see something, I'll deal with it.


Anyhow, one of the great features of Everything is that it is so configurable - simply by making setting change - oneself.
How many times have you used a program & said (to yourself), if only it could...
raccoon
Posts: 1017
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:24 am

Re: Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by raccoon »

therube wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:04 pmSingle Click Tray
Rare that the Everything icon would even be hidden
I don't know what you mean by the icon being hidden. This option is how the visible Everything system tray icon responds when clicked, or tapped with a touch screen. By default you have to double-click to activate the icon to make Everything appear. The standard Windows experience is now single-click to make the application appear.
Slashes
Coming from UNIX - well before DOS, forwards are natural & far more convenient.
An average Windows person, I wouldn't even think they'd know what a forward is.
That's my point, the average person doesn't know the difference. They press the first slash they see on the keyboard. The internet uses forward slashes, and for most users under 40, that's the only slash they know. And so they press it, instead of backslash, even when you specifically instruct them "backslash not forward-slash," they press it anyway.

Are there any scenarios where Everything works better, with more versatility, if this option remains disabled?
therube
Posts: 4978
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm

Re: Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by therube »

Toggle window
Not sure I know what that is?
Heh, I guess I do know what Toggle window Hotkey behavior is.
Don't like that at all.
icon being hidden
In my situation, I always have Everything (open &) icon(s) visible on the (Windows) Taskbar.
This option is how the visible Everything system tray icon responds when clicked
I use dinosaurs (Win7), & some of the tray icons work on 1 click, some need double.
Really matters not to me.
The standard Windows experience
I like to break standards ;-).
Slash: Are there any scenarios where Everything works better, with more versatility, if this option remains disabled?
Probably not (so in that respect if it were enabled...). Though I do seem to recall some (since corrected) bugs with this.
And there could still be odd quirks, perhaps using /preference=# to set Preferences (or maybe not)?
I've had it set ever since it was first implemented.
void
Developer
Posts: 16753
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:31 pm

Re: Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by void »

Thank you for your feedback raccoon and therube,
UI -> Single Click Tray [single_click_tray=1] --- I think most modern windows programs use this behavior, so it would be consistent to enable this by default.
I will look into making this the default. (atleast for Windows 10+)
Task Manager is still using double click.

Search -> Replace forward slashes with backslashes
This option breaks some searches.
It makes it impossible to match / in a filename (possible with file lists and virtual filenames)
It makes it impossible to match / in a property.

During alpha I experimented with treating / the same as \ but ran into trouble when they needed to be treated differently.

In Everything 1.5, / and \ are treated the same when performing a path search. So this option doesn't need to be enabled anymore.
eg: you can search for paths like: c:/windows/system32 just fine with this option off.

You might need to enable this option if you want to use regex, eg: regex:c:/windows/system32
Always show search suggestions
I hate the way the suggestions overlap the results.
Ctrl + Space will show suggestions.
I'm used to pressing Ctrl + Space to suggest from Visual Studio.

A suggestion sidebar might work here.
I will experiment..


System Volume Information
I have on my TODO list to make it easier to exclude system folders.
Most system folders do not have the SYSTEM attribute.
Maybe a add system folders button..
I will most likely show all files by default.

Thank you for the suggestions.
therube
Posts: 4978
Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:48 pm

Re: Default Settings. Which settings should be enabled by default?

Post by therube »

(
While we're at it, Slashes, heh.

(MS) Multiplan - which I first used in (MS) Xenix, (my Windows version, circa 1990 - that I use daily) allows forward (& back) slashes as directory path separators - in Windows (XP, 7, & I'd imagine, cough, 10/11 too [7+ need something like DOSBox]).

Multiplan Allows Forward Slashes to Load Save filename.png
Multiplan Allows Forward Slashes to Load Save filename.png (31.54 KiB) Viewed 3851 times
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