Flinks-0.5.0

Released under the GPLv3 by Martin Bays (mbays@sdf.org) 2008-20

Dependencies

Required

python3, with curses module

lynx (http://lynx.isc.org/)

Optional

espeak (or another text-to-speech engine)

Description

Flinks is a textmode flashing-word web browser, intended for speed-reading and skimming. Doubles as a navigator of spoken text.

Basic usage

Hit 'g' and enter an url or local file to load. Press space to unpause.

Use cursor or vi keys to adjust the speed and to skip around within the document.

Links are shown in colour, and a rotating list of the last few links is shown above the main display point. To follow a link, hit the corresponding number.

To enable speech, use '^' (requires espeak and alsa in default configuration).

Keybindings and Configuration

When flinks is first run, it will create a file .flinksrc in your home directory. Edit this to change options and keybindings. Options can also be set on the commandline, or in-browser with ":set [option] [value]".

Default keys

space : pause/unpause

l / h or Left / Right: skip sentences

L / H : skip paragraphs

o / i : skip words

O / I or PgUp / PgDn : skip more words

. / , : skip one word

] / [ : skip links

^A / ^E or Home / End : skip to start/end

j / k or Down / Up or < / > : decrease/increase speed

g : go to an url (enter "g foo" or "wp foo" to search google or wikipedia)

G : adjust current url

/ / ? : search forward/backward

n / N : search again

b : go back

u : unback

F1 : display this help page

q : quit

^R : reload page

^L : refresh screen

[1-9] : follow link

^ : toggle speech

• : skip to next sentence not containing a link ("skip to article")

0 : begin count (e.g. type "0123o" to skip 123 words backward)

m : set mark ("ma", "mb" etc set marks local to the page; "mA", "mB" etc set global marks which persist between sessions)

' : go to mark

: : execute a command, valid commands being as for the config file.