[Design Bug] No traditional menus on Windows. Only Icon bar functions

[richlysakowski]

Description

Design flaw...

There is NO traditional text menus or text menu bar. Requires hunting and memorizing non-standard icon-based interface.

This is a design bug. Editors require text menus.

Environment

• OS: [e.g., Windows 10
• Installation method: pre-built binary

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Installation method: pre-built binary
2. open app.
   NO TEXT MENUS APPEAR.

Expected Behavior

text menus available for all significant functionality.

Actual Behavior

No text menus.

[OlaProeis]

Hi @richlysakowski, thanks for the feedback!

The icon-based ribbon interface was a deliberate design choice, Ferrite aims for a clean, modern look similar to apps like Obsidian, Typora, and VS Code's minimal UI mode. That said, I understand traditional menus can be more discoverable, especially for users coming from conventional text editors.

I'll add this to the roadmap for v0.2.8. The plan would be:

• Add traditional menus accessible via Alt key (similar to VS Code's behavior)
• Include a setting to choose between: ribbon-only, menus-only, or both

For now, all significant functionality is accessible via keyboard shortcuts (hover over ribbon icons to see them) and the quick switcher (Ctrl+P). The Help button (?) in the ribbon also shows available shortcuts.