Hitting return in a blank list item should end the list

What I did:
When writing a numbered list, I entered several items, then hit return on a blank list item (say, “6.”) so as to end the list.

What happened:
A line break was inserted and a new list was added below the line break, with the numbering restarting at 1.

What I expected:
The list to end, and for the formatting at the cursor to revert to body text. This is the behaviour of most writing & notes apps, including Apple Notes, Word, Evernote etc.

Things that might be helpful to know (Agenda version, OS and model, etc):
Mac OS 10.13, Agenda 2.2.1

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We decided it was more logical to end the list with backspace after pressing return. Ie you are deleting the number.

Hope that helps!
Kind regards,
Drew

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I’m old enough to remember the old Word Perfect days where a vendor decided they would go against de facto practice.
They got entrenched deeply in their mindset. Unfortunately planted seed for ultimate demise.

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@drewmccormack: Sorry, I may have been unclear about which Return behaviour I’m talking about:

Let’s call this State A:

1. List item
2. List item[cursor here]

Hitting Return gets me State B:

1. List item
2. List item
3. [cursor here]

That’s fine and good. If I hit Delete in State B, I get State C:

1. List item
2. List item
[cursor here]

The bullet’s deleted, and I’m back in non-list formatting. Also good.

But if I hit Return (instead of Delete) in State B, I get State D:

1. List item
2. List item

1. [cursor here]

That makes no sense at all. No other rich text editor I’ve seen does this; they all go to State C.

3 Likes

Not sure what the problem is TBH. To me this is much better behavior, whether other’s do it or not. You can easily break out of the checklist with backspace. And you can create a new list by hitting return, which is actually tricky in other apps.

What exactly do you want it to do? You want enter to do the same as backspace? Why would you need two ways to do the same thing?

I think State D should continue with plain text and not start with the number 1.

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I’m totally used to the “return twice gets you to non-list state” fuctionality, but now that I understand the logic with Agenda (backspace vs return), I like it. It’ll take some getting used to as my patterns are deeply engrained.

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I still can’t get used to this - in every other application I use, return twice ends the bullet list, so it’s very odd to have this implemented differently.

In Mail, pressing backspace after a new bullet return to the previous line, so I can’t adapt and use the Agenda method in other applications.

I’d love it if this could be re-thought, as I think it’s something of a standard approach.

ScottyJ

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I’m adding my 2 cents that the Agenda behavior feels alien, I can’t get used to it. It is the only app that I have to think on how to use bullet points.

It might as well be a better approach, but swiming against the tide needs a very strong case. For me the current implementation isn’t worth it, it is a small daily frustration.

2 Likes