Vivaldi [Linux] beats another Extension; yay!
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Disclaimer: This post has zero relevance for Windoze users [dunno about Mac], because:
- they always get to enjoy the benefit of native middle-click autoscrolling in chromium-based browsers. That has never been so in Linux, for which weakness i have successfully worked-around since late 2013 / early 2014 via Extension "AutoScroll"... til today
- Text highlight-selection copy-to-clipboard then middle-click paste-from-clipboard afaik is not "a thing" in windoze, whereas it's a commonplace & much-valued function in Linux.
Summary: Stopped using Extension "AutoScroll" today --> but ONLY in Vivaldi.
WHAT: Today i finally did the unthinkable & disabled this extension in my Snapshot [2.2.1369.6]. Instead, i created 2 new Mouse Gestures [Page Down & Page Up], & edited 2 existing gestures [Scroll to Bottom & Scroll to Top]. These latter two used to be, respectively,
- one vertical stroke down
- one vertical stroke up.
I've now reassigned those to the 2 new gestures, & replaced them with:
- Scroll to Bottom = vertical stroke down, vertical stroke up, vertical stroke down.
- Scroll to Top = vertical stroke up, vertical stroke down, vertical stroke up.
WHY: On 3/Nov/18 the AutoScroll Dev released new version 4.9, which has a very annoying bug [not previously extant]. Now, in pretty much every web page text entry field [eg, forums, data-entry fields], middle-click pasting is broken; the AS extension fails to recognise the special status of the field & misinterprets it merely as standard html [or whatever the applicable jargon should be], thus instead of pasting the contents of the clipboard created by highlighting some text, it instead simply changes the pointer to the AS icon & begins autoscrolling.
It is definitely not a V bug [also occurs in Chromium with AS], & definitely is an AS bug [middle-click pasting resumes properly once AS is disabled & the active tab is reloaded].
HOW: Atm it's ~10 hours since i made this important change, & my new V-SS workflow is working very well... albeit old habits die hard as i still sometimes find myself reflexively middle-clicking to deliberately initiate AS, then being momentarily confused that nothing occurs, then remembering to use my new Page Down & Page Up MGs. It's actually been easier for me to remember my altered gestures for Scroll to Bottom & Scroll to Top.
This new method is applicable ONLY to Vivaldi, coz natch only V [amongst chromium browsers] has MGs. Ergo, in Chromium there's no choice but to persist with AS enabled... but that's no practical problem given that Chromium is never my default browser, & rarely needs even to be launched let alone used actively.
I suspect that "my" two new MGs enabled today have likely been in V for a very long time, but i never knew coz i never needed them, given AS & its integral fit in my normal workflow. Frankly were it not for these few weeks of frustration with the AS bug, i'd probably still not have conceived my new workflow. Of course, it is explicitly the goodness of V that even gave me the flexibility to have this alternative; were there no V & if Chromium was my default, i would simply have had to continue gnashing my teeth every time i tried middle-pasting into a field only to be reminded of the bug by the unexpected undesired autoscroll.
Yay V -- once again.
PS: I'm totally a Mouse Ms, not a Keyboard Kween, so alternative page scrolling methods involving keyboard usage are of supreme indifference to me... thus the MGs are brilliant.
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Well, and I'm still suffering and waiting for the must-have feature ='((
https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/24466/middle-click-scrolling-for-linux-version -
@stardust Yeah, sure, me too... but until then, we need to have some acceptable workarounds. For me it was the AS extension, but now that it's buggy i had to workaround my workaround. Tis better than passively doing nothing, & just suffering the inconvenience.
BTW, seeing my old words again just now amused me... https://forum.vivaldi.net/post/84136 ... i really really did hate that basic Linux function for years, but ~6 or maybe even 12 months ago i had a complete epiphany & now love it.
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@steffie Aha, found the AS Dev has just released v4.10 which fixes the bug, hence it now works correctly again. I've resumed using it. My adjusted workflow without it still is good & effective for most websites, but specifically on forums [like Manjaro & Vivaldi] it's frustrating coz it always jumps slightly past a couple of post-rows. For these, AS remains best.
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