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+== Recoll hotkey: starting / hiding recoll with a keyboard shortcut
+
+Type a key (ie: F12) and have recoll appear or disappear. On the first
+occurrence, recoll is started if it's not already running. Further
+occurrences toggle recoll between visible and minimized states. Never
+thought this would be useful until someone asked for it. Can't do without
+it anymore :) 
+
+This works well with both Gnome and KDE, but is implemented using a gnome
+library (*libwnck*) and its python interface, which you may have to install
+on your system if you are a pure KDE user. The library most probably exists
+in the package repositories for your distribution, so this should not be
+too complicated. 
+
+This should also work with other window managers, because it is based on a
+standard window manager interface extension (EWMH) that most modern window
+managers implement. 
+
+=== Installing the script (all desktops):
+
+- You will need the libwnck library and its python interface. These are
+  usually part of a gnome installation, otherwise check and possibly
+  install them. For OpenSuse, the library should already be there but you
+  need to install gnome-python-desktop. 
+- Download the
+ link:https://www.recoll.org/files/hotrecoll.py[http://www.recoll.org/files/hotrecoll.py
+ script]. If you have a recent recoll installation (1.14.3 and 
+  further), it's already in the recoll filters directory
+  ('/usr/[local/]share/recoll/filters') 
+- Copy the script to some permanent place (ie: '~/bin') and make it
+  executable (you can leave it in the filters dirs if it's there). In a
+  shell window: `chmod +x hotrecoll.py`.
+- You can check that the script works (or not) by executing it on the
+  command line. It does not need an argument. Recoll should appear or
+  disappear every time you execute the script. A few warning messages may
+  be considered normal. If the script says that it does not find the wnck
+  library or some other module, you'll have to install them. 
+
+=== Installing the keyboard shortcut (Gnome):
+
+- _System->Preferences->Keyboard shortcuts_, or execute
+  *gnome-keybinding-properties* 
+- Click add, Name, ie: StartRecoll, Action: /path/to/hotrecoll.py
+- This will add the shortcut to the "Custom shortcuts" section. You can
+  then click in the "Shortcut" column for "StartRecoll", and type any key
+  combination (ie: push F12) to assign a key shortcut. 
+
+=== Installing the keyboard shortcut (KDE):
+
+Under KDE installing a global custom keyboard shortcut like we need is most
+helpfully not under "Keyboard Shortcuts" but under "Input Actions". 
+
+- _Kmenu -> Configure Desktop -> Input Actions -> Edit -> New -> Global
+  Shortcut -> Command/Url_ 
+- A new Action appears, named _New Action_. You can rename it something
+  like +hotrecoll+ for clarity. 
+- Click the _Trigger_ tab, click the input area and press your preferred
+  key combination (ie: F12) 
+- Click the _Action_ tab, and enter +hotrecoll.py+ (if it's in your PATH),
+  or else the full path to the command (e.g.:
+  '/usr/share/recoll/filters/hotrecoll.py').
+- Click _Apply_.
+
+=== Installing the keyboard shortcut (XFCE):
+
+Open the settings manager, and add the shortcut in the 
+_Application Shortcuts_ panel inside the _Keyboard_ tool.
+
+
+=== Other environments
+
+Many window managers have a way to set up a keyboard shortcut for running
+an arbitrary command. You'll need to look at the documentation for yours,
+or search the web for a solution.  
+
+An alternative independant of the environment would be to use the XBindKeys
+utility. See this link:http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/59494[linux.com
+article] for helpful instructions. 
+