Be Quicker

Google Translate has brought out a list of “Translation Browser Button” which you can drag and drop onto your browser’s Links/Bookmarks toolbar. Then, whenever you’re on a page that needs translating, you can just click one of these bookmarks, and it will automatically use Google’s translation tool to translate the page.

But, if you’re like me, and you want easy access to all the Google translation links, then you’ll want them all on your toolbar. To facilitate this, I’ve created a FireFox bookmarks file that you can easily import into FireFox, and all the links will be in your Bookmarks.

Here’s how to do it.

1 - Download the file from here: translation.html (you might have right-click and “Save Link As”, or download the zipped version - translation.zip)
2 - Save it to a location you will remember, like your desktop
3 - In FireFox, click on the following menu options: “Bookmarks” => “Organize Bookmarks…”
4 - Once FireFox has opened up the “Bookmarks Manager”, click on the following menu options: “File” => “Import…”
5 - Select “From File” and click next
6 - Browse to where you saved the file “translation.html”, select the file and click open

And there you have it. You should see a new folder called “Translate” at the bottom of your list of Bookmarks on the left. Now, whenever you’re on a page that needs translating, you can just click on “Bookmarks” => “Translate” and select the translation you need.

Personally, I’m a great “Bookmarks Toolbar” lover because it’s less tedious then going the above route. So, on the left, click the very top folder (it should be named “Bookmarks”), and then look for the “Translate” folder on the right. Try dragging the folder all the way up and into the folder named “Bookmarks Toolbar Folder”. This way it will appear on your bookmarks toolbar, within easy reach for quick translation. Take a look at the beautiful image of this in action (clicking the image will enlarge it).

Thanks to Google Operating System for pointing this out.

jEdit has a great feature where you can assign shortcuts to almost any action in the editor. And, if a plugin has been designed properly, you can assign shortcuts to most of the actions in a plugin as well. Here’s how to assign shortcuts in jEdit:

The first step is to decide on what shortcut you need. In “FireFox TAB Shortcuts” I mentioned the [CTRL]-[TAB] and [CTRL]-[SHIFT]-[TAB] shortcuts for changing tabs in FireFox. Well, lets do the same thing in jEdit.

The default shortcuts for this process are [CTRL]-[PAGE-UP] and [CTRL]-[PAGE-DOWN], but this is useful only if you use your right hand, or both hands. I use my right hand mainly for controlling my mouse, and my left hand for using shortcuts. So, [CTRL]-[TAB] is perfect for me.

1 - Click on “Utilities” - “”Global Options” and select “Shortcuts” on the left

2 - Ensure that “Built-in Commands” is selected at the top of the right hand section of the dialog box, and scroll down and click on “Go to next buffer”

3 - A dialog box should have popped up where you have to specify your shortcut. Practically any key you press will be assumed to be part of the shortcut, so if you make a mistake you will have to use your mouse to click on the “CLEAR” button on the right. Press the [CTRL] and [TAB] keys at the same time, and then click on the “OK” button

Repeat steps 1 - 3 for the shortcut [CTRL]-[SHIFT]-[TAB] for “Go to previous buffer”. Below is a screenshot showing you what this should look like now… Click on the image to see it in it’s resplendent glory…

Once you’ve downloaded jEdit, you should install a few plugins. You can do this by clicking on “Plugins” -> “Plugin Manager”, or, by pressing “F9″. This will pop up the following screen (click to enlarge):

Here is a list of my favourite plugins, and why I think you need them:

BufferTabs

Enables a set of tabs which you can place at the top, bottom or side of your screen. This is probably THE plugin to install first as it helps make working on a lot of files a lot easier.

ErrorList

This plugin is useful if you are using jEdit as a programmers text editor. For example, when editing an XML file, this plugin will show you any errors you have in the file.

JDiff Plugin

I use this very often when comparing changes between 2 files. Very helpful when I’m trying to ensure that I only add my current changes to a parameter file, without screwing up somebody else’s changes. Wait, do I edit a file that somebody else is working on? Noooo…. Never!

ProjectViewer

A very powerful plugin that can help you organise groups of files, whether they be for projects, or just something you need quick access to.

XML

This plugin, along with SideKick enable a lot of functionality which comes in use (almost without you knowing it)… Just install and be merry…

I do use a lot more plugins than this list (as you can see from my screenshot), but I think these are the KEY plugins. Do you have any recommendations and reasons for your choice? Please leave a comment below.