How to always display VIM buffers in a status below instead of using ls?

Question

When I use VIM and buffers, to see the list of all the buffers, I always have to type :ls to see all the buffers.

Is there a way to have the buffers always be displayed at the bottom of vim?

Edit: So basically let's say I have 2 files open in vimand if I type in :ls it will display something like

  1 #h   "IModuleTest.php" line 422
  3 %a   "~/.vimrc"        line 1

Instead of typing that to see all my files open, I want to see them all the time so I can switch between them faster instead of seeing the buffer list first..

Answer 1

I like this plugin "vim-bufferline"

First good thing is that it shows up on the empty, unused space of command line, once it finds that the command line is inactive/idle for ~3seconds. And it disappears once we press : (start of a command).

Then it shows on command-line a list of all the buffers open in the Vim and also highlights the active buffer on which the cursor is.

Answer 2

There are plugins that do that; for example, minibufexpl.vim.

Actually, this need sounds strange. Do you know that commands like :buffer also take a filename, and auto-complete it, too?! GVIM has a Buffers menu by default. And many users have plugins like CtrlP, FuzzyFinder, or Unite to quickly locate buffers and files.