Add an optional always-on and terse list of keywords

[Emstar]

I am a brand new Flow Launcher user and I am really loving it so far.

However, there are so many useful plugins that it is hard to remember all of my options. As a brand new user with strong Start Menu muscle memory, I am still trying to remember to use Flow Launcher at all, much less remembering all the cool plugins I just installed.

I know there is a helper keyword "?" which I can use to refresh my memory, but I would like to propose an additional level of keyword help that I think would be of benefit to new users. It would be wonderful if we had the option to somehow "pin" keyword reminders so that they were always visible in the search UI.

Here's a mockup, but there are many ways this could be done.

It would be the user's responsibility to switch on these reminders in the plugin settings.

I think it would be OK if the checkboxes were the extent of the UI for this. If any checkboxes are on, then the pinned keywords are shown. If none are checked, that entire element is hidden.

Perhaps keywords, or some keywords, would be automatically pinned for a new install. Maybe the keyword is automatically pinned for a new plugin install. But even if it was exclusively up to the user to manage pinning, that would be fine.

The existing "?" keyword is important so you have a full reference, but that list takes extra keystrokes to invoke, and may require you to do a lot of scrolling to see what you need to see. The option for a custom, always-on, terse list will put the key information in front of you with no extra effort.

I think this would help new users get up to speed faster, and help experienced users to remember that they actually did just install a cool new plugin.

[cibere]

How exactly would this "quick help" work? A persistent result for each plugin that its enabled for, which when clicked, activates its keyword?

[Emstar]

@cibere

How exactly would this "quick help" work? A persistent result for each plugin that its enabled for, which when clicked, activates its keyword?

If you click the enabling checkbox in the plugin's settings, its keyword appears in the quick help strip. The strip itself is only a static text display, visible any time FL's text entry field is visible, but with no interactive features of its own. I do not think it is necessary to allow clicking the keyword since FL is designed to keep your hands off the mouse.

It's basically like having a configurable post-it note that appears with FL.

The use cases are the new user, who summons FL but has not mastered all of the keywords... And the experienced user who has just added a plugin or two, to help them remember their new abilities.

Some users might value a minimal UI and turn off the quick help once they had memorized everything, others might like a constant reminder about less-used options. (That would be me.)

[cibere]

If you click the enabling checkbox in the plugin's settings, its keyword appears in the quick help strip. The strip itself is only a static text display, visible any time FL's text entry field is visible, but with no interactive features of its own. I do not think it is necessary to allow clicking the keyword since FL is designed to keep your hands off the mouse.

It's basically like having a configurable post-it note that appears with FL.

ah that makes more sense. I didn't noticed that top bar in your screenshot.

[onesounds]

Similar request. #3123

think this is necessary. The approach you suggested is a bit complicated, so it won’t be in that form. The design proposed in #3123 has actually existed before, so it should be relatively easy to implement. (Although it wastes some space, it seems to be the fastest way to implement it.)

By enabling a specific setting, we can force the last query style to be empty and always display that list when Flow is opened. It would also be good to add a function key that shows the list while a specific shortcut key is held down and hides it when released.

Anyway, I’ll add this feature to the to-do list. (For now, I’m busy working on the transparent window, so I can’t do it right away.)

[Emstar]

Similar request. #3123

think this is necessary. The approach you suggested is a bit complicated, so it won’t be in that form. The design proposed in #3123 has actually existed before, so it should be relatively easy to implement. (Although it wastes some space, it seems to be the fastest way to implement it.)

Yeah, that makes sense and it matches the look of the existing GUI. Cool. Glad it's on the list.

It would also be good to add a function key that shows the list while a specific shortcut key is held down and hides it when released.

Love it.

Thanks!

[onesounds]

I was trying to implement this, but then I realized that the built-in plugin indicator already shows the list of keywords when using the ? keyword. (I had completely forgotten about that.) I think it would be better to just add a note suggesting users try the ? keyword, and functionally, the current setup seems sufficient. What do you guys think?

[Emstar]

@onesounds

Cool, I didn't know about ? either.

What if by default, when no other input is available, ? is prefilled? It could even be prefilled and selected. This way, you can still scroll the list of hints, but you may also choose to type as with a blank input field.

[onesounds]

There is an plan from the team called "home plug-in" function. (This is a plug-in triggered when nothing is entered.) If user set "plugin indicator" to home, it will work as you say. (Basically, every time you open the flow, you can see the entire keyword list) We will review this issue more in that direction.

p.s And even now, if you change the action keyword of this plug-in to * instead of a question mark, it works similarly. (When I tested it earlier, the order came out a little strange.)