Introduction
Pentadactyl is a
free browser add-on for Firefox, 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 Pentadactyl, 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
:set guioptions+=mT<CR>
If you have trouble remembering commands or keyboard shortcuts, you can
bring up this help page at any time by typing :help or
<F1>. If you find that you don't like Pentadactyl at all,
you can disable it by typing :extdisable Pentadactyl or
delete it entirely by typing :extdelete Pentadactyl
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Quick-start tutorial:
A quick-start tutorial for new users.
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Starting Pentadactyl:
How Pentadactyl starts up, where it reads the config file, etc.
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Browsing:
Basic key mappings and commands needed for a browsing
session (how to open a web page, go back in history, etc.)
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Buffer:
Operations on the current document (scrolling, copying text,
etc.)
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Command Line mode:
Command-line editing.
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Editing text:
Text area and input field editing.
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Options:
A description of all options.
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Text search commands:
Searching for text in the current buffer.
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Tabs:
Managing your tabbed browsing session.
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Hints:
Selecting hyperlinks and other page elements.
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Keyboard shortcuts and commands:
Defining new key mappings, abbreviations and user commands.
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Expression evaluation:
Executing JavaScript.
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Marks:
Using bookmarks, QuickMarks, history and local marks.
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Repeating commands:
Using macros to repeat recurring workflows.
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Automatic commands:
Automatically executing code on certain events.
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Printing:
Printing pages.
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Pentadactyl's GUI:
Accessing Firefox menus, dialogs and the sidebar.
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Styling the GUI and web pages:
Changing the styling of content pages and Pentadactyl itself.
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Error and informational messages:
A description of informational and error messages.
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Privacy and sensitive information:
How to manage your private data while browsing.
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Developer information:
How to write plugins and documentation.
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Various commands:
Other help which doesn't readily fit into any other category.
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Plugins:
Documentation for any plugins you have installed.
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FAQ:
Frequently asked questions.
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Version information:
A detailed list of differences between each of the released versions of
Pentadactyl.
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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.
- Vim-like key bindings (h, j, gg, ZZ, <C-f>, etc.)
- Ex commands (:quit, :open www.foo.com, …)
- Powerful tab completion for all commands and options
- Powerful privacy features
- Page search with many fixes for long-standing Firefox annoyances
- Quick and powerful keyboard navigation for links, input fields, etc.
- Vim-like status line
- Keyboard macros, along with custom key mappings and commands
- Minimal GUI, along with commands to hide and toggle toolbars and menus
- Ability to :source JavaScript, CSS, and Pentadactyl command files
- Ability to mark the current page position and return to it
- Count support for many commands (3<C-o> will go back 3 pages)
- Visual bell for errors ('visualbell')
- Marks support (mM to set mark M, 'M to jump to it)
- QuickMark support
- 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
In case you're not sufficiently overwhelmed by Pentadactyl's default
feature set, don't despair. You can find more entertainment in the
officially supported (read: you can flame us when they stop working)
plugins.
Please send comments, questions, or patches to the
mailing list,
where we will do our best to answer any inquiries. You can also
find more information on the homepage.
Issue reports can be entered in the
issue tracker.