My exact thoughts. I think I am going to print it out and study it for a while. I am sure there are tons of productivity things I can learn..and things I should probably already know.
For intimidation, try browsing all the help pages of vim! :-)
I've concluded that vim has every feature I can imagine - and then some. But I can't appreciate it until I've imagined it. The problem is that it is impossible to find that feature in the help, since I don't know its name. Google helps here, by searching for a description of it in my own words.
Every tutorial I've ever seen on vim is mind-bogglingly boring. I've learnt the most by just hearing one tip at a time - and searching for one when I need it.
Some people can absorb massive quantities of raw information, but I need to integrate new information into my other knowledge in order to be able to use it. Then there's practicing the habit of using it, and learning in what situations it is appropriate. For a tool, it's not knowledge per se, but the application of knowledge that is useful.
Oh man, the very first one was something I'd been wishing for!
I need it for appending to text I've searched for, especially if I need to do it a few times. e.g. for adding an argument to a few method calls. I usually go `n` (repeat the search), then `e` (go to the end).
That's enough. One tip at a time maxes out my absorption rate.
between mark a and mark b: 'a,'b
goto lines containing Abc: g/Abc
recognizable substitute: s/yy/\=i/
= prefixes a variable (escaped with \)
A problem is that it will only replace the first `yy` on the line (if you add g, to make it s/yy/\=i/g, it replaces all of them, but with the same value of i.
How to make it increment multiple yy's on the one line?
So after griping that the page is a case of data overload, I though there should be another way to get this much information parceled out in more digestible portions.
In order to help myself (and others so interested) to improve my German vocabulary I set up a Twitter account that shoots off random German - English word definitions: @TeachMeGerman. Every hour you can learn a new word (modulo the data set size, though the repetition is actually handy).
I bet such a thing, if it does not already exist, would be good way to pick up new vim tips.
Sweet. I don't knok if this is a practical approach for you, but for @TeachMeGerman I set up a large text file (one I had created for a "flash card" app) and a small Ruby script to grab a random entry and post it to Twitter, driven via cron.
This way I didn't have to remember to do anything. :)
This article suffers from a bad case of TL;DR. There's great information buried in there, but it's presentation is poor. Typography should be taught in primary school to stave this off.
I think it's better to just know how/why all these tricks and tips work instead of having a huge list that's hard to read. It's much easier to apply that way.
hey guys
this page is fantastic and the author responds in a very friendly way.
You don't have to read it in one shot. Its more like a cheat sheet, than an extensive manual.
between (book)mark a and b find fred then search the line and replace any occurrence of dick with joe with a confirmation. there a couple of modifiers on there I don't know but I think that's pretty much it.
