Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

uzbl.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 29 posts

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#11

Post by shiranaihito »

carsonbaker wrote: post #5
ghempton wrote: post #2

I am curious, do very many people here browse the web using only their keyboard? I like the idea, but the keyboard-only navigation is going to be bottlenecked by the actual web page.

I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode

Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate?

Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?

Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?

Is it really faster than using a mouse?

Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#12

Post by seabee »

mikeliu wrote: post #10
ghempton wrote: post #2

I am curious, do very many people here browse the web using only their keyboard? I like the idea, but the keyboard-only navigation is going to be bottlenecked by the actual web page.

sure. what do people use on a non-touchscreen phone?

Browsing the web on a non-touchscreen phone that doesn't also have (e.g.) a trackball is not a fun experience.

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#13

Post by visitor4rmindia »

shiranaihito wrote: post #11
carsonbaker wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode

Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?

>Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?

Opera has an excellent way to select links using spatial navigation (shift+down,+up,+left,+right). It's remarkably easy to navigate to any link quickly on the page.

Also http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/nomouse/ is a good place to start "keyboard-only" browsing.

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#14

Post by toki »

I use keyboard navigation for a longer time now because i cant stand browsing by touchpad. The keyboard-navigation-methods that firefox and ie use are rather outdated, there are much cooler and better methods today.

So i have tested many methods, and here are my favourites:

1. Opera! The Browser has something called spatial navigation. It somehow works like the cursor key navigation in "Links" but much better and gives you a feeling of rather direct control. Very cool...

2. Firefox + "mouseless browsing"-Plugin. Every link on the webpage gets a number, a little bit like footnotes, and you surf via entering numbers. Sounds complicated but it is rather intuitive and very fast. Well, the webpages look a little bit uglier than before. Try it out, it should work with every Firefox-Version.

Both of these methods force you to surf a little bit more concentrated and less relaxing, tv-like. But for just getting work done the methods are just great. They work with nearly every webpage, even those you wouldnt expect. The only times i use the touchpad is for flash-applications (like the video-windows on youtube). I dont even miss a mouse.

I think Vimperator could be interesting too, but it somehow always looks too complicated for me.

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#15

Post by uggedal »

shiranaihito wrote: post #11
carsonbaker wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode

Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?

With Vimperator you press to annotate all links on the page with a number. Then you type a number to open the link associated with that number. If you type (capital), the number you type afterward will be opened in a new tab.

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#16

Post by geoka »

shiranaihito wrote: post #11
carsonbaker wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it and it works much better than a mouse. Vimperator uses "hints" to let you navigate page links with the keyboard. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimperator#Hint_mode

Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?

I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands.

"Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?"

It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common.

"Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?"

You press 'f' (for "follow") and a number appears next to each link. Then you enter a number to follow a link.

"Is it really faster than using a mouse?"

It depends. For example, there are whole WM environments which are designed to work without mouse (ratpoison, stumpwm, xmonad, etc.). Naturally, a keyboard-driven browser lends itself beautifully to such environments. Other than that, I find it annoying having to move my hand from the keyboard each time I need to look something up with a browser.

Of course, when I just surf the web, the mouse is usually more convenient.

"Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?"

Since conkeror is modeled after emacs, I'd say yes (unless you happen to be using a custom keyboard layout or something). As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing).

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#17

Post by shiranaihito »

geoka wrote: post #16
shiranaihito wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much better than a mouse? Could you elaborate? Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation? Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them? Is it really faster than using a mouse? Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?

I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands. "Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?" It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common. "Do you cycle through l…

As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing)

Besides plain, what other kind of surfing is there?

Or are you talking about the differences between using those keyboard-only WMs and normal ones?

As far as I know, using only the keyboard for some task is usually about efficiency gains, but in the case of surfing, I'm obviously not sure there's much to be gained, compared to mouse gestures.

On the other hand, if using only the keyboard is some kind of personal preference, that may leave something to be desired in other areas too.. Such as, a mouse :p

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#19

Post by jokermatt999 »

Deadsunrise wrote: post #3

I prefer vimperator. It's a firefox extension that modifies a lot of things (looks, key bindings, etc) to make it behave like vim: http://vimperator.org/trac/wiki/Vimperator Together with Style Tree Tabs it looks pretty cool and minimalistic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deadsunrise/3501399270/

I love the look of Tree Style Tabs/Vimperator. I've also started using Hide Chrome (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5737) which gives even more space. Sadly, I don't believe it is maintained any longer, and I haven't seen a replacement for it yet.

Re: Minimalistic (vim-like) web browser based on Webkit

#20

Post by rtra »

shiranaihito wrote: post #17
geoka wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands. "Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?" It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common. "Do you cycle through l…

As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing) Besides plain, what other kind of surfing is there? Or are you talking about the differences between using those keyboard-only WMs and normal ones? As far as I know, using only the keyboard for some task is usually about efficiency gains, but in the case of surfing, I'm obviously not sure there's much to be gai…

Some of us can't use the mouse for health reasons.
Post reply on HN