14 May
2009
14 May
'09
12:11 p.m.
On May 14, 2009, at 11:01 AM, Marius Dumitru Florea wrote:
Hi there,
Right now the new WYSIWYG editor allows us to create simple lists like
the following:
----------8<----------
* plants
* animals
** invertebrates
** vertebrates
---------->8----------
By pressing just Enter when the caret is inside a list item we
create a
new list item. This is the basic mechanism. It's simple and it should
remain so.
If I want to make the previous list a bit more complex:
----------8<----------
* (((= Plants =
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae.)))
* (((= Animals =
Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic
organisms
of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa.
They are divided into:)))
** (((== Invertebrates ==
An invertebrate is an animal lacking a vertebral column.)))
** (((== Vertebrates ==
Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with
backbones or spinal columns.)))
---------->8----------
I have to be able to insert new lines inside a list item using the
Enter
key but without creating a new list item. Let's consider the following
state:
----------8<----------
* (((= Plants =)))
---------->8----------
We have a level 1 heading inside a list item. The caret is inside the
heading, at the end. Pressing Enter can have the following three
outcomes:
1. Continue editing in the heading, but on a new line:
----------8<----------
* (((= Title 1
x =)))
---------->8----------
2. Continue editing in the same list item but after the heading, in a
paragraph:
----------8<----------
* (((= Title 1 =
x)))
---------->8----------
3. Create a new list item:
----------8<----------
* (((= Title 1 =)))
* x
---------->8----------
For the first outcome I think we all agree that the user has to press
Shift+Enter. For the second and third outcomes I see two options:
A) Enter for 2 and CTRL/META+Enter for 3
B) Enter for 3 and CTRL/META+Enter for 2
(if you see any other options please step up)
I don't think we need META.
I'd go with the simplest:
* when inside a group, use the normal enter behavior for the
underlying element. If you're in a header then enter create a new
paragraph, etc)
* you need to position the cursor after the group in the list item and
press enter to get a new list item
Note: another solution could allow to get out of the group by pressing
tab but we said we wanted to keep the standard browser tab behavior.
If we really want to introduce a new META+Enter then I'd definitely
vote +1 for A).
BTW how are groups represented visually in the editor? Maybe this is
the real problem?
Thanks
-Vincent
I'm +1 for A) for the following reason: if the user has inserted a
heading in a list item then he will surely want to add more content
after that heading, thus pressing just Enter is the natural way of
doing
this. From a technical POV the caret is first inside a heading and
then
inside a list item so the heading should have the priority of handling
the Enter key.
NOTE: Choosing A) or B) doesn't affect the way simple lists are
created,
which is using just Enter.
Please cast your votes and sorry for the long mail,
Marius