Ability to modify the height in the "Theme", "Keys" & "MIDI Mapping" panels

[Raul (Raul (ulneiz))]

I think it would be nice to have the ability to at least manually modify the vertical size of the small panels in these sections with the mouse: Theme, Keys, MIDI Mapping… (or other similar panels if they exist)

The compact size is fine for older picture monitors. But nowadays all users have large monitors.

Being able to expand at least the vertical size would ease the search for content.

How could it work?

1. The user can simply use the mouse to modify the height of the frame with a lower (current) and upper limit (at least three times the current, or more).

2. If the user chooses to select another panel or closes the window, the modified frame takes on the minimum vertical size again.

Could this be implemented?

[NPC1]

I have requested this a long time before. A Searchfilter in this window would be good too. In general all windows should be able to resize for optimal ergonomics. The Freetype Library and the FreeImage Library should be updated too.

[taktik]

Yes, the entire preferences GUI got quite crowded and ugly over time. But the entire preference pane needs to be resizable to resize the list views within each pane. Where else is there room for resizing?

[lilith]

Resizing the tool and Plugin window below the editor would help sometimes. Or having the ability to full size the e.g. EQ window.

[Raul (Raul (ulneiz))]

If you want to look into this in depth, I suggest the following:

1. Change the layout of the button panel. Instead of being vertical, place the button panel horizontally at the top.

2. This will allow the window to be a bit wider (more consistent with the size of image monitors, which are usually wider than they are tall).

3. It will also leave the height of the panel “free”, so that it can accommodate vertical content.

4. Increase all the top buttons by 8 pixels of the width.

5. Use the two-column layout. The width of each subcolumn can vary, depending on the content.

Here is an emulation of what it would look like:

Audio Panel

MIDI Panel

OSC Panel

Files Panel

Keys Panel

GUI Panel

Theme Panel

Plug/Misc Panel

These panels display at least double the height for lists and allow the height of the window to be free to be modified manually if necessary.

They also allow for a fairly compact view (I’ve tried to keep the existing properties so it doesn’t look like too much of a change).

To do this, some width dimensions of some elements have been adjusted, such as the sliding bars or some buttons (originally they were very small).

I think that using the 2-column layout allows you to play better with the content so that viewing is more enjoyable…

It also allows you to include 3 elements in the same row, such as checkboxes and their descriptions, as shown in the MIDI panel.

Furthermore, this layout allows the use of either 2 subcolumns, or a single wider subcolumn that occupies the entire window, or a combination of both layouts.

For it to look “pretty” the elements must be aligned vertically, like the checkboxes. Main titles should also appear centered.

Finally, some subpanels have been increased in height to take up the space needed to fit “in the grid.” This also allows for more elements to be added in the future.

And the last detail: all the subpanels have enough empty surface so as not to overwhelm the eye. It is a good distribution of content.

Note: All of these views should fit well with any size scaling!

New Added:

MIDI Mapping Panel

Folded!

Unfolded!

This would be the visual effect. The user would be able to scroll the list vertically. There would be an empty space on the right. Also, any new properties would be added to the right column, allowing the vertical list to grow slightly, which is not a bad thing.

I also think it would be nice if important panels had a large icon identifying them.

The rest of the panels in the Preferences window might behave in a similar way.

[tkna]

Or, and this may be a bit of a bold suggestion, but I suspect that a REAPER-like tree-style menu would provide much more flexibility and make it easier to change the layout.
It would be better if the size of the Preferences window could be saved, and if problems with font changes could be prevented as much as possible.

[Raul (Raul (ulneiz))]

In my previous comment I added how the MIDI Mapping Panel would look, so that everything is together in the same comment.

It does not seem to be necessary to modify the horizontal dimension.

The idea pursued is always the same: “free up the vertical dimension so that it can be modified manually”.

In the following image you can compare the original window and the folded and unfolded fictitious window: