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TabsLock Puts Your Browser One Keystroke Away
Posted by Adam Pash at 6:00 AM on September 6, 2008
Windows only: Free system tray utility TabsLock launches and focuses a new tab in Google Chrome (and Firefox... keep reading) at the press of your Caps Lock key to give you, as the download page aptly puts it, "low-thought, global keyboard access to web search and navigation." Considering how much time we spend on the web these days, a quick, easy shortcut for going straight to your browser (that's also just off the home row) makes a lot of sense. Still want to use Caps Lock from time to time? Shift+Caps Lock toggles regular Caps Lock behaviour. Like the idea behind TabsLock but wish it worked for Firefox? Keep reading to download my own homespun solution for Firefox users.
I know Chrome is all the rage right now with all its shiny newness, but—call me old-fashioned—my undying love for Firefox hasn't yet wavered. Since the functionality behind TabsLock is relatively trivial to implement, I decided to roll a quick alternative. If you don't want to hear any of the details, go ahead and download TabsLock Firefox (alternate download link) and enjoy.
Still here? Okay, let's take a quick look at how our old friend AutoHotkey came to the rescue yet again. Here's the meat of the very simple, lightweight script (you can easily copy and paste the source minus the first three lines into your existing AHK script if you prefer that to running the system tray app).
#SingleInstance force
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
Capslock::
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
IfWinExist, Mozilla Firefox
{
WinActivate
WinWaitActive
Send, ^t
}
else
Run %programfiles%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
return
+Capslock::Capslock
In a nutshell, when you hit Caps Lock, the script looks to see if you have any windows open with "Mozilla Firefox" in the title (all Firefox windows do by default in Windows). If a Firefox window already exists, TabsLock Firefox activates that window and then opens a new tab with Ctrl+T; if not, TabsLock Firefox just opens a new Firefox window altogether. Finally, the last line of the script allows you to toggle your normal Caps Lock operation when you need it by pressing Shift+Caps Lock (just like TabsLock for Chrome).
If you like this idea but have a completely different program you'd like to use it with, just edit the script to match the application you want. And if Chrome has won you over, follow the link below to grab the inspired original TabsLock. If none of this sounds good to you but you wish you did have a better use for your Caps Lock key, check out other ways you can use AutoHokey to put your Caps Lock key to good use.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
v.dog
Posted 7:22 AM 6/9/08
I have big fingers, and keep hitting caps lock accidentally. I'm using KeyTweak to map it to something harmless.
As for quick launching, Launchy is fast enough.
v.dog
Rhywun
Posted 7:13 AM 6/9/08
I was beat too.
Rhywun
Edd2944
Posted 7:08 AM 6/9/08
@Rhywun: beat me by 4 minutes
Edd2944
Rhywun
Posted 7:03 AM 6/9/08
I wonder why they're using a Mac keyboard to advertise a Windows-only program...
Rhywun
Ethan Halko!
Posted 6:59 AM 6/9/08
A Windows only app with a photo of an Apple keyboard?
I do use capslock and I find it incredibly easy to move my mouse to the dock and click Firefox.
Ethan Halko!
Gibles
Posted 6:32 AM 6/9/08
I put my CapsLock key to good use using autohotkey. I turned it into a toggle mute button. Too bad my CapsLocks key lights up when it's on. Once I set it to toggle mute, the bright green light which flickered off and on for 24 hours a day, was just too annoying.
Gibles
Gibles
Posted 6:31 AM 6/9/08
I put my CapsLock key to good use using autohotkey. I turned it into a toggle mute button. Too bad my CapsLocks key lights up when it's on. Once I set it to toggel mute, the bright green light which flickered off and on for 24 hours a day, was just too anoying.
Gibles
qrxx
Posted 6:19 AM 6/9/08
Am I the only person who still uses caps lock? Taking it away or even changing it to Shift-Caps Lock would be an annoyance for me.
qrxx
Phoshi
Posted 6:15 AM 6/9/08
:/
I took the firefox text out of my titlebar.
ahk can't check for processes?
Phoshi
aeronaut
Posted 6:06 AM 6/9/08
My MS ergonomic keyboard already has a web button. Could be useful on the laptop, though.
aeronaut
rkoz24
Posted 7:48 AM 6/9/08
a great way to speed up opening a browser is to set about:blank as you homepage, this is my capslock script, it still opens a tab when you have firefox open and its much more compact
+Capslock::Capslock
CapsLock::Run firefox about:blank
rkoz24
brownie
Posted 7:48 AM 6/9/08
@qrxx: Ditto. But I like this idea. Why not reverse it and use shift-capslock as the browser hotkey?
Or perhaps scroll lock, if you really want the one key approach... I'm pretty sure no one uses scroll lock anymore.
brownie
DillonK
Posted 7:47 AM 6/9/08
I use Vista's built-in Quick Launch hotkeys. Windows + a number (1-9) opens the quick launch shortcut that's in that number's position. I title the shortcuts in the quick launch folder with numbers in front of them according to which hotkey I want to assign that shortcut. That way, the order doesn't change when I install something and it adds a quick launch icon.
I put Firefox in the first position, so when I press Windows + 1, voila! No AutoHotkey, no replacing the caps lock, just a simple, stable built-in Vista feature and I've got a great shortcut to my favorite app. I use this technique for all of my most frequently used applications.
DillonK
ninjabob7
Posted 7:33 AM 6/9/08
So how do we hack up a Linux version of this? I haven't been able to find anything close to AHK for Linux, but surely something exists that can do this?
ninjabob7
aestheticirony
Posted 8:03 AM 6/9/08
This wouldn't work for me, because I use my caps lock key to make capital letters. I know it seems really inconvenient, but it was just how I learned, and now I just do it entirely without thinking. In fact, I only use the shift key to make symbols.
Reading this article, I was thinking, "but don't people USE the caps key?" I guess I have my answer...
aestheticirony
taziar
Posted 7:58 AM 6/9/08
@everyone wondering about the keyboard
Sony Vaios use the same keyboard.
taziar
HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak
Posted 8:50 AM 6/9/08
I'm not entirely sure why this is necessary in Firefox... Ctrl + Tab does the trick for me.
HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak
aidan.cage
Posted 8:32 AM 6/9/08
Is there a hotkey combo to flip to the homepage in firefox? I'd really like to know it, because I more often want to go home (where I have Speed Dial), then I want to launch a new tab.
Also, I really want to learn more about AHK, so I will have to do some reading on it. I'd like to try the mute toggle for the Caps Lock key..
aidan.cage
Braffe
Posted 9:05 AM 6/9/08
There's been a good many programs that utilize the normally unused caps lock key. I'd use them, but I use the caps lock a lot (I work in drafting so text that I type is all caps, which can be annoying when im IM'n also, people keep thinking im yelling) Looks like a neat addon for a laptop though.
Braffe
getjustin
Posted 9:34 AM 6/9/08
Great except I've pryed the CAPS LOCK button off my keyboard. Still might be able to get my pinky in there though....
getjustin
strabes
Posted 9:31 AM 6/9/08
Ingenious. They found a way to actually make the caps lock key MORE annoying than it already is.
strabes
Mewgia
Posted 9:25 AM 6/9/08
Looks interesting but I bet it would suck for games...I accidentally hit the caps lock key all the time when I go to crouch in FPSs, so my game would minimize every 3 minutes while firefox poped up...
Mewgia
Bryan Price
Posted 9:20 AM 6/9/08
My shift lock key currently acts as a regular shift key. Looks like I need to change that back, because I'm running the program and it does absolutely nothing when I hit it. And after going through the control panel, I must have changed it in the registry. Now to google that to hack it back! Sheesh! :S
Bryan Price
dotyoureyes
Posted 10:33 AM 6/9/08
I also use my caps lock key... so I mapped this to Shift-Capslock instead.
Easy 'nuf!
Now all I need is a way to use the OmniBar as a program launcher. Hmmm...
dotyoureyes
witeowl
Posted 9:54 AM 6/9/08
I'm too lazy to use my keyboard to open my browser. Using GyroTools (sorry non Gyration users), all I have to do is press and hold my middle mouse button to open or hide Maxthon. Life is good.
Nonetheless, good idea to map my capslock key to something else with AutoHotKey. Don't know what, yet, but it'll come to me...
witeowl
johnsmith1234
Posted 10:54 AM 6/9/08
@strabes: It still beats the instant death suffered by accidental quickplay presses on HP computers
johnsmith1234
anaphora
Posted 10:42 AM 6/9/08
@Phoshi: You can use "IfWinExist ahk_class MozillaUIWindowClass" instead. But if you also use Thunderbird, Autohotkey won't distinguish between the two.
anaphora
qrxx
Posted 12:38 PM 6/9/08
@brownie: Yes, i like that idea. No one ever used scroll lock.
qrxx
malnourish
Posted 1:38 PM 6/9/08
@aidan.cage:
I believe that, in the options, you can set a new tab to open your home page, which would do this for you.
malnourish
garbanzo-bean
Posted 3:02 PM 6/9/08
just get HoeKey, the oddly-named but otherwise fantastic hotkey utility. it uses less memory than any other app you will ever run (180K on my machine right now) and lets you do anything with hotkeys, including sending windows api messages to apps, giving any app global hotkeys if you can figure out what messages it uses. oh, and it can do what is described in the article too.
garbanzo-bean
Busybyeski
Posted 2:53 PM 6/9/08
@johnsmith1234: MAN. I hate that so much. So so much.
Isn't there something I can disable on startup that will stop the quick play buttons?
They take like 2 minutes of your time to load something that I've never ever used and never ever will.
Or if I can find their keyboard raw value thingies, I can remap them to do nothing also. I would like that a lot.
Busybyeski
P_Smith
Posted 3:24 PM 6/9/08
Wow, use up an entire button for launching one application.
Here's a better way: DeskMenu, part of the Windows Power Toys package.
[www.math.vanderbilt.edu]
[www.math.vanderbilt.edu]
Add it to your startup menu and an icon is put into your tray, allowing you to access any icon on the desktop without minimizing open applications nor having to go into "Start" to run programs.
There was also a better program called Desker 95, but unfortunately it only works on W95 and W98 (probably related to NT operating systems).
[www.fortunecity.com]
And by the way, both are freeware.
P_Smith
Sri
Posted 4:16 PM 6/9/08
I wrote a post on how to set custom keyboard shortcuts for switching tabs, closing tabs etc. in Chrome.
Link: www.howtotuts.com/2008/09/05/how-to-set-keyboard-shortcuts-in-chrome/
Sri
jeroentje
Posted 12:11 AM 7/9/08
windows only and a macbook keyboard ^^
jeroentje
celcinc
Posted 4:12 AM 7/9/08
No can do. Not that I need Caps Lock so much, but Shift+Caps = toggle IME (Japanese-English), a keyboard shortcut I just can't part with. Too bad...
celcinc
limitedmage
Posted 9:03 AM 7/9/08
I actually use the Caps Lock key, but this script seemed interesting. I modified it to use the Applications key (which I NEVER use -- ever).
limitedmage
gordon.thompson
Posted 6:39 PM 6/9/08
Why would anybody still use the caps-lock key other than to troll? I can't think of the last time I wrote everything in caps..
gordon.thompson
JadeEmperor
Posted 12:20 AM 8/9/08
there's a nifty option in windows that allows you to launch any application, not just firefox, and it's called QuickLaunch.
i put my frequently used apps there so that they're all a click away.
JadeEmperor
bobbo33
Posted 2:01 AM 8/9/08
@johnsmith1234: Just google "disable hp quickplay", there are several good suggestions that disable the quickplay software.
Other keys can steal application focus too (like the win key), so here's what I did to disable those:
[www.autohotkey.com]
(useful for kids games, too)
bobbo33
OzTardis
Posted 9:27 AM 8/9/08
@aidan.cage: Alt+Home gets to your home page in FF. All the standard keyboard shortcuts are listed at [support.mozilla.com]
OzTardis
meddigo
Posted 7:22 PM 8/9/08
Is it REALLY that hard to just hit Ctrl+T to open a new tab?
meddigo
aidan.cage
Posted 7:20 AM 9/9/08
@OzTardis: THANKS!
aidan.cage