Introduction

&dactyl.appName; is a free browser add-on for &dactyl.host;, which makes it look and behave like the Vim text editor. It has similar key bindings, and you could call it a modal web browser, as key bindings differ according to which mode you are in.

If this is your first time running &dactyl.appName;, you may need some time to adjust to the standard interface, which hides the menu, navigation, and tool bars by default. If you find it uncomfortable to work without them, you can re-enable them by typing,

If you have trouble remembering commands or keyboard shortcuts, you can bring up this help page at any time by typing :help or the . If you find that you don't like &dactyl.appName; at all, you can disable it by typing :extdisable &dactyl.appName; or delete it entirely by typing :extdelete &dactyl.appName;

Help topics

1. Quick-start tutorial: A quick-start tutorial for new users.
2. Starting &dactyl.appName;: How &dactyl.appName; starts up, where it reads the config file…
3. Browsing: Basic mappings and commands needed for a browsing session (how to open a web page or go back in history).
4. Buffer: Operations on the current document like scrolling or copying text.
5. Command-line mode: Command-line editing.
6. Insert mode: Insert-mode editing.
7. Options: A description of all options.
8. Text search commands: Searching for text in the current buffer.
9. Tabs: Managing your tabbed browsing session.
10. Hints: Selecting hyperlinks and other page elements.
11. Key mappings, abbreviations, and user-defined commands: Defining new key mappings, abbreviations and user commands.
12. Expression evaluation: Executing JavaScript.
13. Marks: Using bookmarks, QuickMarks, history and local marks.
14. Repeating commands: Using macros to repeat recurring workflows.
15. Automatic commands: Automatically executing code on certain events.
16. Printing: Printing pages.
17. &dactyl.appName;'s GUI: Accessing &dactyl.host; menus, dialogs and the sidebar.
18. Styling the GUI and web pages: Changing the styling of content pages and &dactyl.appName; itself.
19. Error and informational messages: A description of messages and error messages.
20. Developer information: How to write docs or plugins.
21. Various commands: Other help which didn't fit into any other category.
22. Index: An index of all commands and options.

You can also jump directly to the help of a specific command with :help o or :help :set.

Features

• Vim-like keybindings (h, j, k, l, gg, G, 0, $, ZZ, , etc.)
• Ex commands (:quit, :open www.foo.com, …)
• Tab completion available for all commands with support for "longest" matching when set in 'wildmode'
• Hit-a-hint like navigation of links (start with f to follow a link)
• Advanced completion of bookmark and history URLs (searching also in title, not only URL)
• Vim-like statusline with a Wget-like progress bar
• Minimal GUI (easily hide useless menubar and toolbar with :set guioptions=)
• Ability to :source JavaScript files, and to use a ~/.pentadactylrc file with syntax highlighting if you install pentadactyl.vim
• Easy quick searches (:open foo will search for "foo" in google, :open ebay terminator will search for "terminator" on ebay) with support for &dactyl.host; keyword bookmarks and search engines
• Count supported for many commands (3 will go back 3 pages)
• Beep on errors
• Marks support (ma to set mark a on a web page, 'a to go there)
• QuickMarks support (quickly go to previously marked web pages with goa-zA-Z0-9)
• :map and :command support (and feedkeys() for script writers)
• :time support for profiling
• Move the text cursor and select text with Vim keys and a Visual mode
• External editor support
• Macros to replay key strokes
• AutoCommands to execute actions on certain events
• A comprehensive help system, explaining all commands, mappings and options

Contact

Please send comments, questions, or patches to the mailing list, where we will do our best to answer any questions. You can also check the wiki for FAQ. Issue reports can be entered in the