It's not a great editor. But I know a lot of folks just don't have the time to get comfortable with vi/vim. If that's you, and you need to be in a terminal-only situation, just use Nano. It's there. It's easy. Here are some things to make it easier. (Also, definitely grab my .nanorc and these syntax highlighting files to make your Nano experience a little less gross and bland!)
- Files
nano file.ext
opens (or creates) that fileCTRL+o Y ENTER
saves changesALT+>
switches to next file bufferALT+<
switches to previousCTRL+X
quits
- Navigation
CTRL+a
moves to beginning of lineCTRL+e
moves to end of lineCTRL+v
goes down one pageCTRL+y
goes up one pageALT+\
to beginning of fileALT+/
to the endALT+g
to jump to a lineALT+]
to jump to matching symbol (like vim's%
)ALT+a ALT+}
selects and indents that blockALT+a ALT+{
selecets and outdents that block
- Operations
ALT+a
to select or deselect a blockALT+a ALT+^
copy that block to primary (clipboard)ALT+a CTRL+k
cut to sameCTRL+k
Cut from cursor to the end of the lineCTRL+u
Uncut (paste)CTRL+w
to search for a stringALT+w
to repeat the searchALT+r
to search and replace