\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
@setfilename elpher.info
-@settitle Elpher Manual v3.0.0
+@settitle Elpher Manual v3.2.1
@dircategory Emacs
@direntry
* Encrypted gopher connections:: How and when TLS is enabled for gopher
* Gemini support:: Support for the Gemini protocol
* Finger support:: Support for the Finger protocol
+* Local files:: Opening local files in elpher
+* About pages:: Special pages and how to reference them
* Customization:: How to customize various aspects of Elpher
* Command Index::
* News:: Changes introduced by major releases
described by the following command:
@table @asis
-@keycmd{@key{RET}\, @kbd{mouse-1}, elpher-follow-link}
+@keycmd{@key{RET}\, @key{mouse-1}, elpher-follow-link}
Follow the menu item or link at point (or selected with the mouse).
Exactly what is meant by ``follow'' depends on the kind of item selected:
@keycmd{@key{O}, elpher-root-dir}
Open the root page (empty selector) on the current host.
-@keycmd{@key{u}\, @key{-}\, @key{^}\, @kbd{mouse-3}, elpher-back}
+@keycmd{@key{u}\, @key{-}\, @key{^}\, @key{mouse-3}, elpher-back}
Return to the previous page, where ``previous'' means the page where the
page which was displayed immediately before the current page.
@end table
@node Bookmarks, Gopher character encodings, Navigation, Top
@chapter Bookmarks
-Elpher makes use of standard Emacs bookmarks. @xref{Bookmarks, , ,
-emacs, The Emacs Editor}. The following commands are perhaps the most
-useful ones:
+Elpher makes use of standard Emacs bookmarks.
+@xref{Bookmarks, , , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
+The following commands are used to add new bookmarks:
@table @asis
@keycmd{@key{a}, elpher-bookmark-link}
a name for the bookmark, defaulting to the display string associated
with the link that was followed to reach the current page.
+
@keycmd{@key{B}, elpher-open-bookmarks}
-Open a page displaying all current bookmarks. This is where you can
-delete and search bookmarks, for example.
+Visit a page displaying all elpher bookmarks.
+The behaviour of the this function depends on the customization variable
+@code{elpher-use-emacs-bookmark-menu}. If nil (the default), the
+command will visit a special elpher page listing all elpher-specific
+bookmarks. If non-nil, the command will simply open the standard Emacs
+bookmark list displaying all current bookmarks (including non-elpher
+bookmarks).
+
+@keycmd{@kbd{C-x r l}, bookmark-bmenu-list}
+This command opens the standard Emacs bookmark menu, with which bookmarks
+can be renamed, deleted or annotated.
+
@end table
On opening the bookmarks page, elpher will offer to import any legacy
of throw-away certificates, the corresponding files are deleted.
-@node Finger support, Customization, Gemini support, Top
+@node Finger support, Local files, Gemini support, Top
@chapter Finger support
Incidentally, Elpher has native support for querying finger servers.
(The precedence of the /user notation over the user@ notation reflects a
preference of the community.)
-@node Customization, Command Index, Finger support, Top
+@node Local files, About pages, Finger support, Top
+@chapter Local files
+
+Elpher supports opening local files via @samp{file:} URLs.
+
+For instance, pressing @key{g} and entering @code{file:~/document.gmi}
+will load the file named @samp{document.gmi} in your home directory,
+provided this file exists.
+
+Files opened in this way are rendered according to their name, and in
+particular their extension. The current mappings are as follows:
+
+@table @asis
+
+@item @samp{txt}
+
+Plain text documents. All local text files are assumed to be
+UTF-8-encoded.
+
+@item @samp{gemini},@samp{gmi}
+
+Gemini documents (i.e. documents of MIME type ``text/gemini''). All
+local gemini files are assumed to be UTF-8-encoded.
+
+@item @samp{html},@samp{htm}
+
+HTML documents. All local HTML files are assumed to be UTF-8-encoded.
+
+@item @samp{png},@samp{jpg},@samp{jpeg},@samp{gif},@samp{bmp},@samp{tif},@samp{tiff}
+
+Image files.
+
+@item Anything else
+A binary document, which elpher will simply offer to save somewhere
+else. (Obviously this is not useful in its own right, but there's not
+much that elpher can sensibly do with unknown binary files.)
+
+@end table
+
+Gophermap files (i.e. files containing literally the intended output of
+querying a directory selector according to RFC 1436) cannot yet rendered
+using @samp{file:}.
+
+
+@node About pages, Customization, Local files, Top
+@chapter About pages
+
+Like other browsers, elpher makes certain internally-generated pages
+such as the initial welcome page, the bookmarks page, the history
+stack and the list of visited pages pages accessible as URLs with
+the ``about:'' type.
+
+This means that these pages can be bookmarked and, more usefully,
+added to a local file to be rendered as a user-defined start page.
+
+@node Customization, Command Index, About pages, Top
@chapter Customization
Various parts of Elpher can be customized via the
text, the timeout to impose on network connections, and whether to
prompt for confirmation when switching away from TLS.
+One particularly important customization is the @code{elpher-start-page}
+variable, which holds the URL of the page displayed initially when
+elpher starts, and when @key{U} is pressed. By default this is set to
+@samp{about:welcome}, but any URL can be substituted. For example, you
+might want to create a text/gemini file named
+@samp{~/.emacs/start-page.gmi} containing useful links and set the value
+of @code{elpher-start-page} to @samp{file:~/.emacs/start-page.gmi} to have
+these links displayed at startup. Alternatively, you might prefer
+to set the value to @samp{about:bookmarks} so that the bookmarks page
+is used as the start page instead.
+
See the customization group itself for details.
@node Command Index, News, Customization, Top
This chapter documents the major changes introduced by Elpher releases.
+@section v3.2.0
+
+This version introduces several minor changes which, together, make it
+possible to set up alternative start pages configured to your liking.
+
+@subsection About pages
+
+Special elpher pages such as the welcome page (previously ``start''
+page), the bookmarks page, the browsing history stack and list of
+visited pages are now addressible via @samp{about:} URLs. For instance,
+the standard welcome page has the address @samp{about:welcome}.
+
+@subsection Local files
+
+Local files can now be opened in elpher using @samp{file:} URLs. For
+example, @kbd{g @samp{file:~/my-start.gmi}} will open
+@samp{~/my-start.gmi} as a text/gemini document. @pxref{Local files}
+for details.
+
+@subsection Customizable start pages
+
+The new customization variable @code{elpher-start-page} contains the URL
+of the document to be loaded as elpher's ``start page''. By default
+this is set to @samp{about:welcome}, but any elpher-accessible URL is
+valid. @pxref{Customization} for suggestions.
+
+@section v3.1.0
+
+@subsection Bookmarks system
+
+While Elpher bookmarks are still handled by the Emacs bookmark
+system, this release introduces the option to retain the
+original elpher bookmark page for the purpose of visiting those
+bookmarks. In v3.1.0, @key{B} visits this page (and adds it to
+the history stack, as in previous versions), which can be interacted
+with using the standard elpher key bindings.
+
+Of course you can still view the bookmarks in the Emacs bookmark
+menu, which you can access from anywhere using the default
+binding @kbd{C-x r l} (or by following the link from the Elpher bookmarks
+page). Indeed you will need to use this to rename, delete or otherwise
+edit your bookmarks.
+
+If you prefer to avoid using the Elpher bookmark page entirely, you
+use the customization variable @code{elpher-use-emacs-bookmark-menu}
+to have the @key{B} key open the Emacs bookmark menu directly, as in
+the previous release.
+
@section v3.0.0
@subsection Bookmarks system
old bookmarks file so that Elpher knows that the import is complete.
Secondly, the old Elpher bookmark menu has been removed in the new
-version. Instead, @kbd{B} brings up the menu provided by the Emacs
+version. Instead, @key{B} brings up the menu provided by the Emacs
function @code{bookmark-bmenu-list}. This has different key and mouse
bindings to Elpher's old menu, but is much more functional. Bookmarks
can be renamed, deleted in groups, and much more. (Use @kbd{C-h m} with
@subsection History
-Browsing history can now be accessed via new bindings to @kbd{s} and @kbd{S}.
+Browsing history can now be accessed via new bindings to @key{s} and @key{S}.
The former shows the current history ``stack'' (pages accessible with
-the @kbd{u} key), while the latter shows a list of all pages which have
+the @key{u} key), while the latter shows a list of all pages which have
been visited in the current session.
@subsection Socks connections
@item Simon Nicolussi
@item Noodles!
@item Jens Östlund
+@item Abhiseck Paira
@item F. Jason Park
@item Omar Polo
@item Koushk Roy