Wikipedia:Snap Links tutorial: Difference between revisions

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{{shortcut|WP:SNAP}}

{{nutshell|''Snap Links'' simply loads "lassoed" pages into tabs in Chrome or Firefox, allowing you to bring the power of your browser to many pages at a time. Subtle, but very effective.}}

'''[https://cpriest.github.io/SnapLinksPlus/#/ Snap Links]''' is a mass tab loader add-on for the [[Mozilla Firefox]] and [[Google Chrome]] browsers. It auto loads links into tabs when the user holds down the right mouse button and drags a selection rectangle over those links (an action called "lassoing"). CreateYou thecreate a rectangle, then release the right mouse button, andthen the tabsrectangle open up. Tabs are especially useful for browsingdisappears, and editingthe multipletabs Wikipediaopen pagesup.

A [[tabbed browsing|"tab"]] is a window opened within a web-browser. Each tab independently displays a web page (such as a Wikipedia article). Tabs are especially useful for browsing and editing multiple Wikipedia pages.

== Then what? ==

Well, after you have the desired web-pages displayed in tabs, you can take full advantage of your browswer's tabbing features, which let you batch browse (that is, look at)inspect or batch edit lots of pages '''''fast'''''.

In Firefox and Chrome, the [[keyboard shortcut]] {{key press|[[Control key|Ctrl]]|Tab}} is used to switch between tabs. Use {{key press|Ctrl|W}} to close the current tab as you make the switch to the next tab.

=== Tab controls in Firefox taband controlsChrome ===

These controls are built-in to ''Firefox'' and Chrome:

* '''''Rapid page viewing:'''''

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*** To skim through lots of random articles, middle-click on "Random article" multiple times

** Read or work on one

** When done, press Ctrl-F4 or{{key press|Ctrl-w|W}} to close the current tab and instantly go to the next one

** Great for skimming sets of articles, where you are checking for a missing element, or looking for a particular kind of page or element. Just keep pressing {{key press|Ctrl-F4|W}} to instantly get rid of the current tab and go onto the next one, cycling through them fast until you find one you are looking for. Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam!

* Middle-click on link - create new tab with linked page as its contents

* {{key press|Ctrl-|T}} - Create new (employ) tab

* {{key press|Ctrl-|Tab}} - Switch to next tab

* {{key press|Shift-|Ctrl-|Tab}} - Switch to previous tab

* {{key press|Ctrl-|Shift-|T}} - un-close a tab (this will even remember contents entered in text boxes like Wikipedia's text editor)

* Ctrl-(drag tab) - Clone a tab

* Ctrl-Shift-T - un-close a tab (this will even remember contents entered in text boxes like Wikipedia's text editor)

** Or go to the History menu and choose Recently Closed Tabs

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== How does ''Snap Links'' compare with ''AWB''? ==

Firefox's and Chrome's tabbing features (especially when combined with the use of ''[https://cpriest.github.io/SnapLinksPlus/#/ Snap Links]'' and [[Macro (computer science)|macro]]s) is one of the most powerful tools you can use to work on Wikipedia. It beats AWB in many operations, though AWB beats it in many others.

[[WP:AWB]] is an auto-page-loader, and a semi-automatic editor with powerful search/replace features. It works on lists of pages which you specify, opening one-at-a-time, executing your pre-specified search/replaces, and then loading each page in AWB's own edit mode so you can edit it. When you are done and save the page, AWB saves it, automatically closes it, and then opens the next page on the list in the same way. But, if you need to see what you are doing, that is, actually look at each page you are working on, AWB's view feature is rather cludgy and time-consuming. Pages are not initially loaded in view mode, so you have to click on "view" and wait each time for the server to respond, which can be very time-consuming, especially when you are working on a lot of pages and have to repeat this operation.

"Tabbing" is task-switching technology. You are basically working in windows, directly on Wikipedia pages using Wikipedia's interface. So if you need to inspect pages (that is, actually look at them), you simply open their links with ''Snap Links'' and each page is in display mode by default. YouIn firefox, you switch between pages (in subwindows called "tabs") with <code>{{key press|Ctrl-tab</code>|Tab}} or with <code>Ctlr-w</code>{{key press|Ctrl|W}} (which closes the current window as you make the switch). Once in tabs, you can switch back and forth between pages very rapidly.

In AWB, once you've processed a page, you can't go back to it. But in Firefox you can, even if you've already closed the tab! ''Snap Links'' simply loads pages into those Firefox tabs for you, allowing you to bring the power of Firefox to dozens of pages at(Restore a time. Subtle,tab butwith very{{key effectivepress|Ctrl|Shift|T}}).

==Notes==