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Using Link Hints
Link hints are used for activating links with keystrokes.
The default is a link-hint mode called alphabet hints. When you type f,
Vimium identifies clickable things on the current page, and puts a label beside
each. To activate a link, you enter the characters in the label associated
with the thing you want to click.
Although hints are shown in upper case, you type them in lower case in order to
open the link in the current tab. If you type the hints in upper case, the link
will open in a new tab. This behavior is reversed then using capital F to
enter the link-hint mode.
On the options page, you can choose to use filtered hints instead of alphabet hints. With filtered hints, the labels beside each clickable thing consist of digits. However, instead of typing those digits, you can also type the link text itself. Vimium excludes links which do not match the text you have typed. And when just one link is left, it is activated.
One advantage of filtered hints over alphabet hints is that you know -- before
hitting f -- what characters to type to activate a link (whereas with
alphabet hints you need to wait to see what label is chosen for a link).
Some tips for filtered hints:
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There is always an active hint, its digits are all shaded. Hitting
<Enter>at any point activates the active hint. -
You can use
<Tab>to change the active hint. For example, if the active hint is labelled1and the link you want is labelled2, then<Tab><Enter>will activate it. -
Vimium scores links, and tries to select the best-matching link as the active hint. Hints get a higher score if the text you type matches the start of the link's text, or the start of a word, or a whole word. Usually, if you type characters at the start of the link's text, then Vimium very quickly selects the link you're after.
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There is a setting on the options page which requires you to hit
<Enter>to activate a link by typing its link text. This avoids the (common) problem of unintentionally executing Vimium commands after the link has been activated.
Sometimes, one hint marker obscures another. Use <Space> to rotate the stacking order.
If you use filtered hints, you'll have to add a modifier (e.g. <c-Space>).