Fwd: ideas for customize

["Samuel Wales" <samologist@gmail.com>]

I am not a subscriber, but Drew suggested that I send these ideas to
this list.

These are not huge issues for me, but I hope they help others.

Thanks.

P.S.  I just thought of another idea: put (customizable) on variables
and faces in apropos mode so that the user knows that it isn't just an
internal variable.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Samuel Wales
Date: Sat, Jan 3, 2009 at 16:49
Subject: ideas for customize
To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org


Recently two people expressed different opinions on the value of
customize.  I hope that this email helps create more understanding.

A lot of people seem to find customize irksome.  I very much
appreciate the work that went into it and the philosophy
behind it, but I admit that I, too, don't use it (except for
faces because I don't know how to do those otherwise).

Here are some extemporaneous ideas for possible ways to
improve it.

These are just my impressions and some of them might be
incorrect.  I might have missed a few things.

However, I hope that they are useful.  :)

 - the customizable entries should stand out.  but some
   are in a special face while others are not.  help text
   and docstrings look the same as the entries.  a special
   face, perhaps red, used for all customizable entries and
   not used for anything else, would help.
 - help text does not take into account window-width.  it
   should fill according to window-width minus a fixed
   amount.  this should also optionally occur for docstring
   text, ideally trying to notice, filladapt-style, when
   there is a table, a list, or code.
 - it is not easy to navigate with the keyboard.  n and p
   get stuck on values, then you have to manually go to the
   next widget.
 - too many keystrokes to try various settings (e.g. try
   various faces).
 - perhaps something like orgstruct minor mode could be
   used to organize the customize buffer so that users do
   not have to learn a special way of interacting.
 - a more flexible infrastructure for customize-changed,
   which also works for large packages that do not come
   with emacs, might be nice.
 - the difference between "undo edits" and "reset to saved"
   is not clear.  rewording would help.
 - it is not clear how to .emacs -ize custom code.  simple
   for variables, less so for faces.  also not clear when
   to do so, in the case of faces.  for example, will a
   restart of emacs be necessary?
 - having the entries in custom-set-variables and
   custom-set-faces include the (useless for it but useful
   for the user) setq or set-face (or whatever it is) would
   make it easy to cut and paste from the custom section to
   your own .emacs.
 - it is not easy to hide and unhide.  a key would be
   easier than buttons.
   - have help text tell you how.
 - trees should be easier to fold and unfold, perhaps with
   a key.
 - a command for next and previous (perhaps redefining n
   and p) which also optionally hides and unhides
   everything as you navigate, would also help.
 - it seems to say changed outside of customized even when
   it is not.  have not tracked this down.  comment
   perhaps.
 - choosing numbers to choose the state requires a
   translation step.  selecting by letter would be less
   cognitively burdensome.

Again these are just possibilities for improving the (imo)
good start that is customize.

--
For personal gain, myalgic encephalomyelitis denialists are knowingly
causing further suffering and death by grossly corrupting science.  Do
you care about the world?
http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/What_Is_ME_What_Is_CFS.htm



-- 
For personal gain, myalgic encephalomyelitis denialists are knowingly
causing further suffering and death by grossly corrupting science.  Do
you care about the world?
http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/What_Is_ME_What_Is_CFS.htm