From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Scott Randby Subject: Re: Org expert mode? Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:43:34 -0500 Message-ID: <4D790DC6.1010106@gmail.com> References: <87vczre1eb.fsf@altern.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from [140.186.70.92] (port=45859 helo=eggs.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Pxjtj-0008VI-CL for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:43:40 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Pxjti-0004Ff-AN for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:43:39 -0500 Received: from mail-yi0-f41.google.com ([209.85.218.41]:33346) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Pxjti-0004FS-85 for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:43:38 -0500 Received: by yib2 with SMTP id 2so994782yib.0 for ; Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:43:37 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <87vczre1eb.fsf@altern.org> List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org On 03/10/2011 05:05 AM, Bastien wrote: > So I naturally thought of something like an "Org Expert mode": when > turned off, the UI would *not* give access to complex features and > perhaps display more helpful messages on simple ones; when turned on, > Org would have a less verbose UI (think of the C-c C-e window, do we > really want to *read* it all the times?) and give access to all the > complex features. While I don't consider myself to be an org-mode expert, I have been using it for several years to keep track of appointments, make web pages, take notes, and record grades. I've never found things like the C-c C-e window to be a problem even though 99% of the time I'll do something like C-c C-e h without looking at the window. But I appreciate that window the 1% of the time I do look at it because it shows me that there are features available that might be useful in the future. The window provides an easy opportunity for learning and exploration. If there is a basic mode that somehow hides complex features, then some users may never become aware of those features and what they might do with those features. I've discovered so much because nothing in org-mode is hidden or separated. The manual provides an excellent introduction for new users and it allows them to decide which features they wish to start with, which features they can ignore, and which features they might want to learn about in the future. I think everything should be turned on by default. It is easier for an expert to figure out how to turn something off than it is for the non-expert to turn something on. And I've never found a feature that I don't use getting in the way of my work. Scott Randby