Right Click Menu

I totally agree. This menu will be a big area of focus for us as we grow, since it's kind of a new paradigm shift to select first then say what you want to do with the selection (with no tool active). We're excited about this new flow, since people seem to really like it. We will probably remove the text on the takeoff tools and put them all on the same line at the top (less mouse motion), maybe even above the horizontal divider where the cursor is. There are a lot more things we want to add here such as "Crop as New Page", or anything you would want to do with what you selected. We will be putting a lot of work into making this more efficient with some kind of tree driven sub-menu system that is super fast to navigate.

Hi There Kyle

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback about the right-click menu. We've taken your suggestions to heart and created a mockup of an improved menu layout that addresses your concerns. Here's what we've changed:

1. Prioritized Measurement Tools: We've kept the Takeoff tools (Area, Linear, Segment, Count) at the top since they're the most frequently used functions, but made them more compact and clearly labelled.
2. Streamlined Common Actions: Copy to Clipboard and Crop as New Page are now immediately accessible below the measurement tools.
3. Reorganized Setup Items: We've moved the setup-related items (Page/Sheet #, Page Name, Scale Page) to a logical middle section with "All" toggles where appropriate.
4. AI Features at Bottom: As you suggested, we've moved the AI-assisted features (Extract Schedule, Extract Symbols) to the bottom of the menu.

Here's what it looks like:

We aimed for a more intuitive flow where the most commonly used tools are immediately accessible, while keeping the setup and AI features available but not in the way of daily workflows.

What do you think about this revised layout? We'd love to hear your thoughts on whether this better matches your workflow.

We hopefully will get some Reponses from Current Users as this would effective change to what they are used to.

The "Crop as New Page" & "Extract Symbols" are not current functionality and only placed in Mock-up as an indication how Like items are Grouped Together, as this functionality has not been developed as yet.

A couple of important notes:

• We'd particularly appreciate feedback from our current users, as this would be a significant change to the existing workflow they're familiar with.
• Please note that "Crop as New Page" and "Extract Symbols" shown in the mock-up are placeholder features to demonstrate how we might group similar functions together - these haven't been developed yet but represent potential future functionality.

What do you think about this revised layout? We'd love to hear your thoughts on whether this better matches your workflow.

It's a quick fix for us to swap these, so we'll put it out like this in our next release, and then we'll simplify and expand it further in subsequent releases:

Yeah Kyle is right, the revised order makes sense because those other tools are used way less frequently once you're well into the takeoff.

Also after looking at that future menu sample Sam provided, I just realized as more and more features get added to the system, the menu list could become quite lengthy. Might have to reduce it to most frequently used items/make it customizable by users down the line but I guess you'll cross that bridge when you get there

We will for sure put a lot of effort into this menu to keep it condensed, but have access to a lot of commands. We're discussing ideas of fold-out menus to group commands, etc. This menu needs to be something special because many users use this instead of the toolbar. We would definitely want it to be fully customizable by the user, and maybe prioritize recent commands. We're brainstorming ideas.

I'm thinking eventually the menu has access to 50+ commands accessible through command groups or sub-menus (maybe even with tiny search built in), but is super tidy and condensed when it first opens. Every pixel will be carefully selected in how you navigate to command groups, etc. What we have now is a good start point, and we've been very happy with the overall flow of "Smart Select" something on the page with no tool selected, and it just asks what you want to do with it. As we get more AI, this menu will come alive.

Side note: we call this the "Smart Select" menu (technically the "right click" menu is separate).

Here is a preview of our upcoming right-click menu (not released yet, but soon):

In the last preview of the right-click menu I would combine all the move and orientation actions into one “adjust” or “transform” or whatever action that prompts the “handle“ and mini tool bar from the other discussions. This would be more consistent and elegant…not wasting precious space on the right click menu.

HI John,

Thank you for your valuable feedback on the right-click menu design. We're actively considering your suggestion about consolidating transformation tools. We are discussing approaches that may address your suggestions in two ways:

1. Proposed Context Menu Integration We're exploring the consolidation of all transformation actions (Move, Rotate, and Flip) into a dedicated "Transform" section within the context menu, similar to the proposed Post-Paste Toolbar (described below) as part of the transform section.
2. Complementary Post-Paste Toolbar Concept To enhance the transformation workflow, we're considering introducing a compact toolbar that would appear automatically after pasting an element. This contextual toolbar would provide immediate access to transform tools right where you need them, allowing for quick adjustments to newly pasted elements without additional clicks.

We will discuss your suggestions internally and consider the benefits for future amendments to Right Click Menu for Area Takeoff as this may change for Linear Segments and Counts. Thank for your suggestion we will keep you updated. We will discuss your suggestions internally and consider the benefits for future amendments to the Right-Click Menu for Area Takeoff, as this may differ for Linear Segments and Counts. Thank you for your suggestion; we will keep you updated.

I appreciate the effort to save clicks by keeping more of the transformations on the mini toolbar, but I am more interested in these manipulations being hotkeyed during operation so I can cycle through the different orientations like it’s a game. :)

Sure. We will add hotkeys. 😊

Yeah second hotkeys! Not sure if web base tools can do keyboard shortcuts, as I have yet to see any?

This help popup for shortcut keys will be visible in our next release under the "help" icon at the top. Most of these work currently, but 1, 2, 3, 4 hotkeys will work after the new release. More hotkeys will be coming for Move, Flip, etc.

Will hotkeys be programmable?

John, yes. For now they are hard coded, but we do plan to have a screen for customizing them.

John,

These items have been addressed in our latest Release

Let us know if you have any questions about using this new feature!