Introduction

&dactyl.appName; is a free browser add-on for &dactyl.host;, designed to make browsing more efficient and especially more keyboard accessible. Largely inspired by the Vim text editor, the appearance and finger feel should be familiar to Vim users.

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 . 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, etc.
3. Browsing: Basic key mappings and commands needed for a browsing session (how to open a web page, go back in history, etc.)
4. Buffer: Operations on the current document (scrolling, copying text, etc.)
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. Keyboard shortcuts and 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 informational and error messages.
20. Developer information: How to write plugins and documentation.
21. Various commands: Other help which doesn't readily fit into any other category.
22. Plugins: Documentation for any plugins you have installed.
23. Index: An index of all commands and options.

You can also jump directly to the help of a specific command, key mapping, or topic via the :help command.

Features

• Vim-like keybindings (h, j, gg, ZZ, , etc.)
• Ex commands (:quit, :open www.foo.com, …)
• Tab completion for all commands, highly configurable via wildmode, autocomplete, ...
• Hit-a-hint like navigation of links (start with f to follow a link)
• Advanced completion of bookmark and history URLs
• Vim-like status line with a Wget-like progress bar
• Minimal GUI (easily hide superfluous menubar and toolbar with )
• Ability to :source JavaScript, CSS, and &dactyl.appName; command files
• Easy quick searches (see :open)
• Count supported for many commands (3 will go back 3 pages)
• Visual bell for errors (visualbell)
• Marks support (ma to set mark a, 'a to jump to it)
• QuickMark support
• :map, :command, :normal, and macros
• Editing of text fields with an external editor
• AutoCommands to execute actions on certain events
• A comprehensive help system, explaining all commands, mappings, options, and plugins

Contact

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