reviung VS qmk_firmware

I felt like one of the Reviung boards would work, but they’ve either got too many columns or too few thumb keys…

And then do the wiring accordingly. From firmware perspective it is more like a reviung42 ;) see https://github.com/gtips/reviung/tree/master/reviung41

take a look at the bottom plate for the Reviung41 – includes some laser engraving to act as a diffuser for the LEDs (personal opinion, I think you could survive with only the two outer rows of RGB LEDs)

Reviung41

Reviung41, Reviung39, Reviung34, and Reviung5 – kits available at various shops around the net

This is a remix of the revlp from Cyril, which itself is remix of the reviung41 by GTips.

Reviung41, which has 5 thumb keys, one key naturally positioned for each thumb, one inner key for each, and a wide centre key for either thumb. These are set to: Function & Special Layer/Escape Command/Space Navigation Layer/Return (I originally had this centre key be space, which seemed natural, but the stretch was slightly annoying, so I switched it to Return (this had the added advantage of allowing me to use a regular 2¼U Return key!)) Number key — I’m still experimenting with this, but it is currently a Tap Dance: Tap — One Shot Home Row Number Layer Hold — Momentary Number Pad Layer Tap-Tap — Switch to Home Row Number Layer Tap-Hold — Switch to Number Pad Layer Right Option/One Shot Right Command — this is going to be replaced with a 5-way navigation switch and I’m not sure what the middle press will do (if anything)

How about a Reviung. The 41 is available from a few places, e.g.: https://www.littlekeyboards.com/products/reviung41-analyst-keyboard-kit

I also found that it can sometimes be a bit annoying to use the number and symbol layer with the Miryoku layout, so I've modified it in my keymap so that the unused space on the number layer contains the symbols as well, which makes it a lot easier to type stuff like LaTeX for example. I've also added a backspace button to the number layer, which males quick typos super fast to fix. I've explained all the changes in the documentation of the keymap.

Here's my GitHub with my keymap that explains it in a bit more detail.

Look at code other people have made that does similar stuff to what you are trying to achieve. I've googled a lot to see if I can find any videos or posts from people who have done something similar, and then I tried to understand their code so I could repurpose it for my use cases. Search for the functions that you don't understand in the docs. Here's my github for this board, you should be able to find most of the macro and led functionalities there, so I'd recommend taking a look at the code! (It's not super tidy, but hopefully still understandable)

It's actually the BM40, but same difference :P Here's my GitHub

As you might have been able to tell I'm into pretty small boards, my sweet spot is 40%. For one you will notice that a lot of boards that are in the formfactor you are interested in are on the smaller side, since this is also one of the ways they become more ergonomic: you don't need to stretch around much or reach for any keys, they will mostly be right under your fingers in different layers. If you are going to go smaller than 60% I would recommend going straight to 40% since the number row is ultimately pointless if you are going to be using layers anyway. It is so much faster and practical to be able to type numbers in a numberpad right under my home row, that I can access by just holding down a key with my thumb. Most of the keyboards I'm talking about make great use of the thumbs, having so much space given to the space bar is a real waste, especially if you're looking at a smaller keyboard. Have a look at my keymap and you might get an idea if this kind of keyboard is for you. Ultimately you will probably want to make your own that is tailored to your needs, but that's another great advantage of these types of boards, they all support QMK. Oh, and thanks, glad you like them!

I use a 40% as my main, and I greatly prefer it over anything larger since my fingers and hands never have to move from the home row. Check out my keymap, the readme might give you some insight on how I use layers to their advantage, and ultimately find them more useful than having a full sized keyboard.