I really like working with Komodo when it’s at its absolute simplest UI configuration. I generally turn off everything except the editor, then use Commando to navigate my way around. Sometimes you just have to access a side pane or a toolbar button though, so I press a keybind, access the alt-menu or use some crafty macro created by some lunatic developer (aka me) to auto-show panes when I move my mouse towards them.
Then I heard about focus mode / distraction free mode, which is a concept catching wind across the editor market. I honestly didn’t really see the merit at first; you can already toggle whatever pane you want in Komodo, and configure its UI to be whatever your mad mind can cook up. But after seeing yet another editor implement this feature and figuring, “*Well geez, this would take me all of about 10 minutes to do in Komodo*”, I figured I might as well spend 10 minutes and make proponents of this concept happy. Little did I know I would become one myself.
See the thing is, this does it all with the press of a button. Now, I know 90% of you are reading this thinking, “*Well yeah, durh*” and you’re absolutely right… Just bear with me while I inform the other 10% that – like me – just didn’t “get it”. It’s awesome! You can use Komodo the way you already liked it: simple and not bogged down by a UI that you only use 20% of the time. Spend 80% of your time just using the editor, then when you do need the UI, press your shortcut – do whatever you need to do in your panels/toolbars – and go back to just the basic editor. That’s the part that had eluded me. Focus mode is not a mode you stay in perpetually, it’s a mode you switch from/to as needed by the press of a button.
So, here it is. Komodo focus mode. This will be built-in to Komodo 9.2 when it’s released, but I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting.
If you have any ideas on how to make focus mode even better (being able to select what elements get hidden?), or have a general idea for enhancements/features; please let us know!
Title photo courtesy of Elena Taranenko on Unsplash.
