Hillside 52 Default Keymap

For easier initial use, this keymap follows the layout of more standard keyboards where possible. It is a starting point for you to tweak over time to suit your preferences better. You can easily customize it with the QMK configurator.

Some of its key features are:

• An inverted-T arrow cluster on the base layer.
• Numbers and symbols along the top row of their layers for familiarity.
• Comfortable modifier and function or symbol combinations on the non-base layers using modifiers on the home row of the navigation/edit and symbol layers.
• A layer with both navigation and editing keys allows document editing without leaving the layer.
• QWERTY, Colemak-DH and Dvorak base layer options.

Base Layer

The base layer provides a very standard key layout with four differences:

• Numbers, functions and most symbols are accessed with number and symbol shift keys.
• Escape is on the bottom row.
• The left thumb has a shift key that affects the next key pressed. So to get 'A,' press and release the thumb shift key, press 'a'. You can also hold the key down, and it will work like a standard shift key. There are still standard shift keys at either end of the keyboard.
• The Menu and AltGr keys are on a layer.

The default layout is QWERTY with alternatives of Dvorak and Colemak-DH, and the alt/option and win/command key locations are swappable for windows or mac.

<details> <summary>Details of Dvorak and Colemak-DH</summary> The Dvorak and Colemak-DH base layers have identical non-alpha and non-symbol keys as the QWERTY base layer.

</details>

Navigation, Editing, Number and Function Layer

Holding down the Nav/Edit key accesses the navigation, editing, number and function layer:

• Numbers are along the top row, and function keys are on the bottom.
• The arrow keys on the right can be combined with the home row modifiers on the left to easily move around and select text, which can then be cut, copied and pasted.

Symbol and Media Layer

Holding down the SYM key accesses the symbol layer:

• The symbols not present on the base layer are along the top row and left side, arranged similarly to a large keyboard.
• Duplicates of the modifier keys are along the right home keys. This positioning allows a very comfortable combination of any set of modifiers plus a key on the left side of the board.
• Forward delete is on the upper right, taking backspace's place.
• Caps word toggles a mode that capitalizes all letters until something other than a letter, digit, dash, underscore, delete or backspace is typed. The mode also times out five seconds after the last key press.
• The Windows OS application menu key is on the lower right.
• The AltGr key affects the next key pressed so that it can combine with a key on any layer. It changes the meaning of the next key pressed after the AltGr key is pressed and released. For example, to do AltGr-h: press SYM, press and release AltGr, release SYM, press and release h.

Adjust Layer

Simultaneously holding down the Nav/Edit and Sym keys enables keys to adjust keyboard settings:

• The base layer can be set to QWERTY, Colemak-DH or Dvorak, although the keyboard reverts to QWERTY each time it is plugged in.
• Alt/option and GUI/command can be swapped for mac users or restored to the windows norm.
• The backlight LEDs can be enabled, disabled, and controlled.
• BOOT allows loading new firmware, such as for keymap changes.

Make it Yours

If you are coming from a traditional keyboard, with a large set of physical keys, learning to use a column staggered (ergo) and layer-based keyboard, which uses layers instead of finger reaches to access numbers, symbols and functions, will be an adjustment for your muscle memory and your mental keyboard map. This default layout tries to simplify that adjustment by keeping things in the expected spots when possible.

Yet this layout is only a decent compromise and is not optimal for each user. The online configurator makes it easy to tweak this layout to your needs. You can add additional layers or completely switch around what these do.

A good metaphor is to think of your keymap as a bonsai tree that you tweak slightly over time in response to ideas of how it might serve you better.

Some changes you might consider making:

• If you are on a mac, switch the editing keys from ctrl-x to cmd-x.
• Put some of your most-used key combinations on the unused keys on the symbol layer.
• Remove the pinkie shift keys and just use the one-shot thumb shift key.
• Instead of holding down the thumb key to keep the symbol layer active, you could use a one-shot layer key. One-shot modifiers are likely less stress on your hands and may even be faster. You would still be able to hold it down instead.

Here are some other keymaps for inspiration and ideas:

• The Ferris default uses more advanced features as it has far fewer keys to work with.
• The Miryoku keymap ensures that all modifiers are comfortably available with each character key.
• The Kyria default has different keymap choices.

Rationale

Any keymap or keyboard is a set of compromises between priorities. Here are some of the priorities of this keymap.

• Ease for new users coming from a large keyboard: Making it easier to shift to a split column-stagger keyboard drove:
  • Traditional number row and symbol row
  • Nearly complete set of modifiers along the bottom rows
  • An arrow T cluster on the base layer.
• Simple three layers: Just two extra layers makes shifting to them clearer. (Not counting the infrequent adjust layer.)
• Orthogonal-mods: Being able to choose any combination of modifiers with one hand and any key with the other hand without leaving home is easier on your hands. It generally means a row of modifiers on the home row of the hand selecting the layer and all the keys of interest on the other hand. But that usually doubles the layers needed. We have the modifiers but also used the space around them on that side. The modifiers along the bottom rows are still there, though they are less ergonomic.
• A Nav/Edit layer: It is very convenient to be able to move, select, cut and paste without moving your fingers away from orientation on the home row. Arrows for that work best on the right, which places the mods on the left. This also makes the mods convenient to use with a mouse while editing.
• Hints toward a better way:
  • One shot shift on thumb: Tapping two keys in turn is easier on your hands than holding one while tapping another. The pinkie shifts are still there, but you may find you use them less often.
  • The mods on the home row.
  • The home row arrows.
  • The common digits 0 and 1 on the sym layer, in a spot that might go well with a full number pad on a new layer.

A theme of the keymap might be "offering but not requiring a better way," offering options for navigation, editing, mods and numbers.

Why no keymap.c

The online configurator provides a straightforward visual way to work with a simple layout and uses a .json keymap format. So this default keymap.json was created with the online configurator.

If you wish, you can edit the keymap.json directly in a text editor, compile it and flash it.

Or, you can use the graphical configurator to edit the keymap. To do that:

• Open the QMK configurator
• Using the green up arrow button, load the keymap from qmk_firmware/keyboards/hillside/52/keymaps/default/keymap.json
• Make the changes you wish to the layout
• Save the keymap using the green down arrow button.
• Move the downloaded keymap back into your QMK repository at the same location as above.
• Rename it back to keymap.json
• Compile and flash the firmware.

You can combine a .json based keymap with more advanced features specified in .c files with a bit more complexity. For example, see pierrec83's Kyria map.

Pretty Printing

The QMK configurator's .json download has only one key per line, so it is hard to visualize the keymap if editing manually. If you want, the Hillside git repo has a pretty-printing script for the keymap.json file.

As with anything downloaded from the internet, you should take some steps to assure yourself that the script will not harm your computer nor steal your data. The script is short, so reading it should at least convince you it is rearranging and printing the keymap provided, not reading your banking data. See the Hillside wiki for the script.