Upgrading Leo

[Low Priority Services]

Before I start this I should say I've been using Leo for a few years and absolutely love it.

I should also say that I have either ADHD or autism.  I'm not sure yet as I've been waiting 4 years for an assessment!

Maybe it's this reason that I don't like change and I get in a state when something doesn't work, or doesn't work as it should.

I use Leo at home on my Linux machine, and I use it for work on a Windows laptop.

I always seem to go through stress when I want to think about upgrading, which is probably why I leave it too long between upgrades.  It's mainly because I can't stand the pain of getting everything set up as it was.

I wish updating Leo was more like updating Notepad++.  Notepad++ informs me there's an update goes through the process and then restarts exactly as it was.

I currently have Leo 6.8.2-devel installed on my Windows work machine and downloaded the full zip file.  Luckily I made a backup of my leo-editor-master folder and then copied in the new leo-editor-devel folder and renamed it to ...-master.

It all ran fine.  However, the panel layout wasn't quite as I liked it, so I just selected Toggle-Split-Direction.  Unfortunately, in the idea layout for viewing the tree and the code, the log window was stuck in the middle and I couldn't do anything about it.  I couldn't get it to sit below the tree view and then have the full height code view on the right.

I wish leo could be upgraded without going through these pains each time.

I've recently changed teams and I want to introduce my new team leader to it as I use it for documenting tasks that I've worked on and I keep myself a localised code base of the files I've worked on which are cloned nodes into the main solution structure of our desktop application.  Leo is brilliant for this and there's nothing that matches its power.

I just wished that it obeyed a separate settings file that didn't seem to get obliterated every upgrade.  I'm sorry if there's anything I'm not following, maybe it's how my mind works.  I know it's a complex beast compared to Notepad++, but I just wish that complexity was below water a little bit more and we just get to interact with the graceful swan ;-)

Many thanks.

[Edward K. Ream]

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 4:24 AM Low Priority Services <low.priori...@gmail.com> wrote:

I wish leo could be upgraded without going through these pains each time.

Have you tried LeoJS, running on vscode? Updating LeoJS works just like you want.

Edward

[Low Priority Services]

No, I haven't yet.  This is the first I've heard of it this morning.  I do use VS code on both Linux and Windows, so I'll definitely have a look at it.

Thank you :-)

[Edward K. Ream]

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 5:17 AM Low Priority Services <low.priori...@gmail.com> wrote:

No, I haven't yet.  This is the first I've heard of it this morning.  I do use VS code on both Linux and Windows, so I'll definitely have a look at it.

Thank you :-)

You're welcome. I imagine a plugin for vscode will be an easier sell to your people than some obscure app like Leo. Good luck! There is no way I can thank Félix enough for bringing Leo to vscode.

Edward

[Thomas Passin]

If you do keep using Leo itself (instead of LeoJS), two things.  First, it's not usual for the myLeoSettings.leo file to be replaced.  It's intended to hold all your custom settings. The base settings file, LeoSettings.leo does get replaced but that has to happen, at least when some feature of Leo changes.  You should put any custom changes into your myLeoSettings.leo file. and they won't get lost in the future.  The settings in myLeoSettings.leo will not get lost or replaced.  Of course, if you have a custom setting that has become obsolete, it won't take effect. 

Second, the code for creating the layout of Leo's panes has undergone a drastic change and functions differently from the way it used to.  I forget when this change happened but it might be since you started using 6.8.2.  There is a Help item about using layouts.  Open it with the  "Help/Open Help Topics/Help-For-Layouts" menu item. It shows all the layouts and says how to set Leo to use any one of them

[Edward K. Ream]

On Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 8:25 AM Thomas Passin <tbp1...@gmail.com> wrote:

If you do keep using Leo itself (instead of LeoJS), two things.

Excellent response, Thomas.  Thanks.

Edward

[Thomas Passin]

I should have pointed out that LeoJS can read and write Leo's .leo files.  You can use either program with the same files.  So moving to LeoJS won't lock you out of using Leo on the same outlines.

[low.priority.services]

Hi Thomas, 

Thank you to both you and Edward.  I've persevered with Leo this afternoon.  The only thing I've done differently was keep the new settings file inside the Leo folder, but I copied the font changes individually back into the dark theme file.

I'm back working again and on 6.8.8 devel version. 

I did also check out LeoJS too.  Think I prefer using the full application for now.

Many thanks. 

Kind regards,

Richard Twyning 

Sent from my Galaxy

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[Thomas Passin]

It's better not to make changes to the built-in themes, because they will get lost on the next Leo upgrade. You can instead put modified themes into your .leo/themes directory (create it if it doesn't exist). Leo will look there first so it will find and use your modified theme even if it has the same name as one that comes with Leo. That's what I do.

You'd be surprised at how well Leo can handle all kinds of things, but it's not always easy to discover them! For example, you may not know that Leo can highlight the current line in the body editor.  See Help/Open Help Topics/Help-For-Highlight-Current-Line.