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Initial input focus with NoScript is broken

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I have no Firefox add-ons except NoScript. Flash is not installed on Firefox. I use Firefox for safe surfing. When I want to watch video, I use IE11. My PCs are W-7 64-bit.

For quite a few Firefox releases, the focus behavior was correct: when Firefox was started or when the home button was clicked (my home is a search engine), I would see my search engine with the input focus, i.e. the cursor was present in the search box. However, a few releases ago the cursor focus was lost. This current behavior is different than all other browsers.

I do not know if this is a Firefox bug or a NoScript bug, but I suspect that NoScript is in the top-five most popular add-ons so the Mozilla community should care. Please fix this bug in the next release. It is annoying to start Firefox and start typing something into the search box only to then realize that the typing is being sent to the bit bucket instead.

I have no Firefox add-ons except NoScript. Flash is not installed on Firefox. I use Firefox for safe surfing. When I want to watch video, I use IE11. My PCs are W-7 64-bit. For quite a few Firefox releases, the focus behavior was correct: when Firefox was started or when the home button was clicked (my home is a search engine), I would see my search engine with the input focus, i.e. the cursor was present in the search box. However, a few releases ago the cursor focus was lost. This current behavior is different than all other browsers. I do not know if this is a Firefox bug or a NoScript bug, but I suspect that NoScript is in the top-five most popular add-ons so the Mozilla community should care. Please fix this bug in the next release. It is annoying to start Firefox and start typing something into the search box only to then realize that the typing is being sent to the bit bucket instead.

Chosen solution

In order to place the focus in a form control, a web page uses JavaScript. Otherwise, Firefox's focus is on the page body as a whole which, as you point out, can't accept any input.

If you are already allowing scripts for the search engine site, then check the NoScript button to see whether the search engine also pulls in scripts from a content distribution network or other secondary domain and test whether allowing scripts from that host resolves the issue.

If you do not want to allow the site's scripts, you may need a workaround such as a Greasemonkey userscript which can set the focus where you want it after the page loads.

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All Replies (4)

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You might want to ask about that issue in the NoScript support forum. http://forums.informaction.com/viewforum.php?f=3

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Chosen Solution

In order to place the focus in a form control, a web page uses JavaScript. Otherwise, Firefox's focus is on the page body as a whole which, as you point out, can't accept any input.

If you are already allowing scripts for the search engine site, then check the NoScript button to see whether the search engine also pulls in scripts from a content distribution network or other secondary domain and test whether allowing scripts from that host resolves the issue.

If you do not want to allow the site's scripts, you may need a workaround such as a Greasemonkey userscript which can set the focus where you want it after the page loads.

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Thanks, I did that.

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For reference: https://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=20184

Also, baroque-quest, Giorgio is waiting for the URL of the search engine site for further testing.