BigBagKbdTricks docs

DreymaR's Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks - The Web Pages

Web pages for dreymar.colemak.org

TODO/WIP for the BigBag Forum & web content (mostly for DreymaR's use):

• Alt-layout writeup?!

  • Make it the first section under Layers. Update other sections to be more layout inclusive.
  • Move the links to Getreuer's and the AKL beginner's guides there from the links page, or keep both?
  • There's so much strongly worded nonsense on Reddit etc... People defend their investments and pet ideas.
  • Warning against bad choices: Dvorak (unless implementation is king), Workman/Norman, Minimak.
  • Differences of priority: Ease of learning/implementation (Colemak), rolls (Cmk/etc) vs alternation (Gra/Gal/etc), ...
  • My suggestion: Colemak is very good for nearly everyone. Decide on Vanilla vs DH.
  • If really set on going further, try out Gralmak.
    • Gralmak is good, and has similarities with familiar layouts (row/column assignments, punctuation etc).
    • Even if you end up wanting even more radical optimization, it can still be a useful stepping-stone.
    • If after learning Gralmak for a while, you still want to proceed: Go to full Graphite(-HB) or similar.

• Platform box for Sequencing? And Modifiers?

  • Colemak-eD too?
  • Tarmak DOWNLOADS definitely should be boxed. But the Mac one doesn't show up?!

• More likeable links?

  • SteveP's layout app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.colemakmods.keyboard_companion
  • Callum's Nonsense (web): https://callumoakley.net/nonsense/
  • Callum's Gotta-Go-Fast: https://github.com/callum-oakley/gotta-go-fast
  • ProfXwing/CSGO's CopyType: https://github.com/ProfXwing/copytype

• Locale variants:

  • Add more of the Forum locale topic
  • I now put variant stuff in the EPKL repo, as that's where often I work with it. Link from the BBoT?

• Contrast Compose to DKs.

  • DKs: Many, harder to reach them, single trigger. Help images in EPKL. Some positions hard to remember.
  • Compose: Often longer sequences, but more mnemonic. Can be kept on main layer.

• Dictionary: Explain SFB, Curl/Angle/Wide, inward/outward/mixed rolls

• Make Image2 and Image3 posts for the Image topic (topic 111)

  • Image2: Keyboard images. State licencing for SVG (CC) vs others (Public Domain)
  • Image3: Interesting designs, fun, logos, icons, etc

• In tarmak.html, cannibalize part of the BIG BAG? HALP! section for a main page overview?

  • The rest of the bag is so easily and clearly accessible from the Tarmak page now
  • Also make platform boxes for the Tarmak implementations part

DONE

• Functionality allowing links to a specific platform box with platform specified? As in page.html#anchor?platform=win.

• Make it so that clicking the text PLATFORMS shows the how-to screen again (only seen initially now).

• More likeable links:

  • Pascal Getreuer's alt layouts guide: https://getreuer.info/posts/keyboards/alt-layouts/index.html

• More consistent page and anchor naming

  • A link like layers-extend.html#section-name is easier to use as you don't need to check the source code for it.

• More consistent file naming

  • training > learning-training too? At least, tarmak-intro > learning-tarmak and tarmak > tarmak-steps?
  • May be unwise to change page names too often, though? I may have links lying around in places where I don't think much about them.

• More FAQ's so there's one for nearly everything ☑ Format them as spoilers. With the question as header: 🤔 ❓ "".

  • See the https://www.colemak.org README for some generic Colemak beginner questions and answers

• Flesh out the Monkeytype learning section: Colors, settings tips

• Make bookmark links for page chapters, and add them to the menus. Example: DK mappings; Variants.

• Update all content image links to local res/ locs. Replace Dropbox links with res/. Replace res/img/.

• Add a smaller 'Platforms' menu to every platform-box.

• Make a Co browser tab (fav)icon

  • See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4888377/how-to-add-a-browser-tab-icon-favicon-for-a-website

• Implement Jekyll in order to remove duplicating code!

  • Take out everything except the content of the 'main' tag into default.html.
  • Take out header in a separate 'include'
  • Figure out a way to edit some portion of the default.html per page basis

• Switch the places of the menu and Platforms icons so that when opening the menu, the icon doesn't have to move all across the screen -> increases animation smoothness.

• Implement platform boxes at the appropriate places.

• Fix the popup that shows during the first website visit.

• Better alignment of images and text around them.

• Change the style of spoilers so that they're more visible.

• Change font to 'Open Sans' for easier-on-the-eyes reading.

• Additional padding at the bottom of 'code' blocks.

• Smaller logo.

• Implement SASS/LESS for easier reading of the styles code.

• Keep original image sizes.

• Fix class names

• Make an imgtxt class with italic and a line break after it? For image subtexts.

• Validate html and css files

• Rework the 'Platforms' menu visualisation.

  • Let it open without delay.
  • Make it smoother so it doesn't glitch/flicker.
  • Make the icons smaller.
  • Implement a sort of a 'Under construction' message for the Mac platform.
    • Link to the MKBorregaard topic there.

• A little more air before headings, in the style sheets? And a style for large text, without air.

• Updated everything to the new DH standard (formerly DHm) from the old DHk. Images, explanations.

  • 6s & 7s are now resolved as SteveP uses 6-left on staggered boards and 6-right on matrix

ON HOLD

• Update some links with platform= syntax?
  • Maybe not necessary: The plaform files already have the platform selected, and other links are generally generic.

NOTES from symbols/colemak

These notes were in the symbols/colemak file, regarding Colemak_eD:

//  NOTE:
//  - Missing: U017F long s; chevrons; horizconnector; wynn/yogh; some African
//       d-tail; turned Cc/Ee++; latin epsilon/gamma (Berber); italic v;
//  - Rare/dropped: U25CA lozenge (Mac; rare); kra (deprecated Inuktitut & IPA);
//       union/intersection/includedin; integral (need a science/math deadkey; use esh in a pinch);
//       numerosign (mostly Cyrillic; use N + masc.); squareroot (unworkable); function (use hook-f);
//       U1E9E Capital German SS (disputed); U2033/U2032 double-/prime (cheat w/ acute/doubleacute?!)
//       U2639/U263A/U27E8/27E9 sadface/smilingface/brackets (poorly implemented)
//  - Oddly placed?: 'notsign'/'division' (placed by shape/association)?
//  TODO: Compose/deadkeys: ligatures (fi/fl/ij); fractions/superior/subscripts; latin/IPA/currencies
//  - For Currency: U2044 solidus/shilling; yen
//  - For IPA/Latin: U026A/028F SmCap-I/Y; U0251/0252 script-a/turned-script-a; U0283 esh
//       U028A lat-upsilon; U027E r-flap; U0294 glottal stop;  U025C turned open e
//  TODO: Make dead_stroke (for d/g/h/l/i/u) work!? Missing in compose files?
//        Also, l-tilde, s/c/j/z/schwa hook?
//  TODO: Unused dead_keys: iota, voiced_sound, semivoiced_sound
//        (could enhance them like Colemak user 'ghen' suggests, for keys 3/4/5?):
//  TODO: A Maths/science dead key? Latin/IPA? Greek? (Currency exists)
//  TODO: Add superior/subscript # to dead_acute/grave; fractions to slash/stroke!?
//      NB: This happens in the compose files under X11/locale, of which there are legion. :(
//      Can one get away with changing only the various iso8859-# ones? Or just en_US.UTF-8 ?
//      Since this lies outside the xkb folder, I might just post the code and where to paste it?
//  TODO: For extra dead key mappings, could dead_abovering and dead_doubleacute be augmented?
//      Make sure dead_hook has rhotic hooks for schwa and turned epsilon!
//      Similarly with smallcap letters and their turned counterparts?
//  TODO: Add IPA (broad English?) somewhere. Too few free slots, so it'll have to be by dead_keys.
//  TODO: Phonetic 'colemak_curl' layouts with Curl-DH (it's best to rewire the whole layout in this case).
//  DONE: Add Greek, Kyrillic and Hebrew phonetic Colemak layouts (nice for group 'switch' layout).
//  DONE: Update the Tarmak and Mirrored layouts when Colemak[eD] is changed, using search-replace.

These notes are fairly old and outdated by now. They still contain some interesting elements.

HTML observations

• The gh-pages may not update immediately because of their CDN cache. So it may take up to 10 min for a push to take.
  • To bypass this, request a non-existing version of the page as that'll break the cache:
    • https://dreymar.github.io/BigBagKbdTrix/index.html?version=cachebreak

HTML tips from aBrickInTheHallway

• https://developer.mozilla.org/ - documentation for everything that has to do with HTML and CSS

• tag=element – the most used tags are:
<p> - paragraph
    <p class="italic">
<a href="https://your.url"> - link
    <a class="underlined">
<div class="quote">
<b>, <strong>   - bold
<i>, <em>       - italic
<img src="content/images/img.png" class="img-small"> ('alt' attribute is optional - displays when image cannot be displayed)
    <img class="left"....
ul - unordered list
ol - ordered list (1,2,3/a,b,c)
    <ul class="disc">
    <ul class="circle">

<span> - separates a text so you can style it, for example if you want part of a sentence to be crossed with a line, go
    <span class="linethrough">

• <!-- comment -->

• Spoiler template:
<div class="spoiler">
    <p><span>Spoiler:</span></p>
    <div class="spoiler-body">
        SPOILER CONTENT HERE
    </div>
</div>

• Platform box template:
<div class="platform-content">
    <p>
        
    </p><p>
        
    </p>
</div>

• To display the characters '<' and '>', use &lt; and &gt; so that they're not interpreted as parts of a tag

• For blocks of code use <pre><code>...</code><pre> and remove all indentation(tabs) left of the code in between these tags 
    because the tabs will be shown as these tags format literally every space, tab and new line.

Jekyll and Ruby for GitHub pages

[Note: This is a copy of my Evernote document "Jekyll and Ruby"]

Check Linux (Ubuntu), Ruby and Jekyll versions:

lsb_release -a
jekyll -v && ruby -v

As of 2023-02, GitHub pages have these dependencies: Jekyll 3.9.3; Ruby 2.7.4 https://pages.github.com/versions/

Install Jekyll with Ruby on Windows WSL Bash using the Brightbox repo, Gem and Bundler:

sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:brightbox/ruby-ng && sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ruby2.7 ruby2.7-dev build-essential dh-autoreconf

echo 'export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems/' >> ~/.bashrc && echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/gems/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

gem update && gem install jekyll bundler && bundler update

• WSL can be a little stupid as to which Ruby version it uses, so it may be best to be specific as above. • Using apt-get install bundler on WSL installed an outdated Ruby version (1.9.1) so I guess I shouldn't do that! • Turns out it was because the WSL Ubuntu hadn't been updated in ages.

To avoid permission errors on the gem commands (write permission for /var/lib/gems/2.6.0/): Using sudo gem seems to work but isn't recommended! Instead, add this to your ~/.bashrc file, as shown above:

export GEM_HOME=$HOME/gems
export PATH=$HOME/gems/bin:$PATH

Now, go to the web root folder in the BigBagKbdTrix repo (not repo root but docs!) and build with Jekyll:

source ~/.bashrc
jekyll build
jekyll serve --watch

• I didn't need bundle exec in front of the jekyll commands. • At a later point, there was a version mismatch between the Gemfile (with GitHub Pages settings) and local installs. • When that happened, using bundle exec jekyll etc worked.

When you see 'Server running...', you should be able to browse the site locally on 127.0.0.1: http://localhost:4000/

Word has it, GitHub Pages don't support Jekyll v4+? So edit your Gemfile for realistic local builds:

# This will help ensure the proper Jekyll version is running. 
# gem "jekyll", "~> 4.2.0" 
...
# If you want to use GitHub Pages, remove the "gem "jekyll"" above and 
# uncomment the line below. To upgrade, run `bundle update github-pages`. 
gem "github-pages", group: :jekyll_plugins

GitHub Pages don't use either Gemfile nor Gemfile.lock, but their own Jekyll settings. So these files are relevant for local builds only.

gem install github-pages

"A simple Ruby Gem to bootstrap dependencies for setting up and maintaining a local Jekyll environment in sync with GitHub Pages". Sounds useful. I couldn't install it because of some incompatible library error, though...