I think it's so cool iMav made a specific ergo sub section and i've notice as many of you that some terms are loosely defined and can cause confusion. Let's just come to a consensus and offer up GH terms, so one person knows what we're talking about (instead of referring to just a specific manufacturers product).
I know we have a wiki, but it glosses over most ergo centric things (and just basically says "ooh datahand magnets").
please note i'll be using my current mod to illustrate some terms, this isn't to "flaunt" it or anything, it's just what i have at hand and if i had another me ergo board non modded i'd photograph that instead. I don't want to be a wiki or anything, i just always felt that when some aspects of talking about ergo were brought up it couldn't be rightly explained or conveyed.
lets start with what we know.
tenkeyless:
many suspect it's called tenkeyless because back then the numpad was called the 10-key or mavis beacon referred to it as that (the ten keys i have up) either way that's that.
typewriter stagger/ row stagger:
idk which is a best term maybe they both fit the bill. This is just the regular layout we're all used to (even when split companies will just draw a line between 6,t,g,b). We can call this typewriter stagger for the legacy aspect, but row stagger sounds good too.
column stagger:
here we have the columns shift up and down a bit.
kinesis concave, kinesis matrix concave(also kinesis keywells):
there really is no avoiding using the manufacturer to describe a layout, it's older than most teens and is one of it's kind. This is referring to the concave placement of the keys. For depth and stuff.
matrix:
up to this day i have no real idea what to call this, raj does say typematrix has the same layout too
again consensus will figure it out.
center stagger/diagonal stagger/symmetric stagger:
it seems to stagger towards the center, diagonally, so need more consensus.
postive slope:
slopes down, uses the ubiquitous back feet present on pretty much every keyboard.
negative slope:
slopes the other way, common "hack" is to put a binder+sticky stuff underneath to replicate it
central hump, slightly tented:
the ms ergo 4k is the only one i know of that has this slope.
I'm sure i missed a lot, currently i'm just dealing with terms centered around my mod, since well that's my current project i'm sure missing so much more. Please contribute this sub forum is awesome and i think we really need consensus on most of these terms (and many others i missed).