X-Git-Url: https://thelambdalab.xyz/gitweb/index.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.md;h=e3f77633f27ca3b3702c9ddb7b028091123c53f8;hb=e5741755773601fd1bd02303a1acc7c74418b00a;hp=7998055cf3b664ee568004db150740ba6f24f51e;hpb=e0e6d24fd9f7c1a62364fdd82be207ffbb98589f;p=elpher.git diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 7998055..e3f7763 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,9 +1,76 @@ -# elopher +# Elpher -Simple gopher client for emacs. +Elpher aims to provide a full-featured gopher client for GNU Emacs. + +It supports: +- simple keyboard and mouse-driven browsing, including out-of-the-box + compatibility with evil-mode, +- caching of visited sites, +- clean and configurable visualization of Gopher directories, +- direct visualisation of image files, +- jumping directly to links by name (with autocompletion), +- clickable web and gopher links in plain text. + +Keep the non-web internet alive! + +## Installation + +Installation instructions will be added soon. + +## Usage + +Once installed, use `M-x elpher` to launch the browser. This will +open a start page which documents the default key bindings and +provides some links to help kick start your exploration of gopherspace. + +To customize the various faces Elpher uses, the start page +and a few other odds and ends, simply use `M-x customize-group` +and enter "elpher" at the group prompt. + +## History and Caching + +This is an aspect of Elpher that perhaps requires separate explanation. + +Every item you visit with Elpher is modeled as a "node" in a tree. +For instance, a gopher directory represents a single node. When +you open such a directory, Elpher creates nodes for every entry +in that directory and makes these children of the original directory node: + + X <- current directory node + | + ------- + | | | + o o o <- nodes representing entries in directory + +If one of those entries is itself a directory and you click on it, +Elpher marks that node the current node, and extends the tree as follows: + + o <- original directory node + | + ------- + | | | + o o X <- current directory node (marked with X) + | + --------- + | | | | | + o o o o o <- nodes representing entries in new directory + +Pressing the 'u' key (introduced on page which opens when elopher starts) +always moves to the page representing "parent" node, whatever that is. + +Once a node is visited, its "contents" (i.e. whatever is retrieved +from the gopher server) are recorded with the corresponding node. The +cursor position (point) is also stored. If the node is visited again, +the cached contents are displayed and the cursor returns to its +previous position. This makes navigating amongst different documents +referenced from within the same directory very snappy. + +This hierarchy is also maintained when gopher URLs are followed from plain +text documents, and when directories are retrieved explicitly using the 'g' +key. ## Licence -Elopher is free software and is distributed under the terms of version +Elpher is free software and is distributed under the terms of version 3 the GNU General Public License, which can be found in the file named COPYING.