Vim: insert the same characters across multiple lines

Question

Sometimes I want to edit a certain visual block of text across multiple lines.

For example, I would take a text that looks like this:

name
comment
ph         


        

Answer 1

An alternative that can be more flexible:

Example: To enter the text XYZ at the beginning of the line

:%norm IXYZ

What's happening here?

• % == Execute on every line
• norm == Execute the following keys in normal mode
• I == Insert at beginning of line
• XYZ == The text you want to enter

Then you hit Enter, and it executes.

Specific to your request:

:%norm Ivendor_

You can also choose a particular range:

:2,4norm Ivendor_

Or execute over a selected visual range:

:'<,'>norm Ivendor_