voidtools forum

Well, the title of my post says it all.

I would like the developer of Everything to consider changing the user interface to something simpler and more attractive like the launcher they have, for example: Wox, Launchy, Alfred, Ueli, Listary, Keypirinha, PowerToys Run utility etc etc

What I want to say is that with a key combination, for example Ctrl + S, Everything appears and shows a simple search box like the above mentioned launchers.

As we know, Wox is the most popular launcher and uses the Everything plugin, as pointed out here. So Wox without Everything is nothing.

I even think that if Everything comes to have an interface similar to Wox or any other launcher that has integration with Everything (like Keypirinha), many users of Wox and Keypirinha would leave aside those launchers.

Well that was my suggestion and my opinion. I hope that the developer takes into account what I said.

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:44 pm

As we know, Wox is the most popular launcher and uses the Everything plugin, as pointed out here. So Wox without Everything is nothing.

Not only Wox uses Everything .. Launchy, Ueli and Keypirinha too!
PowerToys Run utility is based on Wox and can use Wox plugins, so it should be possible to use Everything as the "search engine" here too (still on my todo list to toy around with it)


I'm interested: how do you know that Wox is the most popular launcher? (always wondered how many people actually use launchers)

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 9:44 pm

What I want to say is that with a key combination, for example Ctrl + S,
Everything appears and shows a simple search box like the above mentioned launchers.

Well,
Menu "Tools" - "Options..." - "Keyboard" -> "Show window Hotkey: CTRL+F11" <-- only example! (applies: system-wide!)
... brings the 'Everything' window to the foreground and the cursor is positioned in the search box.
I would strongly advise against using CTRL+S as a shortcut, as this is used in many applications for "saving"
and would therefore be completely useless in terms of bringing 'Everything' to the foreground.

Furthermore, there is the possibility to use the EverythingToolbar - Everything deskband for the taskbar.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:03 pm

Not only Wox uses Everything .. Launchy, Ueli and Keypirinha too!
PowerToys Run utility is based on Wox and can use Wox plugins, so it should be possible to use Everything as the "search engine" here too (still on my todo list to toy around with it)

True, Ueli also uses it and also has a portable version, I haven't used Ueli for many months, and Launchy has never caught my attention because I see him as ugly, besides he has stopped receiving support for more than ten years. And yes, PowerToys Run running only with Everything should work faster.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:03 pm

I'm interested: how do you know that Wox is the most popular launcher? (always wondered how many people actually use launchers)

There are sites that put Wox in 1st place, such as:

• https://www.slant.co/topics/1527/~best- ... or-windows

• https://alternativeto.net/list/21998/fi ... n-launcher

• https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/27/181 ... eartrumpet

• https://www.makeuseof.com/free-windows- ... lfred-app/

Personally I use Listary, because it is effective and unlike other launchers does not use Everything, but still Listary quickly find what I need. In addition, it is the only launcher that has integration with file dialog windows, thanks to its Quick Switch feature. I like Listary because it makes my day more productive.

tuska wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:08 pm

Well,
Menu "Tools" - "Options..." - "Keyboard" -> "Show window Hotkey: CTRL+F11" <-- only example! (applies: system-wide!)
... brings the 'Everything' window to the foreground and the cursor is positioned in the search box.
I would strongly advise against using CTRL+S as a shortcut, as this is used in many applications for "saving"
and would therefore be completely useless in terms of bringing 'Everything' to the foreground.

Menu Tools>Options>Keyboard>Show window Hotkey. Well that I already knew, and you forgot to say that you have to activate the option for Everything to start together with the system. And Ctrl+S was just an example, I know that many programs use that combination to save the file, I use Ctrl+E to open Everything, or Ctrl+Everything

But I would really like, as I said before, that Everything can look like many launchers, that when I press a key combination (Ctrl+Space for example) Everyhting appears in the middle of the screen as a single search box, and display results as I type, nothing better than an image to show the behavior I would like to see from Everything.

If Everything changes its search interface to something the same or similar as seen in the image, I think it would draw more attention and attract to more people who use other launchers to use it, leaving aside the launchers that use the Everything plugin.

tuska wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:08 pm

Furthermore, there is the possibility to use the EverythingToolbar - Everything deskband for the taskbar.

Oh thanks, I'll take a look at it.

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:30 pm

But I would really like, as I said before, that Everything can look like many launchers,
that when I press a key combination (Ctrl+Space for example) Everything appears in the middle of the screen as a single search box,
and display results as I type, nothing better than an image to show the behavior I would like to see from Everything.

I think, if you want to search something in this way and get many search results, e.g. on different drives and in paths with
e.g. a total number of 259 characters, then such a window (at least for me) becomes very fast uncomfortable.

In addition, many important program functions would be omitted, such as filters, bookmarks *), export, preview, etc.
For these reasons I use neither the 'Everything' toolbar nor Listary for a search.
(With the 'Listary' tool I only use the "Quick Switch" function).

*) Bookmarks: For some bookmarks (including my 'Notes') I reach the approximate maximum of 259 characters.
If I would get a window of this size after pressing the Ctrl key twice, like in "Listary" at the moment,
that would be another reason not to use such a function.

I will probably never understand why some users want a fraction of a program,
although they can have the full program functionality with the same effort. *)

*) EDIT:
1 click on the 'Everything' icon in the taskbar or in the systray is enough to bring the 'Everything' window to the foreground
and benefit from the full range of this program!

Regards,
Karl

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:48 pm

Launchy has never caught my attention because I see him as ugly, besides he has stopped receiving support for more than ten years.

Just FYI: There is also LaunchyQT, a fork of Launchy. Looks better, but no Everything integration, so I am not interested

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:48 pm

There are sites that put Wox in 1st place, such as:

Thanks! Interesting read(s); couple of launchers I've never heard of before.
I would expect Listary to be the number 1, though. In my opinion it has the best shell integration and 'organic' workflow.
But it's developer si doing other things now, so there has not been an update for more than a year. But you already know this (I recognized your name from the Listary forum).

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 4:48 pm

And yes, PowerToys Run running only with Everything should work faster.

In my experience most applications written by Microsoft are "bureaucratic": start slow, use a lot of resources, are way too big in size and operate sluggish.
Someone on the donations page described Everything as "razor-sharp" (can't link it directly, but it's worth reading). I think that is a very good description. A launcher should be like that, too.
Powertoys Run is slow too. If anything, you want a laucher to be fast. Might change when the application matures, but I have my doubts ....

There is another launcher/file search tool, neoSearch. It has a dual approach: start with a short list for files/applications to launch and press ENTER to get an "Everything-view".
I do not recommend neoSearch *at all* (phones home, flat ascii file database, bad results, you can only open found files so no edit, delete, contextmenu, etc), but that idea was good (imo).

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:30 pm

If Everything changes its search interface to something the same or similar as seen in the image, I think it would draw more attention and attract to more people who use other launchers to use it, leaving aside the launchers that use the Everything plugin.

Why are you leaving aside the launchers that use the Everything plugin? Seems a valid option to me.

tuska wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:16 pm

I think, if you want to search something in this way and get many search results, e.g. on different drives and in paths with
e.g. a total number of 259 characters, then such a window (at least for me) becomes very fast uncomfortable.

I understand you, I did the test with a file whose access path has more than 260 characters, and when looking for the file using Everything it shows its path in a pop-up window that occupies the entire width of the screen. In my opinion, that Everything shows file paths with more than 260 characters in that way, occupying the whole width of the screen, is not very aesthetic that we say, but it's just a matter of taste. But if you are a Listary user like me you will know that pressing the Ctrl key twice is not the only way to activate Listary, since its function
Find As You Type creates another search box from any location in Windows Explorer and file dialogs.

So with the function Find As You Tipe I can know the complete path of a file whose path is more than 260 characters, for example I have a .doc file with the name "Los nombres de archivo deben ser breves y concisos.doc" and its path is: "C:\Users\diego\Documents\Departamento de mercadeo\pruebas estadísticas realizadas en el mes de diciembre de 2009\encuesta realizada por outsourcing externo de acuerdo a lo establecido por el comité de mercadeo de la universidad\datos de prueba ini\Los nombres de archivo deben ser breves y concisos.doc" ⇨302 characters including spaces. I can see that route in a convenient pop-up window, how can you see it.

tuska wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:16 pm

In addition, many important program functions would be omitted, such as filters, bookmarks *), export, preview, etc.
For these reasons I use neither the 'Everything' toolbar nor Listary for a search.
(With the 'Listary' tool I only use the "Quick Switch" function).

If Everything appears on screen as Listary or Power Toys Run currently does, those actions you say: filters, bookmarks, export, preview, etc. could be added in a submenu by right-clicking on the file, I think that way Everything does not lose its essence.

tuska wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:16 pm

*) Bookmarks: For some bookmarks (including my 'Notes') I reach the approximate maximum of 259 characters.
If I would get a window of this size after pressing the Ctrl key twice, like in "Listary" at the moment,
that would be another reason not to use such a function.

I don't know why you give a file a very long name, but Listary also does a good job of displaying an access path with many characters, as already shown.

tuska wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 09, 2021 8:16 pm

I will probably never understand why some users want a fraction of a program,
although they can have the full program functionality with the same effort. *)

Ok, but there is something to keep in mind, if a program has many functions and its design is minimalist, simple or plain as the above mentioned launchers, they will always attract attention.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:14 pm

Just FYI: There is also LaunchyQT, a fork of Launchy. Looks better, but no Everything integration, so I am not interested

Thanks for the note, I am not interested in Launchy and neither that fork, for my day to day Listary and Everything cover my needs.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:14 pm

Thanks! Interesting read(s); couple of launchers I've never heard of before.
I would expect Listary to be the number 1, though. In my opinion it has the best shell integration and 'organic' workflow.
But it's developer si doing other things now, so there has not been an update for more than a year. But you already know this (I recognized your name from the Listary forum).

For me Listary is number 1, although it has not received more features for a long time, but both the beta and the stable version can be liked by anyone looking for a good launcher. Its total integration with Windows Explorer is not in any other known launcher, and that is its great advantage.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:14 pm

There is another launcher/file search tool, neoSearch. It has a dual approach: start with a short list for files/applications to launch and press ENTER to get an "Everything-view".
I do not recommend neoSearch *at all* (phones home, flat ascii file database, bad results, you can only open found files so no edit, delete, contextmenu, etc), but that idea was good (imo).

Ok, I also have another launcher to show you, it's called Quick Access Popup, seems to be another good choice and reliable sites have given their reviews about that launcher.

• http://www.ghacks.net/2016/02/10/quick- ... use-click/

• http://alternativeto.net/software/quick-access-popup/

• http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=2765

• http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS- ... opup.shtml

NotNull wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:14 pm

Why are you leaving aside the launchers that use the Everything plugin? Seems a valid option to me.

Well, Everything's plugin is just the main search core of those launchers, and as I said before without that plugin they would not be complete. Those launchers should learn from Listary, because Listary does not have the Everything plugin and even so still find any file quickly.

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 14, 2021 1:03 am

Quick Access Popup

Yes, I do know that one. Tried it (actually: mostly it's predecessor PopupFolders) and it's quite good. It doesn't fit my workflow, but I can see other people using it (some of the people on this forum use it).
It is written in AutoHotKey. "Fun" fact: It's developer helped me on the right track when I started my very first programming attempt (use Everything in Open/save dialogs and file managers to jump straight to the right folder; still in (very slow) development).

Well, Everything's plugin is just the main search core of those launchers, and as I said before without that plugin they would not be complete. Those launchers should learn from Listary, because Listary does not have the Everything plugin and even so still find any file quickly.

I meant something different; sorry if I wasn't clear. I think it is a smart move for launchers like Wox to use Everything as a file search engine.
Everything is world-class and why reinvent the wheel with probably worse performance? Best of both worlds. In the end it (could) give the same result as an all-in-one launcher like Listary.
Or from a different perspective: there is a source code editing component, Scintilla that is quite good. A lot of editors - like Notepad++ - use that as the 'editor engine' and build the rest of the application around that.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:14 pm

Yes, I do know that one. Tried it (actually: mostly it's predecessor PopupFolders) and it's quite good. It doesn't fit my workflow...
It is written in AutoHotKey. "Fun" fact: It's developer helped me on the right track when I started my very first programming attempt (use Everything in Open/save dialogs and file managers to jump straight to the right folder; still in (very slow) development).

Oh, ok. I thought you didn't know him. Well, I hope that RecentX fits your workflow, unless you know it too.
By the way, I am curious, which program is in slow development and uses Everything in Open/Save dialogs?

NotNull wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:14 pm

I meant something different; sorry if I wasn't clear. I think it is a smart move for launchers like Wox to use Everything as a file search engine.
Everything is world-class and why reinvent the wheel with probably worse performance? Best of both worlds. In the end it (could) give the same result as an all-in-one launcher like Listary.
Or from a different perspective: there is a source code editing component, Scintilla that is quite good. A lot of editors - like Notepad++ - use that as the 'editor engine' and build the rest of the application around that.

Hmmm. Okay, I guess you're right. Although I believe that Wox is very, very far from matching Listary in terms of integration. And about Scintilla, I also know that it's part of the Notepad++ code, and I'm still waiting for Scintilla to adopt the dark mode so Notepad++ can have a dark interface, until that moment I'll keep using VS Code.

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:15 am

By the way, I am curious, which program is in slow development and uses Everything in Open/Save dialogs?

That is JumpToFolder.
Main technical difference with regular launchers is that is is not running in the background (and a lot of of missing features ).
When writing it, I started looking at a couple of launchers, mainly to see if they found a solution for the things I was struggling with, so I would know if my time figuring things out wasn't wasted.
But I didn't find RecentX. Nice find! Will take a look at it. Thanks!!

Diego F. wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:15 am

Although I believe that Wox is very, very far from matching Listary in terms of integration.

Agreed. It was just an example; maybe someone someday will write a Listary-level launcher with Everything as the search engine ...
(and I don't think it will be me )

NotNull wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:45 pm

That is JumpToFolder.
Main technical difference with regular launchers is that is is not running in the background (and a lot of of missing features ).
When writing it, I started looking at a couple of launchers, mainly to see if they found a solution for the things I was struggling with, so I would know if my time figuring things out wasn't wasted.
But I didn't find RecentX. Nice find! Will take a look at it. Thanks!!

About RecentX I'm glad to have introduced you to something new that you didn't know, I hope it can be useful for you . I looked at your post about JumpToFolder and although I haven't tested it I can say (almost) for sure that you still have a lot of work ahead for JumpToFolder to be in a definitive stage, and by definitive I mean more features and stability.

By the way, when you mentioned JumptoFolder you reminded me of a program called Direct Folders, (its developer also created the popular file copying software Teracopy) you should check it out, although I would not qualify as a launcher that opens programs like the launchers we already know, it just open quick access to your favorite folders.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:45 pm

Agreed. It was just an example; maybe someone someday will write a Listary-level launcher with Everything as the search engine ...

Yes. It would be very interesting to see a launcher that can be at the level of Listary, that uses the Everything plugin and that integrates with Windows File open/save window. If such a launcher appears someday, I would definitely try it.

NotNull wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:45 pm

(and I don't think it will be me )

LOL. and why not? if someday the Listary source code is released you should take advantage of it, surely with that you could create a launcher at the level of Listary+Everything.

I have added to my TODO list to create a launcher interface for Everything.
This will most likely be a simple file select dialog that could be shown with a key press or automatically shown for some common file dialogs.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

void wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:07 pm

I have added to my TODO list to create a launcher interface for Everything.
This will most likely be a simple file select dialog that could be shown with a key press or automatically shown for some common file dialogs.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Thank you very much for taking into account what I have suggested. Really, I look forward to seeing how Everything behaves later when it can be displayed as Wox or PowerToys Run. This is good news for me