Expand/collapse in navigation bar

Groups in the navigation bar behave differently than the list view.

In the list view, with focus on a group, one can use arrow keys to open and close, and to navigate down or up.

In the navigation pane, this doesn’t work. I realize that a double-click will expand the top-level group in the navigation bar. However, if you double-click any group below the top level, it will open in a new window.

Finally, there used to be menu commands for expanding all/collapsing all.

My question is whether there is a way to make these behaviors consistent, so that arrow key presses always have the same behavior. Its a little frustrating to try to remember which method works for which level or which pane.

Also, optionally, it would be nice to have expand all/collapse all available. Just a thought.

There are plans for some modifications to the Navigate sidebar. Stay tuned for future releases. Thanks.

This is planned for the sidebar.

And this depends on the settings in Preferences > General.

There are such commands in the contextual/action menu of the sidebar.

Thank you.

The issue with having a command to expand/collapse in the contextual menu is that I cannot create a keyboard shortcut, unless I am missing something.

A future release will add keyboard navigation (including expand/collapse) to the sidebar.

I just installed version 3.0.2 with the eager anticipation of navigating through the sidebar with databases and groups. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to do so, or even how to highlight a group in the sidebar. Pray tell me, what simple thing am I missing?

Thanks!

Update:

I found the checkbox in preferences, under General->Sidebar->Navigation

Can I ask:

Is there a way to keyboard-navigate between the navigation bar and the file list? I realize that once one is within either section, navigation is available with arrow keys. However, I cannot tab or otherwise keyboard navigate between the two locations.

@sawxray I sometimes have to press it a few times, but you should be able to use: Control-Tab/Shift-Control-Tab (similar to the Sorter)

Thanks, Jason! That works just fine.

1 Like

(Shift-)Control-Tab switches between sidebar (if enabled), the main view, the preview pane (if visible) and the inspector (again if visible).

And the Tags bar, if visible.

Thank very much. I was wondering where the focus went as I repeated the keypress. Very happy to have this action available.

As a small UI suggestion, in a future upgrade, is it possible to consider adding a colored border around the preview window when active? Would be a nice touch to help navigate. Cheers!

You’re welcome :slight_smile:
@cgrunenberg would have to assess that, but the request is noted.

Not sure if this belongs here:
I noticed that if I double click a top level group in list view it expands the side bar and shows the group (open in new window is disabled) even if auto expand/collapse is disabled. However, double clicking on groups in list view below top level does not further expand the side bar.
On the other hand, clicking on a group in the navigation bar above the list view always expands the side bar completely to show the group.
Is there a way to completely prevent expansion of the side bar regardless of how I interact with the folders in list view and the navigation bar?