zellij: Cannot tell which pane is focused if there are 2 panes and `pane_frame` is disabled

I wonder if using ASCII characters for the line break between the two panes would be sufficient?

Something like

   [13:47] ~ top selected
 
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
   [13:47] ~ bottom unselected

   [13:47] ~ top unselected
 
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   [13:47] ~ bottom selected

                            ┐
                            │
                            │
[13:47] ~ left selected     │    [13:47] ~ right unselected
                            │
                            │
                            │
                            │
                            ┘

                                   │ 
                                   │ 
                                   │ 
  [13:47] ~ top left unselected    │
                                   │
┌──────────────────────────────────┤
  [13:47] ~ bottom left selected   │    [13:47] ~ right unselected
                                   │ 
                                   │ 
                                   │ 
                                   │ 
                                   ┘

My philosophy is that it’s better to not implement a UI than to implement a confusing UI.

I would vote strongly for dimming the inactive panes, similar to tmux, but I also think the point that someone made about accessibility might be valid. Ideally, multiple options would be available. I’d prioritize dimming the inactive panes. 😃

Hi,

I just tried zellij a couple of days ago, and I really miss something similar. I do not like wasting space on these separators and there is a better way (for my taste). In tmux there are window-style and window-active-style options, so You can set different background for those. I usually set the active window to black (which is taken from the terminal, actually dark grey) and other windows to #000000. This way the background color defines the active window/pane. I would love that in zellij too.

Thanks,

maybe “dim” the unfocused panes? have less contrast, less contrast or a lighter/darker background?

My bad, should have read the thread more carefully. Right now i have something working but it mimics tmux behavior and needs more work anyway. Going to wrap some things up and push it to GitHub then. I could give the proposed solution from #2180 a try nonetheless, but it would probably take some time. Sorry for the confusion!

Hey, i’m currently trying to implement this and i was wondering whether it should be a settable option for which part of the boundarie relates to which pane?

maybe “dim” the unfocused panes? have less contrast, less contrast or a lighter/darker background?

This introduces potential accessibility issues, as not all users may be able to distinguish them.

How do you know if up is right or left? This always bothered me in tmux.