translation of keyword classes from tools/vim see http://xahlee.org/emacs/elisp_syntax_coloring.html Put this in your .emacs file to enable autoloading of lammps-mode and auto-recognition of "in.*" and "*.lmp" files: (autoload 'lammps-mode "lammps-mode.el" "LAMMPS mode." t) (setq auto-mode-alist (append auto-mode-alist '(("in\\." . lammps-mode)) '(("\\.lmp\\'" . lammps-mode)) ))