Very nice - will be interesting to see whether people adopt this approach, or learn standard Colemak first before experimenting with curl / DH mods. At least it's good to to have the options there.
Also good to see how similar the steps are for the different versions of the mod.
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
For me, it'd feel like a real waste to learn Colemak first and then immediately starting to learn the mods. I have done everything in separate parts of course, but over the course of years. If I as a newcomer were given all the choices and decided to go for my current setup, I'd probably want to do this:
1) Learn the AngleWide mod! It doesn't really depend on your layout choice as such, is fast and gives immediate benefits.
2) Learn Extend! It's layout agnostic, easy to get started with and a huge benefit on par with a good layout.
3) Start with Tarmak1-Curl(Hk), until at 40 WPM with 97% accuracy
4) Proceed with Tarmak2-Curl(DbgHk) likewise
5) Tarmak3-Curl for the tricky RSD subloop
6) After that, decide whether to use Tarmak4 or make the plunge for Colemak-CurlAngleWide!
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Of course, that's with the benefit of hindsight. I think I would do a lot of things differently if I knew a year ago what I know now :)
Interesting that the first two items on your list could be quite easily done by Qwerty users. When you consider that almost the entire world uses Qwerty, it's surprising that are not more Qwerty users who do #1 and #2 as they are quite easy to do. The Extend layer especially, is a really nice feature and yet doesn't even require moving any keys. I wish I'd discovered that years ago!
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
Is there a place where the AngleWide mod and the Extend mod have been described in simple terms? I have tried reading about them. I see lots of descriptions of .pkl and files, and pictures of modified Colemak keyboards. As someone that types qwerty, it is difficult to know what any of these things mean.
karl
i feel your pain - the documentation is all there but it is tied up in various threads on this forum and although the various parties (mainly dreymar) have done a lot of work putting it all out there, a forum is just a fundamentally pedagogically poor way of conveying the info.
i think you just have to wade through it, try and piece it together and suffer to a certain extent - it definitely is not easy.
its all crying out for its own site so it can be better organised/simplified, thankfully though, people here seem happy to answer questions which imply you haven't RTFM (to put it politely) an example of which is the help i've recently had from dreymar recently re the extend stuff which really i should have figured out for myself
Is there a place where the AngleWide mod and the Extend mod have been described in simple terms? I have tried reading about them. I see lots of descriptions of .pkl and files, and pictures of modified Colemak keyboards. As someone that types qwerty, it is difficult to know what any of these things mean.
Quick Summary:
- The Wide mod means moving all the alphabetic keys on the right hand side one space to the right to increase hand separation.
- The Angle mod means moving the ZXCVB keys one space to the left.
- AngleWide mod means angle + wide mods together not surprisingly.
- The Extend mod means redefining an existing key (usually CapsLock) to be an extra modifier, to allow a new layer.
DreymaR has the most comprehensive set of tools for these but I also once created wide layout (for Windows), both Qwerty and Colemak versions, which are described here..., and also my autohotkey implementation of capslock extend layer is here.
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
The best explanations are supposed to be found at the Big Bag topic (XKB is more thorough). So that's where I'd look to learn about Extend for sure.
If you can't decipher a Colemak image, the WideAngle part of that topic may be daunting. Steve sums it up nicely above. The keys that are pushed out get nice new homes in the middle of the board so this mod puts a little load from your pinkies to your more dexterous index fingers. More importantly, it's really good for the left-hand wrist angle and makes the right-hand pinky stretches and AltGr stretch easier.
The Extend mod is quite popular over at GeekHack it seems, but everyone have made their own versions it seems. Needless to say, mine is the best bar none. ;-)
There will be clearer pages. Hopefully soon. Please be patient.
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Thank you for the explanations. That's helpful.
How can ZXCVB move to the left when the shift key is in the way?
Thank you for the explanations. That's helpful.
How can ZXCVB move to the left when the shift key is in the way?
Hehe, I'm guessing you have an ANSI keyboard. To do the angle mod properly, you need an ISO keyboard.
Using Colemak-DH with Seniply.
karl said:Thank you for the explanations. That's helpful.
How can ZXCVB move to the left when the shift key is in the way?
Hehe, I'm guessing you have an ANSI keyboard. To do the angle mod properly, you need an ISO keyboard.
ISO keyboards are very rare where I am. I don't even remember seeing one (other than on a business trip to Montreal).
I bought an ISO keyboard with US key labels from Unicomp. Very nice.
The Angle mod can also be done on ANSI boards by displacing the Z ('pc104Angle-Z') or by shifting the home and upper rows to the right ('pc104aframe') – or even by letting the Z take over the LShift key (and possibly converting the Space to a both-thumbs-shift, RAlt/AltGr to a Space and maybe RShift to RAlt?). Pick your poison if you dare.
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Hi all, this looks really interesting and useful. For people on Mac, I implemented the Tarmak transition to the curl layout in the Karabiner software, by editing private.xml. The file looks like this, if anyone is interested:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<item>
<name>Tarmak(ETROI)-Curl(DbgHk) transitional layout</name>
<!-- https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=1858&p=1 -->
<item>
<name>Tarmak1(E)-Curl(Hk) transitional layout (E>K>H>N>J)</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_1_e</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>Tarmak1B(E)-Curl(Hk) + angle transitional layout (V-`>E>K>H>N>J)</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_1b_et</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>Tarmak2(ET)-Curl(DbgHk) transitional layout ((V-`>B>T>F>E>K>H>N>J))</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_2_et</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::T, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::F, KeyCode::T</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::F</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>Tarmak3(ETR)-Curl(DbgHk) transitional layout (R>S>D>V-`>B>T>F>E>K>H>N>J)</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_3_etr</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, KeyCode::D</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::T, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::F, KeyCode::T</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::F</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::S, KeyCode::R</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::D, KeyCode::S</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::R, KeyCode::J</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>Tarmak4(ETRO)-Curl(DbgHk) transitional layout (Y>O>;>P>R>S>D>V-`>B>T>F>E>K>H>N>J)</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_4_etr</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, KeyCode::D</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::T, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::F, KeyCode::T</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::F</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::S, KeyCode::R</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::D, KeyCode::S</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::R, KeyCode::P</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Y, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::O, KeyCode::Y</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::SEMICOLON, KeyCode::O</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::P, KeyCode::SEMICOLON</autogen>
</item>
<item>
<name>Colemak-Curl(DbgHk) layout (Y>O>;>P>R>S>D>V-`>B>T>F>E>K>H>N>J & L>U>I)</name>
<identifier>private.tarmakcurl.tarmak_5_etroi</identifier>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, KeyCode::D</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::T, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::F, KeyCode::T</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, KeyCode::F</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, KeyCode::K</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::S, KeyCode::R</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::D, KeyCode::S</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::R, KeyCode::P</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Y, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::O, KeyCode::Y</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::SEMICOLON, KeyCode::O</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::P, KeyCode::SEMICOLON</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::U, KeyCode::L</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::I, KeyCode::U</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::L, KeyCode::I</autogen>
</item>
</item>
</root>Let me know if there is a better way of sharing this.
I implemented the angle mode as everyone seems to recommend this, although it makes my keyboard strangely asymmetrical - are you supposed to angle the keyboard away from you when using it?
Oo, great work! Yeah, for now that's an okay way of sharing it. Eventually I'll ask your permission to put it somewhere on GitHub I guess. :-) For now, I'll link to your post.
The Angle mod is a necessity for the Curl mod to work. The Wide mod is optional. The idea is to make the keyboard more symmetrical not less – around the center axis. It lets you keep your wrists straight as opposed to needing an ulnar deviation which is ergonomically unsound to reach the ZXC keys. The upper row needs no such mod I find, as upwards stretches are easier to spread outwards.
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Great, thanks! Please put this on GitHub or anywhere else, I just took your exact steps and put them in the XML format, so I have no claim to the file. And thanks for the explanation on the angle mod, that is convincing.
Using QWFR version:
q w e r t y u i o p
a s d f g h j k l ;
z x c v b n m
q w f r k y u i o p
a s d t g h j e l ;
z x c v b n m
q w f r j y u i o p
a s d t g h n e l ;
z x c v b k m
q w f r j y u l ; p
a s d t g h n e i o
z x c v b k m
q w f g j y u l ; p
a r s t d h n e i o
z x c v b k m
q w f p g j l u y ;
a r s t d h n e i o
z x c v b k mAdvantages:
Important letters more quickly in place
Disadvantages:
Don't know
Banned from Colemak
Uh, confused now. First you claim that Colemak is worse than a mirrored QWERTY, then you present an alternative transition to Colemak? Please explain a little more, including the rationale behind your progression if you may.
• In step 1, you get E and T in place (as well as F) at the cost of a misplaced K, moving 4 keys. Compared to Tarmak1, you get the more important T in place but not the N.
• In step 2, NK gets in place and J out of place, moving 3 keys. The bottom row is complete with this step (as with Tarmak1).
• In step 3, OI get in place, and ;LJ out of place, moving 4 keys.
• In step 4, SRD get in place, and G;LJ are out of place, moving 4 keys. The home row is complete with this step, one step ahead of Tarmak.
• In step 5, ;PGJLUY are finally placed right, moving 6 keys.
Hope I got all that right? :-)
The major disadvantage with this as I see it, is misplacing more and more keys instead of just one rare key (the J) as in Tarmak. Particularly the relatively common G and L shouldn't be treated like that I feel. Also, several keys temporarily go next to where they'll end up which looks confusing to me. And you move one more key in total than the Tarmak steps (4+3+4+4+6=21 vs 4+4+4+5+3=20), including a quite large 6-key last step.
Indeed, judging by frequency you get TOI to their Colemak positions 1–2 steps ahead of Tarmak. How much this affects typing efficiency remains to be analyzed. However, in my opinion it wouldn't be worth the hassle of typing on transitional layouts with so many misplaced keys? In the discussion surrounding the last change from Tarmak(ETOIR) to Tarmak(ETROI) the compelling argument was made that a little typing efficiency during the transition won't matter a lot compared to the ease of changing and learning, as you won't stay long with the steps and you won't be typing at full speeds during any of the steps unless you stay with them for "too long".
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Why not make E and T in first step, like Minimak? This time without these many misplacements. T and N are swapped between steps because T is much more common. K is a rare letter too. Also QWERTY N is better position than T, another reason for swap.
(most important letter/common letters in place/common letters in homerow)
q w e r t y u i o p
a s d f g h j k l ; QWERTY (AH/ASHD)
z x c v b n m
q w f r k y u i o p
a s d t g h j e l ; TFEK (E/AHET/ETASHD)
z x c v b n m
q w f r g y u i o p
a s d t j h n e l ; GKNJ (EN/AHETN/ETANSHD)
z x c v b k m
q w f j g y u i o p
a r s t d h n e l ; RSDJ (ENR/AHETNRSD/ETANSHRD)
z x c v b k m
q w f p g j u i y ;
a r s t d h n e l o YO;PJ (ENRO/AHETNRSDO/ETAONSHRD)
z x c v b k m
q w f p g j l u y ;
a r s t d h n e i o LUI (ENROI/AHETNRSDOI/ETAOINSHRD)
z x c v b k mBanned from Colemak
So, if I understand you correctly, you've changed the first step from EKN(J) to TFE(K) and then the rest of the steps are as the current Tarmak? A simple but interesting transposition of the first two subloops.
That'd make a Tarmak(EtNROI) progression – in which case today's progression might better be named Tarmak(EnTROI). (Damn, these namings...! Haha.)
1) The T>F>E>(K) "most essential" loop, fixing the important E and T
q w {F} r {K} y u i o p a s d {T} g h j {E} l ; The "Tarmak1(Et)" transitional layout (T>F>E>K) z x c v b n m2) The G>(K)>N>(J) loop, bringing N into place
q w F r {G} y u i o p a s d T {J} h {N} E l ; The "Tarmak2(EtN or EnT)" transitional layout (G>T>F>E>K>N>J) z x c v b {K} m
Yes, it looks like a decent idea. The advantage, as you say, is getting T in place in step one which is a big boon for the stats in the first step; you also score the quite common F in the same fell swoop. This time you've avoided multiple misplacements, using K in step 1 and then J as before as the "odd man out". The number of keys moved is the same as the current Tarmak in all steps. This gets the benefits of your previous suggestions without the major disadvantages from the looks of it!
It'd work well, I'm sure. But I don't honestly think that many users will be stuck on step 1 for a long time, and then the consistency of only moving the J out of place seems like a decent compensation for the disadvantage of not getting T in place one step earlier. But different people will have different feelings about that, I'm sure.
I haven't compared bigram analyses, so I've no idea what the alternatives would look like in that department. But your step 1 would thrash mine in most analysis such as patorjk, I guess. I do believe the first step would test well against Minimak4, which is a lot of "test bang for the buck" but in my opinion has some flaws (changing the fingering of T, and moving the D for no great reason I can think of except not wanting to change its fingering). Could someone run a comparison of the current Tarmak1(En), the proposed Tarmak1(Et) and Minimak4 (E>K>T>D)? That'd be interesting.
Thinking about the Curl mod (which I do these days!), the displaced K makes it unattractive to implement a HK switch in step 1 as that'd lead to the common H being stuck in a bad temp position. So the most likely course of action would be to leave the T>F>E>K step as it is and do the whole Curl adaptation in step 2! But that makes this step rather largish so it might be split. At the least I'd recommend learning the Angle mod before the actual step then. The corresponding Tarmak2-Curl(Dvbg) step is simpler, obviously.
2) The B>(K)>H>N>(J) loop, bringing N into place – with the Angle (V>C>X>Z>_) and Curl(DbgHk) mods
q w F r {B} y u i o p a s d T g {K}{N} E l ; The "Tarmak2(EtN)-Curl(DbgHk)" transitional layout (V-_>B>T>F>E>K>H>N>J) {z}{x}{c}{v}{J}{_}{H} m
I'm a little tempted to include your first step as an alternative. Then, people could choose which first step to use whether progressing to Curl or non-Curl. It'd have to be kind of snuck in as it were, as I don't want to change the main Tarmak now that it's well established – unless there are compelling arguments for it... :-)
[edit:]
So, I just had to run that test on Patorjk at least. It's an oversimplified analyzer, but I thought it'd be interesting nevertheless. Seems that engine really likes Minimak4 though, giving it nearly as much credit as Tarmak2! The test still shows that Tarmak1(Et) performs well.
Test: Patorjk – Most common English words
#1 Colemak (std.) 70.44
#2 Tarmak 2 (ET) 63.08
#3 Minimak 4-key 62.41
#4 Tarmak 1 (Et) 61.29
#5 Tarmak 1 (En) 60.65Test: Patorjk – Alice In Wonderland, Chapter 1
#1 Colemak (std.) 65.83
#2 Tarmak 2 (ET) 61.92
#3 Minimak 4-key 61.87
#4 Tarmak 1 (Et) 60.73
#5 Tarmak 1 (En) 59.19*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Minimalistic layouts with transitions:
Minimak
E EKTD E and T with loop is a waste. QWDFKYUIL;
EO EKTD NJ LO The ;P swap could have been ;I instead. ASTRGHNEOP
EOR EKTD NJ LO FR P; Minimak doesn't add I and A to better place. ZXCVBJM
CarpalX (computer program)
E KE FT QWKRFYUIJP
EA KE FT JO AD One swap remaining. May be ;I. DSATNHOEL;
EAN KE FT JO AD GN Bad OU digraph; I and R not in better place. ZXCVBGM
CarpalQ (human program)
E KE FT QWKRFYULP;
EO KE FT NJ O; Useless ;P swap. KR swap is better. ASDTGHNEIO
EOI KE FT NJ O; LI P; CarpalQ doesn't add R and A to better place. ZXCVBJMBanned from Colemak
The Windows/PKL downloads now include layouts both for ISO (Euro/World) and ANSI (US) keyboard models which have some different symbol key mappings, and vanilla vs Curl-modded Colemak. Enjoy!
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
It occurs to me that the download links are at the bottom of a pretty long post. If they were in their own post (say, #2), or at the least at the top of a post (again, possibly #2), then someone could link directly to that post as containing the "Tarmak Downloads".
For context, my reddit stickie currently says "Downloads: Windows/Mac/Linux - see the bottom of DreymaR's post [link]". While it's probably not the biggest deal, maybe having it on top would help lower the hurdles slightly further? :)
I'm willing to remove/archive my post #4, if you need the extra "Reserved" post.
Good thinking, Lalop! I don't think I could inherit your post though, so I'll just move the downloads to the next post – how's that?
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***
Updated, thanks!
And removing post #4 would effectively make your post #5 another reserved post. Can only be done once in this thread, though.
I'm currently on step 3 and had a thought: why not add P to the (J)>R>S>D loop? It's one extra key for an already tough step, which is unfortunate, but it also gets the left hand entirely transitioned to colemak one step sooner and simplifies the big loop a bit, so it seems worthwhile.
Yes, well. It's entirely possible for you to do that if you're a little tech savvy, and I wouldn't recommend you not to if you're interested. However, there can only be one standard or it'd get too confusing (which it already is I'm afraid, given Curl-DH and other considerations!). Since I don't see any big advantage to changing the P from step 4 to 3, I won't provide for it.
Also, you'll notice that steps 1–3 have 3 new keys each. These steps move the most common and important keys (the steps are named ETROI after the most important key moved in each step), and step 3 in particular has only relatively important keys! I feel that's quite enough to take on in that step. Step 4 is the cleanup step where the least important keys that Colemak moves find their places. That'll be a bit hard too since you don't type those keys so often, but I feel it makes sense this way.
The aesthetic argument of finishing one hand at a time is how Tarmak started, interestingly enough. But pretty can't trump useful in these matters. :-)
*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
*** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***