Selecting text in the address field is a nightmare

[RammsteinAM]

When trying to select a part of the URL in address field using mouse down + horizontal movement, I end up dragging something instead (when I drop it, a new tab opens with the same URL, if it matters).
If I want to really select the text, I have to click on the address field, then click again to deselect the text but not too fast, not to trigger double click, and only after that I can select a part of the text.

I disabled "Select Address on Activation" to see if there is a difference, turned out it doesn't work or works occasionally, mostly I get the text pre-selected anyway.

My Vivaldi has the latest update - 5.6.2867.50 (Stable channel) (64 bit).
I tested these thing in Vivaldi 5.5.2805.32, everything was perfect and smooth.

Really sorry to say this: Maybe behind the scene this newly written Address Field has some improvements over the old one but having this kind of issues (also this one) in the stable release makes me not just feel no improvements but feel like it's a failure.

[DoctorG]

@RammsteinAM Should have been fixed in Snapshot 5.7.2887.3.

[Dancer18]

@RammsteinAM Apart from the fact that it should be fixed:
Windows is generally far behind Linux as far as copy functions are concerned. In Linux I can easily 1x click on the URL and it's not only selected, but also copied to the clipboard.
Doubleclick on or marking of any text: the same.

Paste with middle mouse button, and that's it.

It's relatively difficult to enable such a feature in Windows (with additional programs).

[Pesala]

@RammsteinAM In Settings, Address Bar, disable:

Select Address on Activation

[RammsteinAM]

@Pesala as I already mentioned, unchecking it does almost nothing, it's also very buggy.

[DoctorG]

@RammsteinAM Check a Standalone install of 5.7 Snapshot if it is fixed for you in there.

[RammsteinAM]

@Dancer18 I'm using Linux (previously Ubuntu, now Kubuntu) for my work. Basically I use Linux more than Windows nowadays and so far want to get rid of that paste feature on middle click but there is no option in the setting for that.

[RammsteinAM]

@DoctorG I tested on the Developer Snapshot (5.7.something) right before making this post, the issue was there too.

[Dancer18]

@RammsteinAM Do you use a clipboard tool? I use either CopyQ or Diodon. There are corresponding settings.

[DoctorG]

@RammsteinAM Not for me on my Debian 11.6 KDE & Windows 11 22H2.
I have Vivaldi Settings → Address Bar
[x ] show full Address
[ ] Select on Activation

I can hover the URL part, drag right horizontally and part of URL is selected.

[RammsteinAM]

@Dancer18 no but thanks for the hint, will try.

[RammsteinAM]

@DoctorG I tested Vivaldi 5.7.2887.3 on Kubuntu 22.04. It kind of works sometines but not the way I am used to. When I uncheck "Select Address on Activation", I can initially do what I want (drag left or right horizontally and select part of the URL). But if I blur the address field without deselecting the text, it keeps my selection and next time I can only start a new selection if I the part I drag was not previously selected.
Let me bring an example: I'm on the page "vivaldi://about". I drag and select "vivaldi", then I click on the page. After this, if I want to select "vivaldi://" and I drag from left to right, it doesn't select the text and again I end up dragging something.

I want the old behavior back. I don't want to keep "Select Address on Activation" disabled but also don't want to drag something instead of selecting the text.

In Chrome or Firefox when you click on the address field, the entire address doesn't become selected until you release the mouse button because it "waits" to see whether you drag horizontally to select a part of the text or not. In Vivaldi 5.5 it was done this way and in my opinion this was is the only correct behavior.

[Pesala]

I don't see what the issue is.

• Click in address bar
• Click again to start text selection
• Drag to extend the text selection, or
• Double-click to select a word
• Drag to extend the text selection

One anomaly that I noticed is that I can drag the selected text into the forum search field, but if I try to drop it into the message reply field, I get this effect:-

[RammsteinAM]

@Pesala I think I explained the issue as detailed as I could. Maybe I can also record my screen to showcase it. But before that I just want ask you to compare Chrome and Vivaldi for the behavior when you drag the non-focused address field text horizontally to select the part of it. They used to be similar for Vivaldi 5.5 and Chrome, now they are different and Vivaldi's behavior is worse and feels buggy.

[Pesala]

@RammsteinAM That's what I thought. You are accustomed to another browser so, you think that Vivaldi's behaviour is wrong.

I never use any other browser (except Opera 12.18 or Firefox for testing), so I only know the behaviour of Vivaldi. I only have problems if there is a bug.

The problem is not with Vivaldi, but with the expectation that it will behave exactly the same as whichever browser users are accustomed to.

Videos are usually a waste of time. A step by step description is nearly always better if done meticulously.

Let me bring an example: I'm on the page "vivaldi://about". I drag and select "vivaldi", then I click on the page. After this, if I want to select "vivaldi://" and I drag from left to right, it doesn't select the text and again I end up dragging something.

Unable to reproduce on Stable or Snapshot, using Windows 10.

[DoctorG]

@RammsteinAM said in Selecting text in the address field is a nightmare:

I want the old behavior back. I don't want to keep "Select Address on Activation" disabled but also don't want to drag something instead of selecting the text.

I can not tell if your issue is a bug, let the internal team test this.
Please read Help us to reproduce the issue carefully, discuss in forum if issue is a bug and can be confirmed by others.
Then report issue to Vivaldi tracker. Once that is done, share the bug number (beginning with VB-).
Please create a commented screen recording with many steps how to reproduce the issue.
Thanks for helping us making Vivaldi better.

[RammsteinAM]

@Pesala said in Selecting text in the address field is a nightmare:

Unable to reproduce on Stable or Snapshot, using Windows 10.

Strange. Now I'm on Linux, will try on Windows later.
But one thing is the same for both, in 5.6 stable unchecking "Select Address on Activation" doesn't always work.

@Pesala said in Selecting text in the address field is a nightmare:

You are accustomed to another browser

Wrong ))
I never used anything besides Opera and Vivaldi even though I always have Chrome and Firefox installed, mostly for testing purposes. That's why I pointed out that Vivaldi 5.5 had this behavior which I consider the correct one. Now it's different. So if it's more acceptable for you, I kindly aks you to forget what I said about Chrome and compare Vivaldi 5.5 with 5.6/5.7.

But one more thing. The main reason why I mentioned Chrome, is not because I consider it a source of truth. I believe if a browser like Vivaldi wants to attract more users, it should never ignore anything that is done by the big players because that's what the most people are used to.

[Pesala]

@RammsteinAM I installed 5.4 just to check, and can see no difference to 5.6 or 5.7.

• Click and drag selects by character
• Double-click and drag selects by word

This is a nothing-burger. The developers should focus on features that set Vivaldi apart from other browsers, rather than trying in vain to duplicate Chrome. That will attract more users.

There are thousands of bugs and feature requests that deserve their attention.

[RammsteinAM]

@Pesala what you showcase in your GIF works fine for me too. This whole thing was about selecting text from address field's non-focused state. So let's not waste more time now, I will file a bug report with the detailed steps to reproduce and will also include a screen recording that compares the current and Vivaldi 5.5 behaviors. Will post it here.

[RammsteinAM]

I submitted two reports.

---

VB-94047

Selecting text from an unfocused Address Field using horizontal dragging is not possible if "Select Address on Activation" is enabled

Steps to reproduce:

1. Enable "Select Address on Activation" from Settings, if disabled.

2. Open a webpage.

3. Move the mouse pointer over the Address Field. The cursor shall change to an I-beam shaped text cursor.

4. Press and hold the left mouse button.

5. Move the mouse horizontally to try to select a part of the URL text.

Expected behaviour:

Part of the URL text should be selected as it was in Vivaldi 5.5.

Actual behaviour:

The entire URL is dragged.

---

VB-94048

Selecting text from an unfocused Address Field using horizontal dragging doesn't always work with disabled "Select Address on Activation" setting

Steps to reproduce:

1. Disable "Select Address on Activation" from Settings, if enabled.

2. Open a webpage (e.g. https://vivaldi.com/desktop).

3. Select a part of the URL in Address Field (e.g. "desktop").

4. Unfocus the Address Field by clicking on the webpage.

5. Move the mouse pointer over the previously selected part of Address Field (e.g. between the letters "k" and "t" of the word "desktop"). The cursor shall change to an I-beam shaped text cursor.

6. Press and hold the left mouse button.

7. Move mouse horizontally trying to select a part of the URL text (e.g. move left trying to select "desk").

(Messed up the numbering in the report, hopefully not a problem and someone will fix it in Jira)

Expected behaviour:

A new text selection should be started as it was in Vivaldi 5.5.

Actual behaviour:

After the 4th described point, although the Address Field loses the focus, the last text selection is not discarded. As a result, text which was selected the last time ("desktop" from the example) is dragged.