(I can’t post via bugzilla, T @AskLibreOffice told me to post here)
I’m a writer and I just want the team to know something that could make a marketable difference against Wxrd. As in, if you run with this, it would be an indisputable selling point.
As a writer, speed is everything. This means using the keyboard for as much as possible AND simple graphics.
Three things: shortcut keys, Alt+ codes for special characters, simple themes.
Here’s why…
Shortcut keys are a big deal for pros. The first time I met a professional editor for a large publisher, I was amazed beccause he reformatted Word files by using keyboard shortcuts. He took 3 seconds to do what takes anyone else at least 5 minutes. Pushing simple, fully-functioning shortcut keys, similar to Wxrd (no learning curve), and more useful would draw in proffessionals bigtime. Libre has shortcuts, just saying it could be a roadmap priority from a pro writer perspective, and many people would follow happy proffessionals because they are the writers of the world.
I also miss the Alt+ codes available in Windows, but not Linux, for special characters. Some chart or alternative would rock!
Icons/themes…
Graphic/icons is a big problem in Libre for me. I need simple. The icons are too beautiful. It may be great for many normal users and could be the default. But a super-plain, “zen-ish” simple square, plain button, like the new WordPress TinyMCE theme uses… That “simple editor theming” is not just a fad. As a writer going over 80WPM all day, it makes using buttons faster.
As a writer, the mind goes faster than the words. A pretty, gradient, bordered “B” for boldface is art… which takes time to decipher, seriously huring creative thought flow. I know, this is a special problem for me, but it’s a writer’s world.
Full screen writing isn’t sufficient because we still need side-by-side windows for stuff. It’s the writing function that needs to be simple. Though, full screen as an option would also be great, but not necessary for icon simplicity.
I’d really like two native simple theme alternatives: one light, one “night” (white letters on dark gray, #222, not quite black, maybe customizable). And, I’d like to have both themes as an option for a full-screen mode and for a windowed mode.
The night theme should only affect plain letters and background for long hours of writing. Admittedly, it would not be useful for formatting, but for long hours of writing. But night should darken all buttons, menues… Phxtxshxp and Illxstrxtxr are all dark for similar reasons, it’s useful and practical.
I hope that the viewpoint of a writer can give the team some good roadmap ideas. Speed and simplicy are a big deal. It’s a new area in which to expand the number of users. WordPress’ TinyMCE theming is worth looking at since they attract a lot of writers, though don’t feel the need to copy them.