Please make Insert Special Character(s) available by context menu

[Lorox]

I recently notice that I really do miss the option to access special characters (which I want to insert in a text) by way of a context menu (right mouse button).

Being forced to always resort to the regular menu when I want to insert a special space, dash or break character turns out to be a bit cumbersome, if not tiring – especially when you're used to easy context menu access to these special characters after long years working in InDesign...

I'd say it would be a nice feature for Publisher v2!

[loukash]

You can always add keyboard shortcuts.
Or use the Glyphs panel.

And on Mac, many of these special characters are already systemwide assigned to a key with a modifier anyway, depending on the keyboard layout you're using. See System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources to activate the input menu in the menu bar where you can then activate the Keyboard Viewer.

And to be honest, personally I don't really miss these submenus in the existing context menu. For my taste, the context menu is already crowded enough.

[sfriedberg]

I agree that it would be a nice feature.  I am frequently inserting thin spaces (math expressions) and would like to do that as a quick gesture, not a major wrist motion followed by pulling out an entry from nested menus.

Picking spaces from the Glyphs panel is a non-starter.  If you need just one or two specific items, then keyboard shortcuts can work, if you can find unassigned shortcuts that have some mnemonic value to you.  I have already assigned TAB to the tab, for example.  But if you need a larger selection of specials, having access via a context menu would be helpful.

[loukash]

8 hours ago, sfriedberg said:

having access via a context menu would be helpful.

Rather than haggling over what should and what shouldn't be in a context menu, I'd prefer a fully user configurable (context) menus altogether. Everyone can then make up their own mind what they need in there and what not. Yep, like the apps from the company that rhymes with schmadobe!

[garrettm30]

12 hours ago, sfriedberg said:

I am frequently inserting thin spaces (math expressions) and would like to do that as a quick gesture

I use thin spaces frequently, as they precede several punctuation marks in French typography. I assigned ctrl-shift-space to them as a companion to opt-space (macOS default for no-break space). I do not know if you use them frequently enough to warrant that, but for me, I do use them as a regular part of editing, and a key command is a lot faster than accessing a sub-sub-menu item from a contextual menu, especially when my hands are already at the keyboard for typing.

[loukash]

10 minutes ago, garrettm30 said:

I assigned ctrl-shift-space to them as a companion to opt-space (macOS default for no-break space).

I, for example, opted for more "associative" shortcuts which I've developed and been using already for years in InDesign. As in: not every muscle memory needs to be totally overthrown…

Also note that a shortcut like "cmd-opt-shift-!" is only possibly because I'm using a custom keyboard layout, not a generic one matching my hardware keyboards.