6 ms·

GitHub Launch Page

142 points by bpierre 14y ago

thibaut_barrere 14y ago
I like the idea, but so far at least on my (slow) connection, there is a big lag when I type, making it less useful. Good idea otherwise!
bpierre 14y ago
With Firefox: instead of a simple bookmark or the browser homepage, I added a bookmark with a "g" keyword ( http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html ). Then I can use the GitHub launcher without having to touch the mouse: ⌘+T, g, ⏎, my-github-command, ⏎.
- bbx 14y ago
  Can you tell me how you made it work? Adding a keyword for that field uses the following URL: https://github.com/search?q=&type=Everything&repo=&langOverride=&start_value=1 https://github.com/search?q=&type=Everything&repo=&#... which ends up as a regular search. So typing "g @mojombo" doesn't bring me to his profile but rather triggers a regular search.
  - ludwigvan 14y ago
    He doesn't do that, he presses enter after g to get to the launch page, and searches from there.
- burke 14y ago
  With Alfred on OS X, I created an extension (http://cl.ly/image/3U3V2h1X2U02 http://cl.ly/image/3U3V2h1X2U02) and a hotkey: (http://cl.ly/image/3s3A0B0g2120 http://cl.ly/image/3s3A0B0g2120) Then I can do: ⌥⌘L, my-github-command, ⏎.
  - tankbot 14y ago
    Beat me to it, nice :) But why do you use that keyboard combination over the default option+space? EDIT: Ugh, nevermind - brain fart, my apologies for the slight odor...
  - skidding 14y ago
    Sorry if I'm missing something that's right in front of me, but can you tell me how to setup that for myself? EDIT: My Alfred interface looks considerably different (http://cl.ly/image/1c3K1w0U182R http://cl.ly/image/1c3K1w0U182R) yet it seems to be up to date (1.2) EDIT #2: OH, it's the paid Powerpack isn't it?
  - mofle 14y ago
    Why do it so convoluted? Just create an URL hotkey: http://i.minus.com/ivEwdZPVJYHA7.png http://i.minus.com/ivEwdZPVJYHA7.png
- kmfrk 14y ago
  Same concept in Opera: 1. Right-click bar. 2. Add search shortcut 3. In your address bar, type: <shortcut> <query> You could also just add the site as a Fluid app, I guess.
- sp332 14y ago
  Not quite the same functionality but on that page you can click the drop-down on the search bar and "Add GitHub". Then the github command line is one of the options for search providers alongside Google, Wikipedia etc. If you select it as the default, you can Ctrl-K up to the search bar and type a command without leaving the keyboard. Also (and I'm not sure how useful this is) you can select some text, right-click it and execute it as a GitHub command.
- samirahmed 14y ago
  Thats fantastic. However github would be better served if the github.com put the tab focus right inside the command bar. That way their would be no need for /launch at all...
- acabal 14y ago
  I've been using FF for years and never knew it could do this. This is awesome, thanks!
samirahmed 14y ago
it would be incredible if the command bar could be integrated into my chrome omnibar... with the prefix github.com: that way i could naturally use the power of the commandbar in my browser without having to go to github first
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- masklinn 14y ago
  > it would be incredible if the command bar could be integrated into my chrome omnibar... That's pretty unlikely, though Firefox probably provides deep-enough hooks to do so.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
- arrel 14y ago
  Alfred can do that if you're on a Mac. http://alfredapp.com/ http://alfredapp.com/
  - burke 14y ago
    How?
- girasquid 14y ago
  It's not quite the command bar, but GitHub's search box uses OpenSearch and Chrome picks it up. You should be able to type `github.com`, hit tab, and then search GitHub.
- tammer 14y ago
  My fingers tremble at the thought of mixing this with Firefox's completion and the Pentadactyl command line.
- mshang 14y ago
  You could use yubnub or bunny1 to do this.
modarts 14y ago
Looks like they're really going "all-in" on the CLI for web app concept. I'd expect to start seeing this type of interface really taking off for a lot of developer facing services. What's old is new again...
simonz05 14y ago
I wish they simply fixed their regular code search. It has never worked and is one of the features I miss. Russ Cox's Google Code Search was an excellent example of how this should look like, to bad it's gone as well.
- waxjar 14y ago
  I hate how it shows all freaking forks. Say I wanted to look for a theme for a particular piece of software. I'd have to wade trough the countless forks of the software in question, occasionally actually seeing a theme listed. It's terribru.
jscheel 14y ago
Very cool, now this just needs to be integrated with alfred and osx users will rejoice!
- andrewingram 14y ago
  I was looking into this briefly, it seems it would all be pretty straightforward apart from the fact that you need to be authenticated to access the JSON endpoints, I'm not sure how that would work as an Alfred extension.
dustym 14y ago
Does anyone know how to initiate a web compare between to branches using this thing? If I could have that + Alfred (or whatever launch bar / cli one uses) that would be amazing.
johnnyg 14y ago
All this and I can't specify that I want to search only Ruby language repos via keyboard shortcut of any kind.
- Pheter 14y ago
  `language:ruby example` ?
  - johnnyg 14y ago
    Whoop! :)
    - Pheter 14y ago
      You could probably set up an alias for that in the Chrome / Firefox location bar too.
      - johnnyg 14y ago
        Here's the chrome search engine string in case anyone else needs it: https://github.com/search?langOverride=&q=language%3Aruby+%s&repo=&start_value=1&type=Repositories https://github.com/search?langOverride=&q=language%3Arub...
filipmares 14y ago
best feature github has added in the last year.
peshkira 14y ago
very cool github feature indeed. Probably not a lot of people use Safari here, but anyway. If you don't use Alfred and use Safari there is another easy way for Mac OS users. Just add the launch site to your bookmarks bar (on a place between 1 and 9). Assuming it is in the first place: ⌘+T, ⌘+1, my-github-command, ⏎
geku 14y ago
I really like the new command bar. And my initial thought was how awesome a browser integration would be. So, I just started coding a small Chrome extension and here it is: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cagcemjohhdepmbdngeehkmidlfmgmnn https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cagcemjohhdepmbdng... It's far from complete and only supports a subset of GitHub's command bar and not the same ranking logic. But it already does a decent job for repositories and users. As soon as I have more time I will add more features. Btw I'm sure it could be done for Firefox and Safari too.
dave1010uk 14y ago
Could GitHub just make gitgub.com/foo work in exactly the sane way as putting "foo" in the command bar? It wouldnt have the same autocomplete, but it would be much faster.

142 points by bpierre 14y ago

I like the idea, but so far at least on my (slow) connection, there is a big lag when I type, making it less useful. Good idea otherwise!

bpierre 14y ago

With Firefox: instead of a simple bookmark or the browser homepage, I added a bookmark with a "g" keyword ( http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html ). Then I can use the GitHub launcher without having to touch the mouse: ⌘+T, g, ⏎, my-github-command, ⏎.

bbx 14y ago
Can you tell me how you made it work? Adding a keyword for that field uses the following URL: https://github.com/search?q=&type=Everything&repo=&langOverride=&start_value=1 https://github.com/search?q=&type=Everything&repo=&#... which ends up as a regular search. So typing "g @mojombo" doesn't bring me to his profile but rather triggers a regular search.
- ludwigvan 14y ago
  He doesn't do that, he presses enter after g to get to the launch page, and searches from there.
burke 14y ago
With Alfred on OS X, I created an extension (http://cl.ly/image/3U3V2h1X2U02 http://cl.ly/image/3U3V2h1X2U02) and a hotkey: (http://cl.ly/image/3s3A0B0g2120 http://cl.ly/image/3s3A0B0g2120) Then I can do: ⌥⌘L, my-github-command, ⏎.
- tankbot 14y ago
  Beat me to it, nice :) But why do you use that keyboard combination over the default option+space? EDIT: Ugh, nevermind - brain fart, my apologies for the slight odor...
- skidding 14y ago
  Sorry if I'm missing something that's right in front of me, but can you tell me how to setup that for myself? EDIT: My Alfred interface looks considerably different (http://cl.ly/image/1c3K1w0U182R http://cl.ly/image/1c3K1w0U182R) yet it seems to be up to date (1.2) EDIT #2: OH, it's the paid Powerpack isn't it?
- mofle 14y ago
  Why do it so convoluted? Just create an URL hotkey: http://i.minus.com/ivEwdZPVJYHA7.png http://i.minus.com/ivEwdZPVJYHA7.png
kmfrk 14y ago
Same concept in Opera: 1. Right-click bar. 2. Add search shortcut 3. In your address bar, type: <shortcut> <query> You could also just add the site as a Fluid app, I guess.
sp332 14y ago
Not quite the same functionality but on that page you can click the drop-down on the search bar and "Add GitHub". Then the github command line is one of the options for search providers alongside Google, Wikipedia etc. If you select it as the default, you can Ctrl-K up to the search bar and type a command without leaving the keyboard. Also (and I'm not sure how useful this is) you can select some text, right-click it and execute it as a GitHub command.
samirahmed 14y ago
Thats fantastic. However github would be better served if the github.com put the tab focus right inside the command bar. That way their would be no need for /launch at all...
acabal 14y ago
I've been using FF for years and never knew it could do this. This is awesome, thanks!

samirahmed 14y ago

it would be incredible if the command bar could be integrated into my chrome omnibar... with the prefix github.com: that way i could naturally use the power of the commandbar in my browser without having to go to github first

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
masklinn 14y ago
> it would be incredible if the command bar could be integrated into my chrome omnibar... That's pretty unlikely, though Firefox probably provides deep-enough hooks to do so.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
arrel 14y ago
Alfred can do that if you're on a Mac. http://alfredapp.com/ http://alfredapp.com/
- burke 14y ago
  How?
girasquid 14y ago
It's not quite the command bar, but GitHub's search box uses OpenSearch and Chrome picks it up. You should be able to type `github.com`, hit tab, and then search GitHub.
tammer 14y ago
My fingers tremble at the thought of mixing this with Firefox's completion and the Pentadactyl command line.
mshang 14y ago
You could use yubnub or bunny1 to do this.

modarts 14y ago

Looks like they're really going "all-in" on the CLI for web app concept. I'd expect to start seeing this type of interface really taking off for a lot of developer facing services. What's old is new again...

simonz05 14y ago

I wish they simply fixed their regular code search. It has never worked and is one of the features I miss. Russ Cox's Google Code Search was an excellent example of how this should look like, to bad it's gone as well.

waxjar 14y ago
I hate how it shows all freaking forks. Say I wanted to look for a theme for a particular piece of software. I'd have to wade trough the countless forks of the software in question, occasionally actually seeing a theme listed. It's terribru.

jscheel 14y ago

Very cool, now this just needs to be integrated with alfred and osx users will rejoice!

andrewingram 14y ago
I was looking into this briefly, it seems it would all be pretty straightforward apart from the fact that you need to be authenticated to access the JSON endpoints, I'm not sure how that would work as an Alfred extension.

dustym 14y ago

Does anyone know how to initiate a web compare between to branches using this thing? If I could have that + Alfred (or whatever launch bar / cli one uses) that would be amazing.

johnnyg 14y ago

All this and I can't specify that I want to search only Ruby language repos via keyboard shortcut of any kind.

Pheter 14y ago
`language:ruby example` ?
- johnnyg 14y ago
  Whoop! :)
  - Pheter 14y ago
    You could probably set up an alias for that in the Chrome / Firefox location bar too.
    - johnnyg 14y ago
      Here's the chrome search engine string in case anyone else needs it: https://github.com/search?langOverride=&q=language%3Aruby+%s&repo=&start_value=1&type=Repositories https://github.com/search?langOverride=&q=language%3Arub...

filipmares 14y ago

best feature github has added in the last year.

peshkira 14y ago

very cool github feature indeed. Probably not a lot of people use Safari here, but anyway. If you don't use Alfred and use Safari there is another easy way for Mac OS users. Just add the launch site to your bookmarks bar (on a place between 1 and 9). Assuming it is in the first place: ⌘+T, ⌘+1, my-github-command, ⏎

geku 14y ago

I really like the new command bar. And my initial thought was how awesome a browser integration would be. So, I just started coding a small Chrome extension and here it is: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cagcemjohhdepmbdngeehkmidlfmgmnn https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cagcemjohhdepmbdng... It's far from complete and only supports a subset of GitHub's command bar and not the same ranking logic. But it already does a decent job for repositories and users. As soon as I have more time I will add more features. Btw I'm sure it could be done for Firefox and Safari too.

dave1010uk 14y ago

Could GitHub just make gitgub.com/foo work in exactly the sane way as putting "foo" in the command bar? It wouldnt have the same autocomplete, but it would be much faster.