The njd Keymap is the personal keymap of njdoyle. It is
full featured and primarily designed for 40% keyboards with at least 42
keys — like the Corne or the Planck — but is
versatile enough to use on larger or more standard keyboards.
- Substantial number of base alpha layouts.
- Convenient and thoughtfully designed layers.
- Seamless and intentional support for multiple operating systems.
- macOS
- Linux / Unix
- Windows
- Fancy and unique OLED design for supported keyboards.
The simplest way to think about using The njd Keymap is that most
typing happens on three layers:
- The chosen base Alphas layer for normal text typing.
- The Numbers layer for numbers, shifted number symbols, and math.
- The Symbols layer for programming symbols like parentheses, brackets, quotes, etc.
The base Alphas layer is the default layer and is accessed by
not holding any layer keys. The Numbers layer is accessed by
holding the left Number Layer thumb key. The Symbols layer
is accessed by holding the right Symbol Layer thumb key. There is some
duplication of keys across these layers for convenience.
In addition to simple typing, common navigation controls exist on the Navigation layer which is accessed by holding both the left and right layer thumb keys at the same time. This layer makes navigating text, your desktop environment, your tabs, your browser, and more, very simple.
Additionally, there are less commonly accessed layers consisting of the Function layer for F-keys and other general functionality, the Mouse layer for controlling the mouse directly from the keyboard, and the Configuration layer for configuring the keyboard for things like operating system, base alpha layout, and aesthetics.
The njd Keymap is designed to be efficient to use, not overly mentally
taxing, and relatively easy to learn. It's designed to be general and
universal enough that it can be used comfortably by people who use (or
want to use) smaller keyboards without venturing in to the territory of
more esoteric keyboard behaviours.
The keymap adopts the philosophy that no finger (or thumb) should move more than one unit away from its home position. This still means, though, that index and pinky fingers get two columns of keys each; njdoyle finds 5 column per hand layouts too mentally taxing (but is happy for those that like that style of layout).
njdoyle is a Vim user so the navigation layer adopts Vim home row navigation. This means that, for simple cursor movement, Vim navigation becomes available system wide. To avoid mental dissonance, the mouse movement on the mouse layer also uses this same Vim movement paradigm.
The njd Keymap has some keys that don't go by their usual names. The
reason for this is to make support for, and transitions between
operating systems as seamless as possible.
MMod stands for "Major Modifier" and mMod stands for "Minor
Modifier". These keys change depending on your configured operating
system. Most operating systems share the same essential keyboard
shortcuts (like copy and paste, for example) but differ in what modifier
key is used to activate them. Using MMod and mMod helps keep these
keyboard shortcuts consistent no matter what operating system you're
using.
MMod- macOS: Command
- Unix/Linux: Control
- Windows: Control
mMod- macOS: Control
- Unix/Linux: GUI
- Windows: Win
On the left-most column there is a Tab/MMod key and a Escape/mMod
key. These keys act as Tab and Escape respectively when tapped but
act as MMod and mMod respectively when held. This allows MMod to
exist on both sides of the keyboard for convenience and also allows for
Escape to exist on the home row — which is especially convenient for
Vim.
The following are examples of The njd Keymap on a Corne
keyboard because that's njdoyle's favourite keyboard. Layers
may have variations depending on what keyboard model is being used.
The alpha layer is where you will be doing most of your typing. It is the default state of the keyboard. This layer has letters, common punctuation, and most of the essentials for typing plain text.
The njd Keymap covers the most popular alpha layouts used today. A
goal of this keymap is to make all of these layouts available with
minimal configuration effort.
If you're interested in more esoteric or cutting edge alpha layouts, please feel free to fork this keymap and customize it with your favourite.
The QWERTY layout is not very good but it's the layout that the overwhelming majority of English speakers are familiar with.
Tab/MMod Q W E R T Y U I O P Backspace
Esc/mMod A S D F G H J K L ; MMod
Shift Z X C V B N M , . / Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
The Dvorak layout is an alpha layout, patented in 1936, to be
a more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout. It is the
second most popular alpha layout for English speakers. Many Unix users
complain about the uncomfortable position of the L and S keys.
The njd Keymap version of the Dvorak layout is very slightly different
from the standard Dvorak layout. In the top-left position is the / key
instead of the ' key. This is because the ' key is located on the
Symbols layer regardless of alpha layout and the / key is always
located on the selected alpha layout.
Tab/MMod / , . P Y F G C R L Backspace
Esc/mMod A O E U I D H T N S MMod
Shift ; Q J K X B M W V Z Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
The Workman layout is designed to be an improvement over the Colemak layout with a focus on reducing lateral index finger movement. This layout has gained popularity largely because it is used prominently by a few popular YouTubers. While the layout does succeed at reducing lateral index finger movement, it does this at the expense of introducing more same finger bigrams compared to Colemak.
For those looking to learn a new alpha layout, njdoyle recommends investigating Colemak DH instead of Workman.
Tab/MMod Q D R W B J F U P ; Backspace
Esc/mMod A S H T G Y N E O I MMod
Shift Z X M C V K L , . / Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
The Colemak layout is a more modern take on a layout design that aims to be a more ergonomic alternative to both QWERTY and Dvorak. Behind QWERTY and Dvorak, Colemak is the third most popular alpha layout among English speakers.
Colemak focuses on keeping fingers close to the home row, reducing same finger bigrams, and being comparatively easy to learn when migrating from QWERTY. More details on Colemak's design can be found in it's design document.
Tab/MMod Q W F P G J L U Y ; Backspace
Esc/mMod A R S T D H N E I O MMod
Shift Z X C V B K M , . / Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
The Colemak DH layout is a slight modification of the canonical Colemak layout. The focus is to reduce lateral index finger movement — like Workman — while also maintaining the good low same finger bigram properties of Colemak.
This is njdoyle's preferred and recommended alpha layout.
Tab/MMod Q W F P B J L U Y ; Backspace
Esc/mMod A R S T G M N E I O MMod
Shift Z X C D V K H , . / Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
The Colemak DHk layout is a very minor variation of the
current Colemak DH layout. It is, in fact, the older
legacy version of Colemak DH. Colemak DHk is included in The njd
Keymap for those users still using this legacy layout.
Tab/MMod Q W F P B J L U Y ; Backspace
Esc/mMod A R S T G K N E I O MMod
Shift Z X C D V M H , . / Shift
Alt Num Space Enter Sym Func
Tab/MMod ! @ # $ % ^ & * \ | Backspace
Esc/mMod 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 MMod
Alt + - * / _ : = , . / Delete
Alt ___ Space Enter Nav Func
Tab/MMod ___ ! * + ___ ___ - = _ ___ Backspace
Esc/mMod [ ] { } $ # ( ) < > MMod
Alt ___ ___ ` ' ___ ___ " ~ ___ ___ Delete
Alt Nav Space Enter ___ Func
Tab/MMod ___ ___ DM_P DM_N Home ___ TB_P TB_N TB_C PG_Up Backspace
Esc/mMod NM1 NM2 NM3 Shift End Left Down Up Right PG_Down MMod
Alt Menu ___ ___ Mouse ___ ___ BR_B BR_F Alt+K Alt+J Delete
Alt ___ Space Enter ___ Func
This layer is modal and will remain active until it is explicitly exited using the escape key.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ W_Left W_Right ___ W_Up ___
Exit Ctrl GUI Alt Shift ___ Left Down Up Right W_Down ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Btn_3 ___
___ Fast Btn_1 Btn_2 Slow ___
GUI F1 F2 F3 F4 SLCK ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Conf
Ctrl F5 F6 F7 F8 CLCK Rewind Vol_Up Vol_Down Forward Play Mute
Shift F9 F10 F11 F12 NLCK ___ ___ SS_Win SS_Area SS_All ___
Alt ___ Space Enter ___ ___
This layer is modal and will remain active until it is explicitly exited using the escape key.
___ Hue+ Sat+ Val+ Spd+ RGB_T ___ ___ Mac QWERTY Colemak Reset!
Exit Hue- Sat- Val- Spd- RGB_M ___ ___ Nix Dvorak ColemakDH ___
___ O_M ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Win Workman ColemakDHk ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
The njd Keymap is currently implemented using the QMK Firmware
and can be found in the qmk_firmware directory. There
are future plans to port it to the ZMK Firmware as well.