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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: kapowaz on Fri, 25 December 2020, 16:33:54
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I’m curious about what layouts are commonly used by people on 60% / 65% keyboards, where so many keys have to be bound to additional layers to be accessed. Are there any particularly common or popular layouts out there? What do you use? Let me know!
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I only use it for the F-keys and even then only for booting, if I'm messing with bios I'll grab a keyboard with f-keys.
If I need numlock I drag out an actual numpad.
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I went to 60% recently, then ended up deciding to add keys again, number pad and nav cluster. I can do without function keys for the most part except for F2 for Excel.
The only 'layers' I currently use are to combine some of the nav keys around the home row for when I am using a laptop keyboard. Page up/down, arrow keys, home/end, get mapped to the right hand alpha keys. There's a thread here called "Space FN" which had some great suggestions for this.
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The arrows are the most essential for me, so that's solved on a 65%. I pretty much never use the function row keys so can't comment on the optimal keys to have them layer-bound to. I have pg up, pg down, home, and end bound to the arrow keys when I hold the layer button. My layer button is right next to the space bar so I can just shift my thumb to access it without having to lift my hands from the typical typing position. That's the main goal for me is never having to lift my hands. I also have a split spacebar with the left side being backspace, so I never have to lift to backspace anymore (I practically always do a typical space with my right thumb so split spacebar wasn't a big adjustment for me). Honestly a 65% barely has anything missing from what I use 99% of the time, so there's not much to really bind. If you need function row buttons I suppose there's no harm in just binding them to the number row below. Makes it relatively easy to remember since the bulk of the numbers can correspond to function buttons.
Edit: I also bound volume up to layer + enter, and volume down to layer + R shift. Comes in handy.
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I'm using standard 60% layout on layer 0 almost all the time. I have Fn key bound to Caps Lock and my arrows are Caps/FN + IJKL and I cannot imagine having it any other way. I don't use media keys but they are bound to a key cluster between Q and C by default. I have two other layouts configured for games, namely Layer 1 is PUBG with keys Q to C configred as F4 to F12 which I'm using for grenades and meds. Second non-default layout as Layer 2 has configured Caps+WSAD as arrows and this is for Starcraft II.
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I am currently forced to use the default layer functionality on my Poker II as I haven't programed the other layers (3) fully. I have however selected to set one of my dip switches so my right ALT becomes my FN key and my Right shift, Stock FN, PN and Ctrl become a full time arrow cluster for when I need it in games and workflow. Vol is set to FN+M for up and FN+N for down, then FN+P for Print Screen ( I use this alot for demonstrating what I am running into for fellow co-workers/teammates).
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I use a few buttons on the second layer for stuff at work. I'm in IT so half my job is making tickets so i just have macros that fill out the description of them with common issues "Team Member needed x. Did X" and then wasd is set to arrow keys
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im weird, using [ ; ' and enter as arrows with fn
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One of the biggest things that helped me was mapping caps lock as my layer 1 button, and using wasd as the arrow keys.
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TL/DR: Almost anything repetitious can be programmed to execute with 2 key presses. If you can press Shift to capitalize a letter then you can press Caps Lock to access another layer. User layers and improve productivity!
I've lurked this topic but want to say that QMK and Layers are the reason I have no need for a ≥75, especially since I don't do enough spreadsheet work to warrant a num pad. If I did then I might add a 10-key rather than use a full size. Or I might program a 10-key. The key is learning how to work with a small keyboard (https://blog.splitkb.com/how-to-work-with-small-keyboards). Read on...
In Layer 0 my first change is to map MO(1), or Fn or whatever, to Caps Lock. This puts all F keys only a pinkie away so I'm good TKL. I use layers only on a momentary basis so I don't do a full toggle, just momentary. Access to Layer 1 involves simultaneously pressing MO(1), which is mapped to Caps Lock, plus one other. This puts my left pinkie to work, but it's incredibly natural at this point. One other important change on Layer 0: since I'm a Mac user, I switch Alt and GUI to mimic the Apple layout.
Layer 1 helps with work flow. If using a 65, arrow keys are on the right but if not then map to IJKL (which I prefer to WASD) with U for PgUp, O for PgDn, N for End, and H for Home. Easy to put media keys in R2 so map Q for Stop, W for Play, E for Rewind, and R for Forward. I like to take screen Caps during video conferences when someone is presenting, so map that to C (otherwise its a 3 key combo on a mac: Shift+Command+3). I use Z and X for common email addresses, which makes logging in much faster when I don't use Google. Oh yeah, map P for my phone number.
I've considered remapping arrow keys to WASD and creating a 10-key (9 actually) using UIO/JKL/M<> but this would require more changes to my muscle memory than I'm willing to make right now. But at some point if I start to think I need a 10-key again then I'll try this first.
Layer 2 gets common email language using mnemonics to prompt by letter (e.g., Intro to I, Closing to C, etc.) and macros for common routines (https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/advanced-keycodes/feature_macros) assigned to numbers. Some of these macros are software specific, so think about what might help you with software you use regularly. With QMK it's possible to program almost anything you type, so think about how many times you type certain keystroke sequences. Then poke around for the commands if you're not familiar. Almost forgot, to access Layer 2 you can map MO(2) to right GUI (this is default but since I'm a mac user I already switched GUI and Alt in Layer 0 so I'm actually using RAlt, if that makes sense). If you don't use Layer 2 you might map a redundant MO(1) to this key.
At this point, more keys on my keyboard only slow me down. Even with a 65, having PgUp and PgDn way over on the right is more inconvenient than mapping to U and O (get it? U for Up and O is the Other way). I'm excited, however, to try a TKL FRL like the Eclipse (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104755.0;topicseen). I'm interested in mapping additional layers with more macros, so I am thinking about using the top 3 keys above the arrows to toggle these layers. But there's a lot to be said for staying on the home row with a 60% or 65% layout once you customize it and get used to it (which does take a little time).
That's it. These are all really simple combinations. If you type the same sequence of 3 or more keys multiple times a day then you might consider using Layers to create a macro. And you don't need to use Combinations; you could Tap Dance (https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/software-features/feature_tap_dance) -- use a double tap (or triple tap) to initiate a specific key result. And I'm exploring the mod_roll function (http://thedarnedestthing.com/rolling%20qmk%20modifiers). Last, there are some extreme limits on programming (dynamic macros are limited to 128 keypresses) otherwise the only limit is your imagination.
If anyone has some useful shortcuts they really like, please share!
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I have 5 layers but only use 4
You can see all sorts of fun stuff on Github
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on my 60% i have one layer that only changes the top row, making it F + delete instead of number + backspace and only completely remapping everything to have a numpad and arrows and some other special keys both being on TT keys available from every layer. and i even got a key to spare for /* and */
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I only have 2 layers on a 60%. Also the first one got Home / End direct key press on left shift / ctrl and page up / page down on the right.
I prefer to have arrow keys on the right side, fn on Caps, and special macro to select word / line on the left side.
/* 0: qwerty
* ┌──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬─────────────┐
* │ ` Esc│ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 0 │ - │ = │ Bksp │
* ├──────┴──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼─────┬───────┤
* │ Tab │ Q │ W │ E │ R │ T │ Y │ U │ I │ O │ P │ [ │ ] │ │
* ├─────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼─────┴┐ Enter│
* │ Layer 2 │ A │ S │ D │ F │ G │ H │ J │ K │ L │ ; │ ' │ # │ │
* ├──────┬──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┴──────┴──────┤
* │ Shift│ \ │ Z │ X │ C │ V │ B │ N │ M │ , │ . │ / │ Shift │
* ├──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┼──────┬──────┬──────┤
* │ Ctrl │ Alt │↯ATab │ Space │ Gui │ Alt │ Ctrl │
* └──────┴──────┴──────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘
*/
/* 1: second layer for media keys and many advanced features ç
* ┌──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬─────────────┐
* │Alt F4│ F1 │ F2 │ F3 │ F4 │ F5 │ F6 │ F7 │ F8 │ F9 │ F10 │ F11 │ F12 │ │
* ├──────┴──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼─────┬───────┤
* │ │ │PrtScn│ Brt+ │ Brt- │Ctrl A│ Home │ Up │ End │ ‽ │ ↑ │ ⸮ │ │ │
* ├─────────────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼─────┴┐ │
* │ FN │ Cut │ Copy │Paste │ Del │ Del │ Left │ Down │Right │ ← │ ↓ │ → │ │ │
* ├──────┬──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┴──────┴──────┤
* │ │ │ Mute │ Vol- │ Vol+ │ │ │ │ │ │ │Reset │ │
* ├──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┼──────┬──────┬──────┤
* │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
* └──────┴──────┴──────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘
*/
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I just use Fn+1234567890 as F1234567890
Fn+up=pg up Fn+dn=pg dn
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I'm using 2 additional layers, layer 1 and 2. Layer 1 is for FPS games where I bound F4-F12 as Caps + qwe / asd / zxc. It pulls out grenades, meds etc. Layer 2 is for Starcraft 2 and I'm using caps + WSAD as arrow keys so I can move the map and some custom Fx keys placement here and there so I can get by without physical F keys. I'm using dip switch to transform Caps into Fn key and Layer 1 and 2 have win key unbound.
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Tbh as a 65/60% user there isn't much to put at least for me.
Numbers as F-row, [/] as previous/next, </> as -/+ volume and \| as play/pause, 'P' as print screen.
Arrow keys for me are shift-fn-win-ctrl as tap modifiers.
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not mine but gonna use: space bar as tap for space and FN for hold. way more useful than caps lock mod +/or split r-shift plus FN. modify sb as needed for other layers.
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Currently on a Tofu60. Thankfully it's a layout with arrow keys, so the only time I have to use a different layer is for volume up/down. Pretty happy with it.