New way to expand/collapse

I really like the way Workflowy handle the expand/collapse feature, double click on the main topic area expand/collapse all list, double click on plus icon expand/collapse all the list for the sub topic. I use those feature all the time, and it just feel much more nature than move mouse point to bullet point, wait for hamburger icon show up, select expand or collapse. Yes I know I can use keyboard shortcut, but when I navigate the list I like use mouse instead keyboard. Please consider add those “new” way to expand/collapse. Thanks.

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I’m confused, the title says “new way to zoom” but you seem to be talking about expand/collapse.

If you want to switch the position of zoom and expand, check “use bullet to zoom” in Settings - Preferences - Control.

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My apology, what I mean to said was new way to expand/collapse (when I think zoom I usually think as a way to focus, but didn’t mean to write like that). I already use the “use bullet to zoom” function. Thanks.

It actually used to be that way. We later decided it’s not very friendly, as double click is often used to select a word. Imagine you’re trying to select a word to copy in a large document and then have to wait for it to expand/collapse. Expand/collapse is also a semi-destructive process as you lose track of which items were collapsed before.

I hope that’s understandable!

Thanks for the reply, I actually didn’t realize the problem you mention because I always double click on the blank area, but I understand your concern. How about double click on the plus icon to expand/collapse all list in itself? For the main topic you can move bookmark icon to the left side, and replace it with plus icon. I know it is not some important feature and maybe not many people use it, but I just miss it so much and thanks for the consideration.

Thanks for the reply!

Honestly I still don’t think it’s worth the extra icon. It might be if this is a more commonly used thing by a lot of people, but from what we know so far, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case. It’s a hard thing to say as you seem to miss this so much, but we don’t want to give false hope either.

In addition, as I understand it’s hard to phase out some old habits, time would help. Maybe after a while you’ll get used to it.

Thanks again for letting us know!

I am working diligently to rely exclusively on DL after many years of depending on Workflowy, and spending a year pro use of Checkvist.

Without more navigation options, my brainstorming especially for writing is slowed down in DL quite a bit. How I would love to see the up/down left/right arrow keys work to expand and collapse as they do in Checkvist, which also utilizes clever keyboard letter-combination shortcuts that don’t require three fingers. Navigation within lists is an area I hope to see grow richer over the near term.

Is it possible to get the best of the two worlds?

One of the major weakness of Checkvist, in my opinion, is that you can’t start editing right away. It feels more like Excel than Word, in the sense that you need to press ee or F2 if you want to edit.

Also Ctrl+Period should only require two fingers, right?

That would immediately make me unsubscribe from DL :slight_smile: But as an option, why not. Currently you can change shortcut to do it faster, default was weird, but alt+tab works for me, and shift+alt+tab for e/c all.

Ctrl . Yep. But it takes two hands. I tried changing the COLLAPSE keystroke to ./ and of course a MODIFIER KEY is required.

I prefer to keep my hands in HOME position as much as possible. Using J and K to move up and down and U and I to expand-collapse would be my ideal arrangement maybe?

I’ve tweaked a couple of key commands that might help me a bit but still not a dream workflow.

Cmd Ctrl U and I move up or down within a document
Cmd Ctrl J to toggle expand/collapse
Cmd Ctrl M to move an item

Better than my earlier key commands: Less hand repositioning: UP and DOWN arrows of course to navigate within a list, and then Ctrl Cmd UP ARROW to expand and collapse at any level with children—much more CheckVisty.

Now: if there was a way to toggle over to the files / tags / bookmarks pane (do-able now) AND THEN use the controls above to move up and down and EXPAND from there. (Not doable now?) Hmmm.

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You could just do what I do, have every relevant bulletpoint open and use CTRL+F and chrome macros to navigate faster

I only collapse and uncollapse maybe 10 bulletpoints a day at most

I tried checkvist and don’t really like it, its really slow at data entry, which is the key sellingpoint of either workflowy / dynalist

I was disappointed with Checkvist also for speed and especially the way it took three clicks to edit a single bullet level of text. I’m working on a long document (book) and it just did not work anywhere near as seamlessly as WF. I am hoping DL will become as fluid, though the siloed folders-and-documents org is clunky without keyboard shortcuts to move back and forth between the left pane and the actual data entry pane.

I’m starting to agree with keep most expanded so details don’t get lost in the nested levels.

Otherwise, the keystrokes I mentioned above have overcome one bit of frustration for me.

I’m curious why do you need to open and close the left pane? If you remember the names you can jump around with Ctrl+O, no?

Since writing that thought a month ago, I’ve been satisfied with a change to keyboard shortcuts for “move to file pane” so that it comes more naturally in my workflow: Ctrl J to search and Ctrl K to open file pane. It just suits my hands and muscle memory better that Cmd O. Otherwise I am settling in, especially w some Powerpack switches enabled for visual and organizational use. What was Workflowy again? Thanks for following up.

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I set like WorkFlowy:

Swap with previous: Ctr + Shift + ↑
Swap with next: Ctr + Shift + ↓
Expand / Collapse: Ctr + ↑, Ctr + ↓ (ridiculous but familiar)

Thanks for the suggestion, I must admit that I still miss the function I requested from time to time, but with custom shortcuts I am now much happier.

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