Wiki Update: UI Actions

Wiki
#1

@peternlewis, I have made a DRAFT mod to the Wiki Actions page to add a category for UI Apps. It is not complete, and needs links.

User Interface (UI) Actions

I couldn't find an easy way to get the links for the Actions I have entered.
Perhaps you can convert these to links since you have full access to the Wiki. And add any Actions I have missed.

When I was answering a user's question, it occurred to me that it is NOT easy to identify all of the KM Actions that action on the Mac UI, even for an experienced user. For a new user, it is probably next to impossible.

So I think we need a UI Actions category on the Action page that lists all of those Actions.

#2

I don't think it's a good idea to try to group the actions by category.

For one thing, it is going to be a paid to maintain, and inevitably get out of date.

Another issue is that actions are in multiple categories within Keyboard Maestro, since categories act more like tags than folders. So then actions in this page would be listed in multiple places which is likely to get more confusing.

If it is worth doing a UI Actions list, it is probably done better as a page unto itself, that way it can cover the various UI actions and their usage, rather than be on this page which is really designed more as a jumping off point that a descriptive page.

I'm not sure when the Looping Actions section was added, but even that doesn't really make a lot of sense where it is, so rather than add more to this, I think it'd be better to remove that section, and then maybe add a list of a few pages that describe categories of actions separately.

Of course, even so, those pages will still suffer from the maintenance problem, but its not so pronounced since those pages don’t have to be written in a way that requires exhaustive listing of the actions.

#3

The benefit of doing this should be obvious. Every language I have used generally groups commands/functions by category. This is essential to new users quickly learning the language.

Have you paid attention to the many new users who have complained about how hard it is to learn KM?

One of the reasons KM is hard to learn is the mixed blessing of having so many Actions, Functions, and Tokens.

The great number of these make KM very powerful. But it is also intimidating and confusing. Even today I sometimes can't remember whether I need to use a Function, Token, or Action to get certain data.

If the KM Wiki had a "Categories" page, or pages, we all could go to that to quickly find what we need. Of course, the Category names need to be carefully thought out, and synonyms need to be provided.

Keep in mind that one of the hardest things for any developer to do is to truly understand the perspective of his/her users.

OK, a list of categories (as links) at the top of the Actions page would be fine.
I'll leave making that happen up to you.

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