Vim keybindings on a 60% keyboard
I’m using a 60% keyboard—the WASD
VP3.
The built-in default mappings use Fn + ijkl as cursor keys.
Fn + i: up
Fn + k: down
Fn + j: left
Fn + l: right
But I prefer vim-like mappings:
Fn + k: up
Fn + j: down
Fn + h: left
Fn + l: right
Thankfully, the VP3 has 3 user-programmable layers—accessed by Fn +
{<,>,?}
. So I programmed the first of these layers to use the vim movement
bindings. (I also then reprogrammed Fn + i to represent Home, which previously
represented by Fn + h, would be lost in the new bindings otherwise.)
Steps
Here’s a link to the keyboard
manuals
and, as an example, the steps I followed to program Fn + j to represent the
down cursor key instead of the original left cursor key. You should repeat
these steps for each of the keys.
- Optionally reset all your previous programming by pressing Right Alt + Left
Alt. Wait until the left LED beneath the spacebar stops blinking.
- Press Fn + < to select layer 1. The left LED lights up blue.
- Press Fn + Right Ctrl to enter programming mode. The right LED lights up
blue.
- Press Fn + j (this is the combination we want to program).
- Press Fn + k (this is the combination for the original down cursor key).
- Press Pn to end programming of Fn + j.
- Press Fn + Right Ctrl to exit programming mode. The right LED turns off.
To check whether the steps worked, switch to layer 1 (Fn + <), if you aren’t
already in layer 1, then try to use Fn + j to navigate down.
I was unsure at the start of the process whether the VP3 keyboard would
support programming combinations of keys (e.g. Fn + j), or if it would only
support programming a single key (e.g. j). Luckily, it turned out that it
supports the former.
Finally, by default, with switch 3 off the single Fn key in the bottom row
is difficult to use together with hjkl. Turning on switch 3, located on the
bottom side of the keyboard, converts Caps Lock to an additional Fn key.
Less finger-twisting this way.
This way, I can comfortably use Caps Lock (now a Fn alias) + hjkl for
cursor movement.