I really like the quick capture window, which reminds me of Notational Velocity. Is there any way to make the default Drafts window look like the quick capture window?
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They are different user interfaces for slightly different purposes. Quick capture is new capture only (you are not editing existing and processing drafts there), and Drafts’ main UI is for capture and processing of new and existing drafts.
You can simplify the look of the main UI to hide various interface elements (look under the View menu).
Are you just looking to make it as plain as possible or is there something else you are looking for?
I like the plain as possible look, with the drafts list at the bottom and the text up top. It works a lot better as a split screen editor as well, given the horizontal efficiency of moving the drafts pane. Right now, having a list of drafts open requires a horizontal sacrifice.
Given your reference to Notational Velocity, I am assuming you are referring to the use of Drafts on Mac explicitly in the details below; keyboard shortcuts not always been an option on phones and tablets.
As plain as possible would be focusing on the editor pane and hiding all the other elements by default.
Based on this I would suggest the following:
- Keep your drafts list sidebar hidden, and then remove any other UI content you don’t want to have visible via the view options.
- Unless you have changed the keyboard shortcuts, you should find that ⌘1 toggles its visibility, and this is a very quick way to access your current workspace’s drafts. Additionally if you need to search (for workspaces with long lists of drafts in their folders) ⌘L will jump you straight to the search at the top of the sidebar, toggling its visibility on if necessary at the same time.
- Additionally ^⇧↑ and ^⇧↓ respectively will let you load the previous and next drafts in the current workspace whether or not the drafts list is shown.
- If you know names or key phrases, then ⇧⌘F will display the Quick Search, which will search across all of your workspaces and allow you to quickly open a draft without opening the sidebar at all.
Hope that helps.
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While it’s not perfect, it’s a compromise I think I can live with. It’d be a great feature.
I appreciate your help, @sylumer!
@sylumer’s tips are right on target.
Definitely, if you want that Notational Velocity vibe, Quick Search and the Command Palette are your friends. You can easily navigate notes and actions with them - using their respective shortcuts (shift-command-F and shift-command-P) and arrow/return - without your hands ever leaving the keyboard.
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