English article on small layouts

Author: krikun98

docs/guides/small_layouts.md

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+---
+sidebar_position: 1
+title: Small Layouts
+---
+
+# Layouts for small keyboards
+
+Visitors of this site are probably familiar with the [Ergonaut One](https://ergonautkb.com/docs/keyboards/ergonaut-one/intro/) and with layouts for 42-key split keyboards.
+While they do demand some unusual interactions (tap-holds and layers), it is easy enough to get by without breaking your brain too much.
+The two outer columns allow one to place dedicated modifiers and all alpha keys in the main layer, and most keys only perform one action.
+
+But what if we were to remove those outer columns?
+
+![Small teaser...](/img/small_layouts/one_s.jpg)
+
+A smaller layout introduces two main challenges:
+- Not all alpha keys (letters) may fit on the main layer (especially for Cyrillic languages)
+- Modifiers should ideally be accessible on every layer
+
+## Concepts
+
+Each layout deals with these challenges in its own way and has its own focus, but most use these two concepts:
+
+### Home-row modifiers
+
+The primary purpose of a smaller keyboard is to minimize wrist movement - a popular motto is "1DFH", or "one distance from home".
+Ideally, the fingers should rest in a "home" position - as designated by tactile markers for index fingers on F and J.
+Any other position should be reachable by a movement over no more than one key.
+
+42-key splits tend to conform to this rule, with the pinky and the index finger making diagonal movements.
+However, 36-key boards posit that the pinky, as the weakest finger, should be confined to one column.
+As modifiers (Ctrl, Alt, Win, Shift) are traditionally placed on these pinky columns, such layouts needed a new solution.
+
+The proposed idea was to eliminate movement even more - and place these modifiers on a mod-tap on the home row.
+Tapping these keys would still produce a letter, but holding them would trigger the modifier action.
+While this takes a fair amount of getting used to, it also spreads the load from the pinky - holding down the modifier keys -
+across all the fingers.
+
+Home-row modifiers require a fair bit of discipline - it is easy to accidentally trigger a modifier instead of a letter.
+To avoid this, some firmwares only activate modifiers for letters pressed on the other "hand" - the other half of a split keyboard.
+It is also possible to only trigger modifiers after an idle period - useful for typing quickly.
+
+More information on home-row mods can be found [here](https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods#what-are-home-row-mods).
+
+### Combos
+
+Having a letter of one's preferred alphabet on a layer can be rather annoying.
+If your preferred layout does not mirror the layers and has distinct ones on each hand, it may be necessary to use both hands
+just to type a letter.
+
+Combos - key combinations that produce distinct results - are a convenient way to circumvent such limitations.
+With the vertical stagger present on most split keyboards, two-key vertical combos
+(pressing between the middle and top/bottom row in any given column) can be comfortable depending on the keycap profile.
+
+Specialty profiles designed for vertical combos are usually best, but they do have to be 3D-printed:
+
+- [Pseudoku's DES](https://github.com/pseudoku/PseudoMakeMeKeyCapProfiles)
+- [KLP Lame](https://github.com/braindefender/KLP-Lame-Keycaps/)
+
+![](/img/small_layouts/vertical_combos.jpeg)
+
+Lower, uniform or cylindrical profiles are also usually okay, just do not try this with SA.
+On a taller profile with a narrow finger well the spaces between keycaps are usually larger,
+and a finger can end up pushing both keycaps sideways instead of pressing them.
+
+Another consideration is spring weighting - pressing two 70-gram switches with a single pinky is unlikely to be easy or healthy in the long run.
+It is best to stick with the lightest switches possible, such as the 40-gram Nuphy Aloe.
+Serious combo enthusiasts even produced 12-gram springs for Kailh Choc switches!
+Sadly, those are nearly impossible to acquire now.
+
+Combos can produce symbols, such as the letters or brackets normally placed in the pinky columns, but
+they are not limited to usual key presses - a combo can trigger a modifier, a layer or a more complex behavior.
+For example, on a 34-key layout pressing both thumb keys can mimic the third one - Miryoku, a layout intended
+for 36 keys, uses this trick to fit on a 34-key Ferris.
+
+## Layouts
+
+The lower one goes in key count, the more personalized a layout usually becomes.
+The following three are just good starting points with distinct approaches that should spark some ideas.
+
+### Miryoku
+
+One of the most well-known layouts for small keyboards is [Miryoku](https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku/) by Manna-Harbour.
+
+![](/img/small_layouts/miryoku-kle-cover.png)
+
+Miryoku has a lot of layers and epitomizes the ideology behind home-row modifiers.
+One hand activates each layer (and presses the accessible modifiers), and another
+presses the keys actually in that layer.
+
+This automatically teaches the core principle of using modifiers with the opposite hand.
+However, the downside is that most actions are inconvenient (if not impossible) without the use of both hands.
+An interesting quirk here is that thumb keys frequently produce actual symbols inside an opposite hand layer.
+Other layouts tend to relegate them to layers or modifiers.
+
+Miryoku is also primarily intended for English, and languages with a larger alphabet
+will end up having letters on a layer.
+While this is possible to adapt to (the writer of the article is... *fine* with using Myrioku for Cyrillic languages),
+it is a noticeable hurdle.
+
+Other than these inconveniences, however, Miryoku is logical and easy enough to get used to.
+Numbers, for example, are in the same layout as a typical numpad, and symbols are
+in the same number positions, just shifted.
+It is also easy to configure - flags can switch the alpha arrangement and layers with little to
+no programming, while the full might of ZMK is, of course, still there.
+
+### Keeper
+
+If Miryoku highlighted home-row modifiers, Watchman's [Keeper](https://github.com/aroum/Keeper-layouts) aims to utilize vertical combos
+to keep the layout closer to its [counterpart for larger keyboards](https://github.com/aroum/Watchman-layouts).
+
+![](/img/small_layouts/keeper-main-layer.png)
+
+While the author calls these chords, the concept in use here (pressing two vertically adjacent keys) is not really close
+to a common definition of chording - that usually involves producing a sequence of characters on a single complex combination.
+True chording requires a lot of practice and is much closer to stenography, while this is much closer to emulating additional keys.
+
+Overall, the layout is successful in the author's stated goal - it is close to a traditional 42-key split, and
+all the commonly used symbols are accessible on the main layer.
+Symbol and navigation layers are also mirrored for both hands.
+
+There can be sore spots, too - function keys are spread across two layers, and the principle behind their (and the symbols') placement 
+is somewhat unintuitive.
+As the author says - this layout is, first and foremost, "a source of inspiration".
+
+Seeing as it is meant for 34 keys (two thumb keys per hand), some changes to adapt it to 36 are inevitable.
+These changes will probably smooth out the weirdness.
+
+### Callum
+
+Both previous options heavily relied on mod-taps: different actions on a tap versus a hold.
+Callum Oakley's [Callum](https://github.com/callum-oakley/qmk_firmware/tree/master/users/callum) foregoes them in an unusual choice.
+
+![](/img/small_layouts/callum.png)
+
+Modifiers here are still on the home row, but they are one-shot: switch to a layer, press a key and it will be active until the next alpha press.
+This feature is known as ["sticky keys"](https://zmk.dev/docs/behaviors/sticky-key) in ZMK.
+
+Mod-taps introduce uncertainty, and it can be easy to accidentally trigger a modifier instead of typing a letter at high speed.
+It is important to note that ZMK has a lot of configuration options to avoid this.
+The issue can also be negated by forcing opposite-hand modifiers, although those are not easy to set up.
+
+The layout also uses various macros with the swap keys - language/window/tab swapping, etc.
+
+The original layout is available for QMK, but a modified ZMK version can be found [here](https://github.com/dxmh/zmk-config).
+
+QMK also has braindefender's [Wellum](https://github.com/braindefender/wellum), a 36-key version
+meant for use with the Universal Layout - a Russian/English layout with the same symbol placements for both languages.
+
+![](/img/small_layouts/wellum.jpg)
+
+A version for ZMK is currently in development.