Oh, man!  Go figure, I finally start getting used to the layout and I learn I'm doing it wrong… :|  lol

Thanks for the heads up, DreymaR!  Is there any fingering you would recommend?

Thanks for your feedback, vaskozl!  What you said makes a lot of sense.  I was definetely struggling with the 'C' key and quite a few of the other bottom row keys.  Incidentally, I received an ergonomic keyboard today and the keys are now all vertically aligned, so I'm finding it quite a bit easier to get at these.  Nevertheless, your comments are certainly appreciated!

And thanks for the encouragement!  I'm enjoying Colemak quite a lot (but dang am I typing slow!! ;)

Yes, like pafkata says I recommend an ergonomic mod that won't change the fingering per se but the important wrist angle. To use it optimally you'll need an ISO keyboard (102/105-key) though. I have an ISO board with US markings but they're very rare and mine's a bit DIY (from Unicomp). On my other keyboard I just ignore the markings but I only use ISO keyboards.

But there's more to it! I recommend using a different fingering for the top row too, based on how you stretch from a comfortable start position. You can just try it out to find what suits you actually, but basically I'll hit the 3 key with my middle finger most of the time because that's more comfortable for instance. The 3 6 and 9 keys are up to you how to type, according to your physiology and preferences.

As my signature says, check out my Big Bag for explanations and further links. Here's a color-coded image though:

   
   An ISO keyboard with the Angle mod (ZXCVB moved one key to the left to avoid ulnar deviation)

(On a side note, that color coding scheme is inspired by the Feng Shui designations of colors and fingers. Completely on a whimsy, but nice I think.)

That's awesome, Thanks guys!  I'll be sure to check out the big bag of keyboard tricks.  That angle mod looks interesting.  And sweet color-scheme!

Yes, I did have English in mind. Now after I checked again, it seems that CV and VC isn't a problem, since it's not common at all. TC is also fairly uncommon but CT (anywhere in the word) is about 0.22% of all bigraphs (together with TC comes up to 0.25%). Which is not that low. The total same finger ratio on your left index finger jumps from 0.55% to 1.02%. The total same finger ratio for the layout goes from 3.95% to 4.18%. That's from about 1mil characters of English text, analysed with Excel. Of course other analysers probably will give you different total number for the same finger ratio, but this is for showing the difference at least.

It might not seem like a big difference but the numbers show that your left index finger's same finger ratio is increasing twice if you use it for C as well. I personally would like that factor as low as possible but if you want to benefit from using the suggested fingering, you could use the middle finger for C in those "CT" situations.

I did talk about English, just didn't think it through. I saw the overall same finger ratio difference with the moved fingering and gave it to all CT/TC and CV/VC, without thinking that the latter weren't that common. And btw, KN and NK together are about 0.09% of the bigraphs. Just for comparison.

It is from a link, that is unfortunately not available any more, as I checked. I don't have the full words, only characters and bigraphs (including spaces). You can mail me if you want me to send the data over.

The spreadsheet was original work of BvoFRak from this forum. I modified and changed it to my liking and added some stuff that I needed back when I was designing a Bulgarian layout for myself.

Sure:
Here's my original thread, where you can also find BvoFRak's original spreadsheet, if you want to take a look: https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=1206

And here's my modification with the layouts: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g2n10cz4sg1h1 … 0v3.1.xlsm. Unlike BvoFRak, I haven't analysed trigraphs in my version.

And a few notes on the organization:
– the sheets called "Test..." are where you change the layout's keys, you can see detailed information about finger frequency (which finger after which finger in percentage) on the first pivot table, and about row jumping on the second. The table after that represents which finger is responsible for which key. That's where I've changed the first layout's fingering.
Remember to hit the button "Refresh Pivot Tables" to execute the macro which... well refreshes all the pivot tables for you :) Because they need to be refreshed for some values to be properly updated;
– the sheets called "Compare..." is where you can more easily compare the results between layouts. With the first column you can choose which layout you want to see the values of others compared two. On the last column you can filter the layouts you wan to see in the charts. You need to have macros enabled for the filtering to work properly.
– "Graph Tables..." are just tables with information for the charts;
– "...Source" sheets contain the source data. The one for Bulgarian I've analyzed myself with a program that had some trouble with two characters, which sadly were missing from the results. But no source on the net for that...
– "Calc..." are the sheets where the data from "...Source" is being formatted to get used by the pivot tables on the "Test..." sheet;
– "Distance" is showing the distance used in calculating the distance factor for the layouts.

Agreed DreymaR! I think the biggest reason it felt very strange was because the ZXCV have been there even back in the Qwerty days and I was too used to them. Also I noticed that I would get used to the C and V but it was much harder to get used to the ZX because they are very uncommon and I have to rarely use them. E.g. I type for 2 minutes and it feels just like regular Colemak, to the point where I forget that ZX have changed their placed - my regular muscle memory kicks in and I mistype them. Moreover just as I was getting used to it I would go to my laptop which has an ANSI keyboard and I would have to use normal Colemak, making the frustration even greater. Then of course I also had to relearn the ctrl+x,c,v due to the shifted position. Last but not least Colemak is pre-installed on Linux and Mac and hopefully on Windows soon, so I decided to stick with the standard.

I wondered for a lot of time what to use the extra ISO key for but ended up using the "SC056" (the key between Z and Shift on ISO boards) as the modifier to the extended layer I use - which is DreymaR's one with a few modifications. This allows me to both have an extended layer with a modifier that is very easy to hit and keep the caps lock as a backspace just like in original Colemak.

"LSGT" - does that stand for Less, Greater (<>) which is found on the Scandinavian/German boards? I have always wondered what to call that 102 key...
When I was doing research on "extended layers" the only person other than you who I found using an extended layer is Rajagra and his Eezeboard on geekhack, but his one is intended for the Truly Ergonomic and it looks messy.

I was trying quite hard to keep my hand at an angle so that the keys align similarly to the way they did before, but I never quite got it and gave up. Somehow the motivation that kept me learning Colemak wasn't there when I switched these keys. I honestly felt that I wasn't gaining much from it and I also, as previously mentioned, didn't want to deviate from the standard Colemak since then it would require even more work to get my layout running.

The wide mod on the other hand was very easy for me to learn, the only exception being the "/,?" key. Even though I don't use it because I'm to lazy to switch the nubs on my keyboards I found it not hard to adapt.

What I consider the real "lifehack" in your bag is the extended layer which I have added the windows + (shift) + t and alt + f4 shortcuts to and rearranged some of the combos. The extended layer now allows me to fully use my computer with no mouse whatsoever simply by using the arrow keys to navigate, letters to jump to a folder, menu key to right lick and enter to click :)

I made a new Colemak wallpaper for the Truly Ergonomic 209.

(DreymaR, I totally bit those Feng Shui colors ;))

Thanks, DreymaR!  Haha, no I think (hope!) not.

I like the colors, I think I will go for the complete look and update the graphic on here for anyone who is interested.  :)

On an unrelated note, (kind of), the TE-209 modifier keys are driving me a little mad…  Maybe I just need more time, but I may not stick with this keyboard much longer, rendering this whole graphic moot.  Doh!