Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum

Subject: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 04:35 AM

I am sure most of you when on the forum, use the mouse extensively. I find that a pain in the arse. So these are the keys I use on the keyboard to help me navigate the forum. Maybe some of you mudcatters can add to the list.

HOME key, takes you to the top of the threads or the posts within a thread

END key takes you to the bottom of the list (same as HOME except in the opposite direction

PgDn or PgUp keys move you through the lists in stages

Backspace Key takes you back one step at a time

Shift + Backspace key takes you forward

F5 function key refreshes the threads or posts.

Esc key stops the page being fully loaded (used when it is taking too long when you click on a thread.

Zoom in - Hold the Ctrl key down and press the + key on the numeric keypad

Zoom out - Hold the Ctrl key down and press the - key on the numeric keypad

Reset to 100% - Hold the Ctrl key down and press the 0 key on the typewriter keypad


I use the above extensively and it is much quicker than the mouse, once you have practised it.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Folkiedave
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 04:45 AM

I am sure I will use some of these Les but can I ask how on earth did you discover all this?

Do you (for example) sit around seeking these things?

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 04:51 AM

No, I used to teach IT and one of the things I used to teach was using the keyboard instead of the mouse, and helping people to realise how much quicker it can be.

A very good example is touch typists. If they used the mouse, they would be all day typing documents. Touch typists need to know all the keyboard quick keys. My wife for example, hardly ever uses the mouse and she is translating documents from English into Dutch all day.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 04:58 AM

Incidentally the above keyboard shortcuts work with all other websites as well.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Folkiedave
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 05:05 AM

Yes I agree - but how did you find them out?

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 05:19 AM

When I was teaching IT, it was part of my job to find these things out. I used to have to go to seminars at Microsoft and Lotus and cover the new versions of software.
Apart from that I had to have development time for going though the manuals and update my knowledge, and write specific courseware for the students.
I learn't to use the products like Word/Excel/Powerpoint etc through my previous management accounting days, and I got forced into teaching the staff as part of my job. I had to be one step ahead of everybody.
I taught up to consultancy level.
So I guess it evolved over time. I suppose a bit like learning to play an instrument (practice and a desire to improve your techniques).
The funny thing is, once learned, i haven't forgotten it.

Does that help Dave?

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: redsnapper
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 05:29 AM

Many thanks! Big timesaver!

RS

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: ThreeSheds
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 07:50 AM

Thanks thats really useful stuff
Last month I started a thread Failing eyesight to try and find out tips that I could pass on to my Dad to help him on the computer as he has decreasing vision, One great source of frustration is with the mouse he cant always find the cursor and is never sure if the mouse click has initiated whatever action he wants to do ,So I have been trying to find keystrokes that might help

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 09:39 AM

Thanks, Villan. I'm going to print your list out.

I avoid using the mouse whenever possible. I read in a book by an MD that using a mouse in hard on the hand.

With a IBM-type computer, there is a choice on the Control Panel called Accessibility Options. There you can turn on Sticky Keys, which enables one to combine Ctrl, Alt and Shift with other keys without having to hold them all down.

The result? My left hand can open, close, save or print a file by skipping up the keyboard (Alt, F, o, for example) rather than using the mouse. I much prefer it.

Curiously enough, my new system (Windows XP Home) lets me do this without even setting up Sticky Keys on the Control Panel.

Other features on the Accessibility panel can be useful. I've set it so that the computer squeaks when I hit the caps lock. I hit it accidentally a lot and appreciate the notice.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 09:50 AM

I've been experimenting a bit - the sticky keys work with Word Pad, not on a web site. Apparently. Nonetheless, they are useful.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 10:19 AM

I will see if I can dig out some courseware I made sometime ago with all the useful shortcut keys in Windows.

If I can find it, I am willing to e-mail the document to anybody that thinks it might be useful.

However do not put your e-mails on this thread. Better by PM

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: GUEST,Noreen
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 10:49 AM

Holding down shift while mouse-clicking on thread title in list, will open that thread in a new window.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 10:51 AM

PLEASE NOTE...'some' of these shortcuts are browser specific, and they may be Operating System specific (this is, a MAC may be different). The last few do not work that way in Opera, though I have other ways to increase or decrease font size and page magnification. In Opera, I have a number of additional shortcuts for navigation.

Here is an example of what I can do in Opera You can find similar pages for Firefox and I.E.
This is the result of the Google search for "keyboard shortcuts"

As to how you discover these things....you just browse 'help' files and sites dedicated to tutorials on how to do these things.
A simple rule: *ALMOST* everything your computer does can be altered and controlled by you! Colors, sizes, pop-ups, underlining, volume, ....some of it is Windows settings..(or MAC..or LINUX), some of it, as I say, is browser specific....you just have to read drop-down menus and practice.

For tech fanatics...*grin*...there are entire programs dedicated to overriding 'default' settings and allowing you to do things you barely imagine.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Bill D
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 10:59 AM

Noreen reminds me....I often do not WANT something I click on to open in a new window, although some sites try to force that behavior. This is one of the trickiest things to control. I have a separate program which monitors my browser and tell it NOT to "open a link in new window"...unless *I* specifically ask it to.

This computer stuff will make you work....*THEY* want it done their way.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Folkiedave
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 11:12 AM

ou just browse 'help' files and sites dedicated to tutorials on how to do these things.

And I thought I was bad enough being on Mudcat........

I'll get mi coat.....

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 02:13 PM

All of the shortcut keys listed appear to be common to nearly all Windows programs, and most are not unique to your browser.

In WinXP, at Start|Help, click the Index tab, type "Keyboard" (no quotes), scroll down to "keyboard shortcuts" and click "keys."

Nearly all of the shortcut keys/key combinations you'll find will work in nearly all Windows compliant programs. A few programs may omit some shortcuts, and some programs may override the default settings; but the lists there should be good for almost everything.

Note that in Windows you can create your own shortcut key combinations for virtually any task you might want, and you can change the key combinations for any of the preset/default functions.

In IE7, the first version that has tabs, at Tools|Internet Options, on the General Tab, the "Settings" button gives you some choices about whether new pages open in the existing window, in a new tab, in a new window, and whether a new tab is "immediately current" when it's created. Similar choices can be preset in earlier viersions, within the limitations of the individual version.

A few quick-keys, particularly those found under "Accessability" in Windows Help (sticky-keys, etc.), may disable other quick-keys and/or may add a few new defaults, so some "exploring" may be needed if you use some of these functions.

Word is something of a "master program" in Office, and any shortcuts or other "preferences" set there normally will be applied in all other Office programs. Changes made in other programs, such as Excel, etc., may affect only the program where they're created. Of course, any program (like the odd browser) that can't perform a function using standard Windows methods will not be able to respond to a Windows/Word setting.

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Bernard
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 06:51 PM

Hold Alt and tap the tab key, that will cycle you through programmes (windows) you have open...

Character Map, whilst not a keyboard shortcut, will tell you which keys you require to produce accents and other special characters...

With NumLock on, hold Alt and press 0 1 8 9 on the numeric pad, then release the Alt key and you'll see a 'magical' ½ appear!

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Joe_F
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 09:38 PM

Using Firefox under (sigh) Windows, I find that Home & End do not work unless control-shifted. Initially, Page Up & Page Down do not work at all, but they both work once you have done a control-shifted Home or End.

In the main Forum window, if I click on the left margin *and then hit the down arrow key*, the corresponding page will be highlighted so that I can call it up with the Enter key rather than have to use the mouse. I can continue to use down arrow & Enter for subsequent lines, so long as I do not post on a page. If I do that & go back to the main window (using Back Space), I have to go thru the down-arrow ritual again.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Jun 07 - 10:13 PM

Joe F -

Your "Back" frequently takes you to the page that was downloaded to temp memory, rather than reloading the page, so the selections you made are still good. A post makes the page new, so the page has to reload.

You may be able to Back Back or Back Back Back to pull the page with the selection intact back from Temp memory on your machine. Whether the page with the selected links still there will reappear depends on your browser settings, and what you've specified as requiring a refresh/reload.

This isn't a really reliable thing, but if it's a lot easier for you to go back than to reselect you might want to try it and see if it works with your setup.

You can, incidentally, get keyboards with additional buttons that perform a lot of extra "quick key" things. My "Microsoft Business" keyboard has back and forward buttons, a scroll roller, edit, cut, paste buttons, a single key to toggle through open applications, separate buttons to open each Office program (Word, Excel, Mail, Calendar, Win Explorer, etc.). All of the "F keys" also can be toggled to perform the normal F- functions or to do things like Spell Check, Send/Reply, Undo, Redo. It came with the machine, and I find it more of a p.i.a. than a help since I've already embedded (in muscle memory) key combinations for most things I do; but anyone who has difficulty with a mouse and/or really needs/wants to keyboard everything might take a look at your local shop and see what fancy things are available. About the only "extra" key I use much is the one to open Word if I decide I want to make notes while browsing.

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 12:59 AM

Bernard, you have ASCII code and HTML codes and depending on what you type may give you a different result.

For example ALT 65 & ALT 065 will give you the same result A.
Whereas ALT 189 gives me ¢ and ALT 0189 gives me ½

ALT 65 and ALT 189 is what they call ASCII code

Whereas ALT 065 and ALT 0189 is what they call HTML code.

John in Kansas is the best guy to explain the difference between the two and why you would use the different codes.

However, here is a link to the ASCII code numbers you can use with the ALT key http://www.asciitable.com/
The Dec column is the number you type after the ALT to get the Char column (red characters).

Here is the link for the HTML code http://www.lookuptables.com/
You take only the number you see in the numeric column and put a 0 in front e.g. ALT 0190 gives you ¾

So for all you budding keyboard users get practising :-)

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 Jun 07 - 08:46 AM

Thanks, John, for the info on finding the keyboard shortcuts under Help. Now I know that Window + F opens the Find menu.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 02:57 AM

leeia -

I usually just use "Ctl-F" for find. Actually, in Word, I hardly ever open Find without planning to do some replacing, so it's usually "Alt-E E" there.

In Word, Ctl-F9 is one of my favorites, but that gets complicated to explain so I'll refer you to the Help file (look up "Field").

A simplistic example:

If you type an equation, including an extra "=" at the beginning of the right side,

A = =(4*9)^3

Select the =(4*9)^3, and hit "Ctl-F9," when you hit "F9" again you get the answer:

A = 46656

[that's 36 cubed]

Who needs a calculator?

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 02:59 AM

If I'd type slower or with my eyes open I really would have spelled it "leeneia."

Apologies.

What I lack in speed I (over)compensate for with error density.

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Snuffy
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 01:17 PM

CTRL+F will find text within the current open document

WINDOWS+F will find a file or directory on the specified drive(s)

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 01:59 PM

That's interesting about the equations, John. I don't have Word, but I'll tell my friends.

It illustrates two things about Windows. 1) It can do some amazing things. 2) They sure make it hard to learn about. Who would enter "Field" in Help to learn about math, arithmetic, or calculations?

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 05:37 PM

leenia -

Some of the uses of fields are closely akin to what are called "tags" and/or "links" in other page layout and word processing programs, so they're not exactly "foreign" or particularly arcane to those who've worked with documents professionally, or who've been raised on other kinds of programs. Most people find them naturally when they look up how to do things like making tables of contents, indexes, or to do special formatting.

They provide a reasonably simple way to insert something that changes it's appearance in response to what you type elsewhere in the document. Used for "tagging," you can, for example, mark chapter titles and collect them "automagically" so that they'll appear properly in a table of contents, with correct page numbering etc. "Bookmarks" and "links" to/between them work a lot like html in Word, but you don't have to write the code for them in Word.

Mostly very routine stuff.

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Joe_F
Date: 27 Jun 07 - 09:21 PM

Strays from other threads? I've never seen that before.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Rasener
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 02:22 AM

What amazes me still, is that many people still use the mouse for selecting large blocks of text (Word) or large Blocks of cells (Excel). The same for most other windows applications.

Using the keyboard is generally quicker and more accurate.

Click at the beginning of the text you want selected or the first cell of the range you want selected.
Hold the shift key down
Use keys such as Pgdn, Pgup, End, Home or the arrow keys to select the data or cells.
Release the shift key.

You can then use Ctrl + X (to move your selection), Ctrl + C (to copy your selection)

Move to the place you want to paste the data and use Ctrl + V (to paste your selection)

If you cock it up, you can use Ctrl + Z to undo your actions.

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 06:56 PM

A peculiarity, in Word and in a few other programs, with the shift-extend selection method:

In Word (especially) if you place your cursor just to the left of a carriage return, hold down shift and hit "Home," the cursor will move to the start of the line, selecting back to where it stops, but will also pick up the carriage return at the end of the line.

There is no way to avoid picking up the CR at the end in what you copy/cut etc.

If you start at the beginning of the line, hold down Shift, and hit "End," everything in the line, including the CR at the end is selected, but if you continue to hold down the Shift key and "left arrow" once, you can drop the CR out of what you copy. So if you don't want to copy the CR at the end, start at the beginning.

There are a few other examples of

where you go counts
how you get there is important
but where you start from also matters."

Nuances must be explored.

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 07:03 PM

RE The Villan method:

If you mouse-click in the text in Word your cursor is placed where you click.

If you double-click in Word the word containing the point where you clicked is selected.

If you click another time withing a selection, the selection is extended, first (theoretically) to include the sentence, then on the next click to include the whole paragraph.

(If everything is working as intended.)

John

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: terrier
Date: 28 Jun 07 - 07:11 PM

I find that holding down the 'OFF' button on the front of my PC for a minimum of 6 seconds gets me off to bed hours earlier. Hmmmmm

Subject: RE: Shortcut keys whilst on Mudcat forum
From: Snuffy
Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:46 AM

On my version (Word 2003) the third click goes straight to the paragraph - I can't get it to highlight just the line.

And using MSIE on Mudcat the 3rd click highlights the whole message, including Subject, From and Date lines!!!