So I should be getting a ~~Piantor~~Ferris Sweep* from Beekeeb in a number of weeks and I thought I would get a head start and plan my layout - or at least one version of it, influenced heavily by Ben Vallack's video about avoiding press-and-hold mechanics.
Still plenty of fiddling to do. I want to move the WASD-style cursor keys in L3 onto my first three fingers for sure. In fact I've already changed it and made room for insert and added shift as a home key mod on the right. God this is addictive.
*ETA: I am, of course, talking about a Ferris Sweep with two thumb keys as depicted in the drawings not a Piantor, which I was also considering. I guess I was swayed by the alliteration.
This is a lot more thought than went into my first layout lol. It looks really good so far though!
I'm not sure if you've checked then out, but combos in QMK are huge for me when using a more compact form factor. It's made a big difference when trying to access keys that don't fit in the base layer but belong there imo (dash, slash, esc, etc...)
I'm trying to figure out what the tap dances and combos can give me but ... at the same time ... I feel like if I make it complicated I have failed.
I get the need for the home row mods in the first layer but I have set myself the challenge of not adding any more fancy stuff.
That's fair. To me it's more about ease of use than lack of complexity. And since it's qmk and so customizable, I can configure it all in whatever way makes the most sense in my brain.
I wasn't super interested in combos until I gave it a shot and now I love them. I can send you my keymap if you're interested in how I'm using combos.
That said, of course do whatever works best for you, that's the point of fully customizing your own software. What works for me wont necessarily work for me
Oh totally that's the best thing about this level of customisability - you can take it to the exact level you need. For me ease of use is the same thing as bring blindingly simple. I may compromise a little when it comes to merging firmware combos with Vim commands, though.
I understand the appeal of a simple layout. As I said, since I put stuff where it works for my brain, it's not much of a problem and only takes a sec to get used to. That said, if it's not your cup of tea then you obviously don't need to add any extra fancy stuff :P.
That said, a different feature to explore: leader key. It's kind of like a sticky combo. I use it for all my macros, most notably: Leader + ; is esc then save in vim Leader + q is esc then save and quit in vim
Keeps your keymap free of macros, which I'm à big fan of, personally. Again not trying to push you into something more complex, just making sure you know what's out there :)