Vim for Word (or something like it)

Question

Are there any rich-text editors that have Vi(m) keybindings? Specifically, something like Word where I can compose a document with colors, headings, et al. but use Vi(m) bindings to move around and compose?

Solution 1

So if you have to use MS Word and want vim key bindings, there is an add on, but if you are not bound to that I would def. go for LaTeX + the vim latex suite.

Solution 2

Are you familiar with Latex?

Simply put it allows you to format your documents in plain text using tags or commands.

You then "compile" your document into the final format .pdf,.ps, etc.

Ex:

   \documentclass{article}
   \title{Cartesian closed categories and the price of eggs}
   \author{Jane Doe}
   \date{September 1994}
   \begin{document}
       \maketitle
         Hello world!
   \end{document}

This will allow you to write in vim, but still get professional non plain text output for your documents.

Solution 3

If you like Markdown or Latex, you could use the free open source Rstudio editor, with VIM-mode enabled. Export as either Word, PDF, or HTML etc.

Download Rstudio:

https://www.rstudio.com/products/RStudio/#Desktop

Read about markdown:

http://rmarkdown.rstudio.com/

Solution 4

If you wish to use vim for text editing, but want to, for example have text in different colors, bold it and such ... you can use Txtfmt plugin. It enables you, by using special characters, to "prettify" plain text files a little. They can look quite nice, and it comes handy if you're used to vim, and are, for example, writing documentation for your programs which you'll later just get in word, and make an adjustment or two, and ship off.

Solution 5

The Txtfmt plugin definitely provides the functionality you are looking for. It's a bit like having "rich text" capability for plain text in Vim.

Txtfmt (The Vim Highlighter)

Screenshots

The latest version supports 8 configurable foreground and background colors, as well as all combinations of bold, underline, italic, etc... The highlighting is token-based, but the tokens are rendered invisible by the syntax, and can be inserted with very convenient and intuitive mappings, which don't require you to remember anything: e.g., "bold-underline" could be specified with a string such as bu or ub. The version under development even supports visual maps, which will permit you to select some text and say (for example) "Make this text red, bold-italic", and have the plugin handle insertion/removal of the appropriate tokens automatically. (It's really quite simple and intuitive, however, even with the non-visual mappings.)

Although the plugin is highly configurable, the default settings are appropriate for most users, and the author is more than happy to answer any setup or usage questions...

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