It builds on ideas arising from Wish List Request "Diagram Text Schemes: Family of Variants", but does not depend on that.
Context:
- A frequent need while browsing is for more comprehensive detail about an individual (or family) than available in the current summary diagram.
- That need is more likely to arise in diagrams with "skeleton" detail boxes (e.g. as used for wide-scope ancestry & descent) than when "verbose" boxes are used by some users as "working" diagrams" (no terminology here!).
- This is already available with the property box, or by opening (if Preferences are set to allow that) another Diagram Window (and changing the Text Scheme).
- However, what I miss is an in-window pop-up displaying comprehensive person/family data.
- A feature of that type is available elsewhere and will likely be familiar to many other users, so has good prospects of being popular in FH.
- Provide for non-modal "pop-up" diagram windows to overlay a regular diagram window.
- Provide access to this by context menu and keyboard shortcut from a selected individual box.
- Display content for an individual (and perhaps, as an extension, immediate family).
- Style the content according to an existing text scheme.
- Although "Text Scheme Families" are not a prerequisite, I'm suggesting they would be a good "partner".
- In a "Text Scheme Family" context, invoking the pop-up could offer a choice of schemes from the current (main diagram) family. It would be helpful if that selection stage could optionally be skipped via Preferences.
- Obviously, single-text-box provision for an individual would be easier to implement than a family diagram.
- providing a widely-familiar feature that seems to be lacking in FH
- quick and efficient access to comprehensive person/family detail when browsing a "summary detail" diagram
- possibility to customise content & style according to user preference
For future consideration (outline, food for thought).
As many users will be aware, some other systems provide neat navigation paths from within a similar "diagram-context" active "property box" (avoiding stepping back to the main diagram to navigate).
For me, that would be a most welcome development, and that "property box" would be customisable.
My reference in "Context" above to changing the text scheme for a diagram reinforces my undocumented wish for: "a diagram window context menu item to change the text scheme directly from a pop-up list box", ideally populated with a list of "favourites" identified through the main text scheme manager.
This has been a little rushed, so I can complete this train of thought, unload it and move on.
Hope it's good enough.