How to insert a block of white spaces starting at the cursor position in vi?

Question

Suppose I have the piece of text below with the cursor staying at the first A currently,

AAAA
BBB
CC
D

How can I add spaces in

Answer 1

Let's assume you want to shift a block of code:

• setup the count of spaces used by each shift command, :set shiftwidth=1, default is 8.
• press Ctrl+v in appropriate place and move cursor up k or down j to select some area.
• press > to shift the block and . to repeat the action until desired position (if cursor is missed, turn back with h or b).