Beta 1 - Elements Floating Window

Beta
#1

Not sure about others, but I’m not too keen on the elements only being a floating window and not fixed to the sidebar.

For me, I prefer to have all tools to the edge so that I don’t lose any screen space to maximise the main preview.

Could we maybe have it default stuck to the sidebar like below:
element-sticky-sidebar

Then if someone likes it elsewhere they can just move it as it is currently.

Also, could there be a keyboard shortcut for the elements like cmd + E or something for faster accessibility?

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Beta 1 - Elements section feedback
#2

Couldn’t agree with this more and was getting ready to draft my own post about it. The Elements is one of the most commonly used panes. Was a pain in the butt trying to build around it.

I’d move it to the right side of my screen until I needed to place an element there.

Then I’d move it down to the bottom until I needed to place an element there.

Then I moved it on top of the layout outline pane but then when I needed access to settings I needed to move it again.

Then to top it all off, anywhere you have the elements pane, is also where your text editing is done but in a second additional window that shows up on top of the elements pane. In the end after adding 2 text elements and editing the text in both I had 3 popped out windows covering my design…

If it must live in its own pane can it at least anchor to a side and push content so that I can design without constantly moving it?

PS - I should add that the Themeco team has done some incredible work with this update. Great work all around. Excited for the future of Pro. :slight_smile:

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#3

Thanks for sharing! Seems to be a trending focus point (Beta 1 - Elements section feedback)

@Maratopia_Digital I see where you’re coming from there, but one challenge would be if you snapped your workspace and bars to different edges, the Element Library would still be covering the preview area. As it stands right now, the floater will remember the last position.

@DoncoMarketing really appreciate the play-by-play as it helps me think it through. We’re still chewing on this and will be thinking of more solutions, but here are some quick ideas off the top of my head of changes that could be made:

1. We make the Element Library close after you drag an element.

  • This would be a user preference on/off.
  • You could position the library directly over your workspace so it remembers that position each time it is opened.
  • The workflow is: 1. Click the element icon. 2. Drag an element. 3. You are now inspecting that element and the library is closed
  • This would be pretty much identical to the current workflow

2. We allow snapping the floating Element Library into the bottom portion of the workspace.

  • The element library would not be as tall. It’d be max 50% the workspace height but probably smaller
  • You could dock/undock the elements library from that location. This allows it to existed in a fixed position that doesn’t cover the preview area
Beta 1 | UI/UX General Feedback
Beta 1 – Theme Options as a primary tab
#4

Yea, that is a good point!

Ahh I haven’t really noticed this until now that you brought it up. I like the idea of closing after putting an element, especially with the user preference to turn it on/off.

Maybe to speed up the process of opening the elements, a keyboard shortcut would be nice and convenient also it would eliminate one step of the workflow.

#5

Thanks! Will keep all this in mind and continue to weigh additional feedback. I like the keyboard shortcut idea.

#6

Is it possible to use keyboard modifiers when dragging elements?

For example, keep the previous release’s auto-hide behavior for the elements panel, but if you hold command and drag an element, it keeps the element panel open?

Just spitballing. I really like the new persistent behavior, but there are times when it’s fine with me if it auto-closes. I’d be perfectly content command-dragging when I want to add a bunch of elements in a row.

#7

For example, keep the previous release’s auto-hide behavior for the elements panel, but if you hold command and drag an element, it keeps the element panel open?

Awesome idea! I was able to get this in place, in addition to a preference called “Auto Close Elements”. If that preference is enabled, it will close the library when an element is added. If you are holding cmd/ctrl while dragging, it inverts the preference for you. So in your case you could have that on so primarily it closes but holding cmd/ctrl will abort that.

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