What is Reddit's opinion of VimFx?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

VimFx deserves more love: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/ I went from Pentadactyl to VimFx and have never considered switching back. VimFx is lightweight, doesn't change the UI and provides enough functionality.

Might I recommend VimFX (Firefox) or Vimium (Chrome) for vimkey web-browsing? I started using them because I hated laptop touchpads, but now, even browsing on a desktop without them feels slow and painful. The first time you hit 'f' to follow a link is mind-blowing.

i3 + vim + Firefox/vimFX is hjkl heaven for me.

I'm using VimFX for Firefox from that list. Does nothing crazy, you can just use hjkl keys for basic navigation (gg, G, d, u also available), set markers at scroll positions, and extra mappings for keyboard shortcuts already available in your browser, which I'm not using.

To be clear, I never did find a good spatial navigation extension. There was at one point a project to make it part of firefox core (if you compile with certain build options), but that went nowhere.

The add-on I mentioned (vimFX) takes a different approach: you press a key to tag all visible links with a letter or letters, which you can press to visit that link (example). While this isn't the same as spatial nav, I've found it works pretty well, and is actually a bit quicker. (the add-on also comes with a load of other shortcuts to make common actions be single-presses, e.g. x to close the current tab, r to refresh, hjkl to scroll around etc., chosen to be familiar to vi/vim users).

Sorry to have raised your hopes if you were hoping for an Opera-style spatial nav extension :(

NoScript and uBlock Origin have WebExtensions in the works. They may be ready in time for 57.

Vimperator looks like it might die, but less feature-rich alternatives like Vimium and VimFX I think are trying to make the port.

Tab Groups is going to die. Some features of it might be possible in WebExtensions, though, as it grows new APIs.

For the sake of 'the more input the merrier':

Quick and easy: Atom, Sublime, NotePad++, Visual Studio. This is the actual answer to your question

Dive and invest: Vim. This is to clarify some of the statements made by others, from a rookie's perspective

Here's my salespitch: you might thank me later, you might hate me for wasting your time. I was a fresh rookie about 2 years ago, probably still am, but I took the dive into Vim and that paid off very well. It's not easy to start with (in my opinion), but it allows you to take baby steps. How to write, open and save files can be learned in minutes. The configuration and advanced usage like snippets have a steeper learning curve. Now I never want to go back to a traditional GUI editor.

What I like most about Vim:

• Command-line editor (not unique, Emacs ~~and Nano~~ exist as well) which allows you to get work done anywhere. (For example over SSH on your webserver)

• No need to use the mouse, hands on the keyboard 100%.

• Eventually your workflow / productivity will speed up beyond what's reachable in a GUI editor (I think, please don't lynch me for this)

• Very very customizable (not unique for sure)

• You can use your Vim skills elsewhere, for example in browsers: VimFx (FireFox), Vimium (Chrome) This way you can browse the web without using a mouse or even moving your wrists, or using the blasphemous touchpad on a laptop. Matter of taste I'm sure, but I love it.

I use i3 tiling WM with my study laptop(started with Manjaro XFCE under it). It's great not having to use mouse/trackpad to handle windows and stuff. If you install something like Vimium or VimFX with your browser you rarely have to mess with that clumsy trackpad ever again.

Anker's vertical mouse just gave me different kind of wrist pain after a while. I personally don't recommend it. (Evoluent's vertical mouse looks a lot more comfy, but the build quality seems to be worth more like $30-40 rather than $90.) Vertical mouse in general are probably a gimmick, see this blog post on the handshoe mouse site. Note that the handshoe (based on reviews) has terrible build quality and only two buttons, so I don't recommend the product itself. http://handshoemouse.com/news/why-the-handshake-position-is-not-neutral/

My current strategy is to use my CST at work (my job is 95% drafting), and to browse the internet on my off-time using VimFx on a Magicforce 68, which is a lap-sized mechanical keyboard. I'm also planning on picking up a Keyboardio Model 01 when it releases.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/

https://shop.keyboard.io/

After having some trackballs work for me better than others, I'm reconsidering that a good palm-grip mouse might help with both wrist and finger pain (if I keep my mouse at the right elevation, my wrist is totally straight). I'm wanting to find a comfortable mouse that I can use to add variety into my day, but I'm going to have to do more research before picking one up.

EDIT: Forgot to answer the original question. I've considered picking up an Elecom thumbball as a way to add variety, but I haven't yet done so myself. I may never. IIRC thumbballs aren't as precise, and the severe inward bending of the thumb in vertical movement of the ball seems unergonomic.

Browser extensions like VimFx (Firefox) or Vimium (Chrome) will allow you to browse the internet without having to reach for the mouse. Pressing the f key will put a short random word above each clickable object on the site, and you can select the link by typing its word. F (shift + f) does the same thing, but opens the link in a new tab.

Be warned - the extension also adds a bunch of other shortcuts, based on vim keybindings. If you're not used to these, you'll want to configure the extension to your liking.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, so I'll defend it a little further:

All of the shortcuts are very easily rebindable, by typing ? while in normal mode. Here's a peek at my Colemak settings.. You can press n (by default) after searching with /, to skip to the next match, N for previous. Switching between tabs with a single key. ALL of the commands with a single key if you really want to, but I use it mostly to keep my Firefox controls cosistent with my .vimrc.

It's definitely not for everyone, but I feel that it's immensely useful for people who prefer to use the keyboard for control, rather than jumping between the mouse and the keyboard, and, in my opinion, its 5 star rating is well-deserved.

Pale Moon allows you to switch to a Firefox compatible user agent in the settings. I don't know if that'll give you what you want, if not doofy666 has a good recommendation.

As for VimFX, I don't know if there is a Pale Moon specific alternative, but an older version of the addon does work: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/versions/?page=2#version-0.12.0

It's a legacy extension and the new AMO site only shows 57+ extensions. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/ You need to restore the old site design to get the latest version and the "Download anyway" hyperlink.

I'm an emacs user but I find that Vim bindings are one-hand friendly. I usually use browsers only with one hand because browsers are mainly for browsing not for inputting text (I write that text on the textarea here though). Maybe it wouldn't be your best choice, but I recommend that you give ~~"VimFX" a shot: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/?src=search~~ Vimium a shot: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimium-ff/?src=search . I rarely use a mouse after I'd started using VimFX I think you would be like it unless you really want to stick to emacs bindings.

P.S. If you don't like so-called "h j k l" bindings, you can customize it to "f b p n". give it a try!

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/

https://fossbytes.com/how-to-make-firefox-faster-by-enabling-multi-process-e10s-manually/

dom.ipc.processCount -> 4 browser.tabs.remote.force-enable -> true

Well, if I switch I'll probably windup looking at VimFX because it seems to support e10s already even!

For the moment though, while quiet, Pentadactyl is limping along with periodic commits. It works for me so I'm fine to put off the decision as long as I'm able. Right now it looks like the signing will be the first thing to get in the way and, generally, I think there should be an stable build without it anyway.

There are mutterings here where the community is trying to coalesce around a fork: https://github.com/5digits/dactyl/issues/99

To address your carpal tunnel, but not to answer your original question: have you considered using tools that don't require a mouse at all?

I currently use i3wm, Firefox with VimFx, and Vim. I hardly ever use my mouse (touchpad actually).

From the VimFx link:

> Why VimFx was created > > Even before Vimium there was Vimperator for Firefox. In my opinion the > problem with Vimperator is that it has too many features and > aggressively changes the default Firefox appearance and behavior.

Pentadactyl in some ways is going in the opposite direction, which I guess is what I prefer.

I want "aggressively changes the default Firefox appearance" - removing every visual element (menu bars, tool bars, search bars, scroll bars, ...) and only a status bar visible.

So I guess that's a different preference.

> Vimium was developed for Google Chrome and it was exactly what I > needed in terms of added functionality.

I wonder why not use chrome (or chromium) then. (Maybe because of its heavy memory usage, or maybe because of views about google.)

VimFx FTW: praticamente ti permette di non muovere le mani dalla tastiera, navighi le pagine e i link usando shortuct dinamici.

Comodo as fuck

Have you tried VimFX? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/

I was also using Vimperator, but migrated to VimFX because it seems more polished, while less complex and in-your-way, and it may also be a bit faster. Maybe it's just subjective, but why not just quickly try it?
I have no performance problems on an i5-4200U with it. Hints always generate within < 200ms even on complicated sites, I believe (haven't measured it, just an estimate).

But I agree dwb is orders of magnitude faster than both Vimperator and VimFX.

I find vim keybindings are useful in the browsers, I find it helps if working on code and reading docs or stackoverflow to be able to tab over to the browser and continue using the keyboard.

Vimium for chrome VimFx for Firefox

You could possibly give an older version (0.5.3) at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vimfx/versions/ a try. But I don't know if the latest version (0.5.8) actually needs at least Firefox 28.