Kennedy Richard maintains OSSIn Nodezator's dev branch: changed the magnetic sockets feature to make it closer to what I envisioned originally: the nodes had hands and would help you by grabbing the new connection for you.
The hands are CC0 assets from the excellent
@kenneynl
No guys, hear me out, we might be onto something here! What about tracking eyes that become happy when the connection is reached out? (also in Nodezator's dev branch)
Okay, you asked, and now there's a hand near the mouse to meet the one on the nearby socket as well. Thank you all for the suggestions so far. (already on Nodezator's dev branch as well). #Python #nodeeditor
In case you didn't know, Nodezator is a generalist Python node editor. Open-source proudly dedicated to the public domain. It is a serious project but still has a long way to go (it is quite useable already though).
https://github.com/IndiePython/nodezator
https://github.com/IndiePython/nodezator
And, of course, if you wish to support my work on it, I have a patreon for recurrent donations, Github sponsors for one-time donations and other options that you can find here: https://indiepython.com/donate.html
I even went and made a website for it upon its release a couple years ago. It is not much, but it is honest work. Nodezator is a project that is truly near and dear to my heart ❤️
https://nodezator.com
https://nodezator.com
Also to the people scared of the nodes/grabby hands: don't worry users will be able to fully customize this behaviour, including the ability to get rid of them, leaving only the socket proximity detection. After all, they may be distracting to some.
After all, the nodes are harmless.
Just make sure not to turn your back to them when they are on the screen.
(won't actually push this, just played a bit on a local branch)
Final version is very similar, but decided to hide the cursor. Now I use the hand that extends from the 1st socket like a cursor, instead of having it offset behind the cursor as before.
Thank you all for the feedback, specially
mechadense
&
lisa44Yes (handles from X). Feels and looks better. #Python #nodeeditor
Been actually working on other things but had an idea for another variant yesterday and didn't want to waste it (already in Nodezator's dev branch).
This time the cursor is a baseball #Python #nodeeditor
Eli the BeardedThese are very amusing UI designs. I cannot say I have ever used a node editor and I'm not sure what I would use one for, but I'm pleased to see the experiments.
@elithebearded Thank you for your kind words 🥰
Node editors are great, but at the end of the day they are just tools: great for some purposes, and not so much for others.
Unfortunately many early proponents of their usage tried to shove them down people's throats as magic bullets and I think this harmed their adoption a lot.
With Nodezator, I propose the usage in moderation: node editors must not replace the toolset of programmers, designers or other professionals, but rather complement it.
jordan
@wagesj45 Funny you said that, cause I was thinking that'd be actually somewhat easy. The algorithm and implementation are actually very, very simple.
However, it'd still take a few precious days to figure out Blender's Python API, adjust the code to work in Blender and fine-tune. It could even end up taking a week, so I can't make any promises.
For now I'm willing to try my hand at it, but I don't know when I'll be able to start. Also, if I sense that it'd take too long, I'll have to stop.
Jack Linke 🦄@KennedyRichard This is the most ridiculous and wonderful thing 😆
@jack Thank you!!! 🥰 This one in particular has been my favorite one for a while.
BrazMogu (i.e. Bruno Guedes)@KennedyRichard this is utterly ridiculous, I love it
@brazmogu This is my favorite one so far! 🥰 ⚾ 🧢
abovearth@KennedyRichard this is cute 
Spots Snep🏳️🌈@KennedyRichard I love the eye watching the cursor! So adorable
@DiodeHyena Thank you!
I'm glad you loved them.
I put everything together in a rush, so just used regular circles for the eyeball and pupils. Also, the happy pupils when the hands join are just the upper half of a zero.
😉
fsniper@KennedyRichard That looks cool. I think blender could adopt some of these ideas to it's node editor.
@fsniper Absolutely. Love Blender. Created this very node editor out of my will of using Blender node editor for general computing. Never abandoned it, but didn't use it in the past few years simply cause I didn't need to do any 3D work.
Honestly, any node editor should have some sort of connection assistance, cause having to drop the mouse exactly over tiny sockets quickly becomes annoying.
Dan Neuman 🇨🇦@KennedyRichard @ogbog That is pretty wild!
@dan613 @ogbog Yep! I want to keep a lot of these little things to the apps I maintain, but only as long as they improve usability and always with more serious/distraction-free alternatives for when people want to focus on their work.
A little touch of silliness here and there can't be of harm, right?
@KennedyRichard @ogbog If my spouse sees this she'll demand to become a programmer!😆
Ross of Ottawa
Rickyx@KennedyRichard computers had this kind of funny things 🔪👀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE7EWDKVM1Y&t=26
Now we are all serious, business leaders, doing very important things with our flat interface 🥸
The Grouch for Mac
@rickyx Lol'd hard at this! The best thing is "Warning! Children tend to throw lots of files into the trash in order to see & hear Oscar".
I intend to add animations to Nodezator as well, but is something for the future, and which I'll keep optional so people can turn on when they are bored and turn off when they need to focus.
aardvark@rickyx @KennedyRichard I shared this with the author. Bet you didn’t know you might brighten his day.
@KennedyRichard I'm sorry, what does it mean? I'm not sure what to do, where to link the reaction? My social media expertise is basic...
aardvark shared my post with the author somehow (don't know how). I just requested a link to the author's response, since I don't know if the author saw it yet nor where it was shared.
@KennedyRichard ah, thank you, I got it!
@KennedyRichard it was a private channel, so no link. He gave it a thumbs up 👍
@KennedyRichard @digichelle I finally found the post from which I drew the memory! I wanted to link it in the original but posts quickly become old and submerged!
https://hachyderm.io/@digichelle/112957851872971655
https://hachyderm.io/@digichelle/112957851872971655
Michelle Catherine Marcó (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 video In addition to being friendlier and simpler to use, there was something whimsical about the Macintosh. A little Mac with a smiling face greeted you on boot. Clarus the Dogcow made the otherwise mundane task of printer setup just a little more joyous. And you could add useless, but hilarious stuff like this! I first saw this on one of the computers in my middle school journalism class. No idea how it got there, but Goddess, I made so many empty folders and trashed them just to see this.
@rickyx Don't worry, thanks for the content, excellent ideas and explanation about earlier PC and Mac experiences.
Jorkin MahJongus@KennedyRichard and whatever you do, don't blink
troy_s 
@KennedyRichard This is terrific stuff.
Have you given any thought to the ergonomics of the node inputs and outputs?
@troy_s Thank you for kind words.
Regarding ergonomics, I'm not familiar with the applications of the field to the usage of the sockets. I created this feature based on my frustration with sockets, cause I didn't want to make them big (it would take precious space from the node), but also didn't want to leave them small cause it makes it difficult to swiftly drop a new connection over them in one go.
That's when my silly mind imagined a tiny hand grabbing the connection for me.
@troy_s Ideally, I'd have all of this tested manually by other people.
Thankfully, I can at least count on user feedback. (it is not the case here, but pre-releases also help with this kind of thing, since you can test with a small userbase before pushing as a final release).
future ghost@KennedyRichard love it love it. 😍
Steve has ☕️ for brains@KennedyRichard first time I’ve seen nodezator and I can’t wait to play with it!
@sivy That's awesome. I hope it has what you need. We have a comprehensive manual: https://manual.nodezator.com
Node editors aren't more adopted because early proponents tried to shove them down people's throats as magic bullets that replace all other tools.
With Nodezator, I propose their usage in moderation: node editors are good for some problems and not so much for others.
They can be used by themselves, but also complement a more varied toolset.
Let me know whenever you need anything.
@sivy Also, as I said in my previous posts, the socket proximity detection feature is still in the dev branch. However, I should release it in a couple of days.
The feature is actually ready, but I wanted to release a few other unrelated changes in conjunction, which is why it is taking a few more days.