Vim is beautiful (on the inside). It deserves some beautiful reference material that actually helps you learn & use it! Read more
Vim is beautiful (on the inside). It deserves some beautiful reference material that actually helps you learn & use it!
About this project
Note: For international shipping and other questions, please scroll to the FAQ at the bottom. Thank you!
vim is a beautiful tool.
Unfortunately, it is about as user-friendly as a radioactive crocodile.
Having a cheat-sheet for a tool with such a complex interface is natural. However, existing vim cheat-sheets are about as pretty as vim itself. They represent real knowledge and effort on the part of the creators, but, to use a term from Donald Norman's The Design of Everyday Things, no existing cheat-sheet for vim affords being used seamlessly. For example, it may seem intuitive to organize a vim cheat-sheet using a keyboard diagram, but think about this: When's the last time you were knee-deep in a project and suddenly pondered, "I wonder what the 'q' key does?"
Okay, okay. So maybe I've done that a few times. (It starts macro recording, by the way). The point is, imagine how cool it would be to have a goal-oriented cheat-sheet for vim, carefully crafted so you can reference it at a glance, visually organized to solidify its interface concepts every time you look. Also, a totally sweet poster that you can hang on your wall and mystify coworkers!
How will the money be used?
~$700: First printing run from UPrinting.com, 39"x27", on 100 lb. matte paper
~$300: Packing & shipping supplies; shipping costs
If funding goes really well, I'll continue to print and sell the posters on a different venue, and work on new cheat-sheets for other stuff as well! I already have ideas and notes for another "advanced" vim cheat-sheet, another specific to vimscript, and a few for various unix tools like readline, bash, and sed.
FAQ
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Huzzah!
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Anywhere the USPS will go, I will ship there for free. If you want, add up to $10 for international shipping to cover the difference. For example, if you are in Australia and want the $25 reward, you could pledge $35 and select that reward to account for shipping.
If you're bored and feel like calculating the exact shipping amount, you can use the USPS postal calculator: http://postcalc.usps.com/ and select "Large Package" in the lower left, with a weight of 0.62 Lbs., and "Nonrectangular" for the dimensions, listing 30" for length, 2.5" for height & width, and 7.9" for girth.
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The poster is 39" x 27", or "movie poster"-sized (but in landscape orientation instead of portrait).
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The digital reward version of the cheat-sheet, also referred to as the "Megabonus Digital Deluxe Happy Blue Sky Vim Time" version, will include the following:
- A high-res letter-sized (8.5" x 11") PNG (for USers)
- A high-res A3-sized (297mm x 420mm) PNG (for people from sane countries)
- A high-res movie poster-sized (27" x 39") PNG
Note that I listed the numerical sizes in portrait format, but the files will be in landscape orientation.
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All sizes will have a subtle watermark, or note in the corner, or some other way to distinguish "unofficial" printings from "official" ones. I'm not sure what I'll go with yet because I'm not sure what will be the most functional without taking away from the poster's readability or aesthetics. If you have ideas about what you'd like to see, let me know!
The letter and A3 sizes will have the same information arranged differently, to improve readability at smaller sizes.
The movie poster size will be identical except for the watermark/note/etc.
Rewards
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Pledge $10 or more
134 backers
A nifty high-resolution image of the poster that you can print out for personal use. Sweet!
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $25 or more
268 backers
A bona fide copy of the cheat-sheet printed on 100 lb. matte paper. Please keep out of reach of emacs users, who may burst into flames upon physical contact.
Includes high-res image from the $10 reward.
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $50 or more
41 backers
Two copies of the cheat-sheet, plus your name in the credits listed in the corner of the cheat-sheet. The names will be printed pretty small to keep everything else clear, but they will be there! Includes high-res image from the $10 reward.
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $100 or more
12 backers
5 copies of the cheat-sheet (BONUS!), plus a unique feedback opportunity. I'll solicit feedback from you about each revision of the poster, and carefully consider your advice as I move forward. Maybe I'm missing something, or the design could be improved by X and Y. There are no guarantees, here: I have strong feelings about the "right way" to make this poster, so I reserve the right to implement 0% of all offered advice. However, I do guarantee that I will listen to you in earnest before deciding what to do. Includes your name in the credits from the $50 reward, and high-res image from the $10 reward.
Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $250 or more
0 backers
5 copies of the poster, including the feedback opportunity described in the $100 reward, and one additional poster on special material (canvas, wall sticker, static window cling, or 14 pt. cardstock) with a personalized thank-you message on it, custom-tweaked to reflect any of your feedback that wasn't used in the final product (within reason). Includes your name in the credits from the $50 reward, and high-res image from the $10 reward.
Estimated delivery:
Funding period
- (14 days)