I have updated the kitting images as well as provided some notes on the changes. I would love to get feedback, and I will also be posting a new IC form in the next few days about these kits.
I have some feedback on the new kits. Since the new IC form isn't up yet, I'll post my thoughts here.
:Base Kit
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First off, I'm glad to see that R2 1.5u
Delete is gone and that you've kept some of the
#! keys. 😄
Your base kit still seems to be missing R3
PgUp, R4
PgDn keys for 65% boards, though. This is bad, because 65% is a popular layout, and R3 PgUp, R4 PgDn are statistically among the most popular keys for that layout (see
this breakdown).
In theory, there are a lot more users who need these 2 keys than there are users who need the 6 keys for ISO-UK, which you chose to include after all. Details:
More
According to the
results of the last MK Megasurvey (conducted in March 2020), some
489 out of 1899 participants, or 25.75%, said that 65% was their preferred layout. Combining this with the right column stats from QMK gives us a number of around 12.4% of all users who use R3 PgUp, R4 PgDn. Compare this to only
2.6% for ISO-UK.
Obviously, these stats aren't exact, and user preferences will have changed since March 2020, but I would argue that 65% layouts could only have
grown in popularity since then due to so many new 65% boards being released during that time (both entry-level as well as high-end).
That being said, even if you keep the UK keys (which is totally cool and would be appreciated by UK buyers), it would still be great to see R3 PgUp, R4 PgDn included.
An alternative option would be to add R3
Prev, R4
Next, which are more generic alternatives that cover a few other use cases in addition to 65%. However, I'm not sure if SP has the molds for those in DCS; only SA is confirmed.
Regarding R2 1.75u
Backspace, R3 1.25u
Tab, R3 1.5u
Enter (aka. 3-key 40s support):
The consensus in the 40% community is that including this kind of support in the base kit
only makes sense for GMK sets, due to how GMK's pricing structure works. The idea is that if you include these 3 keys in base, you don't need to run a separate 40% kit (which is unlikely to meet MOQ with GMK pricing). However, with other profiles/manus, there are no benefits to having these keys in base vs the 40% kit. Therefore, you are advised to move these keys to the 40% kit.
:Whitespace (Spacebars)
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You don't need a second copy of 1u and 2u space in this kit. Those keys can be removed, keeping only one instance of each.
Generally speaking, spacekeys for 40% layouts and spacekeys for larger layouts should not be combined/mixed. It's almost always a bad idea to force 40% users to also have to buy a spacebars kit. Just put the spaces needed for 40% boards in the 40% kit.
There are no drawbacks to doing this, especially with SP's pricing structure.
:Ortho + Expanded40s
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As previously mentioned, R2 1.75u
Backspace, R3 1.25u
Tab, R3 1.5u
Enter should be moved from base to this kit, and the following spacekeys should be added:
2× 1u,
2× 2u,
2.25u,
2.75u.
The R3 1.25u
Code key should be changed to the same grayish legend color as the other R3 keys.
Additionally, a R3 1u
Code key should be added to the kit, because a lot of 40% users prefer to put something other than Tab on the left side of R3 (the aforementioned 1.25u Code is included in the kit for the same reason).
One more consideration regarding these two multipurpose keys is that you may want to use something other than Code as their legend, because you're already using Code for the OS keys in the base kit.
Meta or
Super could work.
:NorDe++
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This kit is missing a R3
\| key for US ISO and generic ISO support.
I also find it odd that you named this kit “NorDe+++” and included keys for Estonian, as well as
Ñ (which on its own is pretty useless for covering Spanish layouts), but didn't include keys for Icelandic and Faroese, which are “truer” NorDe layouts.
:Accents
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This is a very minor thing, but the Esc and ISO Enter keys should be moved to the correct rows in the kit render: ISO Enter spans R2–R3, not R1–R3 as is currently shown.
:VIM Arrows
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Another labeling detail. These should be R3, not R1.
I think that just about covers everything that caught my eye with the new kitting. Happy to hear your thoughts!
Edit: additional notes/suggestions