Some panel glitches

[MikeTO]

1. When I started Photo for the first time, the studios had reverted to a default setup and I lost my configuration.
2. After installation, the sections in most panels (Character, Paragraph, Notes...) were all expanded in all apps even though I'd left most of them collapsed. Fields was still collapsed though. I haven't checked too many others yet.
3. Artifacts are drawn on the Character panel's section expand icons when I type in a document. This is only with collapsed sections and the artifacts are consistent as shown here. It happens docked and undocked, light and dark modes, and in all three apps.

 

[Patrick Connor]

A number of Publisher panels have been completely refactored and so they may well have some unusual behaviour.

• Text Style Panel/Editor
• Paragraph Panel
• Character Panel
• Section Manager (macOS only)

Please report what you find in regard to these 4 panels in this forum, thanks.

[MikeTO]

The improved panels look great and the more dynamic Section Manager is a welcome change. The top of the paragraph panel looks nice and tight now, I like the larger colour samples, and I like the move of Use Baseline Grid to Spacing. I also like the changes to the paragraph and character style lists.

Selecting from the new style lists causes glitches as shown below - also note the icon drawn below Decorations.

The inclusion of the Update icon for overrides styles is good. There's no tooltip and I wonder if somebody will update a style by mistake, I almost did, perhaps because the lists were previously combo boxes so I was used to aiming for the right edge where the new icon is. I always think this icon means Revert due to the left arrow. Not a big deal.

[MikeTO]

The white background of the Character panel is now visible at the top of the panel before Decorations when in light mode. It's a bit less attractive than it was before.

2.4 vs. 2.5

 

[MikeTO]

Wow, there are much more descriptive tooltips in the revised panels. For example, the Drop Caps > Distance to Text field previously had a tooltip of "Distance to Text" which didn't add anything but now it's a sentence. And Scale for Descenders previously lacked a tooltip and now it has a paragraph. Nice!

[Hangman]

Some excellent and welcome enhancements to the Character and Paragraph panels now that the text entry boxes expand when the panels are widened...

[bbrother]

On 4/19/2024 at 2:27 PM, MikeTO said:

There's no tooltip and I wonder if somebody will update a style by mistake, I almost did, perhaps because the lists were previously combo boxes so I was used to aiming for the right edge where the new icon is.

First thing @MikeTO

The "Paragraph Style" drop-down list, you're refering to is simply a list of options that appears when you click a button, not a combo box.
You can talk about a combo box, when you're dealing with a combination of a standard list box or drop-down list and an editable text box that allows users to enter a value that is not in the list, which is not the case in the example you're refering to.
 

Second thing:

The "Update Paragraph Style" button should not be placed above the button used to reveal the drop-down list, but next to it, as in the contextual toolbar.
The clickable area of a drop-down button should be protected and accessible only to that button. Otherwise, you'll run into the problems you mentioned above, such as a situation where the user accidentally updates a paragraph style even though his intention was to reveal the drop-down list, all because of a  click on the right corner, what is usualy reflexively done in case of drop-down buttons.

@Patrick Connor Could you please bring this issue to the attention of the person(s) responsible for the UI design?
BTW, nice to see you're finally trying to improve the UI. I missed it.

 

On 4/19/2024 at 2:27 PM, MikeTO said:

Not a big deal

On the contrary, UI has a huge impact on the user experience and therefore helps companies achieve their financial goals by simply focusing on user needs.
The interface should be designed with particular care, even down to the smallest details. The app should look good and be user-friendly.
Without the right balance between UI and UX, you can say goodbye to potential users and wave them away as they retreat and try to find something else.

Rule #1 - “Focus on the user and everything else will follow.”

[MikeTO]

23 minutes ago, bbrother said:

The "Paragraph Style" drop-down list, you're refering to is simply a list of options that appears when you click a button, not a combo box.

I believe you're on Windows so you didn't have this feature but on macOS the Paragraph Style and Character Style lists were indeed combo boxes in 2.4 and earlier. They have been changed to pull-down (popup lists) lists in 2.5 for Mac which matches Windows.

[bbrother]

16 minutes ago, MikeTO said:

I believe you're on Windows so you didn't have this feature but on macOS the Paragraph Style and Character Style lists were indeed combo boxes

Ahh, you're right @MikeTo, at first glance I didn't notice that the close panel icon was on the left, so it's a macOS screenshot.
However, the "Update Paragraph Style" button should still not be placed above the dropdown button, but next to it on the right😉
Placing it above, is an example how not to do the UI/UX.

[Hangman]

A minor one...

The Section name: text entry field in the 2.5 Beta release looks like it's not 'selectable' because it appears with a grey rather than a black background in Dark Mode unlike the 'Start on page: 'and 'Restart page numbering at:' text entry fields and contrary to Light Mode where it appears with a white background...

V2.4.2 Left | V2.5 Beta Right (Dark Mode)

V2.4.2 Left | V2.5 Beta Right (Light Mode)

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Artefacts appearing on Character and Paragraph Panel when collapsed") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AF-2799). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Section Manager's Name field has incorrect background colour.") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AF-2800). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Character Panel's background is briefly visible just above its categories") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AF-2801). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[Hangman]

There are several issues with the Character and Paragraph Panels in the v2.5 Beta...

Character Panel - Docked or Undocked on Opening Affinity Apps

• Clicking the field labels won't select or add the outline highlight to any of the text entry fields in the Position and Transform section
• Clicking in the Font Size field and hitting the tab key doesn't remove focus from the field, it positions the caret between the number one and two in 12 pt. Note: this is true for a number of different text entry fields
• Using the tab key to move between text entry fields fails in the Position and Transform Panel

Paragraph Panel - Docked on Opening Affinity Apps

• Clicking the field labels won't select or add the outline highlight to any of the text entry fields in any section
• Using the tab key to move between fields moves from the Spacing to the Justification sections
• Using the tab key to move between fields fails in the Hyphenation, Drop Caps, Initial Words and Decoration sections

Character Panel - Undocked (if Docked) or Docked then Undocked (if Undocked) on Opening Affinity Apps

• Clicking the field labels will now select and add the outline highlight to all of the text entry fields
• Clicking in the Font Size field and hitting the tab key moves between Font Size and the Position and Transform sections
• The tab order is incorrect in the Position and Transform section, moving horizontally instead of vertically

Paragraph Panel - Undocked (if Docked) or Docked then Undocked (if Undocked) on Opening Affinity Apps

• Randomly clicking the icons to the left of the text entry fields in the Spacing section selects and highlights the previous field - though I can no longer replicate
• Randomly clicking the icons to the left of the text entry fields in the Justification section selects and highlights the previous field starting with 'Keep with Next' when selecting 'Minimum Word Spacing' - though I can no longer replicate
• Using the tab key to move between fields moves through every enabled field in the entire Paragraph panel rather than just those in each section

[R C-R]

On 4/19/2024 at 6:16 AM, MikeTO said:

Artifacts are drawn on the Character panel's section expand icons when I type in a document. This is only with collapsed sections and the artifacts are consistent as shown here. It happens docked and undocked, light and dark modes, and in all three apps.

For what very little it is worth, I am not seeing these artifacts in any of the 3 apps, maybe because I am still running Catalina, but that is just a guess.

[Hangman]

12 hours ago, R C-R said:

For what very little it is worth, I am not seeing these artifacts in any of the 3 apps, maybe because I am still running Catalina, but that is just a guess.

I've not seen any glitches with Monterey either...

[Hangman]

Just to add to my post before last...

When first launching Publisher, as mentioned above, it is not possible to select any of the text entry fields by clicking on their icon/label... this is also the case in v2.4.2, however, if I click in the Character panel 'Kerning' or 'Leading Override' text entry fields and hit the tab key, instead of tabbing between fields it adjusts both the Left and First Line indent values in the Paragraph panel instead...

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Tabbing has stopped working in the Character Panel on macOS") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AF-2831). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[Sean P]

Thanks Hangman! Looks like Tabbing has stopped working on that Panel for macOS. It looks like the tabs are falling through the panel and instead being applied to the text frame.

I'll get this logged.

[Hangman]

Thanks @Sean P,

Did the other issues mentioned get logged as well, i.e., not being able to select text entry fields in the Character and Paragraph panels when initially launching all three apps along with the other odd behaviour?

[Sean P]

1 hour ago, Hangman said:

Thanks @Sean P,

Did the other issues mentioned get logged as well, i.e., not being able to select text entry fields in the Character and Paragraph panels when initially launching all three apps along with the other odd behaviour?

Ahh sorry I think I may have misunderstood part of your message.

Is this what you're seeing? You mentioned that 2.4.2 was affected, but that seems ok for me?

[Affinity Info Bot]

An issue raised in this thread ("Tabbing out of the Paragraph: Spacing fields with text selected will increase paragraph level") has now been reported to the developers by the testing team (Ref: AF-2837). Thank you very much for reporting this issue to us.

[Hangman]

Hi @Sean P,

On 4/24/2024 at 1:44 PM, Sean P said:

Is this what you're seeing? You mentioned that 2.4.2 was affected, but that seems ok for me?

This only happens when first launching the Affinity apps, for me in both 2.4.2 and the 2.5.0 Beta, seemingly in 2.4.2 when the panels are docked.

In the 2.5.0 Beta, note things like the incorrect tab order in the Position and Transform panel and the fact that when using the tab key in the Paragraph panel instead of restricting and cycling fields within each section, the tab key cycles through the entire Paragraph panel for each section that is enabled. This means if you have other sections closed you will hit the tab key numerous times and it looks as though nothing is happening because it's tabbing through all fields in the next section and so on.

There is still the bug where using the tab key in certain fields across the app fails to move to the next field, instead, it moves the caret so it appears after the first character in the same text field but I believe that is logged already as being specific to Monterey but it is a real pain from a workflow point of view.

Note: In Designer and Photo, selecting paragraph text, clicking in the Kerning Text Entry field and hitting the tab key twice results in the text being deleted rather than tabbing through the other options in the Position and Transform section.

[Hangman]

Issues and inconsistencies with the Text Style Editor panel...

While not unique to the updated panel in the v2.5.0 Beta, there are inconsistencies with tab and panel naming...

Naming Conventions

• The Text Style Editor panel uses 'Title Case' for each 'Panel name heading' but 'Sentence case' for 'Style' and 'Subcategory' names in each section. The Studio panels use 'Title Case' throughout...

Text Style Editor Panel Tab Name | Studio Panel Tab Name

• Colour & Decorations | Decorations
• Position & Transform | Position and Transform
• Bullets & Numbering | Bullets and Numbering
• Flow | Flow Options

Style Tab

• The Shortcut ⨂ button is missing its 'Reset Shortcut' tooltip...
• The ⨂ button sits inside the text entry field which is inconsistent with the way it appears in the 'Initial Words' tab even though it doesn't affect its functionality

Font Tab

• The 'Font family' dropdown list appears on a light grey background instead of a dark grey background in Dark Mode which is inconsistent with all the other dropdown options and inconsistent with the v2.4.2 retail version

Colour & Decorations

• Fill colours and stroke weights are no longer updated in real-time for the Text Fill, Highlight Fill, Underline, Strikethrough and Outline options AF-2803

Position & Transform

The item listing order in the Text Style Editor panel is inconsistent with the Studio Panel...

• Kerning | Tracking | Superscript/subscript | Baseline | Leading override || Shear | Horizontal scale | Vertical scale | No break
• Kerning | Tracking | Baseline | Leading Override | No Break || Shear | Horizontal Scale | Vertical Scale | Superscript/Subscript

Note: the mix of Title and Sentence case between the two...

Language
This tab uses 'Title case' for its sub-categories which is inconsistent with all the other tabs in the Text Style Editor panel

• Spelling Language
• Hyphenation Language
• Typography Script
• Typography Language

The naming and case are inconsistent with the Language Studio panel which shows:

• Spelling
• Hyphenation
• Typography script
• Typography language

Optical Alignment

• Selecting 'Type: Font' shows all options greyed out so it is only possible to edit values when 'Type: Manual' is selected

Alternates

• Ligatures and Alternates have two colons after their name, i.e., Ligatures:: and Alternates::
• Randomise under the Alternates option uses the Americanised spelling 'Randomized'

Variants

• The minus button to remove 'Stylistic' sets suffers from a delay unlike the plus button to add them...

Spacing

• There is no real-time update to frame text on the page when the Leading value is updated unlike in the Paragraph Studio panel (and the 2.4.2 Retail version)

Bullets & Numbering

• When an Alphanumeric option is selected from the dropdown the 'Name' field has a grey instead of black background in 'Dark Mode' so it appears as though the field isn't active.

Flow

• The 'Start' dropdown is unnecessarily wide for the options it contains in the dropdown list

Initial Words

• The Rest end characters' ⨂ button is greyed out when 'Enabled' is checked and only a single 'end character' appears in the text entry field
• The Rest end characters' ⨂ button doesn't remove 'end characters' from the text entry field

Decorations

• With Enabled checked' Decoration 1 is initially greyed out until Decoration 2 is added
• Using the 'Minus' button it is possible to remove all decorations leaving the 'Plus' disabled which means the 'Enable' checkbox has to be clicked three times to re-enable the 'Plus' button and allow Decorations to be added.
• Fill colours and stroke weights are no longer updated in real-time AF-2803

Light Mode

• The 'Style Summary Settings' at the bottom of the Text Style Editor appear on a dark grey (Dark Mode) background instead of a light grey (Light Mode) background...

 

General Alignment issues...

There is still a lack of consistency regarding general alignment across the various tabs in the Text Style Editor... e.g., among others...

Character Font

 

Justification

 

Bullets & Numbering

 

[MikeTO]

On 4/19/2024 at 7:34 AM, Patrick Connor said:

A number of Publisher panels have been completely refactored and so they may well have some unusual behaviour.

• Text Style Panel/Editor
• Paragraph Panel
• Character Panel
• Section Manager (macOS only)

Please report what you find in regard to these 4 panels in this forum, thanks.

One minor glitch. The Character and Paragraph panel contents like to scroll horizontally even though they shouldn't, whether or not there is a vertical scrollbar. This doesn't happen with Text Styles or Section Manager.