5 ms·

Fokus - new UI concept that emphasizes text-selection

143 points by adunk 14y ago

keiferski 14y ago
Cool, but selecting text is awkward (especially on a MBP) and I only do it to copy/paste. Maybe hover is a better trigger?
- milkshakes 14y ago
  if you have a newer mbp, with the oversized trackpad, you can select text with less frustration using three fingers
- DanBC 14y ago
  Single finger click and drag on the pad thing to select?
mmanfrin 14y ago
As someone who compulsively text-selectors when I read, this is neat.
- adamkiss 14y ago
  Neat? I thought it sucks for me for the same reason… Once I started text selecting as I usually do, it went black, then back, then black… annoying.
  - maqr 14y ago
    I agree with you, it'd drive me crazy for a long article. It would be really useful as a bookmarklet for presentations or something though.
grimtrigger 14y ago
Neat idea, but its a bit harsh. Maybe instead of a black overlay, fade the text and images not selected to a lower opacity? Probably would be very intensive to act on all those individual elements though.
- juretriglav 14y ago
  No need to do it on individual elements. If instead of the black overlay you use an semi-transparent overlay with the same color as the background behind the text/images, you will get the same effect as if you would reduce alpha on all of the text/images individually.
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
Nice, but I really like this one: http://lab.hakim.se/meny/ http://lab.hakim.se/meny/
- agumonkey 14y ago
  He sh/could license it to Microsoft Metro division
- molmalo 14y ago
  I tried Meny in my phone, using both: Dolphin and Chrome. I had problems with both. In Dolphin, sliding from the left edge makes the Bookmarks menu appear, and with Chrome that gesture makes it switch to the previous tab.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    That's a problem with those browsers. They shouldn't hijack a gesture as common as "swipe".
  - manveru 14y ago
    Works fine in Opera Mobile.
Zak 14y ago
I get Uncaught TypeError: Object #<Object> has no method 'getRangeAt' on Chrome on Linux.
agumonkey 14y ago
I'd merge some ideas here: - Different trigger Double click is too proactive, maybe a timed click 2s + mousedown => focus.(or on drag) - Smooth transition between selections If on a focused state, don't fade in the page to fade it out entirely, or slower and darker. Great thing though, similar to the minimalist/darkroom trend
scoremotive 14y ago
Very cool. I love all the experiments on the site. Really creative stuff.
digitalengineer 14y ago
Also check out his other project: http://rvl.io http://rvl.io Nice. (if it could go full screen it'd be even better)
- cocoflunchy 14y ago
  I believe it can ! http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/
moystard 14y ago
I am just amazed by the creativity of the author. All his projects look interesting.
forgotusername 14y ago
Pretty sweet, although I'd prefer seeing it as an optional user agent feature than a web page feature. When reading long articles, I regularly use the text selection highlight to back-reference as I continue reading, or to mark my spot while I skim back. Obviously this breaks with a concept like Fokus.
- ryanpetrich 14y ago
  A Fokus Chrome extension exists: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flkkpmjbbpijiedjdgnhkcgopgnflehe https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flkkpmjbbpijiedjdg...
lifeisstillgood 14y ago
I love meny too, but fokus is not working at all on iOS - then again I have no idea of the js model on iPad. Overall I think these just point to firefox os and chrome os as becoming the whole experience for most devices most ofbthe time. I mean I am on paper an IT professional at the cutting edge. Most of my domestic surfing is on iOS devices in e kitchen. It is only frustrating 1/10 times
cutie 14y ago
This seems like it would be good for watching videos at night (if the wrapping div can be selected). Many are embedded on white pages and this would help a lot.
abhinavg 14y ago
Nice idea but it doesn't work with selections that are changed using the keyboard (in Chrome on OSX). That is, if I make a selection using the mouse and then use the keyboard to alter it using Shift+Down, the focused area does not get updated and the browser continues to select text in the blacked-out area.
- hakim 14y ago
  That's been fixed now, thanks for the heads up.
RyanMcGreal 14y ago
Very cool! It would be even cooler if there was some way to turn the page with highlighted text into a named anchor link.
vineet 14y ago
This is cool. Would love to see it as a bookmarklet.
masukomi 14y ago
The idea is nice. I'm one of those few geeks who actually does select text as I read it, but the implementation makes changing highlighted paragraphs non-intuitive. Re-selecting something to move doesn't seem right. This thing has been created on my screen and I want to move it... maybe arrow keys, maybe clicking to where I want it to go.... click-dragging some other piece of text on the screen is just a very non-intuitive means of motion control.

143 points by adunk 14y ago

Cool, but selecting text is awkward (especially on a MBP) and I only do it to copy/paste. Maybe hover is a better trigger?

milkshakes 14y ago
if you have a newer mbp, with the oversized trackpad, you can select text with less frustration using three fingers
DanBC 14y ago
Single finger click and drag on the pad thing to select?

mmanfrin 14y ago

As someone who compulsively text-selectors when I read, this is neat.

adamkiss 14y ago
Neat? I thought it sucks for me for the same reason… Once I started text selecting as I usually do, it went black, then back, then black… annoying.
- maqr 14y ago
  I agree with you, it'd drive me crazy for a long article. It would be really useful as a bookmarklet for presentations or something though.

grimtrigger 14y ago

Neat idea, but its a bit harsh. Maybe instead of a black overlay, fade the text and images not selected to a lower opacity? Probably would be very intensive to act on all those individual elements though.

juretriglav 14y ago
No need to do it on individual elements. If instead of the black overlay you use an semi-transparent overlay with the same color as the background behind the text/images, you will get the same effect as if you would reduce alpha on all of the text/images individually.

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

Nice, but I really like this one: http://lab.hakim.se/meny/ http://lab.hakim.se/meny/

agumonkey 14y ago
He sh/could license it to Microsoft Metro division
molmalo 14y ago
I tried Meny in my phone, using both: Dolphin and Chrome. I had problems with both. In Dolphin, sliding from the left edge makes the Bookmarks menu appear, and with Chrome that gesture makes it switch to the previous tab.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  That's a problem with those browsers. They shouldn't hijack a gesture as common as "swipe".
- manveru 14y ago
  Works fine in Opera Mobile.

Zak 14y ago

I get Uncaught TypeError: Object #<Object> has no method 'getRangeAt' on Chrome on Linux.

agumonkey 14y ago

I'd merge some ideas here: - Different trigger Double click is too proactive, maybe a timed click 2s + mousedown => focus.(or on drag) - Smooth transition between selections If on a focused state, don't fade in the page to fade it out entirely, or slower and darker. Great thing though, similar to the minimalist/darkroom trend

scoremotive 14y ago

Very cool. I love all the experiments on the site. Really creative stuff.

digitalengineer 14y ago

Also check out his other project: http://rvl.io http://rvl.io Nice. (if it could go full screen it'd be even better)

cocoflunchy 14y ago
I believe it can ! http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/ http://lab.hakim.se/reveal-js/#/

moystard 14y ago

I am just amazed by the creativity of the author. All his projects look interesting.

forgotusername 14y ago

Pretty sweet, although I'd prefer seeing it as an optional user agent feature than a web page feature. When reading long articles, I regularly use the text selection highlight to back-reference as I continue reading, or to mark my spot while I skim back. Obviously this breaks with a concept like Fokus.

ryanpetrich 14y ago
A Fokus Chrome extension exists: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flkkpmjbbpijiedjdgnhkcgopgnflehe https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flkkpmjbbpijiedjdg...

lifeisstillgood 14y ago

I love meny too, but fokus is not working at all on iOS - then again I have no idea of the js model on iPad. Overall I think these just point to firefox os and chrome os as becoming the whole experience for most devices most ofbthe time. I mean I am on paper an IT professional at the cutting edge. Most of my domestic surfing is on iOS devices in e kitchen. It is only frustrating 1/10 times

cutie 14y ago

This seems like it would be good for watching videos at night (if the wrapping div can be selected). Many are embedded on white pages and this would help a lot.

abhinavg 14y ago

Nice idea but it doesn't work with selections that are changed using the keyboard (in Chrome on OSX). That is, if I make a selection using the mouse and then use the keyboard to alter it using Shift+Down, the focused area does not get updated and the browser continues to select text in the blacked-out area.

hakim 14y ago
That's been fixed now, thanks for the heads up.

RyanMcGreal 14y ago

Very cool! It would be even cooler if there was some way to turn the page with highlighted text into a named anchor link.

vineet 14y ago

This is cool. Would love to see it as a bookmarklet.

masukomi 14y ago

The idea is nice. I'm one of those few geeks who actually does select text as I read it, but the implementation makes changing highlighted paragraphs non-intuitive. Re-selecting something to move doesn't seem right. This thing has been created on my screen and I want to move it... maybe arrow keys, maybe clicking to where I want it to go.... click-dragging some other piece of text on the screen is just a very non-intuitive means of motion control.