...return to 'Keyboard And Mouse'?
Live Preview¶
This feature is what lets us quickly see what our finished composition will look like and, at the same time, we can test if it is working. So, because all of our HTML becomes active, we need to be careful that we don't click on any links that we have made, because we will leave the page, and we could lose our work. So always make sure you save your project frequently using the S key.
Mouse DoubleClick¶
To quickly enter into the live preview without needing to reach the keyboard, we can just double click on any part. To return to the construction mode, we can simply double click in a blank area, where there is no part. Sometimes this might not be easy, for example, when there are many parts, and so, it will be best to use the ESC key to return to construction mode.
Depending on what functionality is inside of the part you are doubleclicking, it might be a little bit hazardous to enter into live preview this way, for example, if the part contains a link to an external page. For that reason, be sure to save your work frequently using the S key.
The Spacebar Quickview¶
This is the fastest way to access the live preview because it is quickly toggled on while the spacebar is held down, and then we return to construction mode when the spacebar is released. This is exactly like the same functionality found in FontForge, which is a truly brilliant program, and this is exactly where this functionality has been borrowed from.
Enter Key and Escape Key¶
The main way to switch in an out of the live preview mode is by pressing the ENTER key. At any time, we can easily return to the construction mode by pressing the ESCAPE key. The best thing about doing it this way is that it is persistent, that is to say, when we change to live preview mode we stay there until we want to switch back. For many reasons, this is the best way to do it.
The Basic Concepts at Play¶
This program is a little bit different than WYSIWYG style editors. The main difference is that we have two basic states that govern what actions we can take. When we have the live preview active, we can use and test almost everything about the page. If we need to go even further, we can open the page temporarily in it's own window by using SHIFT + enter.
Preview Mode¶
In this mode, we can access and change any text that is editable HTML. It is also important to notice that we can still use most of the things in the menu. For example, we can still change the background colour, the text size, and we can still rotate the parts. We can even change which part is our current focus.
So, it is clear to see that some things available in construction mode have been disabled while using the live preview. That is where this program is different because this aspect is split into two modes. Many abilities remain common to both modes.
Construction Mode¶
In this mode, we are no longer able to enter text into editable areas, and we can no long activate buttons, etcetera. Most of the time, this is the best mode when we are performing basic tasks, such as moving parts around the screen, and resizing parts. While in this mode, we can see the grid squares that govern movements, and we can also see the edges of the parts which can be grabbed to resize the parts.
The Special Nature of the Live Preview¶
One very interesting aspect that is enabled through the live preview is the ability to access the buttons directly. For the programmer, or hobbyist, you will notice right away that this makes it possible to add custom functionality to your HTML drafting interface. So, then this should also be regarded as a means of extending the basic program functionality to accomodate whatever is desired.
...onward to 'Keyboard Mode Switching'?