I've been busy this week, but here's a more in-depth look at the w3m FAQ.html file before I start on the MANUAL.html.
It's invalid antique HTML, but it still works, and feeding it through
a tidier would just generate noise in the diff, so I haven't bothered.
One subtle aspect of a cobwebby FAQ that I haven't tried to deal with
is that the questions that users frequently asked in the nineties may
not be the same as the ones they want answered today.
diff -ru w3m-0.5.3.orig/doc/FAQ.html w3m-0.5.3/doc/FAQ.html
--- w3m-0.5.3.orig/doc/FAQ.html 2011-01-04 09:22:24.000000000 +0000
+++ w3m-0.5.3/doc/FAQ.html 2014-11-28 18:49:01.825682079 +0000
@@ -30,13 +30,13 @@
<li><a href="#command"><h2>Options, Commands, Usage</h2></a>
<ul>
<li><h3>w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?</h3>
-<li><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black screen. How do I change
this?</h3>
-<li><h3>Does w3m support colours?</h3>
-<li><h3>Does w3m support monochrome display?</h3>
+<li><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I
change this?</h3>
Change the version in the Contents list to match the actual line in
the text below.
+<li><h3>Does w3m support colors?</h3>
The text here mixes en_US and en_GB spellings ("customize",
"behavior", but usually "colour"); since in several places we're
obliged to use the US "color" anyway it seems natural to standardise
in that direction.
+<li><h3>Does w3m support monochrome displays?</h3>
More natural English.
<li><h3>How do I shift the display?</h3>
<li><h3>How do I move from anchor to anchor?</h3>
-<li><h3>Netscape displays a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3>
+<li><h3>Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3>
Cobwebby (and naming a specific browser isn't really necessary).
-<li><h3>How do I change the colour of anchor-/image-/form links?</h3>
+<li><h3>How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?</h3>
Spelling standardisation, and no need for hyphens.
<li><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why? </h3>
<li><h3>How do I quit a search or URL text input?</h3>
</ul>
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
<li><a href="#www"><h2>Questions about WWW usage</h2></a>
<ul>
<li><h3>How do I fill in forms with w3m?</h3>
-<li><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than Netscape or Lynx. Why?</h3>
+<li><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?</h3>
Cobwebby and unnecessary again.
<li><h3>Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page</h3>
<li><h3>How do I download a linked file?</h3>
<li><h3>How do I specify a proxy server?</h3>
@@ -76,12 +76,12 @@
<dd>It runs on various versions of Unix, since version 990226 on OS/2 and
since
version 990303 also on MS-Windows with Cygwin32.
<br>
-Current versions have been confirmed to run on:
+More recent versions have been confirmed to run on:
These tests weren't done with current w3m.
<ul>
<li>SunOS 4.1.x
<li>HP-UX 9.x, 10.x
<li>Solaris 2.5.x, 2.6, 8
-<li>Linux 2.0.30
+<li>Linux 2.0.1 to 3.17
We might as well update the one we can confirm.
<li>FreeBSD 2.2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 4.6
<li>NetBSD/macppc, m68k
<li>EWS4800 Rel.12.2 Rev.A
@@ -96,12 +96,12 @@
<dt><h3>Where can I get more information about w3m?</h3>
<dd>At the <a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>English w3m
home page</a>.
<dt><h3>Is there a mailing list for w3m?</h3>
-<dd>There is a mailing list for developpers (w3m-dev-en). Please see
-<a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>w3m page</a>
+<dd>There is a mailing list for developpers (w3m-dev-en). Please see the
+<a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>w3m home page</a>
There are several w3m pages; this is the Home Page that you just
mentioned.
for details. You may also mail your comments to <a
href="mailto:[email protected]";>the author</a>.
<dt><h3>Are there any binary distributions?</h3>
-<dd>So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version. You can get
-them from <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/w3m/";>here</a>.
+<dd>So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version. <!-- You can
get
+them from <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/w3m/";>here</a>. !-->
That URL redirects to something that doesn't detectably host any such
binaries, so I've commented it out. Perhaps it should be entirely
removed.
Contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]";>the author</a> if you want to
contribute binaries for other platforms.
</dd>
</dl>
@@ -119,29 +119,29 @@
<dd>w3m is a <b>pager</b>. Therefore it just quits when invoked without any
arguments. Possible arguments are:
<ol>
-<li>A filename or an URL
+<li>A filename or URL
In this case there's no need for us to decide whether it's "an url" or
"a U.R.L."
<li>Pipe from standard input
-<li>The -B option (Show bookmark file)
+<li>The -B option (show bookmark file)
Random capitalisation.
<li>The -v option (visual startup)
-<li>From a specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable
+<li>A specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable
Standardising on no preposition.
</ol>
<p>
-<dt><h3>w3m starts with black characters on black background. How do I change
+<dt><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I
change
this?</h3>
As in the Contents list.
<dd>
-When compiled with colour support, w3m assumes a white background and
therefore
+When compiled with color support, w3m assumes a white background and therefore
displays black characters.
<br>
-You may either change the background colour of your terminal (e.g. with the
-bg
+You may either change the background color of your terminal (e.g. with the -bg
option in a xterm) or take these steps:
Spelling s13n.
<ul>
<li>invoke w3m with 'w3m -M' (for monochrome),
-<li>type 'o' for getting to the options screen
-<li><b>Mark 'Display with colour' as ON</b> and choose an arbitrary colour.
+<li>type 'o' to get to the options screen
Avoid "for getting".
+<li><b>Mark 'Display with color' as ON</b> and choose an arbitrary color.
S13n, since the text it actually displays is in en_US.
Click on [OK].
</ul>
<p>
-<dt><h3>Does w3m support colours?</h3>
+<dt><h3>Does w3m support colors?</h3>
Again, the actual config options talk about "color".
<dd>Yes. When you run './configure', answer the question
<p>
<pre>
@@ -156,14 +156,14 @@
Which?
</pre>
<p>
-with 2,3,4 or 5.
+with 2, 3, 4, or 5.
Spaces required (Harvard comma preferred).
<p>
-<dt><h3>Does w3m support monochrome display?</h3>
+<dt><h3>Does w3m support monochrome displays?</h3>
As in the Contents list.
<dd>Yes. You may either
<ol>
-<li>Answer the above mentioned 'configure' question with 1, or
+<li>Answer the above-mentioned 'configure' question with 1, or
Dictionaries also allow "abovementioned".
<li>Invoke w3m with the -M option, or
-<li>Type 'o' within w3m to enter the options screen and turn off colour
display
+<li>Type 'o' within w3m to enter the options screen and turn off color display
mode.
</ol>
<dt><h3>How do I shift the display?</h3>
Continuing s13n.
@@ -173,19 +173,19 @@
Another idea would be adjusting the xterm with the -geometry option (e.g.
something like 'xterm -geometry 110x45 -bg white -name w3m -e w3m -B').
<dt><h3>How do I move from anchor to anchor?</h3>
-<dd>You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves cursor to the
previous anchor.
+<dd>You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves the cursor to
the previous anchor.
Missing article.
<p>
-<dt><h3>Netscape displays a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3>
-<dd>w3m doesn't support <FONT COLOR=".."> tags. It won't be impossible
to implement this, but I think it would make the document more difficult to
read.
+<dt><h3>Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3>
As in the Contents list.
+<dd>w3m doesn't support the HTML COLOR=".." attribute. It wouldn't be
impossible to implement this, but I think it would make documents more
difficult to read.
Because <font> has nothing to do with it (we could also mention that
it doesn't support stylesheets either). Also, minor English fixes.
<p>
-<dt><h3>How do I change the colour of anchor-/image-/form links?</h3>
+<dt><h3>How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?</h3>
As in the Contents list.
<dd>Type 'o' within w3m to get the 'options' screen. You can change these
settings there.
<dt>
-<dt><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why? </h3>
+<dt><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?</h3>
Just a whitespace fix.
<dd><dd>Go to the 'options' screen using the "o" key. Any entry in the
'Editor' field will override the environment variable.
<br>
-If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR blank the field and push
[OK].
+If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR, blank the field and press
[OK].
Punctuation and vocabulary tweaks (push buttons but press keys).
<p>
<dt><h3>How do I quit a search or URL text input?</h3>
<dd>Clear input text using Ctrl-u and hit RETURN.
@@ -208,10 +208,10 @@
<li>if it is a textarea, an editor is spawned,
<li>if it is 'submit' or 'reset', well, just do it.
</ul>
-<dt><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than Netscape or Lynx. Why?</h3>
-<dd>w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it displays the
documentnot before having read the entire document.
+<dt><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?</h3>
As in the Contents list.
+<dd>w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it doesn't start to
display the document until it has finished reading it.
Typo, and weird phrasing.
<br>
-Netscape or Lynx display the document before having read the whole page,
+Most other browsers display the document before having read the whole page,
Again the cobwebby part isn't even needed.
and therefore seem faster.
<p>
<dt><h3>Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page</h3>
@@ -223,20 +223,20 @@
<p>
<dt><h3>How do I specify a proxy server?</h3>
<dd>Set the environment variable HTTP_PROXY or use the option setting panel
-("o" key). For example, if you want to use port 8000 of proxy.hogege.com,
specify
+("o" key). For example, if you want to use port 8000 of proxy.example.org,
specify
<p>
<pre>
- http://proxy.hogege.com:8000/
+ http://proxy.example.org:8000/
</pre>
There is a hogege.com, but it gives a permissions error. Stick to the
RFC-2606 standard example.
<p>
<dt><h3>w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.</h3>
<dd>Enter w3m's option screen using the 'o' key and specify
<p>
<pre>
- netscape %s &
+ firefox %s &
</pre>
<p>
-(if you are using netscape).
+(if you are using Firefox).
Here it really does need to give a plausible real example. Since
we're planning to send this upstream, don't make it iceweasel.
<p>
<dt><h3>How do I change the default image viewer?</h3>
<dd>By default w3m uses xv to view images. If you want to change it into,
let's say, 'display', add the following line to ~/.w3m/mailcap or /etc/mailcap.
(I haven't changed this since it's a bug in the code, not the
documentation: in the absence of a mailcap file w3m really does
default to trying an image viewer that hasn't had a release in twenty
years, just as it hardcodes "netscape" and - worst of all if you ask
me - "vi".)
@@ -255,8 +255,8 @@
<dt><h3>How do I enter a URL?</h3>
<dd>Type SHIFT-U
<p>
-<dt><h3>w3m appends a URL to the former one despite of having cleared the line
-with Ctrl-u. What to do?</h3>
+<dt><h3>w3m appends a URL to the former one even when I clear the line
+with Ctrl-u. What should I do?</h3>
Fixing some garbled syntax.
<dd>Enter the <i>complete</i> adress, e.g. http://www.slashdot.org.
</dd>
</dl>
@@ -270,15 +270,15 @@
<dl>
<dt><h3>What is w3m's configuration file?</h3>
<dd>It is ~/.w3m/config.
-With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing values of options
-that are described to be varied with the option setting panel.
-Each line contains setting for one option, which is a pair of an option name
+With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing the values of
options
+whose effects are described in the option setting panel.
+Each line contains one option setting, consisting of an option name
and its value with a space as a separator.
I *think* that's what it's trying to say.
<p>
<dt><h3>What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?</h3>
<dd>These are temporary files used by w3m when reading documents from a
WWW server. They are not cache files and are usually deleted when w3m is
-terminated. If there remain any temp files, please remove them by yourself.
+terminated. If any temp files are left behind, please remove them yourself.
<p>
</dd>
</dl>
"There remain" is oddly poetic word order, "by yourself" means
"alone".
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
diff -ru w3m-0.5.3.orig/doc/FAQ.html w3m-0.5.3/doc/FAQ.html --- w3m-0.5.3.orig/doc/FAQ.html 2011-01-04 09:22:24.000000000 +0000 +++ w3m-0.5.3/doc/FAQ.html 2014-11-28 23:52:17.022620362 +0000 @@ -30,13 +30,13 @@ <li><a href="#command"><h2>Options, Commands, Usage</h2></a> <ul> <li><h3>w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?</h3> -<li><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black screen. How do I change this?</h3> -<li><h3>Does w3m support colours?</h3> -<li><h3>Does w3m support monochrome display?</h3> +<li><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I change this?</h3> +<li><h3>Does w3m support colors?</h3> +<li><h3>Does w3m support monochrome displays?</h3> <li><h3>How do I shift the display?</h3> <li><h3>How do I move from anchor to anchor?</h3> -<li><h3>Netscape displays a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3> -<li><h3>How do I change the colour of anchor-/image-/form links?</h3> +<li><h3>Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3> +<li><h3>How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?</h3> <li><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why? </h3> <li><h3>How do I quit a search or URL text input?</h3> </ul> @@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ <li><a href="#www"><h2>Questions about WWW usage</h2></a> <ul> <li><h3>How do I fill in forms with w3m?</h3> -<li><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than Netscape or Lynx. Why?</h3> +<li><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?</h3> <li><h3>Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page</h3> <li><h3>How do I download a linked file?</h3> <li><h3>How do I specify a proxy server?</h3> @@ -76,12 +76,12 @@ <dd>It runs on various versions of Unix, since version 990226 on OS/2 and since version 990303 also on MS-Windows with Cygwin32. <br> -Current versions have been confirmed to run on: +More recent versions have been confirmed to run on: <ul> <li>SunOS 4.1.x <li>HP-UX 9.x, 10.x <li>Solaris 2.5.x, 2.6, 8 -<li>Linux 2.0.30 +<li>Linux 2.0.1 to 3.17 <li>FreeBSD 2.2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 4.6 <li>NetBSD/macppc, m68k <li>EWS4800 Rel.12.2 Rev.A @@ -96,12 +96,12 @@ <dt><h3>Where can I get more information about w3m?</h3> <dd>At the <a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>English w3m home page</a>. <dt><h3>Is there a mailing list for w3m?</h3> -<dd>There is a mailing list for developpers (w3m-dev-en). Please see -<a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>w3m page</a> +<dd>There is a mailing list for developpers (w3m-dev-en). Please see the +<a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html";>w3m home page</a> for details. You may also mail your comments to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">the author</a>. <dt><h3>Are there any binary distributions?</h3> -<dd>So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version. You can get -them from <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/w3m/";>here</a>. +<dd>So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version. <!-- You can get +them from <a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/w3m/";>here</a>. !--> Contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]">the author</a> if you want to contribute binaries for other platforms. </dd> </dl> @@ -119,29 +119,29 @@ <dd>w3m is a <b>pager</b>. Therefore it just quits when invoked without any arguments. Possible arguments are: <ol> -<li>A filename or an URL +<li>A filename or URL <li>Pipe from standard input -<li>The -B option (Show bookmark file) +<li>The -B option (show bookmark file) <li>The -v option (visual startup) -<li>From a specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable +<li>A specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable </ol> <p> -<dt><h3>w3m starts with black characters on black background. How do I change +<dt><h3>w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I change this?</h3> <dd> -When compiled with colour support, w3m assumes a white background and therefore +When compiled with color support, w3m assumes a white background and therefore displays black characters. <br> -You may either change the background colour of your terminal (e.g. with the -bg +You may either change the background color of your terminal (e.g. with the -bg option in a xterm) or take these steps: <ul> <li>invoke w3m with 'w3m -M' (for monochrome), -<li>type 'o' for getting to the options screen -<li><b>Mark 'Display with colour' as ON</b> and choose an arbitrary colour. +<li>type 'o' to get to the options screen +<li><b>Mark 'Display with color' as ON</b> and choose an arbitrary color. Click on [OK]. </ul> <p> -<dt><h3>Does w3m support colours?</h3> +<dt><h3>Does w3m support colors?</h3> <dd>Yes. When you run './configure', answer the question <p> <pre> @@ -156,14 +156,14 @@ Which? </pre> <p> -with 2,3,4 or 5. +with 2, 3, 4, or 5. <p> -<dt><h3>Does w3m support monochrome display?</h3> +<dt><h3>Does w3m support monochrome displays?</h3> <dd>Yes. You may either <ol> -<li>Answer the above mentioned 'configure' question with 1, or +<li>Answer the above-mentioned 'configure' question with 1, or <li>Invoke w3m with the -M option, or -<li>Type 'o' within w3m to enter the options screen and turn off colour display +<li>Type 'o' within w3m to enter the options screen and turn off color display mode. </ol> <dt><h3>How do I shift the display?</h3> @@ -173,19 +173,19 @@ Another idea would be adjusting the xterm with the -geometry option (e.g. something like 'xterm -geometry 110x45 -bg white -name w3m -e w3m -B'). <dt><h3>How do I move from anchor to anchor?</h3> -<dd>You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves cursor to the previous anchor. +<dd>You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves the cursor to the previous anchor. <p> -<dt><h3>Netscape displays a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3> -<dd>w3m doesn't support <FONT COLOR=".."> tags. It won't be impossible to implement this, but I think it would make the document more difficult to read. +<dt><h3>Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?</h3> +<dd>w3m doesn't support the HTML COLOR=".." attribute. It wouldn't be impossible to implement this, but I think it would make documents more difficult to read. <p> -<dt><h3>How do I change the colour of anchor-/image-/form links?</h3> +<dt><h3>How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?</h3> <dd>Type 'o' within w3m to get the 'options' screen. You can change these settings there. <dt> -<dt><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why? </h3> +<dt><h3>w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?</h3> <dd><dd>Go to the 'options' screen using the "o" key. Any entry in the 'Editor' field will override the environment variable. <br> -If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR blank the field and push [OK]. +If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR, blank the field and press [OK]. <p> <dt><h3>How do I quit a search or URL text input?</h3> <dd>Clear input text using Ctrl-u and hit RETURN. @@ -208,10 +208,10 @@ <li>if it is a textarea, an editor is spawned, <li>if it is 'submit' or 'reset', well, just do it. </ul> -<dt><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than Netscape or Lynx. Why?</h3> -<dd>w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it displays the documentnot before having read the entire document. +<dt><h3>Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?</h3> +<dd>w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it doesn't start to display the document until it has finished reading it. <br> -Netscape or Lynx display the document before having read the whole page, +Most other browsers display the document before having read the whole page, and therefore seem faster. <p> <dt><h3>Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page</h3> @@ -223,20 +223,20 @@ <p> <dt><h3>How do I specify a proxy server?</h3> <dd>Set the environment variable HTTP_PROXY or use the option setting panel -("o" key). For example, if you want to use port 8000 of proxy.hogege.com, specify +("o" key). For example, if you want to use port 8000 of proxy.example.org, specify <p> <pre> - http://proxy.hogege.com:8000/ + http://proxy.example.org:8000/ </pre> <p> <dt><h3>w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.</h3> <dd>Enter w3m's option screen using the 'o' key and specify <p> <pre> - netscape %s & + firefox %s & </pre> <p> -(if you are using netscape). +(if you are using Firefox). <p> <dt><h3>How do I change the default image viewer?</h3> <dd>By default w3m uses xv to view images. If you want to change it into, let's say, 'display', add the following line to ~/.w3m/mailcap or /etc/mailcap. @@ -255,8 +255,8 @@ <dt><h3>How do I enter a URL?</h3> <dd>Type SHIFT-U <p> -<dt><h3>w3m appends a URL to the former one despite of having cleared the line -with Ctrl-u. What to do?</h3> +<dt><h3>w3m appends a URL to the former one even when I clear the line +with Ctrl-u. What should I do?</h3> <dd>Enter the <i>complete</i> adress, e.g. http://www.slashdot.org. </dd> </dl> @@ -270,15 +270,15 @@ <dl> <dt><h3>What is w3m's configuration file?</h3> <dd>It is ~/.w3m/config. -With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing values of options -that are described to be varied with the option setting panel. -Each line contains setting for one option, which is a pair of an option name +With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing the values of options +whose effects are described in the option setting panel. +Each line contains one option setting, consisting of an option name and its value with a space as a separator. <p> <dt><h3>What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?</h3> <dd>These are temporary files used by w3m when reading documents from a WWW server. They are not cache files and are usually deleted when w3m is -terminated. If there remain any temp files, please remove them by yourself. +terminated. If any temp files are left behind, please remove them yourself. <p> </dd> </dl>Title: W3M FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about w3m
General Questions, How to Get It, Required Environment
How do I pronounce "w3m"?
Why is it called "w3m"?
On which platforms does w3m work?
Where can I get more information about w3m?
Is there a mailing list for w3m?
Are there any binary distributions?
Compile and Install
Options, Commands, Usage
w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?
w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I change this?
Does w3m support colors?
Does w3m support monochrome displays?
How do I shift the display?
How do I move from anchor to anchor?
Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?
How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?
w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?
How do I quit a search or URL text input?
Questions about WWW usage
How do I fill in forms with w3m?
Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?
Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page
How do I download a linked file?
How do I specify a proxy server?
w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.
How do I change the default image viewer?
How do I enter a URL?
w3m appends a URL to the former one despite of having cleared the line with Ctrl-u. What to do?
Misc
What is w3m's configuration file?
What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?
General Questions, How to Get It, Required Environment
How do I pronounce "w3m"?
- It's "W-three-M". It doesn't rhyme with "pteranodon".
Why is it called "w3m"?
- It's an abbreviation of "WWW-wo-Miru", which is Japanese for
"See the WWW". So in English the name of this browser would be
something like "stw3".
On which platforms does w3m work?
- It runs on various versions of Unix, since version 990226 on OS/2 and since
version 990303 also on MS-Windows with Cygwin32.
More recent versions have been confirmed to run on:- SunOS 4.1.x
- HP-UX 9.x, 10.x
- Solaris 2.5.x, 2.6, 8
- Linux 2.0.1 to 3.17
- FreeBSD 2.2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 4.6
- NetBSD/macppc, m68k
- EWS4800 Rel.12.2 Rev.A
- Digital UNIX: v3.2D, v4.0D
- IRIX 5.3, IRIX 6.5
- OS/2 with emx
- Windows 9x/NT with Cygwin32 b20.1
- MS-DOS with DJGPP and WATT32 packet driver
- MacOS X Server
- MacOS X 10.1, 10.2
Where can I get more information about w3m?
- At the English w3m home page.
Is there a mailing list for w3m?
- There is a mailing list for developpers (w3m-dev-en). Please see the w3m home page for details. You may also mail your comments to the author.
Are there any binary distributions?
- So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version. Contact the author if you want to contribute binaries for other platforms.
Up to index
Compile and Install
No problem :-)Options, Commands, Usage
w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?
- w3m is a pager. Therefore it just quits when invoked without any
arguments. Possible arguments are:
- A filename or URL
- Pipe from standard input
- The -B option (show bookmark file)
- The -v option (visual startup)
- A specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable
w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I change this?
-
When compiled with color support, w3m assumes a white background and therefore
displays black characters.
You may either change the background color of your terminal (e.g. with the -bg option in a xterm) or take these steps:- invoke w3m with 'w3m -M' (for monochrome),
- type 'o' to get to the options screen
- Mark 'Display with color' as ON and choose an arbitrary color. Click on [OK].
Does w3m support colors?
- Yes. When you run './configure', answer the question
Let's do some configurations. Choose config option among the list." 1 - Baby model (no color, no menu, no mouse, no cookie, no SSL) 2 - Little model (color, menu, no mouse, no cookie, no SSL) 3 - Mouse model (color, menu, mouse, no cookie, no SSL) 4 - Cookie model (color, menu, mouse, cookie, no SSL) 5 - Monster model (with everything; you need openSSL library) 6 - Customize Which?
with 2, 3, 4, or 5.
Does w3m support monochrome displays?
- Yes. You may either
- Answer the above-mentioned 'configure' question with 1, or
- Invoke w3m with the -M option, or
- Type 'o' within w3m to enter the options screen and turn off color display mode.
How do I shift the display?
- You can shift the display by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen. You
may also use the ">"/"<" or "."/"," keys.
Another idea would be adjusting the xterm with the -geometry option (e.g. something like 'xterm -geometry 110x45 -bg white -name w3m -e w3m -B'). How do I move from anchor to anchor?
- You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves the cursor to the previous anchor.
Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?
- w3m doesn't support the HTML COLOR=".." attribute. It wouldn't be impossible to implement this, but I think it would make documents more difficult to read.
How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?
- Type 'o' within w3m to get the 'options' screen. You can change these settings there.
-
w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?
- Go to the 'options' screen using the "o" key. Any entry in the 'Editor' field will override the environment variable.
If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR, blank the field and press [OK].- Go to the 'options' screen using the "o" key. Any entry in the 'Editor' field will override the environment variable.
How do I quit a search or URL text input?
- Clear input text using Ctrl-u and hit RETURN.
Up to index
Questions about WWW usage
How do I fill in forms with w3m?
- Form input fields are displayed in red (or reverse). Move the cursor to
them and hit RETURN. Then,
- if it is a text input field, put in your text on the bottom line,
- if it is a radiobutton or checkbox, that item is selected,
- if it is a textarea, an editor is spawned,
- if it is 'submit' or 'reset', well, just do it.
Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?
- w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it doesn't start to display the document until it has finished reading it.
Most other browsers display the document before having read the whole page, and therefore seem faster. Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen page
- w3m doesn't have its own cache. Therefore, it reads the document
from the server each time it accesses it. If possible, use a cache server.
How do I download a linked file?
- Use 'a' (or 'd' with Lynx-like keybindings) or ESC RET. If you want to download an inline image, use ESC 'I'.
How do I specify a proxy server?
- Set the environment variable HTTP_PROXY or use the option setting panel
("o" key). For example, if you want to use port 8000 of proxy.example.org, specify
http://proxy.example.org:8000/ w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.
- Enter w3m's option screen using the 'o' key and specify
firefox %s &(if you are using Firefox).
How do I change the default image viewer?
- By default w3m uses xv to view images. If you want to change it into, let's say, 'display', add the following line to ~/.w3m/mailcap or /etc/mailcap.
image/*; display %s
You can specify external viewers of other file types as well:
image/*; display %s application/postscript; ghostview %s application/x-dvi; xdvi %s
How do I enter a URL?
- Type SHIFT-U
w3m appends a URL to the former one even when I clear the line with Ctrl-u. What should I do?
- Enter the complete adress, e.g. http://www.slashdot.org.
Up to index
Miscellaneous
What is w3m's configuration file?
- It is ~/.w3m/config.
With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing the values of options
whose effects are described in the option setting panel.
Each line contains one option setting, consisting of an option name
and its value with a space as a separator.
What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?
- These are temporary files used by w3m when reading documents from a
WWW server. They are not cache files and are usually deleted when w3m is
terminated. If any temp files are left behind, please remove them yourself.
Up to index
