worf.el documentation

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Intro

This extension works similar to org-mode's speed keys, while adding in a bit of vi flavor, specifically:

Modal editing

This is just what the speed keys do: pressing a - z, A - Z, or 0 - 9 while the point is positioned as below will call a command instead of inserting these characters:

* foo
** bar
#+ baz

As you see, the point has to be either at one of the * that start from the beginning of the line or actually at the beginning of the line, followed by #+ which will further be referred to as markup.

Nouns and verbs

It's just an intuitive way of organizing the key bindings borrowed from vi: the commands are sentences - combinations of a verb and a noun used together.

Similar to vi, h / j / k / l are the nouns that represent the arrow keys. These and additional nouns are listed in the tables below.

Nouns table

key name
j down
k up
h left
l right
a added
p property
t tags

Verbs table

key name
none goto
c change
cf change tree
cs change shift
w keyword
C clock
d delete
y yank
m mark

Nouns

* j - down

Move down across headings and markup. Use a number prefix to move several times at once, i.e. 2j will move two headings down.

When you're in a heading, j will not enter markup, use l for that instead, as markup that belongs to a heading can be seen as being right of that heading. This restriction speeds up the movement across headings that contain a lot of markup.

When you're in markup, j will not enter a heading, use h for that instead, as the heading can be seen as being left of its markup. This restriction allows to use a huge numeric arg (e.g. 9j or 99j) to move all the way to the last markup of the heading.

The exception to both restrictions is the first markup in the file that does not belong to any heading.


* k - up

Move up across headings and markup. Use a number prefix to move several times at once, i.e. 3k will move three headings up.

Same rules as j apply.


* h - left

Move left i.e. to the parent heading of current heading or markup.

You can use it e.g. to go from fifth level 3 heading to its parent level 2 heading, or from the second source block to the parent heading.


Move right (i.e. to the first child of current heading). You can use it to get to the first markup of the current heading.


* a - added

Represents added heading. The behavior depends on the currently active verb:

goto

Forward to org-insert-heading-respect-content (bound to C-RET in org-mode).

change

Forward to org-meta-return (bound to M-RET in org-mode).

keyword

Add a new heading with a corresponding keyword.

For example wta will add a new TODO, and wna will add a new NEXT.


* p - property

Represents current heading's property. The behavior depends on the currently active verb:

goto

Move to the property, i.e. open the property drawer and place the point on the first property.

change

Change property. This forwards to org-set-property, which will prompt you for the name of the property and it's value.

You can use this to add new properties as well.

delete

Delete property. This forwards to org-delete-property.


* t - tags

Represents current heading's tags.

Currently, the only meaningful sentence is ct, which forwards to org-set-tags.


Verbs

Some verbs, such as c (change), or cf (change tree) are sticky: once you activate them, they stick around until deactivated or you switch to another sticky verb (only one can be active at a time). Their stickiness is represented by a change in the mode line. Each of them can be deactivated by the same key that activated them, or universally with q. Currently separate minor modes are used to implement sticky verbs because their concept is exactly the same.

Other verbs, such as C (clock), are more like vi verbs, i.e. they deactivate themselves after the first command.

And just to add to the confusion, some nouns will deactivate a verb (e.g. cwd), while others won't (e.g. cj).


* goto

This verb is active by default. Its effect on the nouns is to move the point appropriately.


* c - change

Call worf-change-mode.

This is a sticky verb: once you press c, change verb will be active until you switch to a different verb.

Use the same letter to deactivate a verb as to activate it, i.e. c will deactivate worf-change-mode. q will universally deactivate any verb and return you to goto implicit verb.

While worf-change-mode is active, hjkl move the current heading in appropriate directions: it's the same as holding M- and using arrow keys in the default org.

  • cp will change the selected property
  • ct will change current tags
  • ca will add heading above instead of below, like a does
  • cn will change the name of a source block

* cf - change tree

Call worf-change-tree-mode.

While worf-change-tree-mode is active, hjkl move the current heading tree in appropriate directions: it's the same as holding S-M- and using arrow keys in the default org.

* cs - change shift

Call worf-change-shift-mode.

While worf-change-shift-mode is active, hjkl act as S- and arrows in the default org.


* w keyword

Call worf-keyword-mode.

You select a keyword e.g. TODO or NEXT and j / k move just by the selected keyword, skipping all other headings.

Additionally, a will add a new heading with the appropriate keyword, e.g. wta will add a new TODO, and wna will add a new NEXT.


* C - clock

Call worf-clock-mode.

This one isn't sticky and has only two nouns that work with it:

  • i (org-clock-in)
  • o (org-clock-out)

* d - delete

Call worf-delete-mode.

This one isn't sticky and changes the behavior of j to delete down, and k to delete up. You can mix in numbers to delete many times, i.e. d3j will delete 3 headings at once.

  • dp will delete the selected property
  • dn will delete the name of the current source block

* y - yank

Call worf-yank-mode.

It's similar to d, but will copy the headings into the kill ring instead of deleting.


* m - mark

Call worf-mark-mode.

It's similar to d, but will mark the headings instead of deleting.


Miscellaneous commands

Some other things included in worf, that don't fit into the verb-noun structure, are:

[ - worf-backward

Go backwards to closest special position. ] does the same in the opposite direction.

i - worf-tab

Wraps around org-cycle.

Additionally, e.g. 2i will show a summary up to level 2, 3i - level 3 etc.

I - worf-shifttab

Just a wrapper for org-shifttab.

o - worf-ace-link

Open a link within current heading that's visible on screen. See ace-link for a package that uses this method in other modes.

g - worf-goto

Open a helm outline of the current buffer. It's very good when you want to search/navigate to a heading by word or level. See lispy for a package that uses this method to navigate Lisp code.

L - worf-copy-heading-id

Copy the link to current heading to the kill ring. This may be useful when you want to create a lot of links.

* cT - worf-change-time

Set the "current" time for this buffer only. All timestamps inserted by org-todo in this buffer will use this time.

To un-set the "current" time, press C-g during the selection.