Current UI doesnt feel intuitive

[diam0voi]

FOA - thats a nice utility! It actually solves dat awkward problem of literal pathfinding. +rep Raf & collaborators
However, it feels sorta clunky 4 me and so it possibly can scare off some potential users ig...
Imma not much of designer (even less of AHK coder) but i had some thoughts bout it, no offence, just hope 2 help! ^^
few words bout README 1st:

0. As rnd user, i dont need any forums mate, i wanna download ur magic thingie! Its better to move em down or make em less "eye-catchy", otherwise someone might guess that this is plugins or sponsors

1. Sentences between GIFs distract the reader and ultimately dont work as separators, its better to use concise H2-H3 headings like "Easy navigation: smart path shortening!" "Versatile customization!" and so on.

2. GIFs in README dont show much. They are long yet they dont demonstrate real usecases! And they're too dark. Its preferable to use light or some contrast-tinted theme for demos, makes it bit more clear.
   menu.gif - should be like "notepad app - click open with - call magic menu - click on pinned/fav path - Hello QuickSwitch! shows in notepad - stop"! Thats the deal!
   autoswitch.gif - cool, but where is short-path.jpg at least? Its pointed out like a cool feature but it wasnt shown.
   settings.gif - feels most redundant here. It would make sense if, say, all da features across all tabs were disabled and da buffer was cleared - like, "heres your minimalism"
   installation.avif - should be hidden alongside with whole manual install way like the other methods.

3. It is unclear for rnd user if utility requires AHK to use or not. Only 1 sentence needed to fix this!

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4. Now to app. There are 0 "immediately useful" features (e g open .log file | open Settings | elevate on autostart etc) available via tray icon rn. Why not make a hide tray icon checkbox in da Settings? App isnt gonna run away or smth xd. There is one in AltSnap for example. Makes system looks clean;

5. Prev point took me here - why it takes so long 2 get into Settings? like, why there are no "splash screen" with some guides and config editing? Mb thats only me but sometimes i install lotta apps simultaneously and can forgor bout some of em if they executes silently (no, win notifies dont work, they show app is "turned on", not "here, tap here and there 4 magic tricks").
   I know dat its shell-like stuff, it is what it is. But there is no quick way to check if its really functioning, like with QuickLook , u reckon? With pre-pinned paths and so on.
   everymen arent devs, they got dat small trust battery. Min init trust == min pos Time for software to Value!;

6. It is better to rename stuff in App tab of Settings from Left / Right / Middle / Backward / Forward to their common aliases LMB / RMB / MMB / MB4 / MB5 and so on. There are arrow keys for instance + "mouse" label on the btn confuses even more since no one have "Lwin" mouse button lmao;

7. Btw Pin the Path is also confusing. There is no way to "hold" in OSes, u can hover on or select smth. And to hold what, Dir? File? Tab? Path in the submenu? Window? And how long? And click on what, using which button? README GIFs are used for such cases, but none of 3 shows what to do for now......
   I feel thats important cuz basically my 1st idea with all that was "hooray, i can finally pin folder with my .wav samples for edits! And smth OS-esque to skip searching thro! And all without relying on anys app "recent" memory!" but then it tells me to rely on some manager memory cmon man i cant even see how it works & pins arent ez t-t

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8. And some minor ideas. show Favourites path, show Pinned paths, Autoswitch, show short path and other possible options should be checked by default, so user can actually see different icons and acknowledge their possibilities here from the start (unless they dont crush smth if so? didnt see such issues, mb imma blind);

9. Autoswitch off/on icons should be vice versa since its not common pattern (usually full grey means "off", but menu appears again if icon turns blue which tells "im turned off" ).

10. Settings font size changing, Menu icon size changing... where is Menu font size changing? U could unite fonts if there is no place for new parameter mate! And tbh - icons just look better at 14-16, the way they are in normal shell. Cannot understand making 24 by default in da 1st place...
    Also user will probably change font for da Menu, not Settings (like u use em once and open never again), this feature is redundant a bit :D

11. Ctrl + Q for Menu (more important but longer) and RMB for pin the path (less important but faster) by default. Wha? If u vote for typing then u should make it all keyboardesque, if against - fully mousesque. User will mix options themselves if they want to. And so with other hotkeys. How someone supposed to know bout em outside of github readme?

12. Consider localization if its possible? U know Russian already (такую пачку ключей незападло перевести, братанчик), add Chinese usin AI or contributors hand and voila: ur stuff possibly helps ~1/3 earth populace!
    For win 10 x64 u can access users default locale by LangCode := DllCall("kernel32.dll\GetUserDefaultUILanguage") or smth like that ig.

I would luv to here where its all wrong/impossible and why, always a new know-how around!

[JoyHak]

Thank you for your feedback - it helps make the project better!

Over several iterations, a lot of confusing elements have accumulated in the UI, since the settings were originally designed for simpler customizations. Most likely, after switching to AutoHotkey 2.0.19+, I’ll be able to make the settings more intuitive. The same goes for the tray menu: there are a number of limitations.

Currently, the quickest way to access the settings and menu is via two shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+Win+0 and Alt+~ (tilde ~ or backtick orё). The second one is only available in .ahk` bc it was created for development convenience only. May cause collisions for multiple user. Both shortcuts cannot be changed rn.

I tried to include as much documentation as possible in the readme, but I agree that the overall design is a bit lacking. I’ve rearranged the sections in the interface to simplify navigation and help users understand the app’s capabilities. I’ll try to redesign the main page based on your feedback.

why there are no "splash screen" with some guides and config editing? Mb thats only me but sometimes i install lotta apps simultaneously and can forgor bout some of em if they executes silently (no, win notifies dont work, they show app is "turned on", not "here, tap here and there 4 magic tricks").

The additional UI is a bit of a challenge, as it is quite difficult to create at this time, as is an intuitive interface. I didn’t want to add it because the utility should be simple in terms of annoyances and popus. I’m not sure yet if it will be included after version 2.0.

A minimalistic description is already available in package managers:

QuickSwitch automatically switches file dialog path. Save and open files with convenience and speed. 
  It has 2 modes
  . Menu: displays a list of opened tabs from file managers, allows to choose the path.
  . AutoSwitch: automatically opens the last active tab.   

To open the Menu press Ctrl+Q. You can also select Mouse buttons, Capslock, Space, Windows and other special keys in Menu settings

Currently I'm trying to write short tips on third-party but related platforms like GitHub and WinGet and focus on expanding the available content without integrating it into the source code. There's a lot of information in changelogs, but it's too much info for any newbie. Therefore any splash screen may dissapoint new user with complexity. Another problem to think about.

I added welcome toast notification in the beta version:

Launch any file manager first. 
Open any file dialog (e.g. open notepad.exe and press Ctrl+Shift+S).
Press Ctrl+Q to open the Menu.

It shouldn't scary a newbie...

But there is no quick way to check if its really functioning, like with QuickLook , u reckon? With pre-pinned paths and so on.
everymen arent devs, they got dat small trust battery. Min init trust == min pos Time for software to Value!;

Can you explain this a little bit more?

There are arrow keys for instance + "mouse" label on the btn confuses even more

Mouse selector is the most complicated thing in the code because it's hard to make it intuitive and useful. I guess I need some concept arts or completely new design for this group of controls... Currently I don't know how to make it much better, buttons names is not the only problem...

Btw Pin the Path is also confusing. There is no way to "hold" in OSes, u can hover on or select smth.

Currently I have only 1 solution, that will be released on 1.11-12: tips.

C:\Win    hold .. to pin
C:\Temp  hold .. to pin

(It looks a little bit better in the menu). But this feature requires multiple codebase changes, so I decided to not push it rn...

[JoyHak]

Menu tip is a small text right to the path, that can display helpful info.

Since there are different types of paths, i can display different tips near the different paths:

Hold .. and click to pin
Always AutoSwitch On
From XYplorer

This is the first step to make QuickSwitch more user-friendly and I hope it will be available in the near releases.

I also added "headers" that can contain some tips, it's already available in beta.

And some minor ideas. show Favourites path, show Pinned paths, Autoswitch, show short path and other possible options should be checked by default

Some of these options will be enabled by default starting with the nearest release. Along with these, "headers" will be displayed to help a new user with understanding this menu sections.

There is no way to "hold" in OSes, u can hover on or select smth. And to hold what

I'll try to make it more clear, that you need to hold the key (see "headers" above). Although there is a places where you need to hold a key. E.g. if you hold shift or ctrl and right-click on the desktop, you should see special context menu. At least on some Windows builds. This idea is not truly new, I just made it customizable: you can hold shift or LWin and click on any path to trigger pin action. But there can be more triggers and more actions because it's actually very powerful way to work with the context menu: just hold some keys.

Examples

Nilesoft Shell allows to display different menus on different modifier:

modify (

    find = "Safe mode"
    title = "Безопасный режим"
    pos = indexof("Параметры*")
    vis = keys.shift()
	sep = 'none'
	type='Desktop')
    
modify(
    find = "Advanced startup*"
    title = "Особый режим загрузки"
    image = \uE12F
    vis = keys.shift()
    pos = 0
	sep = 'none'
    type='Desktop')
	
modify (
    find = "Параметры экрана"
    vis = !keys.shift())

This are the menus that will be visible only after holding shift.

I know it's not the obvious way to interact with the menu, but I don't want to sacrifice the potential power of this ability. Perhaps I need some new design ideas for pin path.

I feel thats important cuz basically my 1st idea with all that was "hooray, i can finally pin folder with my .wav samples for edits! And smth OS-esque to skip searching thro! And all without relying on anys app "recent" memory!" but then it tells me to rely on some manager memory cmon man i cant even see how it works & pins arent ez t-t

Can you explain this a bit more? I don't get it.

Autoswitch off/on icons should be vice versa since its not common pattern

I wanted to invert them, but they've lasted almost a year without user outrage so I decided not to change them yet.

Settings font size changing, Menu icon size changing... where is Menu font size changing?

Good point, I'll change it.

Also user will probably change font for da Menu, not Settings (like u use em once and open never again), this feature is redundant a bit :D

I changed font for the Settings, because Menu font is already 12px thanka тр the WinAeroTweaker. This option is useful at least for me and for the user who requested it :D

It's actually necessary option to reduce/increase the UI according to DPI setting which is different on different machines.

Ctrl + Q for Menu (more important but longer) and RMB for pin the path (less important but faster) by default. Wha? If u vote for typing then u should make it all keyboardesque, if against - fully mousesque.

Currently it's not possible to pin the path using number row 1-9. I'm open to ideas on how best to make path anchoring intuitive when working exclusively from the keyboard.

Consider localization if its possible?

Only after the UI will completely refactored.and improved. It's early to think about localization until the new design of settings is ready. And the current source code is already turning into spaghetti because of Autohotkey 1.1 limitations. Although I already know how to implement it.

[JoyHak]

I've found awesome frameworks for new Autohotkey Settings GUI:

• Mica AHK native

• Fluent XAML

I hope some of them will be used to make the UI bigger and more readable in 2.0

[JoyHak]

Thank you again! i'll start filling out the tracker for ideas that i would like to implement soon.