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Debugging vim keymappings

This is so useful, it needs to be at the top. If you are having unexpected behavior, wondering why a particular key works the way it does, use: :map [keycombo] (e.g. :map <C->) to see what the key is mapped to. For bonus points, you can see where the mapping was set by using :verbose map [keycombo]. If you omit the key combo, you'll get a list of all the maps. You can do the same thing with nmap, imap, vmap, etc.

FAQ

• Q: NERDTree project explorer doesn't persist on screen after the first :e, must explicitly turn it on with cmd+N. Which setting could make it stay in place by default?
• A: You should start vim with "mvim" not "mvim /path" - so your first screen will be blank. Then use ,t to get to your file or use Cmd-Shift-N to open the NerdTREE. If you want your nerdtree to load on startup along with a main pane, try: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3788903/how-to-start-vim-with-nerd-tree-opened-automatically

Full List of Vim Plugins

Included vim plugins

Navigation

• NERDTree - everyone's favorite tree browser
• NERDTree-tabs - makes NERDTree play nice with MacVim tabs so that it's on every tab
• ShowMarks - creates a visual gutter to the left of the number column showing you your marks
• EasyMotion - hit , (forward) or , (back) and watch the magic happen. Just type the letters and jump directly to your target - in the provided vimrc the keys are optimized for home row mostly. Using @skwp modified EasyMotion which uses vimperator-style two character targets.
• TagBar - hit ,T to see a list of methods in a class (uses ctags)
• CtrlP - ,t to find a file
• Visual-star-search - make the * (star) search in visual mode behave like expected: searching for the whole selection instead of just the word under the cursor.

Git

• fugitive - "a git wrapper so awesome, it should be illegal...". Try Gstatus and hit - to toggle files. Git d to see a diff. Learn more: http://vimcasts.org/blog/2011/05/the-fugitive-series/
• gitv - use :gitv for a better git log browser
• GitGrep - much better than the grep provided with fugitive; use :GitGrep or hit K to grep current word

Colors

• AnsiEsc - inteprets ansi color codes inside log files. great for looking at Rails logs
• solarized - a color scheme scientifically calibrated for awesomeness (including skwp mods for ShowMarks)
• Powerline - beautiful vim status bar. Requires patched fonts (installed from fonts/ directory)

Coding

• tComment - gcc to comment a line, gcp to comment blocks, nuff said
• rails.vim - syntax highlighting, gf (goto file) enhancements, and lots more. should be required for any rails dev
• rake.vim - like rails.vim but for non-rails projects. makes :Rtags and other commands just work
• ruby.vim - lots of general enhancements for ruby dev
• necomplcache - intelligent and fast complete as you type, and added Command-Space to select a completion (same as Ctrl-N)
• snipMate - offers textmate-like snippet expansion + scrooloose-snippets . try hitting TAB after typing a snippet
• jasmine.vim - support for jasmine javascript unit testing, including snippets for it, before, etc..
• vim-javascript-syntax, vim-jquery - better highlighting
• TagHighlight - highlights class names and method names
• vim-coffeescript - support for coffeescript, highlighting
• vim-stylus - support for stylus css language
• vim-bundler - work with bundled gems
• vim-ruby-debugger - visual IDE-style debugger. Use :help ruby-debugger or :Rdebugger and ,dn to step

TextObjects

The things in this section provide new "objects" to work with your standard verbs such as yank/delete/change/=(codeformat), etc

• textobj-rubyblock - ruby blocks become vim textobjects denoted with r. try var/vir to select a ruby block, dar/dir for delete car/cir for change, =ar/=ir for formatting, etc
• vim-indentobject - manipulate chunks of code by indentation level (great for yaml) use vai/vii to select around an indent block, same as above applies
• argtextobj - manipulation of function arguments as an "a" object, so vaa/via, caa/cia, daa/dia, etc..
• textobj-datetime - gives you da (date), df (date full) and so on text objects. useable with all standard verbs
• vim-textobj-entire - gives you e for entire document. so vae (visual around entire document), and etc
• vim-textobj-rubysymbol - gives you : textobj. so va: to select a ruby symbol. da: to delete a symbol..etc
• vim-textobj-function - gives you f textobj. so vaf to select a function
• vim-textobj-function-javascript - same as above, but for javascript functions
• vim-textobj-underscore - gives you _ textobj. So vi_ selects what's inside a pair of underscores
• next-textobject - from Steve Losh, ability to use n such as vinb (visual inside (n)ext set of parens)
• textobj-word-column - gives you c (word) and C (WORD) for handling columns/blocks.

Utils

• SplitJoin - easily split up things like ruby hashes into multiple lines or join them back together. Try :SplitjoinJoin and :SplitjoinSplit or use the bindings sj(split) and sk(unsplit) - mnemonically j and k are directions down and up
• tabularize - align code effortlessly by using :Tabularize /[character] to align by a character, or try the keymaps
• yankring - effortless sanity for pasting. every time you yank something it goes into a buffer. after hitting p to paste, use ctrl-p or ctrl-n to cycle through the paste options. great for when you accidentally overwrite your yank with a delete.
• surround - super easy quote and tag manipulation - ysiw" - sourround inner word with quotes. ci"' - change inner double quotes to single quotes, etc
• greplace - use :Gsearch to find across many files, replace inside the changes, then :Greplace to do a replace across all matches - made lightning fast with Silver Searcher
• ConqueTerm - embedded fully colorful shell inside your vim
• vim-ruby-conque - helpers to run ruby,rspec,rake within ConqueTerm
• vim-markdown-preview - :Mm to view your README.md as html
• html-escape - ,he and ,hu to escape and unescape html
• ruby-debug-ide - not quite working for me, but maybe it will for you. supposedly a graphical debugger you can step through
• Gundo - visualize your undos - pretty amazing plugin. Hit ,u with my keymappings to trigger it, very user friendly
• slime - use ctrl-c,ctrl-c to send text to a running irb/pry/console. To start the console, you must use screen with a named session: "screen -S [name] [cmd]", ex: "screen -S pry pry"
• vim-indent-guides - visual indent guides, off by default
• color_highlight - use :ColorCodes to see hex colors highlighted
• change-inside-surroundings - change content inside delimiters like quotes/brackets
• Specky - used for color highlighting rspec correctly even if specs live outside of spec/ (rails.vim doesn't handle this)
• Ag - use :Ag to search across multiple files. Faster than Grep and Ack.
• vim-session: use :SaveSession and :OpenSession to come back to your saved window layout

General enhancements that don't add new commands

• IndexedSearch - when you do searches will show you "Match 2 of 4" in the status line
• delimitMate - automatically closes quotes
• SearchComplete - tab completion in the / search window
• syntastic - automatic syntax checking when you save the file
• repeat - adds . (repeat command) support for complex commands like surround.vim. i.e. if you perform a surround and hit ., it will Just Work (vim by default will only repeat the last piece of the complex command)
• endwise - automatically closes blocks (if/end)
• autotag - automatically creates tags for fast sourcecode browsing. use ctrl-[ over a symbol name to go to its definition
• matchit - helps with matching brackets, improves other plugins
• sass-status - decorates your status bar with full nesting of where you are in the sass file