Can the quick add menu be made wider to show more of the symbol text

[paulshoughton]

I am making heavy use of symbols (100s) and make use of longer descriptions to allow me to type a few keywords in order to add the right symbol.

The quick add menu is quite narrow and it would be a big improvement to be able to make it wider and show more of the symbol names.

Wrapping the text would show too few elements and likely make it look messy. Even on a small monitor there is plenty of space to show a wider menu.

Is this something that could be brought to a future release?

(Every element I add is via the quick add menu so this would be a big improvement in day to day use.)

[alasdair]

Hi @paulshoughton ,

I see exactly what you mean. I’ve written up an internal ticket so we can discuss this further. Thank you!

[paulshoughton]

This problem is more challenging when showing symbols in the UI library:

In this instance a single word is visible and the thumbnail image is very difficult to distinguish.

It is very difficult to reuse symbols when there are many of them.

At present my work around is to switch to the symbol library in order to find out the name of the symbol that I can then copy and paste into search back in the wireframes. This really slows down the design process.

Is there a better way of achieving my end goal?

If not is there any progress in making the quick add menu much wider?

Thanks.

[Brendan]

I wish there were, Paul. Things will long names are still something we are brainstorming how to deal with.

I’ll give it a nudge and see if it’s something we want to try and tackle again soon.

[paulshoughton]

I know it’s easy to say just make the quick add menu wider but that would be really useful for me.

If it could grow to 50% of the width of the screen it would be a big help.

[paulshoughton]

Hi. Any progress in this?

Each time I need to select a symbol from the quick add menu I really struggle to select the right one.

Either I switch to the symbols view (now edit project symbols) and try to find it there or I add multiple symbols until I find the right one.

Seeing the full text would be a massive help.

Access to a larger thumbnail might also help. (But not at the expense of only showing 5 items in that menu at a time.)

Perhaps there needs to be a different approach to how to select symbols and use them in a wireframe?

I’d say this is the biggest single issue I have with UX in Balsamiq at the moment and a fix would be massively appreciated.

[Brendan]

I hear ya, Paul, and I wish I could tell you that it’s something we are working on. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much movement on this because not many folks have requested it.

As I mentioned in the other thread, we are starting a project to redesign the UI Library. This may be something that we look at during that project, or something we do as a pass afterwards, but I cannot promise anything right now.

I wish I had a different answer for you, Paul. If this request gets some more traction externally, we will definitely prioritize it differently internally.

[paulshoughton]

Thank you for your response @Brendan.

As a heavy user of symbols to ensure efficiency of UX production and consistency of UX, this is definitely my main challenge in Balsamiq today.

If the UX team are looking for input on my workflows around symbol usage and why this is important I’d be happy to provide it.

Thanks.