Keyboard navigation between UI elements?

Hello,

I’m trying to get accustomed to eMClient interface.
I have to say that keyboard navigation is a little bit discouraged, or i didn’t find the correct configuration.

What i’m after is being able to switch between “folders tree”/“message list”/“message viewer” with TAB and Shift+TAB keys. I found it a very comfortable solution found on other email clients.
Is it possible? Sometimes having to necessarily mouse clicking here and there is a little bit annoying.

Moreover, i see that when i click on a folder, i cannot navigate the folder tree with keyboard because the focus is immediately given to the email list. This may be ok in some circumstances but having the need to continually check search folders contents (the total count is not visible in the tree), it would be more easy to me being able to navigate the tree with up/down arrows.

Thanks! Umberto

Yes, it is possible using Tab and Shift Tab.

The starting point is the message preview, or that is where it seems to be in the version 8 beta. Then it will cycle through the whole screen, so right side-bar, side-bar menu, Menu, Title bar icons, folder list, sections (mail, calendar, contacts etc.), message list, message preview. Probably missed a few, but you get the idea.

In relation to navigating emails with arrow keys using V8 Beta.

Currently i see that you can eg: dbclick on a on a folder in the folder tree on the left, and then use the up and down arrows to go through all your various email folders.

I use the Layout email option “Messages on the right” and would like to be able to use the “right arrow” to then move into the “Subjects” on the right after arrowing down to a folder, and then move up and down with the arrows to see all the various emails in there.

Then when finished use the “left arrow” to go back to the folder in the folder tree.

Is there a key i can press currently to move over to the Subjects on the right of a mail folder in Win 10 ?

I’ve since discovered that if i press the Tab key 6 times it then selects / highlights the subjects in the mail folder on the right & i can then move up and down in the mail subjects.

Need a one press keyboard option to avoid pressing Tab 6 times to get to the subjects. Also pressing Tab 6 times again doesn’t get me back to the folder on the left.

The 6 stops are the 4 menu items at the bottom of the folder list, the message list, and finally the subject.

Yes Gary, it sure is possible but i feel it unconfortable.

In my opinion, the focus cycle should be “focused” (sorry) on the specific task i’m doing at the moment. When I’m dealing with eMails, i think it’s useless being able to cycle through all toolbars and icons just to switch from tree/list/viewer. I’m losing myself in the tab count. So, i think that where i’m in email mode, i switch on what it’s useful for email management, when i’m in contacts mode i switch between useful elements of contacts ui and so on. All separate and limited focus cycles.

I think it’s useless to switch on each and every toolbars icons mostly because there is a direct keyboard shortcut to activate what the icon does, so in my opinion they can be easily excluded to give more positive feeling to the user experience. The icon purpose should be for easy mouse access and for tooltip keyboard shortcut reminder (to strenghten muscle memory on keyboard).
I don’t think that currently users really use tab focus cycle to select UI elements, because is a little bit cumbersome.

Cheers! Umberto

I see too Gary as you advised the Shift Tab keys goes backwards :slight_smile:

I notice as well when navigating the folder trees in Win 10 on the left with the up and down arrows the “Right & Left Arrows” opens and closes the “More” folders which works really well.

So with that and the Tab key 6 times & Shift Tab 6 Times back, i can now fully navigate the emails and subjects with the keys which is great :slight_smile:

Sorry guys, this morning happened again :smiley:

I was sorting out all my recent emails, then when finished i wanted to switch the mail folder and as a natural extension of my body i pressed the SHIFT+TAB key combination to move the focus from email list to folder list… and nothing happened because some hidden toolbar button got the focus. And all the magic vanished. Sorry guys but if TheBat had something cool, it was it’s keyboard management.

I won’t turn back to TheBat because emClient is really cool but PLEASE! Exclude toolbars from the TAB focus cycle as they are useless.

Keep up the magic :smiley:

A quick way to get to the top of the Email Subjects using the keys is to press the “Home” Button in Windows. Then the “Shift-Tab” key 6 times as will already know to go back to the Folder tree view.

Ps The “End” key also goes to the bottom of the email subjects.

Well yes, Home and End keys are ok, but instead of pressing 6 times Shift-Tab i can click with the mouse. it’s fastest and i don’t have to keep counting. But i lose the keyboard effectiveness.
Anyway, I’d like to know how many people will use the Tab sequence to select a toolbar button.

Cheers!  Umberto

I honestly don’t think it is many. Probably mostly those with visual impairments, so that is why the tab sequence passes through all the options, and not just one or two.

If you removed all the toolbar options from the tab navigation, what would they do?

I tried removing all the options and keeping only Email and the “…” button. But still i need to press three times the key combination.
Maybe a configuration flag that excludes the toolbars from the focus cycle will make everyone happy. I’d be glad to deactivate it manually so eMClient will be backward compatible :slight_smile:

Cheers! Umberto

Hey, that’s me. :slight_smile: As a new user, coming from Firefox, the first thing I wanted was good keyboard navigation, and was quite disappointed. :frowning: I just posted about it here: Key shortcut to focus on email content?

The Tab key function is a complete mess. I’d be happy if they did two things:

  1. Options about what to include in Tab navigation (so we can turn off everything except the panes themselves).

  2. Stop the Tab key progressing through the email list. I mean what?! You can use the up/down arrow keys for that, why would the Tab key do that?

Basically if we could reduce the Tab key function to simply cycling between panes (e.g. Sidebar Left, List, Content, Sidebar Right, back to Sidebar Left) that would be awesome. Or simply introduce a “Next Pane” shortcut we can customise. So simple. :slight_smile: