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<title>W3M FAQ</title>
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<h1 align="center">
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about w3m
</h1>
<p align="right">
Akinori Ito<br>
aito@fw.ipsj.or.jp<br>
Corrected by Tom Berger <tom.be@gmx.net>
</p>
<h2 id="index">
<u>
Index
</u>
</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="#general">
<b>
General Questions, How to Get It, Required Environment
</b>
</a>
<ul>
<li>
<b>
How do I pronounce <q>w3m</q>?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Why is it called <q>w3m</q>?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
On which platforms does w3m work?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Where can I get more information about w3m?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Is there a mailing list for w3m?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Are there any binary distributions?
</b>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#install">
<b>
Compile and Install
</b>
</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#command">
<b>
Options, Commands, Usage
</b>
</a>
<ul>
<li>
<b>
w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do
I change this?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Does w3m support colors?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Does w3m support monochrome displays?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I shift the display?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I move from anchor to anchor?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I quit a search or URL text input?
</b>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#www">
<b>
Questions about WWW usage
</b>
</a>
<ul>
<li>
<b>
How do I fill in forms with w3m?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen
page.
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I download a linked file?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I specify a proxy server?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I change the default image viewer?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
How do I enter a URL?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
w3m appends a URL to the former one despite of having cleared
the line with Ctrl-u. What to do?
</b>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#other">
<b>
Misc
</b>
</a>
<ul>
<li>
<b>
What is w3m's configuration file?
</b>
</li>
<li>
<b>
What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?
</b>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="general">
<u>
General Questions, How to Get It, Required Environment
</u>
</h2>
<dl>
<dt>
<b>
How do I pronounce <q>w3m</q>?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
It's <q>W-three-M</q>. It doesn't rhyme with <q>pteranodon</q>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Why is it called <q>w3m</q>?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
It's an abbreviation of <q>WWW-wo-Miru</q>, which is Japanese
for <q>See the WWW</q>. So in English the name of this browser
would be something like <q>stw3</q>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
On which platforms does w3m work?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
It runs on various versions of Unix, since version 990226 on OS/2
and since version 990303 also on MS-Windows with Cygwin32.
</p>
<p>
More recent versions have been confirmed to run on:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
SunOS 4.1.x
</li>
<li>
HP-UX 9.x, 10.x
</li>
<li>
Solaris 2.5.x, 2.6, 8
</li>
<li>
Linux 2.0.1 to 3.17
</li>
<li>
FreeBSD 2.2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 4.6
</li>
<li>
NetBSD/macppc, m68k
</li>
<li>
EWS4800 Rel.12.2 Rev.A
</li>
<li>
Digital UNIX: v3.2D, v4.0D
</li>
<li>
IRIX 5.3, IRIX 6.5
</li>
<li>
OS/2 with emx
</li>
<li>
Windows 9x/NT with Cygwin32 b20.1
</li>
<li>
MS-DOS with DJGPP and WATT32 packet driver
</li>
<li>
MacOS X Server
</li>
<li>
MacOS X 10.1, 10.2
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Where can I get more information about w3m?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
At the
<a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html">English w3m
home page</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Is there a mailing list for w3m?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
There is a mailing list for developers (w3m-dev-en). Please see
the <a href="http://w3m.sourceforge.net/index.en.html">w3m home
page</a> for details. You may also mail your comments to
<a href="mailto:aito@fw.ipsj.or.jp">the author</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Are there any binary distributions?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
So far there are only binaries for the win/cygnus32 version.
<!--
You can get them from
<a href="http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/w3m/">here</a>.
!-->
Contact <a href="mailto:aito@fw.ipsj.or.jp">the author</a> if you
want to contribute binaries for other platforms.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p align="right">
<i>
Up to <a href="#index">index</a>
</i>
</p>
<h2 id="install">
<u>
Compile and Install
</u>
</h2>
<p>
No problem :-)
</p>
<h2 id="command">
<u>
Options, Commands, Usage
</u>
</h2>
<dl>
<dt>
<b>
w3m quits if started without parameters. What's wrong?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
w3m is a <b>pager</b>. Therefore it just quits when invoked
without any arguments. Possible arguments are:
</p>
<ol>
<li>
A filename or URL
</li>
<li>
Pipe from standard input
</li>
<li>
The -B option (show bookmark file)
</li>
<li>
The -v option (visual startup)
</li>
<li>
A specified HTTP_HOME or WWW_HOME variable
</li>
</ol>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
w3m starts with black characters on a black background. How do I
change this?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
When compiled with color support, w3m assumes a white background
and therefore displays black characters.
</p>
<p>
You may either change the background color of your terminal
(e.g. with the -bg option in a xterm) or take these steps:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
invoke w3m with <q>w3m -M</q> (for monochrome),
</li>
<li>
type <q>o</q> to get to the options screen
</li>
<li>
<b>Mark <q>Display with color</q> as ON</b> and choose an
arbitrary color.
</li>
<li>
Click on [OK].
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Does w3m support colors?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Yes. When you run <q>./configure</q>, answer the question
</p>
<pre>
Let's do some configurations. Choose config option among the list.
1 - Baby model (no color, no menu, no mouse, no cookie, no SSL)
2 - Little model (color, menu, no mouse, no cookie, no SSL)
3 - Mouse model (color, menu, mouse, no cookie, no SSL)
4 - Cookie model (color, menu, mouse, cookie, no SSL)
5 - Monster model (with everything; you need openSSL library)
6 - Customize
Which?
</pre>
<p>
with 2, 3, 4, or 5.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Does w3m support monochrome displays?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Yes. You may either
</p>
<ol>
<li>
Answer the above-mentioned <q>configure</q> question with 1,
or
</li>
<li>
Invoke w3m with the -M option, or
</li>
<li>
Type <q>o</q> within w3m to enter the options screen and turn
off color display mode.
</li>
</ol>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I shift the display?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
You can shift the display by moving the cursor to the edge of
the screen. You may also use the <q>></q>/<q><</q> or
<q>.</q>/<q>,</q> keys.
</p>
<p>
Another idea would be adjusting the xterm with the -geometry
option (e.g. something like <q>xterm -geometry 110x45 -bg white
-name w3m -e w3m -B</q>).
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I move from anchor to anchor?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
You can move to the next anchor using TAB. ESC TAB moves the
cursor to the previous anchor.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Graphical browsers display a word red, but w3m doesn't. Why?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
w3m doesn't support the HTML COLOR="..." attribute. It wouldn't
be impossible to implement this, but I think it would make
documents more difficult to read.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I change the color of anchor/image/form links?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Type <q>o</q> within w3m to get the <q>options</q> screen. You
can change these settings there.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
w3m doesn't seem to use the variable EDITOR. Why?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Go to the <q>options</q> screen using the <q>o</q> key. Any
entry in the <q>Editor</q> field will override the environment
variable.
</p>
<p>
If you want to use the editor specified by EDITOR, blank the
field and press [OK].
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I quit a search or URL text input?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Clear input text using Ctrl-u and hit RETURN.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p align="right">
<i>
Up to <a href="#index">index</a>
</i>
</p>
<h2 id="www">
<u>
Questions about WWW usage
</u>
</h2>
<dl>
<dt>
<b>
How do I fill in forms with w3m?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Form input fields are displayed in red (or reverse). Move the
cursor to them and hit RETURN. Then,
</p>
<ul>
<li>
if it is a text input field, put in your text on the bottom
line,
</li>
<li>
if it is a radiobutton or checkbox, that item is selected,
</li>
<li>
if it is a textarea, an editor is spawned,
</li>
<li>
if it is <q>submit</q> or <q>reset</q>, well, just do it.
</li>
</ul>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Seems like w3m is slower than some other browsers. Why?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
w3m renders a HTML document in two passes. Therefore it doesn't
start to display the document until it has finished reading it.
</p>
<p>
Most other browsers display the document before having read the
whole page, and therefore seem faster.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
Loading time doesn't decrease when loading a previously seen
page.
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
w3m doesn't have its own cache. Therefore, it reads the document
from the server each time it accesses it. If possible, use a
cache server.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I download a linked file?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Use <q>a</q> (or <q>d</q> with Lynx-like keybindings) or ESC RET.
If you want to download an inline image, use ESC <q>I</q>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I specify a proxy server?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Set the environment variables HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, GOPHER_PROXY and FTP_PROXY, or use the option
setting panel (<q>o</q> key). For example, if you want to use
port 8000 of proxy.example.org, specify
</p>
<pre>
http://proxy.example.org:8000/
</pre>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
w3m freezes when I invoke an external browser.
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Enter w3m's option screen using the <q>o</q> key and specify
</p>
<pre>
firefox %s &
</pre>
<p>
(if you are using Firefox). Note that %s is replaced with the URL when invoking.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I change the default image viewer?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
By default w3m uses xv to view images. If you want to change it
into, let's say, <q>display</q>, add the following line to
~/.w3m/mailcap or /etc/mailcap.
</p>
<pre>
image/*; display %s
</pre>
<p>
You can specify external viewers of other file types as well:
</p>
<pre>
image/*; display %s
application/postscript; ghostview %s
application/x-dvi; xdvi %s
</pre>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
How do I enter a URL?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Type SHIFT-U
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
w3m appends a URL to the former one even when I clear the line
with Ctrl-u. What should I do?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Enter the <i>complete</i> adress, e.g. http://www.slashdot.org.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p align="right">
<i>
Up to <a href="#index">index</a>
</i>
</p>
<h2 id="other">
<u>
Miscellaneous
</u>
</h2>
<dl>
<dt>
<b>
What is w3m's configuration file?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
It is ~/.w3m/config.
</p>
<p>
With this file, you can adjust w3m's behavior by changing the
values of options whose effects are described in the option
setting panel. Each line contains one option setting, consisting
of an option name and its value with a space as a separator.
</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<b>
What are these w3mxxxx files in my ~/.w3m directory for?
</b>
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
These are temporary files used by w3m when reading documents
from a WWW server. They are not cache files and are usually
deleted when w3m is terminated. If any temp files are left
behind, please remove them yourself.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p align="right">
<i>
Up to <a href="#index">index</a>
</i>
</p>
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