W3m — Mediated Wiki

{{short description|Command line web browser}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{lowercase title|title=w3m}} {{Infobox software | name = w3m | logo = | screenshot = W3m-wikipedia.png | caption = w3m running in an xterm displaying the Wikipedia main page. | author = Akinori Ito | developer = Fumitoshi UKAI, Tatsuya Kinoshita, Rene Kita, et al. | released = 1995 | latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|reference|edit|Q306669|P348|P548=Q2804309}} | latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q306669|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}} | latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|reference|edit|Q306669|P348|P548=Q51930650}} | latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q306669|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}} | programming language = C | operating system = OS/2,<ref>{{cite web|last=TOKORO|first=Kyosuke|title=w3m 0.2.1–3 for OS/2 WARP|url=http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA000199/os2/w3m.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010504055228/http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA000199/os2/w3m.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 May 2001|access-date=16 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="scoug">{{cite web|last=Watson|first=Dave|title=Text-Mode Web Browsers for OS/2|url=http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug009.textbrowsers.html|publisher=The Southern California OS/2 User Group|access-date=16 August 2010|date=September 2001}}</ref> Unix & Unix-like (Solaris, SunOS, HP-UX, Linux, FreeBSD and EWS-UX (EWS-4800),<ref>w3m manual page</ref> Windows (with Cygwin), macOS (with Homebrew) | platform = | language = English and Japanese | genre = Web browser, Terminal pager | license = MIT license }}

'''w3m''' is a free and open source text-based web browser licensed under the MIT license. It differs from other early text-based browsers by supporting elements such as tables, frames, and, in some distributions, images.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rutland |first=David |date=2022-11-02 |title=The 3 Best Terminal-Based Web Browsers for Linux |url=https://www.makeuseof.com/best-terminal-web-browsers-linux/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=MUO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Negus |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDXlYUuIQv8C&pg=PA567 |title=Linux Bible |date=2005-01-28 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-7645-8974-4 |language=en}}</ref>

== History == The name "w3m" stands for "{{nihongo|''WWW wo miru''|WWWを見る}}", which is Japanese for "to see the WWW", and where "W3" is a numeronym of "WWW".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://w3m.sourceforge.net/FAQ |access-date=8 April 2022 |title=W3M FAQ}}</ref> The original project is no longer active. A different developer, Tatsuya Kinoshita, was maintaining a fork until early 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Das |first=Ankush |date=2020-10-20 |title=Best Terminal-based Web Browsers for Linux Users |url=https://itsfoss.com/terminal-web-browsers/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=It's FOSS |language=en}}</ref> Kinoshita left the project after a few months.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kita |first=Rene |date=2024-08-01 |title=w3m Maintenance |url=https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/304 |access-date=2025-08-01 |website=GitHub |language=en}}</ref> A new fork was created as a result,<ref>{{Cite web |title=w3m: Fork of Debian's w3m |url=https://sr.ht/~rkta/w3m/ |access-date=2025-08-01 |website=SourceHut |language=en}}</ref> which continues to be developed {{as of|2026|lc=yes}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=~rkta/w3m: master log |website=SourceHut |url=https://git.sr.ht/~rkta/w3m/log |access-date=2026-05-25}}</ref>

== Functions == w3m runs in terminal emulator programs such as xterm and GNOME Terminal.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Chris |date=2012-01-23 |title=How to Browse From the Linux Terminal With W3M |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/103574/how-to-browse-from-the-linux-terminal-with-w3m/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=How-To Geek |language=en}}</ref> The browser has tabbed browsing, right click menus, and image support,<ref name=":1" /> along with support for tables and frames. It also functions as a terminal pager.<ref name=":0" /> It can be navigated solely using the keyboard or with the mouse. There are two different display modes, one with colors and one that is monochrome.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2021-04-17 |title=How to use the W3M text-based web browser on Linux |url=https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/w3m-browser-linux/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |work=AddictiveTips |language=en-US}}</ref>

w3m can be used within Emacs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EmacsWiki: w3m |url=https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/w3m |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=www.emacswiki.org}}</ref>

Some distributions require the installation of a second package, w3m-img, to render images using w3m.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rankin |first=Kyle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MaebAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA275 |title=Linux Multimedia Hacks: Tips & Tools for Taming Images, Audio, and Video |date=2006 |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |isbn=978-0-596-10076-6 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|Free and open-source software}} * Eww (web browser) * Emacs/W3 * Lynx (web browser)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://w3m.sf.net Original website] * {{GitHub|tats/w3m|Debian fork}} * [http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org Emacs-w3m] * [http://pub.ks-and-ks.ne.jp/prog/w3mmee/ w3mmee website]

Category:Gopher clients Category:Windows web browsers Category:POSIX web browsers Category:Free web browsers Category:Text-based web browsers Category:Emacs Category:Emacs modes Category:Termcap Category:Software using the MIT license Category:1995 software Category:Terminal pagers