I was an avid user of three pane view in DT2. Now I am using sidebar as the left pane, and split view with “Show Only Documents” selected to try to recreate the experience. However, there are several small issues that make the experience very different from 3 pane view in DT2 that seem like they would be easy to fix:
I cannot double click on a group in the sidebar to rename it - this I have mentioned in another post, and it seems like it is being dealt with, which is wonderful.
I cannot change the label on a group in the sidebar for some reason. The label dropdown menu and delete button in my menu bar are greyed out when groups in the sidebar are selected. Why is this? I use label changes for my groups often, and now I need to unselect “Show Only Documents”, find the group in list view, change the label, and reselect “Show Only Documents”, which seems laborious and unnecessary.
I cannot reveal favorited groups in the sidebar hierarchy. In three pane view, I could select my favorited group (i.e. a group in the favorites list) and see where it was in the hierarchy in the left pane. To recreate that here, I need to select the favorite group in the favorites list, select the next group above that group in the hierarchy in the full path that is reported above the list view (which reveals that group in the sidebar hierarchy of its database) and then find my favorite group manually. If command-R would reveal one instance of the favorited group in the sidebar hierarchy, it would solve this issue.
These three changes seem like they would be relatively easy to make and they would make the pseudo three pane view in DT3 more like the three pane view some of us relied on in DT2.
I use the same DT3 set-up as you, samrose, as I also used the 3-pane view almost exclusively in DT2. Another difference I have noticed is that you cannot select more than one group in the sidebar. I wanted to create a table of contents, which is easy in the 3-pane view. In DT3 I had to go through the process you describe of unselecting “Show Only Documents”, selecting multiple groups to create the table of contents, and then reselecting “Show Only Documents”. I dare say it’s not easy, as Bluefrog observes, but if it was possible to enable users to multi-select groups in the sidebar that would also help to alleviate some of the difficulties from the loss of the 3-pane view.
There is so much I love about DT3 and I am getting used to the new layout, but I find myself increasingly returning to DT2 for its 3-pane view.
I agree, easy may not be the right word. Certainly desired.
Another difference is that you cannot exclude a group from tagging in the sidebar. This again leads to having to toggle between Show all documents in the view menu, which is getting very tedious. I love almost everything about DT3 - except the loss of three pane view, which may ultimately send me back to DT2 if there is no good way to recreate it in DT3.
It’s currently possible after opening the Info popover via the contextual menu. Upcoming releases might support this in the inspectors too (assuming there’s no selection in the view).
This is excellent - I can change the label here too, which is great. However, the keyboard shortcut for Get Info won’t work in the sidebar. Why is that? Is there a way to make it work for the sidebar?
