Navigating large lessons

A finished lesson is long. Six sections, each with a couple of paragraphs, a spelling list and fifteen questions, comes to about 37 screens on a computer and about 54 on a phone. The editor has a few things that keep a lesson that size easy to move around in.

The section header stays in view

Each section's header (its number, its name and, on a wider screen, how many blocks it holds, such as "18 blocks") stays pinned under the app bar while you scroll through that section. When you reach the next section, its header takes over. You always know which section you're in.

On a phone, only the number and name stay pinned. The Move section up, Move section down and Delete section buttons scroll away with the top of the section, so the pinned strip takes as little of the screen as possible.

Questions are numbered

Every question shows its place in its section next to its type, as Q1, Q2 and so on. Ten "Open ended" questions in a row would otherwise look the same, so the number is what lets you find the one you were working on again. The numbers start over in each section, and they only appear in the editor: they aren't added to the lesson or printed.

Folding sections away

Any section can be folded down to its header with the arrow at the left of the header, and Collapse all (next to the lesson's section and block counts, under the title) folds every section at once. Press it again (it now says Expand all) to open them all back up. With everything folded, a 37-screen lesson fits on about a screen and a half, which makes it the quickest way to see the shape of a lesson.

A folded section still shows its name, its controls and what's inside it, for example "2 paragraphs · 1 spelling list · 15 questions". You can still move it up or down.

A few things worth knowing:

• Folding is just for you. It isn't saved into the lesson, it never affects an export, and people editing with you don't see what you've folded. It's remembered in that browser tab until you close it.
• Find in page still works. Searching the page (Cmd-F or Ctrl-F) finds text inside folded sections, and the browser opens the section to show you the match. (A few browsers can't do this; there, folded text is simply hidden from the search.)
• You don't lose your place. Folding the section you're in, or using Collapse all or Expand all, keeps the section you were in at the top of the screen instead of dropping you somewhere else.
• You can drag a block into a folded section. Hold the block over it for a moment and the section opens. If you let go sooner, the section opens and the block goes at the end of it.
• People editing with you. If someone is editing inside a section you've folded, their cursor isn't shown there. Their changes still arrive as normal.

The section list

On a wide enough screen, a numbered list of the lesson's sections, headed Sections, sits down the left side of the editor. Each entry shows how many blocks the section has, or "hidden" if you've folded it. Click a section to jump straight to it.

If the lesson checks found problems in a section, the list shows how many in red next to it. Suggestions aren't counted there, only problems.

The list is for getting around, not for rearranging. To move a section, use the buttons on the section itself, or drag its blocks. The list's header also has a button to collapse or expand every section, and one to add a section.

The same list stays beside the lesson when you press Preview, so you can jump around while reading the lesson back too.

On narrower screens there isn't room for the list, so it's hidden. Collapse all is the way to get an overview there.

Your place is kept

• Moving a section or block keeps it under your pointer. You can press Move up or Move down again and again without the page jumping away.
• Adding a section takes you to the new section and puts the cursor in its name, even when it's added at the bottom of a long lesson.
• Coming back to the editor after reloading the page or visiting the hub puts you back at the block you were last working on. This lasts as long as the browser tab is open, so a lesson you come back to the next day starts at the top.

For how this works, see the developer notes.