idea Remember header expand/collapse states between sessions in ArcGIS Pro Ideas

Remember header expand/collapse states between sessions

wayfaringrob — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:26:35 GMT

One bizarre and annoying thing about Pro is that many panes hide their core functionality by default.

This is not much of a problem in ArcMap, which offers a much more intuitive approach than a single scrolling column of loosely organized toggles which, by nature, will inevitably run into a space issue more quickly than a spatial approach.

The same spatial layout and exposure of commands persists through the submenus - I don't have to resize or expand a thing.

Meanwhile, Pro again strangely defaults to showing you nothing -- requiring an extra click to open every single header every single time you open the program.

Even more irksome is that these reset to their default closed position upon closing and reopening the application. I never want to collapse any of these, really.

The lowest hanging fruit, here, would be to just keep these things where I had them when I last closed the program. I would give extra credit if these panes could be redesigned away from the flawed single-column approach (that necessitates most of the headings) in favor of something that is a little more efficient in its use of space and more intuitive in practice. I dare say ArcMap is more intuitive and "dense" or space-efficient as far as these types of panes go. Pro, in general, has a lot of dead space that could be used for consolidating commands, allowing more room for content.

Reminds me of automakers' recent moves to ditch touchscreens in favor of old-fashioned buttons...but I'll hold my breath on Pro going back to old-fashioned buttons. (We're in the "touchscreen" phase of Esri UIs)

~~I understand the desire to design Pro to work on a screen the size of a smartphone, but I think that approach is detrimental to the experience for 99% of users. Netbooks died for a reason.~~ Update, I use a 13" laptop for GIS now and it's even worse. I guess I don't know who they're trying to design for.

Re: Remember header expand/collapse states between sessions

wayfaringrob — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 00:24:16 GMT

thinking about this still... by default, none of these are expanded.

it's a click to do anything every time you want to do it - terribly inefficient for users looking for the right toggle and awful for discovery of new functionality - unless esri wants to make using GIS require courses (which would be understandable, considering they're in the business...) this ought to be improved. We can do better than a long, scrolling, one-dimensional list of toggles, but they should at least be expanded by default

Re: Remember header expand/collapse states between sessions

mTylerH — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 16:47:24 GMT

+1 from me on this - personally I'd like the symbology preview to stay hidden but each time you open Pro it defaults to open again.

Re: Remember header expand/collapse states between sessions

wayfaringrob — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 05:50:18 GMT

@mTylerH it's horrible for muscle memory, too. When there is a place for everything and everything has a place, you can work much more quickly. Instead, everything starts to look the same. Endless scrolling, clicking, and scanning through lists for the thing you're looking for. Again and again. The "Pro" way.