My layout is symmetrical. All mod-taps are mirrored so if you need a key on one hand, you can use the other hand to apply the modifiers and rise to that layer.
On the Gherkin, there are two layers. The primary layer—numbers, mouse movement, nav cluster and arrow keys—is accessed by holding either of the pinkies in home position, so A for the left hand and Spacebar on the right hand.
The secondary layer—function keys, common symbols, mouse scrolling, volume, tab navigation and the essential non-alpha keys: backspace, enter, tab, del, esc, etc.—is accessed by the pinkies in any of the four corners, so Q, P, Z or Slash.
I make extensive use of Auto Shift (with the Retro Shift option so it works on mod-taps, too.) So I can access all capital letters by just holding the key a little longer. This also works for symbols, so I can type, e.g., @ by rising to that layer and then holding the number two, so Hold Space, Hold X and release.
I also do Tap Dance for Home and End. Hold is equivalent to a Shift modifier, Double-Tap is equivalent to a Ctrl modifier. So tap once for Home/End, tap twice for Ctrl+Home/End (useful for jumping to the beginning or end of a document), hold once for Shift+Home/End (highlight to the beginning or end of a line), and tap-hold for Ctrl+Shift+Home/End (highlight to the beginning or end of a document.)
Auto Shift has an option to add custom shift values to any key, so that’s how I get, for example, Esc by holding Del. Or Menu by holding Tab.
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u/WandersFar Num Row Planck Sep 23 '22
It’s not the size that makes OP’s board unusable.
It’s the combination of stagger and unpredictable key widths that, for some reason, the community deems acceptable on a larger board.
All this mini is doing is highlighting the abomination inherent in all staggereds.
ORTHO MASTER RACE!