Agreed, but maybe RM7 for the next year till RM8.2 is released?
On another thought - as the creator of this chain, can you change the type from “question” to “feature-request”? If not, I’ll create a new one reusing some fo these posts.
Your Mac must be different to mine. On my MacBook the tilde (~) is on the same key as the grave (`), but using Shift
Same keyboard. Since I do not use the shift key with this command shortcut I am actually using the grave key. works like a charm though.
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I was looking for keyboard shortcuts to code ORA (Online Repository Assistant) templates for automagically filling in RM8 fact information and source citations.
Using F1 in RM8 I tracked down:
(Keyboard Shortcuts - RootsMagic Wiki)
which listed the keyboard shortcuts. The problem is that I can’t figure out when to use some of the shortcuts, such as the first one listed, Shift-Ctrl-A to:
“Add record (place, source, citation, task, media, address, etc)”
If anybody is using ORA and figured out how to navigate around in RM8 for templates, I’d sure like to hear how they did it.
Thanks and take care… Peter Bradish
I am not using ORA (Online Repository Assistant) templates and would need to Google to find out what they are, however I can’t seem to get Shift-Ctrl-A to do anything either. The other Shift-Ctrl-* commands do what they say in the Wiki.
Terry and Bradish - I believe the real issue is not that there are some troubles finding keyboard shortcuts and using ORA. It is that this is even necessary (as far as some are concerned).
RM8 has completely broken the standard conventional normal expected keyboard shortcut behaviour that was in every previous version of RM. There should be short-cut keys OBVIOUSLY indicated on buttons and fields on every screen and used to navigate each screen and perform each function on each screen. The things that are getting put in these lists are there because the normal Windows menu system is essentially gutted and all the things you want to do are “invisible” to the uninitiated and making lists of them is the only alternative. Quite a mess this new User Interface, quite a mess.
See also https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/disturbing-lack-of-keyboard-shortcuts-in-rm8/1943/34
Terry FYI (ORA link https://www.ora-extension.com).
I understand the concerns about keyboard shortcut standardization and agree, but I also understand how difficult it is to completely rewrite an application on a different code platform. It took considerable effort (and time) to move from the development platform used for RM7 to the RM8 level which is easier to implement across more than one operating system (Win and Mac as a minimum). Add the window design and navigation changes that were made while adding function, and I’m not surprised that everything probably didn’t come out as hoped. Such is life. You have to take risks sometimes.
Having said that, maybe the shortcuts will be forthcoming soon. Developers have priorities and have to find a balance. Patience has worked well for me in the past and is a good solution for this instance.
Take care all… Peter
Peter, thanks for the link. I have had a read but I don’t think it is something I would use. I do not use Ancestry etc. as a source, I use them as an aid to finding information that they have a, sometimes temporary, right to display.
I know this is a bone of contention for some but I do not agree with their statement “An automated assistant for use with online repositories including Ancestry, FamilySearch”. The reason I don’t agree with the statement is that I do not regard these online providers of information as being repositories. They are merely online data warehouses that index information and sometimes store scans of it on their servers. Repositories are organisations such as the UK’s National Archives, The National Archives and Records Administration in the USA, local governmental archives and the like. The online providers do not, as far as I am aware, store any original documentation.
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The shortcut is actually “Alt-A”
It is used when the person edit screen is open. It opens the Add a fact dialog box.
I was using ORA with RM7, but not with RM8 for the reason you describe- lack of keyboard navigation.
In RM7, I was able to get ORA to add web tags. Won’t work with RM8 because the item has to be fully entered before a web tag or media can be attached. (My guess is that this new order of entry was done to fix an long standing RM7 bug. I’m hoping that the devs will find a better fix than what’s now implemented. (Hint: use database transactions!)
Terry (and others), ORA lets you manipulate data from web data sources and “auto type” the results into your genealogy program. It works extremely well with RootsMagic7 and several other programs where you can do most of your data entry by typing and using keyboard shortcuts. Since the keyboard shortcuts are all but gone in RM8, it significantly hampers the effectiveness of ORA. ORA does work with RM8; it just can’t do nearly as much for you. It can’t “click” your program screen.
I have been using ORA over a year now with RM7 and I would estimate I’ve done three years of data entry in that one year with better consistency and fewer errors. RM8 slows down the data entry process even without considering ORA, but taking the RM8 productivity hit along with losing the functionality of ORA is too much to lose.
Putting the keyboard shortcuts back in RM8 would be helpful to a lot of people and it would allow ORA users to adapt to the new RM8 interface and actually obscure some of the lost productivity in RM8. The extra steps wouldn’t be as frustrating if ORA was doing the typing.
ORA is Windows only, but it works well with practically every relevant Windows genealogy program.
If one has defined their mouse click to one left click, using {MENU+LEFT} will perform a left mouse click. The alternate to this (for those with older computers that do not have the MENU key) is {SHIFT+F10+LEFT}. I picked that up from webpages devoted to Windows keyboard shortcuts. ( Windows logo keyboard shortcuts: The complete list | TechRepublic and How to Control Windows Only With Keyboard - Hongkiat ) I have submitted an enhancement request to have all headings (for lack of a better term) that require a mouse click to have added the ALT-letter shortcut (examples would be the “Master Source” and “Master source text…” headings in the EDIT CITATION slide-in frame, which currently open only with a mouse click, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to get the cursor there without using the mouse. I probably should also submit an enhancement to have the cursor be placed in one of the fields, so this is easier to manipulate for those using automatic template creation software.