is an unorthodox twist on the ergonomic finger Curl mod introduced to the Colemak mod-DH layout. It is a (personal) user refinement achieved on the Poker 2 keyboard by programming it to..
The left hand finger curl and improved Shift and Enter key positions are significant improvements over all other keyboard layouts IMO and the basis for this layout.
while almost completely remapped for the Shift-DH mod as a result of the columnar right shift, retain their crucial Colemak fingering relationships..
| action | setting |
|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | |
| w | q |
| Pn | |
| e | w |
| Pn | |
| r | f |
| Pn | |
| t | p |
| Pn | |
| y | b |
| Pn | |
| u | j |
| Pn | |
| i | l |
| Pn | |
| o | u |
| Pn | |
| p | y |
| Pn | |
| s | a |
| Pn | |
| d | r |
| Pn | |
| f | s |
| Pn | |
| g | t |
| Pn | |
| h | g |
| Pn | |
| j | m |
| Pn | |
| k | n |
| Pn | |
| l | e |
| Pn | |
| ; | i |
| Pn | |
| ’ | o |
| Pn | |
| v | d |
| Pn | |
| b | v |
| Pn | |
| n | z |
| Pn | |
| m | k |
| Pn | |
| , | h |
| Pn | |
| 2 | 1 |
| Pn | |
| 3 | 2 |
| Pn | |
| 4 | 3 |
| Pn | |
| 5 | 4 |
| Pn | |
| 6 | 5 |
| Pn | |
| 7 | 6 |
| Pn | |
| 8 | 7 |
| Pn | |
| 9 | 8 |
| Pn | |
| 0 | 9 |
| Pn | |
| - | 0 |
| Pn | |
| Fn + right Ctrl | |
| Fn + right Shift |
Refer to the basic instructions on Poker 2 programming.
The number row is right shifted to maintain its relative position to the home row. The Z key from the prior Colemak mod-DH layout maps to the right shifted Qwerty B or N key position— a design decision made contrary to the standard Colemak ZXC cluster imposition.
F1 to F12 are right shifted to maintain their relative position to the home row, matching the number positions..
| action | setting | key |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + 1 | Fn + = | F12 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 2 | Fn + 1 | F1 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 3 | Fn + 2 | F2 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 4 | Fn + 3 | F3 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 5 | Fn + 4 | F4 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 6 | Fn + 5 | F5 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 7 | Fn + 6 | F6 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 8 | Fn + 7 | F7 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 9 | Fn + 8 | F8 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + 0 | Fn + 9 | F9 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + - | Fn + 0 | F10 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + = | Fn + - | F11 |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
The Fn + Backspace key is part of the GuiFn navigation cluster and remains, therefore, assigned to PgUp instead of F12.
in the standard Colemak layout are largely (save for the semicolon) unchanged from their Qwerty positions. The right shift resulting from the Curl mod, however, impacts the apostrophe, slash and square brackets. The published mod-DH layout maps the square brackets to the left hand so the apostrophe can be mapped to the right square bracket.
Taking liberties with the special symbols and borrowing (loosely) a page from the Dvorak layout, the square brackets are mapped, instead, to the number row and the minus and equal (see shift mod below) signs to the left hand. Aesthetically, the square brackets remain as a cluster pair, located conveniently next to the parentheses. More importantly, the hyphen and question mark are now easily reached from the home row.
| action | setting | key |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| q | - | |
| Pn | ||
| [ | ; | |
| Pn | ||
| ] | ’ | |
| Pn | ||
| a | / | |
| Pn | ||
| . | , | |
| Pn | ||
| / | . | |
| Pn | ||
| Esc | Fn + Esc | `~ |
| Pn | ||
| 1 | = | |
| Pn | ||
| = | [ | |
| Pn | ||
| Backspace | ] | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
The backslash is moved to the opposite quadrant of the keyboard from its previous location to accommodate the square brackets.
the most contentious decision in this layout is to map the backslash sign to the left Shift and the Shift to the Qwerty Z curl position!
This is a clear deviation from the Colemak design—well, pretty much every keyboard layout design!—and, Microsoft and Apple users will prefer to retain the Shift and ZXC key cluster and map the backslash, instead, to the Qwerty N (confusing, I know)!
| action | setting | key |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| right Shift | \ | |
| Pn | ||
| Z | right Shift | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
What this does is allow the left hand pinkie to curl for the left Shift instead of extending laterally and downwards with a twist of the wrist. In the old Qwerty layout it was the right pinkie that did so for the right Shift—which is now rectified by this Shift-DH mod.
This simple but unorthodox assignment accomplishes what the Colemak Wide mod attempts to rectify (among other things), albeit, with a swap of the Shift key itself. The difficulty itself lies in the strangeness (visually) of using such a diminutive Shift key. But the fingers do not lie!
in the standard Colemak layout is the handy Backspace key. Mapping the (CapsLock) Backspace to the (unused by me) right Alt allows the Esc key to be more conveniently mapped to the CapsLock and restores the previously remapped Tab key..
| action | setting | key |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Tab | Esc | |
| Pn | ||
| CapsLock | Tab | |
| Pn | ||
| right Alt | Backspace | |
| Pn | ||
| \ | Fn + Backspace | Del |
| Pn | ||
| right Ctrl | left Ctrl | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
Note: the Tab key is restored to its default value and the right Ctrl no longer needs to be mapped to grave/tilde, a common practice with 60% keyboards. It is not simply restored to its default value because Dip Switch 2 on the Poker 2, if enabled, assigns grave/tilde to it instead of Ctrl.
while not part of the Colemak specification, a numeric keypad is defined for left hand data entry via the Fn key. A nice to have add-on to a 60% keyboard..
| action | setting | key |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + Esc | Shift + 6 | ^ |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + Tab | Shift + 8 | * |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + q | 7 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + w | 8 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + e | 9 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + a | 4 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + s | 5 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + d | 6 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + Shift | 0 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + z | 1 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + x | 2 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + c | 3 | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + Alt | . | |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
The equal, minus and slash keys map to the same region, somewhat conveniently (although, the Fn key must be released).
see Poker 2</span> GuiFn..
| action | setting | navigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + ; | Fn + a | Right |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + ‘ | Fn + s | Down |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + Enter | Fn + d | Left |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + [ | Fn + w | Up |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + p | Fn + ; | Home |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + ] | Fn + , | End |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + Backspace | Fn + ‘ | PgUp |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + \ | Fn + / | PgDn |
| Pn | ||
| Fn + / | Fn + Backspace | Del |
| Fn + right Ctrl | ||
| Fn + right Shift |
with all the above mappings together, whew!
with Fn + right Shift enabled..
`~ = 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 [ ]
Esc - Q W F P B J L U Y ; ‘ Del
Tab / A R S T G M N E I O Enter
\ Shift X C D V Z K H , . Shift
Ctrl Win Alt Space Backspace Fn Pn Ctrl
with Fn (thumb) held down..
^ F12 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 PgUp
* 7 8 9 R T Y U I O Home Up End PgDn
CapsLock 4 5 6 F G H J K L Left Down Right
0 1 2 3 V B N M , . / Shift
Ctrl Win . Space Alt Fn Pn Ctrl
with Pn held down..
` Esc 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = Backspace
Tab Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] `
CapsLock A S D F G H J K L ; ' Enter
Shift Z X C V B N M , . / Shift
Ctrl Win Alt Space Alt Fn Pn `~
Refer to the GuiFn guide for the navigation cluster assignments.
The hand symmetry (bottom row finger curl) introduced by this layout, specifically to the left hand, improves the ergonomics of the standard keyboard significantly. Left hand wrist strain is noticeably absent (even if unnoticed before). And the Shift keys are now balanced.
This Colemak inspired variant is easily implemented on the Fn layer of the Poker 2 programmable keyboard. OS dependent software can also accomplish the same result, albeit, with the incumbent issues of propagating the solution to every computer necessary.
Not as radical (or expensive) as hardware ergonomic keyboard solutions—such as, the Ergo Dox and Kinesys split keyboards and SafeType vertical keyboard—this Poker 2 Curl mod implements an ergonomic layout on a standard keyboard with all the benefits, portability and geekiness a 60% mechanical keyboard can provide!