Skip to content

Keyboard Shortcuts & Quick Reference

This guide provides keyboard shortcuts and quick reference information for efficient navigation and use of PulseLMS.


Table of Contents

  1. General Navigation
  2. Text Editor Shortcuts
  3. Quiz Navigation
  4. Gradebook Shortcuts
  5. Forum Shortcuts
  6. Calendar Shortcuts
  7. File Manager Shortcuts
  8. Accessibility Shortcuts
  9. Browser Shortcuts
  10. Quick Reference Cards

General Navigation

Site-Wide Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Tab Move to next focusable element
Shift + Tab Move to previous focusable element
Enter Activate focused link/button
Space Toggle checkboxes, expand/collapse
Esc Close modal dialogs, cancel operations
Alt + 1 Skip to main content (some themes)
Alt + 2 Skip to navigation (some themes)
Shortcut Action
Expand/collapse menu items
Move between menu items
Enter Select menu item
Home Jump to first item
End Jump to last item
Shortcut Action
Open dropdown / move down
Move up in dropdown
Enter Select item
Esc Close dropdown

Text Editor Shortcuts

TinyMCE Editor (Default)

Formatting

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + I Italic
Ctrl + U Underline
Ctrl + Shift + S Strikethrough
Ctrl + \ Clear formatting

Structure

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + Shift + 1 Heading 1
Ctrl + Shift + 2 Heading 2
Ctrl + Shift + 3 Heading 3
Ctrl + Shift + 4 Heading 4
Ctrl + Shift + 7 Numbered list
Ctrl + Shift + 8 Bullet list

Editing

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + Y Redo
Ctrl + A Select all
Ctrl + C Copy
Ctrl + X Cut
Ctrl + V Paste
Ctrl + Shift + V Paste as plain text
Shortcut Action
Ctrl + K Insert/edit link
Ctrl + Shift + K Remove link

Find and Replace

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + F Find
Ctrl + H Find and replace

Atto Editor (Alternative)

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + I Italic
Ctrl + L Bullet list
Ctrl + Shift + O Numbered list
Ctrl + Shift + H Heading styles
Ctrl + K Create link

Quiz Navigation

Taking Quizzes

Shortcut Action
Tab Move between questions/options
Space Select answer (multiple choice)
Enter Submit/confirm selection
1-9 Quick select option (some question types)

Quiz Navigation Panel

Shortcut Action
Navigate question list
Enter Jump to question
Ctrl + → Next page
Ctrl + ← Previous page

Question Types

Multiple Choice

Shortcut Action
Move between options
Space Select/deselect option

True/False

Shortcut Action
T Select True
F Select False

Essay/Text

Shortcut Action
Tab Move to text area
Standard text shortcuts Format text

Gradebook Shortcuts

Grader Report

Shortcut Action
Tab Move between grade cells
Enter Edit grade cell
Esc Cancel editing
Navigate cells (when supported)

Quick Grading

Shortcut Action
Tab Move to next grade input
Shift + Tab Move to previous grade input
Enter Confirm and move to next

Forum Shortcuts

Reading Forums

Shortcut Action
J Next post (some themes)
K Previous post (some themes)
Enter Open selected discussion

Composing Posts

Shortcut Action
All text editor shortcuts apply
Ctrl + Enter Submit post (if enabled)

Calendar Shortcuts

Calendar Navigation

Shortcut Action
Previous day
Next day
Previous week
Next week
Page Up Previous month
Page Down Next month
Home First day of month
End Last day of month
Enter Select date / view day

Date Picker

Shortcut Action
Navigate dates
Enter Select date
Esc Close picker

File Manager Shortcuts

File Picker

Shortcut Action
Tab Move between areas
Enter Select file/folder
Navigate file list
Backspace Go up one folder

Drag and Drop

Action Result
Drag file to course Upload as resource
Drag file to editor Insert/embed file
Drag file to assignment Attach to submission

Accessibility Shortcuts

Screen Reader Navigation

Shortcut Action
H Next heading
Shift + H Previous heading
1-6 Heading level
L Next list
T Next table
F Next form field
B Next button

Most PulseLMS pages include skip links: - Press Tab immediately after page load - "Skip to main content" link appears - Press Enter to skip navigation

Focus Indicators

  • All interactive elements have visible focus
  • High contrast mode available
  • Keyboard-only navigation fully supported

Browser Shortcuts

Universal Browser Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
F5 or Ctrl + R Refresh page
Ctrl + Shift + R Hard refresh (clear cache)
Ctrl + F Find on page
Ctrl + P Print page
Ctrl + + Zoom in
Ctrl + - Zoom out
Ctrl + 0 Reset zoom
F11 Full screen
Alt + ← Back
Alt + → Forward
Ctrl + Tab Next browser tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab Previous browser tab
Ctrl + T New tab
Ctrl + W Close tab

Chrome Specific

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + Shift + J Developer tools
Ctrl + Shift + N Incognito window

Firefox Specific

Shortcut Action
Ctrl + Shift + K Web console
Ctrl + Shift + P Private window

Quick Reference Cards

Student Quick Reference

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           PULSELMS STUDENT SHORTCUTS            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  NAVIGATION                                     │
│  Tab .............. Move to next element        │
│  Enter ............ Click/activate              │
│  Esc .............. Close/cancel                │
│                                                 │
│  TEXT EDITING                                   │
│  Ctrl+B ........... Bold                        │
│  Ctrl+I ........... Italic                      │
│  Ctrl+K ........... Insert link                 │
│  Ctrl+Z ........... Undo                        │
│                                                 │
│  QUIZ                                           │
│  Tab .............. Move between options        │
│  Space ............ Select option               │
│  Enter ............ Confirm/submit              │
│                                                 │
│  CALENDAR                                       │
│  Arrow keys ....... Navigate dates              │
│  Enter ............ View day details            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Instructor Quick Reference

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         PULSELMS INSTRUCTOR SHORTCUTS           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  COURSE EDITING                                 │
│  Turn on Edit mode first!                       │
│  Tab .............. Move between items          │
│  Enter ............ Access edit menus           │
│                                                 │
│  GRADING                                        │
│  Tab .............. Move between grades         │
│  Enter ............ Edit grade cell             │
│  Esc .............. Cancel edit                 │
│                                                 │
│  TEXT EDITOR                                    │
│  Ctrl+B ........... Bold                        │
│  Ctrl+I ........... Italic                      │
│  Ctrl+Shift+1-4 ... Headings                    │
│  Ctrl+Shift+7 ..... Numbered list               │
│  Ctrl+Shift+8 ..... Bullet list                 │
│  Ctrl+K ........... Insert link                 │
│                                                 │
│  BROWSER                                        │
│  Ctrl+Shift+R ..... Hard refresh (clear cache)  │
│  Ctrl+P ........... Print                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Administrator Quick Reference

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│        PULSELMS ADMINISTRATOR SHORTCUTS         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  NAVIGATION                                     │
│  Site Admin > Search box for quick access       │
│  Type setting name to filter                    │
│                                                 │
│  COMMON ADMIN TASKS                             │
│  Notifications ....... View site alerts         │
│  Plugins overview .... Manage plugins           │
│  Purge caches ........ Clear all caches         │
│  Users > Browse ...... Find users               │
│                                                 │
│  BULK OPERATIONS                                │
│  Shift+Click ......... Select range             │
│  Ctrl+Click .......... Add to selection         │
│                                                 │
│  CLI COMMANDS (SSH)                             │
│  php admin/cli/purge_caches.php                 │
│  php admin/cli/cron.php                         │
│  php admin/cli/maintenance.php --enable         │
│  php admin/cli/upgrade.php                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Customizing Shortcuts

Browser Extensions

Consider browser extensions for enhanced keyboard navigation: - Vimium (Chrome/Firefox) - Vim-style navigation - Shortkeys (Chrome) - Custom shortcuts - Tridactyl (Firefox) - Vim bindings

Operating System

Windows

  • Windows + ; - Emoji picker (in text fields)
  • Alt + Tab - Switch applications

macOS

  • Cmd + Space - Spotlight search
  • Cmd + Tab - Switch applications
  • Replace Ctrl with Cmd for most shortcuts

Linux

  • Super key - Application menu
  • Alt + Tab - Switch windows

Tips for Efficient Navigation

For Everyone

  1. Learn Tab navigation - Most efficient for forms
  2. Use browser bookmarks - Save frequent pages
  3. Master Ctrl+F - Find anything on page
  4. Know Esc - Universal "cancel/close"

For Power Users

  1. Open links in new tabs - Ctrl+Click
  2. Use browser history - Alt+← to go back
  3. Bookmark the Dashboard - Quick access
  4. Learn editor shortcuts - Faster content creation

For Accessibility

  1. Enable skip links - Tab at page top
  2. Use heading navigation - H key with screen reader
  3. Check high contrast mode - Browser settings
  4. Increase zoom if needed - Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-

Previous: Troubleshooting | Next: FAQ