I think the formatting controls in the HTML pane are very nicely done.  It's great having the toolbars directly above the pane so you don't have to reach all the way back to the main toolbars the way you do in most programs.

 

I have a few suggestions that might be improvements.

 

1)  Right now, changing text color or background color is a two-step process:  you select the toolbar icon, then you select the color.  It's actually more like three steps because after step 1 you have to scan the color grid and navigate to the color you want.  The goal should be to reduce this to one step.  For someone who uses color formatting frequently, this would be a big improvement in usability.  In the following steps, I'll explain how it might be done.

 

2) The icon would have a default color that can be applied directly by clicking on the icon.  This color would be displayed clearly on the icon.  The default could be changed by clicking on a small arrow on the right side to bring up the color grid.  Once a new color is selected, it would be applied immediately and become the new default.

 

3) Multiple versions of each icon could be added to the toolbar, each with its own independent settings.  You could then, for example, have one icon set to apply yellow highlighting, one to apply green, and one to apply blue.  This would be another time-saver.

 

4) Implementing the above would accomplish 90% of what I'd like to see.  Maybe down the road Pierre would consider implementing the Ecco Pro "text touchup" icons.  This has probably been discussed before but for those not familiar with it:  you can create any combination of formatting you want (eg Arial font, bold, italic, green), and create an icon that goes on the toolbar.  You then select text, click on the touchup icon, and all the formatting is applied in one step.   You can create as multiple text touchups with any combination of formatting.  In InfoQube it would be even better because it would include background color (a feature that Ecco Pro sadly lacks).

 

None of this is new but there aren't many programs that offer these features (RightNote does a nice job).  I've been frustrated many times by Excel's inability to do this.  You can add multiple fill color icons to the toolbar, but when you change the default color of one, they all change, which defeats the purpose.

 

Wayne