Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.

System32

Hello. For some reason I can't select the suggestion I need from search suggestions in the search field using up and down arrow keys. It works perfectly fine with search suggestions in the address field though.
Could you please fix it? Because it's a real pain to move my hand from the keyboard to the mouse every time I need to select specific search suggestion.

TbGbe · Win: Snapshot Vivaldi 7.1.3527.3

@System32 Seems to be caused by Lock keys (Scroll Lock, Num Lock).

See https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/34658/search-box-suggestions-issue

System32

@TbGbe
Indeed disabling Numlock helps but I hope they will fix the bug because turning on and off Numlock in order to normally use your browser is devastating.

cabXavier

@System32 said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

Hello. For some reason I can't select the suggestion I need from search suggestions in the search field using up and down arrow keys. It works perfectly fine with search suggestions in the address field though.
Could you please fix it? Because it's a real pain to move my hand from the keyboard to the mouse every time I need to select specific search suggestion.

This problem is ANNOYING AS HELL!!
and while the "numLock" key is the culprit in my case.. I ALWAYS have numLock engaged. Besides, I use the dedicated arrow keys on my keyboard.. so there should be some way to keep them from being triggered by the numLock.

Will this behavior be addressed at some point?? I've been using Vivaldi for less than a year and this is easily one of my TOP 3 issues.

Pathduck

@cabXavier I kind of agree, it's been a known issue for a long time now. Thing is, the team knows users can search using custom engines directly from the address bar, often easier as well since you don't need to first change engine. So it's probably not high on the fix-list even if it should be.

The search field is kind of redundant for most users I think, but I do understand why some would want it there and would use it more if it wasn't broken like it is now.

benediktn

@Pathduck said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

The search field is kind of redundant for most users I think, but I do understand why some would want it there and would use it more if it wasn't broken like it is now.

For me, this is a privacy issue. I want to utilize search suggestions but I don't want to send every input in my address bar to a search engine. Thus, I need the separate search bar. It would really be appreciated if this issue were fixed.

Pesala

@benediktn What's stopping you from using the Tab key or disabling Numlock?

iAN CooG

@benediktn you are probably a bit confused on how it works, it doesn't make any difference if you use the address field or the search field, your input text is sent to the search engine and it returns a list of results that the browser displays in the dropdown list, in both fields it works the same. How do you expect it to work if the search engine doesn't get queried with the text you type?

iAN CooG

@Pesala said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

using the Tab key

I am preferring cursor keys movement in the dropdowns, and I really miss key autorepeat in Vivaldi, it's so unconfortable to press down/up keys multiple times instead of some faster autorepeat scrolling.
I also understand that some people prefer entering their numbers always with the number keypad, so always having to turn numlock off is an additional annoyance.
Then add to this problem that also Caps and Scroll lock interfere with the search box cursor movements, to add insult to injury I found out this problem after using Scroll lock in Excel some time ago. It's totally uncomprehensible why lock keys should interfere with a proper keyboard scan.

SylwesterZ

@Pesala It is simple:

Search field sends only that what you type in it. It doesn't send requests to Google or another for suggestions, when you type in address bar mysecretsite.local, which could be even unavailable from Internet, because you will never type this local address in search field.
Having distinct search box allow you to have suggestions only in this field and disable suggestions in main url/address field.
You can't enable and disable Numlock every time you type in search field, try to do this hundreds time a day and you will throw a browser to trash.
Numlock is essential to work with numbers, if you do not need Numlock enabled, you are not working with numbers (or very little), but many people do.
Tab key is not really usable in this context, because going up and down with tab/shift+tab is not natural like using cursors. It could be tedious workaround but not solution.

Problem is for few years now (before forum post was created) and it is one of big usability issues which prevent people from changing to Vivaldi.
Most people do not want privacy and do not use distinct search field, but most of them also are not tied to Vivaldi in any way and will float to any other browser, mostly Chrome...
Vivaldi could be Firefox of today with very tied community, but this will need hard work to fix existing bugs and enhance shortcomings (like Chromium/Blink subpixel AA bugs).

RammsteinAM

Turning off the Num Lock every time is not even close to being a workaround. I always use Numpad to type numbers so my Num Lock is always on. I will rather disable the search field and use the address field only. The problem with the address field is that it sometimes has an issue with identifying whether the typed text is a URI or a search keyword and I also need to avoid the URL autocompletion when I want to search so from this point of view the search field is more convenient. The only problem is this issue with the arrow keys which is very, VERY annoying.

I don't know how many times it has already been reported but I decided to report it myself and hope it can be fixed soon.

Komposten

@RammsteinAM said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

Turning off the Num Lock every time is not even close to being a workaround. I always use Numpad to type numbers so my Num Lock is always on.

Definitely agree with this. And using Tab and Shift+Tab as a workaround is okay, but far from ideal.

The problem with the address field is that it sometimes has an issue with identifying whether the typed text is a URI or a search keyword and I also need to avoid the URL autocompletion when I want to search so from this point of view the search field is more convenient.

If you type ? before your search term in the address field it will always search with your default search engine, rather than trying to interpret the text as a URI. Or you could give your search engine a nickname if ? is inconvenient to type (like on my keyboard where I need to press shift and the key to the right of 0).
This is, of course, just another workaround. But it may be more convenient than using Tab/Shift+Tab.

Alternatively, you can form the habit of always tapping the down arrow after writing a search term in the address field, since the topmost entry in the dropdown is always "Search [your search engine]".

RammsteinAM

@Komposten said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

If you type ? before your search term in the address field it will always search with your default search engine, rather than trying to interpret the text as a URI. Or you could give your search engine a nickname if ? is inconvenient to type (like on my keyboard where I need to press shift and the key to the right of 0).

I'm not used to using nicknames since I mostly use only one search engine. But thanks, I didn't know about it.

@Komposten said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

Alternatively, you can form the habit of always tapping the down arrow after writing a search term in the address field, since the topmost entry in the dropdown is always "Search [your search engine]".

I have a habit to put a space after the keyword but it does not always work the way I want (sometimes it can open a bookmark).

Isn't it easier to just fix this small but annoying bug than to try to find workarounds?

Finally, as the wise browser company said, the browser should adapt to you, not the other way around.

RammsteinAM

@Gwen-Dragon said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

I did not find a bug report in bug tracker. So i hope someone of you sends in a bug report for this regression.

VB-67908

Komposten

@RammsteinAM said in Can't select search suggestions in the search field by up and down arrow keys.:

Isn't it easier to just fix this small but annoying bug than to try to find workarounds?

It would obviously be best if the bug was fixed. But until that happens, finding workarounds can really help make things easier.

iAN CooG

now fixed in today' Snapshot 3.1.1929.3