Bit Dissapointed

Designer 2.4.0 (2222) macOS
Thumbnails are only updated when I fold Captured states in and out. Since thumbnails are important feedback, they need to be updated after clicking 'Update'.

There is hope:
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/24a00a59-2d48-445f-a674-32290e3cc0da
(Trainspotting)

Exactly. Feedback is generally a mandatory element of any user interface and in this panel (or in the status bar) I would expect some feedback like "2 objects hidden", "Nothing selected", "No match for query" or whatever makes sense.
In this example, I didn't know if something was happening because of a syntax error, my search string not matching anything, etc., and so I began to wonder if the algorithm was silently failing. Normally, you'd just be completely oblivious to what's happening and get frustrated.

EDIT: Reported here where it belongs: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/197137-layer-states-usability-and-accessibility-selecthideshow-icons/

The low contrast ratio plus the unfathomably small size of these three small icons makes them inaccessible, i.e. not visible enough for the elderly or people with visual impairments. They must appear to be dot-sized on high-resolution screens. The Select icon is particularly small.
It is also unhelpful and wrong that icons/buttons that can be used are so grey that they appear as functions that cannot currently be used because Serif wants them to appear white when clicked. See here from Photoshop how the default is for usable and non-usable functions:

When you hover these buttons in Photoshop they are highligthed with a darker background instead:
 
I assume that the varying and incorrect font sizes and the problems with parts of the letters being cut off at the bottom are on the Serif to do list.

I doubt it, Walt 🙂 - but look in the mirror for something like this:

If you right click a node you will see this menu - Fit to Curve Delete Node.
The algorithm that recontructs the path is not great nor disastrous. The algorithms in Illustrator or Inkscape are much better.

You can also see what keyboard shortcut is assigned to Fit to Curve Delete Node - and perhaps modify it to your own liking:

I doubt it, Walt 🙂 - but look in the mirror for something like this:

It is this exact video:
 

The feedback when objects are selected/manipulated is at least needed.

@Tim France
Many thanks for the progress report.
> Naturally we've been exposing more of the apps' functionality to scripts
I hope the ultimate aim is to expose all the app's functionality to scripting. Can you say anything about that?
When you expose only part of the app's functionality you have to make a choice -- you'll always get it wrong.
 

Hi,
I would like to suggest adding a Path Width Tool for easier and more precise stroke adjustments. This tool would allow users to thicken the outline at specific points by simply clicking and dragging with the mouse. Other software like Adobe Illustrator and Amadine have a stroke width tool.
The current method, using the Pressure chart in the Stroke panel, is not as user-friendly or accurate as it could be.
 
Current method:

Suggested (like Amadine or Adobe Illustrator):

 
 

EDIT: Reported here: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/197138-layer-states-usability-feedback-for-layer-name-or-regex-interface/
Here's some loose UI inspiration from Visual Studio Code, which I personally use from time to time to tidy up CSS. But VS Code has gone on to become a successful editor, so it's got a lot going for it.
Here I have enabled regex, but unlike regex' default, Microsoft has turned the default upside down, so you have to ENABLE case sensitive search (Aa), which I have mentioned is probably an exception requirement.
The icons mean
(Aa) Search case sensitive (ab underlined) Match whole word (.*) Use regular expressions Notice how compact and easy to use Microsoft has made a search bar and easy access to regex built into an incredibly small space, including red feedback.

As I understand it, /i-like parameters for the entire expression are suitable for buttons like the ones above next to the search string. Advantages: users do not need to know or remember the specific syntax of regex. They can simply check a checkbox to activate or deactivate a particular search function. It makes the function accessible to a broader audience, including those who may not be technically proficient. It should also reduce the risk of errors in entering regex expressions, which can be complex and error-prone for inexperienced users.

EDIT: Reported here: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/197138-layer-states-usability-feedback-for-layer-name-or-regex-interface/
Here's some loose UI inspiration from Visual Studio Code, which I personally use from time to time to tidy up CSS. But VS Code has gone on to become a successful editor, so it's got a lot going for it.
Here I have enabled regex, but unlike regex' default, Microsoft has turned the default upside down, so you have to ENABLE case sensitive search (Aa), which I have mentioned is probably an exception requirement.
The icons mean
(Aa) Search case sensitive (ab underlined) Match whole word (.*) Use regular expressions Notice how compact and easy to use Microsoft has made a search bar and easy access to regex built into an incredibly small space, including red feedback.

As I understand it, /i-like parameters for the entire expression are suitable for buttons like the ones above next to the search string. Advantages: users do not need to know or remember the specific syntax of regex. They can simply check a checkbox to activate or deactivate a particular search function. It makes the function accessible to a broader audience, including those who may not be technically proficient. It should also reduce the risk of errors in entering regex expressions, which can be complex and error-prone for inexperienced users.

Well, maybe I used too many thumbs in my first attempt, who knows, case insensitive actually works with (?i), so thanks @walt.farrell
Serif, I recommend the approach used by Microsoft where case sensitive search in regular or regex mode is something you actively have to enable as described in my post here:
 

EDIT: Reported here: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/197138-layer-states-usability-feedback-for-layer-name-or-regex-interface/
Here's some loose UI inspiration from Visual Studio Code, which I personally use from time to time to tidy up CSS. But VS Code has gone on to become a successful editor, so it's got a lot going for it.
Here I have enabled regex, but unlike regex' default, Microsoft has turned the default upside down, so you have to ENABLE case sensitive search (Aa), which I have mentioned is probably an exception requirement.
The icons mean
(Aa) Search case sensitive (ab underlined) Match whole word (.*) Use regular expressions Notice how compact and easy to use Microsoft has made a search bar and easy access to regex built into an incredibly small space, including red feedback.

As I understand it, /i-like parameters for the entire expression are suitable for buttons like the ones above next to the search string. Advantages: users do not need to know or remember the specific syntax of regex. They can simply check a checkbox to activate or deactivate a particular search function. It makes the function accessible to a broader audience, including those who may not be technically proficient. It should also reduce the risk of errors in entering regex expressions, which can be complex and error-prone for inexperienced users.

You're not using the right syntax for a regex.
If anything works (I haven't tried) it should be (?i)Affinity

You are right that I should have used inline, which can also be set globally or locally. But I have no idea what is supported. Both methods are quite common, but neither works in this beta. I believe the best course of action now is to wait for Serif to fix the current bugs in a new beta, and to clearly and concisely announce which regex support has been implemented, especially if there are any differences that customers should be aware of.

It's nuanced, but I can change the text (for example, "Sun", "sun") and it won't pick up without clicking in and out of the Panel.

Ex: I set "Layer name is" to "Sun" and click select, show, hide, behaves as normal... change it to "sun"... it still only responds to the first "Sun". If I click in and out of the panel, it finally registers the change.

That was just to test your case-sensitive scenario. It happens of course if I change it to a completely name. As for /i /ig, it looks like flags aren't being utilized to keep it simple.

macOS 14.2.1, Designer 2.4.0 build 2222
Search is case sensitive in regular text query mode, and I don't think it will ever be a criterion for anyone in layer names. If that's the case, it should be opt-in. Conversely, I can't get regex to search case insensitive e.g. /Affinity/i or /Affinity/ig  

Apps: Designer and Publisher (+ some changes to the existing feature in Photo)
Platforms: Windows and macOS
We have now added the States panel to Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher which previously only existed in Affinity Photo. Layer states allows you to either:
Capture the current visibility states of your layers across your document Create queries based on various criteria to use to make a selection or toggle visibility of layers This feature is particularly useful to manage different variations of your work. As an example, one of the social ad campaigns for our recent Black Friday promotion was created in Affinity Designer across multiple artboards. Each artboard had 4 variants for English, Japanese, German and French language.

 
Previously if you wanted to toggle between the English and French version for example you would need to toggle the visibility of the appropriate layers on each artboard separately - not particularly workable when you have many artboards / spreads. The new states panel gives you a new way to work with designs like this. 

In this case I could set up a query with criteria which captures all my Japanese layers. From the states panel click "New Query" at the bottom, I called the query "JA" and set up my criteria to be "All Art Text and Frame Text layers that have a layer name which ends in JA" as below:


Because on each artboard we had used the consistent naming convention that all Japanese text has a layer name ending in JA, all English text has a layer name ending in EN, etc. it made it easy to then set up 4 queries for each of the languages. We could alternatively have used a convention like all French variants are tagged yellow, English tagged Red, etc. 
So now to switch from English to Japanese across all artboards I can just turn off everything that fulfils my EN query, and turn on everything which fulfils my JP query using the visibility on/off buttons next to the queries in the states panel - so in two clicks end up with the below:

 
While this example is only including text, of course I may have had different imagery for each locale and could have included those in the same queries to still have one button to toggle text and images of each language on and off. Also, as it's set up a query like this, should I add additional Japanese specific layers to any of the artboards and name them ending in "...JA" my JA query will automatically pick them up.
In Publisher the same principles apply giving the ability to globally toggle different layers on and off across all spreads in your document which match the criteria you have specified. While building complex expressions is easy, you may also find you wish to have a query for something simple like "Layer Type is Images" giving you an instant way to turn all images on and off across your whole document.
Additional Notes
As well as toggling visibility of queries there is an additional button to make a selection of all layers which fulfil the criteria specified in the query. This is also a new function not previously available in Affinity Photo. For those who used the States panel in Affinity Photo you will notice we have changed the name of what were previously called "Smart States" to "Queries". This reason for this is in the future we anticipate adding a new feature to this which would be better described as a Smart State (this will be something you can build from multiple queries). This will be something which we add in a future update. There is other new functionality we plan to bring to this in the future - namely ability to create presets and some level of integration with export options - but again that will be something for a future update.
 

Yes thanks all for your feedback on this, we will additionally add to Insert Inside to make it all consistent / cover the use cases you have described.

This could be you - and a few others in this thread with black and white opinions - in a not so distant future:

Reported and requested by serveral customers since v1.
Could the grey page border and what not be hidden in at least preview mode in Publisher. 


More history:
 

Honestly it surprises me that there even is a message about this 'point of no return' in beta software. That's pretty darn cool and user friendly that Serif doesn't have to do. I've never seen that in any other software so far as normally people know that using beta versions is ot own risk always. +1 for Serif on this customer friendly thing for greatly thinking along!

Walt, Please try not to derail threads in this forum. These threads must be encouraged to stay on topic
@darwinwasright
Thanks, we may consider that for the future but further discussion on this can be held in that thread you linked to.