Each time one clicks on an item in the View Menu->Columns sub-menu, the entire View menu closes. So, to set multiple items, one must open both menus anew each time. This is excruciating.
Please change the default behavior so that the Columns sub-menu stays open until one clicks outside of it.
Thanks
Steve
That’s standard OS X menu behavior, even when it’s not optimal for (de)selecting multiple items. I can’t think of any app I use with a “stay open” submenu like you’re suggesting for View > Columns.
I didn’t realize that this was universal menu behavior. This just means to me that DTPO should do this the right way somewhere else. A tool bar item looks like a good choice.
I’ve got several columns displayed in view windows that are useful to me, and I set them up when I first create a database. I’ve got variations in the columns set among my databases, and each remembers its Columns settings.
If I changed three or four of the displayed columns every few minutes, I might indeed find the experience ‘excruciating’. But in reality I don’t think I’ve modified columns in any of my databases in at least six months. It takes seconds to set up a Columns set, and rarely changes.
In every database I’ve got a ‘Modified’ column, and that’s the usual sort order. In most I’ve got a ‘Kind’ column, and in the ones where I do a lot of writing, a ‘Word Count’ column. Having those columns available makes it very convenient to sort by Name, Modified or Kind, the sorts I most commonly use.
I don’t see much utility for the ‘URL’ column or the ‘Comment’ column (I don’t bother with keywords), as those are available in the Info panel. Normally, I’m in Three Panes view with the left Sidebar shown and the view window taking up the full width of my 13.4-inch screen. If I’m doing something that requires me to glance at Comment or URL information, I temporarily reduce the size of the view window and open the Info panel, placing it to the right of the view window. Select a document, and I can see the Info panel content for that document.
Asides:
At any given time I’ll have from 5 to 10 or more open windows including database views, individual document windows, a couple of Search windows and perhaps a smart group view or two. Exposé makes it easy to view and select a desired window.
I don’t like to write in Full Screen mode (black text/white background), as I don’t want to be isolated from all the tools available in DEVONthink. But I often read in Full Screen, using Control and the Up/Down arrow keys for paging through RTF and other documents; scroll position is maintained when I switch back to ‘normal’ view.
This menu is also accessible after right/control clicking on the header of the view.