We have fielded enough inquiries to know that many Skritterers don’t seem to be aware of the awesome power and speed afforded by the keyboard shortcuts on the Study Page. We have a short FAQ entry that summarizes the shortcuts nicely, but we thought we should give the shortcuts more publicity and expand a little on the intended uses so as to increase the efficiency of everyone’s practice sessions.
It’s important to note here that we’ve designed the keyboard shortcuts for both left and right handed mouse users, so whether you’re a “normal” or a weirdo south-paw (like me) you can Skritter faster and in greater comfort with one hand on the keyboard.
Left arrow: back
Instead of clicking on the left-hand arrow on the study page, why not use the left arrow key?
- Z or /: undo last stroke
- This is actually a function that no longer exists on the current tool bar. Back when Skritter was more primitive, it was a lot more useful to have the undo button, but with recognition improvements, it became somewhat redundant and users said they appreciated the simplified toolbar we designed omitting this feature.
- However, if you are practicing a particularly complex character and want to make sure you get the stroke order just so, or remember to accurately produce a stroke, rather than erasing the entire character (with the “X” key), simply press the “Z” key and undo only what needs correcting.
- X or .: erase
- I personally find that using this keyboard shortcut is more conducive to repeating a character multiple times than writing and then pressing the toolbar button between reps.
- S or L: show
- This shortcut is more useful that you might think. Since holding down the show button animates the stroke order, and holding the mouse button for extended periods can strain your wrist, the keyboard shortcut provides a far more comfortable way to see the animations.
- V or M: correct/incorrect
- This shortcut, paired with the 1-4 keys makes it easy to blaze through tone and definition prompts. Nick has become particularly adept at this and often goes so quickly Skritter has to pile on the audio, making for some humorous-sounding practice sessions!
- D or K: open and close word popup
- This is really useful for the power users amongst us that need the additional detail provided in this popup.
- Space, enter, or right arrow: next (For pinyin prompts, enter checks input first, then goes next.)
- Without this shortcut, I actually find it painstakingly slow to practice on Skritter. Finish a prompt? Rather than clicking or going for the “next” button, hit the space bar and simultaneously get your cursor in the upper left for the next prompt. You would be really surprised how much faster this is.
- 1-4 or 6-9: input grade and go next (For tone prompts, 1-5 and 6-0 input tones instead.)
- For those of us with that use the grading buttons these are about as important as the space bar. The risk here is actually going too fast!
- A or ‘: play the pronunciation audio
- Using this is especially good if you prefer a lot of audio reinforcement. Just don’t get carried away or people next to you might get annoyed.
- At Skritter we’re all about the most efficient practice methods, and we think the shortcuts are an integral part of achieving maximum efficiency.