how do I create an alias in i3?
I have created a shortcut for starting chrome in root. but when i issue a command that opens a browser it gives me the usual "google chrome cannot be run as root". so what im wondering is can i create an alias so that anytime linux tries to run "chrome" it runs my command instead?
Wait a sec... Running your browser _as_ the user root is a Very Bad Idea. Or do you mean something different with _in_ root?
What browser is used is not decided by i3. You'll have to look how (and if) a default browser is set for your distribution. Also applications of specific desktop environments (KDE, Gnome, Xfce) will most likely use whatever is set with the respective configuration tool.