I love the rename function, but I suggest adding this to avoid filling over and over the rename criteria.
Must have: remembering the last setting
Nice to have: the ability to save/load presets
I imagine youāre speaking about renaming multiple layers via the dedicated dialog, right?
Could you speak more about āremembering the last settingā? Because that feature already exists. When you use that dialog to rename layers, Sketch remembers the Match and Rename fields for next time, as long as the app remains open. You can even use remembered values to rename without even bringing up the dialog, with Edit > Rename with Last Format ā„ā§āR.
Oh, I didnāt notice that. And, yes I was talking about that.
Remembering last format after quitting would be great.
I donāt se a reason not to.
One potential improvement, make the input field bigger. When there is a more complex naming structure it is difficult to edit conditions.
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Paulo,
On the topic of renaming, I noticed a couple bugs, some oddities, and then just some optimizations that would be niceā¦
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Using the hotkey to run this command doesnāt work the immediately after starting the app, however once you run the command once from the dropdown menu the hotkey then works fine until you restart the app. (This might already be fixed in the 99.5 beta)
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The swapping between two different commands (āRenameā & āRenameā¦ā) is confusing. Especially when setting up hotkeys. I understand that itās dependent on whether you have 1 or more than 1 object selected, but it feels very hacky. Also with multiple objects selected It seems as though āRenameā¦ā and āRename Allā¦ā are actually the exact same command. Iām guessing all this was done for discoverability reasons, but itās very messy and complicates a very simple thing.
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When adding variables (e.g. No changes, Number ā, etc) it does not take into account where the cursor is. It just always injects the latest variable at the end. I expect this to behave the same was paste does in any text app, by inserting any additions at the point where the cursor is. Allowing you to prepend variables to any current formatting.
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A very small detail, but the chips for the variable have a lot of padding between them making it look like there is a space when there isnāt. I find my self having to constantly look to the preview on the left to see if Iām entering the format in right. Minor, but a quality of life thing.
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With the variables shown in the text fields, you can change them via the chevron on the right, a super thoughtful feature. However theyāre limited to the 2 other option per each variable type (name, sequence, size). Itād be nice to show all 9 options in that list. Depending on what I previously had run, sometimes I do just need to swap Name to Number or vice versa.
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The ā
ā button for the variables only has 9 commands in it. Itād be great to just expose those 9 options rather than have them in a menu. āClick, Scroll, Clickā vs āClickā. Honestly, just a personal preference. Iām in this window a lot as I like to number my layers. Any way to speeding this up would be helpful. Hotkeyās too, I just canāt get them to work for this dropdown.
Hi @everydayslang and thanks for taking the time to write out your thoughts! Theyāre very much appreciated.
Hmm, this shouldnāt be the case. Do you have a custom shortcut set, or is this happening for the default rename shortcuts? If so, that could be a known macOS issue with custom shortcuts sometimes not working.
This is macOS convention for whether an action will require subsequent input or not, and we like to follow macOS conventions. We could use separate menu items, but that would feel hacky to us, because single and multi-selection renaming would be mutually exclusive items, as far as āR is concerned 
Theyāre not exactly the same command. Rename renames selected layers, while Rename All selects all layers. The key difference here is groups. Because you canāt select both a group and its contents, Rename canāt possibly rename all layers in your document, assuming you use groups ā but Rename All can. Plus, it offers a layer filtering function, so you want to do this you donāt have to first search your layers and select them.
As for points 3-5, consider them noted! Theyāre quite fair points, weāll see what we can do.
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I do use custom hotkeys (Honestly itās why I like sketch so much and not those other browser based apps). Itās strange though, itās only that one command thatās giving me problems, but regardless I think it might have fixed itself in the newest 99.5 beta
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I agree sticking to the OS naming convention is a good idea (and honestly I love ellipsis in general). What Iām trying to say is that itās a bit jarring when the menu item automatically changes on me.
Thereās two scenariosā¦
a. With one layer selected itās āRenameā and it just makes the name the layers column active.
b. With two or more layers selected itās āRenameā¦ā and I get this whole new fancy interface to do cool things.
I want it to be less smart/fancy so itās easier to understand (and assign hotkeys). Ideally I would like two separate command, āRenameā and āSuper Renameā (or a better name).
The two scenarios would look likeā¦
a. With one layer is selected theyāre both active. āSuper Renameā might have some previously used values that might be useful. and regular āRenameā just behaves as always.
b. With two or more layers selected regular ārenameā is disabled because you can only have one layer name active at a time. and āSuper Renameā shines as the power feature it is.
This would clearly communicate the relationship these commands have to the number of items selected. (as well as allow me to set a hotkey for ārenameā¦ā and be able to pull it up consistently)
I get this is seemingly just semantics, but as a very active user for many years I still canāt keep these commands straight. You rightfully corrected my misstatement about āRename Allā¦ā
I see 3 challenging concepts for people to understand these commandsā¦
ā¢ Rename vs Renameā¦ (contextually changing based on selection)
ā¢ Rename vs Rename Allā¦ (additive or subtractive selection of layers)
ā¢ File > Rename vs Edit > Rename (Renaming the document or things in the document)
It shouldnāt be this complicated just to rename things.
@everydayslang Thanks for answering and clarifying!
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Another improvement to this functionality could be, when adding a number sequence, to be able to choose the starting number. Also, options to choose the number formatting (1, 01, 001, etc.). And being able to create presets with prefixxes and sufixxes + the mentioned number formatting would be great.
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I was just looking for a thread like this. Itād be great to have prepend/append for mass rename. For example I had a bunch of symbols that need to be nested, itād be amazing if I could set it it prepend and then just type the parent name into the field and move all of those symbols in one go