Publisher for Windows 1.8 - using Preferences/Search

[MikeA]

New user (Windows version 1.8). I'm trying to understand how the Search feature works in the Preferences dialog. For example, I know there's a keyboard shortcut for Spread Setup but I've forgotten what it is. In the Search field, I type spread, then press Enter. Nothing happens.

Then I type Spread Setup and press Enter. Nothing happens.

Just to see what will happen, I type Tool. The dialog box changes color a bit and the Tools preference item "lights up." I add an "s", making the search term Tools. Result: The highlighted Tools item in the dialog is no longer "lit up".

Then I thought: Maybe I need to select Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts first, then use Search. But when I begin typing into the Search field, the display reverts to the main screen of Preferences and I'm back to square one; there's no search result.

Clearly I'm not using the Search field correctly. But what's the correct use?
 

[firstdefence]

I’ve never understood it, it’s about as much use as a chocolate teapot. 

All it does is highlight any of the preference sections that contain the word you type in the search box, that’s it, If you go into a section and do the same thing it takes you back to the section headings and highlights the sections that contain the word you have typed!!

Dumbest search box ever.

They don’t even mention it in the help files: https://affinity.help/publisher/English.lproj/pages/Workspace/preferences.html

@Sean P @Pauls Under the Affinity Photo Preferences help there are 2 miscellaneous entries: https://affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/pages/Workspace/preferences.html

[MikeA]

"Needs work." I hope Serif are thinking about improving this in the future. I guess for now it's impossible to locate a particular keyboard shortcut that way. Perhaps they could consider the approach used in Capture One: The keyboard shortcuts dialog has its own Search feature. You can type the name of a command and the program displays any matching command names, along with their keyboard shortcuts. The feature has its flaws but most of the time it's very convenient.

>> chocolate teapot

Permit me to steal that.

[Dan C]

Hi MikeA

14 hours ago, MikeA said:

For example, I know there's a keyboard shortcut for Spread Setup but I've forgotten what it is. In the Search field, I type spread, then press Enter. Nothing happens.

Unfortunately the Preferences search doesn't currently include searching for Shortcuts, this has been raised previously and is something we hope to change in a future update.

14 hours ago, MikeA said:

Just to see what will happen, I type Tool. The dialog box changes color a bit and the Tools preference item "lights up." I add an "s", making the search term Tools. Result: The highlighted Tools item in the dialog is no longer "lit up".

This is certainly confusing, but I can explain why it's happening. When searching in the Preferences search box, you're searching through all of the names of the various settings, so for example when searching for 'tool' the search returns the following results -

Once you add the 's' to tools, there's no longer any sub preferences (in bold down the left side of the dialog) that match the word, hence 'tools' is no longer highlighted.

I do agree this is confusing and could certainly do with improvement, this is logged with our developers as a function of the app that needs further revision, so it will hopefully be address in the future.

I hope this clears things up!

[Granddaddy]

As a new user, @MikeA might find it interesting to read the longish thread that began 1-1/2 years ago concerning the preferences dialog and its useless Search. If it's any consolation, APhoto support staff couldn't find anything in the keyboard shortcuts either. It's not us users, it's the misleading design of the software.

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/68413-preferences-window-ui-is-frustratingly-designed/

This is another of the many basics that seriously under-staffed Serif hopes to get to someday. At present they seem fully engaged in fixing the horrific bugs that appeared on day 1 of the release of Ver 1.8. We can hope they are also developing a more robust beta testing protocol.

If you let this get to you, you'll understand why PCMag.com describes Affinity Photo as miles behind the programs provided by the company that shall not be named.

On the other hand, I keep using APhoto because APhoto has very powerful features and because I think APhoto's emphasis on non-destructive editing is the correct model to follow. The makers of other editors I own keep sending me links to tutorials that involve destructive editing for the simplest adjustments. I certainly don't recommend APhoto for the average photo hobbyist who is not especially computer literate and who does not enjoy wrestling with technical issues.

 

[MikeA]

Dan C.: Thanks for the explanation. Permit me to suggest an idea I'm stealing from Capture One. (Thanks also to Granddaddy for your reply.)

Coding an improved Search feature probably means a lot of work. But perhaps this requires less work: In the keyboard-shortcuts dialog, add a 'save' button to make a file with a table or list of all commands that can be bound to keystrokes[*]. Include whatever shortcuts are already bound to commands. The program then launches the system default browser and displays the temporary file, which will be easy to search within the browser. The same output filename can be used each time to avoid a buildup of temporary files. Each execution of the 'save' command overwrites the previous such file.
Or — save the collection of commands + keyboard shortcuts as a PDF file, then launch the system's default PDF viewer (if none, then in a browser).
Or — have the program save the information in an .afpub file, then open the it as a new document within Affinity Publisher itself (as before—use the same output filename repeatedly).

In short: a solution that could be useful until there's a better Search feature. Then again, a save-list-of-commands-and-shortcuts-to-file feature would be useful as a permanent addition to the program.

___
*  The frosting on the cake: Provide an option to organize the output by menu –or– to list the commands alphabetically within the output file.

[MikeA]

Granddaddy: How did you tag my name in that comment earlier in the thread? I gave it a shot in a previous reply by editing my previous reply and adding "@" in front of your name, but that didn't produce a tag or reference.

Thanks.

[Granddaddy]

Hi @MikeA  : You tag like this:

type the @ sign and the first few characters of the name you want. You'll see a list of possible names. Click on the one you want. In your case I had to type in your entire name MikeA as there were so many names that began just with Mike. Just typing an @ in front of some existing text doesn't seem to work. You have to begin to key the letters following the @

Check out the private messaging options also if you just have a private message for someone. In Windows I right click on the person's tag and open in a new browser tab. It shows me their personal info and there is a button to click for sending them a private message.