assumptions regarding computer competency of those who don't use certain keys for navigation (was Re: [thelist] site critique please)

rudy r937 at interlog.com
Fri Sep 21 14:26:21 CDT 2001


> Sheesh. If you've got any other 'obvious' stuff
> I oughta know, rudy, you can call me collect! 
> (I don't know your capacity, but I sure owe you a
> lot of beverage.)

thanks for the kind words, joel

interesting you bring up the age question
(i'm probably older than you anyway)

i apologize to anyone offended by the implicit suggestion
that competency and keyboard skills are correlated

what follows may apply only to PCs (never used a Mac,
and i get no end of ribbing from my son because of it)

okay, Home and End keys work as expected on web pages

so do Page Up and Page Down

Tab is quite useful in navigation

(too obvious, perhaps?)

Ctrl-a highlights everything, and Ctrl-c copies it --
best html tag stripper i can think of

other obvious stuff?  

1. customize your start bar 

every major app i use on a regular basis can be 
launched by (at most) three keystrokes:  

   ~  hit the Window key (which is between Ctrl and Alt
            on the bottom left of my keyboard) to bring
            up the start bar -- prior to this new key, i used 
            Ctrl-Esc to do the same thing
  ~ hit one of several keys to launch a frequently used app
  ~ infrequently used apps are within a folder on the start bar
           (which is why it sometimes takes three keystrokes)

to get those apps onto the start bar is as simple as creating
a shortcut in the Start Menu folder

i use single letters so that the start bar does not become too wide

oh yeah, i forgot to mention, my start bar is on the left side 
(the sanest place for it) and usually hidden -- if i need to
switch apps i use Alt-Tab

2. customize your send-to menu 

i do a lot of stuff from within Windows Explorer, and while 
hitting enter to launch a file (okay, double-clicking for all
you mouse addicts) will easily launch the app that is 
associated with that file, sometimes you'd rather send 
the file to some other app (e.g. an html file to your text 
editor instead of launching a browser session)

so right-click the file, or use that funny Context Menu key
(which is between the Window and the Ctrl keys at the bottom
right of my keyboard), and send the file to the app of your choice

again, you can customise the send-to menu by adding
shortcuts to the SendTo folder in Windows Explorer

by the way, Windows Explorer itself is launched by the 
Window-e key combo

Window-r launches the Run dialog

Window-m minimizes everything -- great "boss panic button"


that's all i can think of for the moment...


rudy








More information about the thelist mailing list