Please add a key binding for Firefox

[WJCFerguson]

A keyboard shortcut is a key feature for many users - we are usually at the keyboard typing when we decide we want the external editor. Please implement one for Firefox.

Issue #113 was closed as fixed by removing the keyboard shortcuts. As noted in that issue, a user-editable shortcut depends upon Firefox development, but a statically defined one should still be possible.

Apologies I don't know the landscape well enough to suggest a solid candidate.

[fregante]

Apologies I don't know the landscape well enough to suggest a solid candidate.

That's the problem.

[WJCFerguson]

Between the Firefox hotkey page and the Wikipedia general shortcuts page, I see very little on ctrl+alt. How about ctrl+alt+O - (I'm thinking 'open'), or ctrl+alt+E ('edit')?

What other issues need to be considered? Other conventions or clashes?

[wosc]

If you're willing to type in a string describing the shortcut into a preferences textfield, e.g. literally Ctrl+Alt+E (which I use and like a lot for this feature ;), it is perfectly possible to customize an extension shortcut -- at least that's how https://github.com/jlebon/textern does it, and I can attest that it works just fine.

[fregante]

I didn’t consider adding the UI to the extension. Anybody here willing to send a PR to add this field to the options page? It’d have to somehow validate the shortcut (i.e. not accept random values)

Better yet, just capture the shortcut this way without having to type it:

https://github.com/s4kr4/react-input-shortcut/blob/521f0e0fe367eabb771077b13ce5b0809fdb0e42/src/InputShortcut.js#L59-L85

[josswright]

Sitting in Firefox on Linux here, I can see that "Ctrl+Alt+E" certainly isn't assigned. I'd so much rather have a shortcut that might conflict in some cases than the current state of no shortcut at all. It seems that adding a UI to alter the shortcut is a larger task, and in the meantime we have the worst of all worlds where there's no shortcut at all.

If at all possible, could I ask that we have back the 'imperfect' keybinding solution until the more complex 'perfect' UI option becomes available? (Ctrl+Alt+E seems a viable option, and even if it might conflict for some people, at least default Firefox+GhostText users will be able to benefit.)

[fregante]

Yep, the suggestion is accepted if implemented like in my previous comment. PR welcome 🙂

[josswright]

I don't quite understand. My comment was asking if we could (please!) have a fixed keybinding restored until someone has the time to write the whole editable/UI option.

[josswright]

Just following up on this again. Would it be possible to re-enable a (non-editable for now) shortcut for Firefox until someone has time to implement the UI? Ctrl+Alt+E seems to have consensus as a good choice.

Thank you!

[fregante]

Send a PR for that. Firefox did indeed add the UI now

[josswright]

Apologies -- I'm not familiar enough with writing Firefox addons to do that.

[knu]

I got Firefox 67.0 to load this extension (the latest source tree) from about:debugging#addmins to see it listed in the Manage Extension Shortcuts page, set a shortcut via the UI successfully, but the main feature of the extension did not seem to work though it looked like I was able to invoke the Toggle command by the shortcut key I selected. Is there a working build I can give a try?

[Lenbok]

@fregante PR #159 created, but I am having the same issue as @knu (Firefox 68.0.2, when running via temporary extension neither the shortcut nor button works) - is there another way to create/load the extension locally?