Upon startup of FF & opening of a NTP the URLBAR text won't select all.
Hello and thanks for reading my post!
I've tried the "clickselectsAll" about:config setting to no avail, it does indeed put the cursor in the urlbar but the cursor ends up flashing at the beginning of the urlbar and doesn't highlight or select any of the text.
I read something, somewhere, yesterday about having a custom newtabpage and startup page set to a custom website, (in my case it's "www.google.com/ncr" for both the newtabpage and the startup page) that will screw up the ability of FF to put the cursor on the urlbar and highlight the text because the google.com/ncr page is trying to do the same thing, put the cursor on it's own page's search field, but i can't find that page again today for some reason.
If anyone out there has had a similar issue or knows how to rectify this issue I'd love to hear back from you! Email updates\replies is turned on & I get new email notifications immediately, no matter what I'm doing, so I will see your reply & respond forthwith.
I thank you for your time in reading this question/issue & your subsequent response.
Cheers!
Modified by pEnTiCtOn
Chosen solution
Hi PenTech Services, are you using the New Tab Override extension?
I think this is a known limitation of NTO and similar extensions: Firefox doesn't currently provide a way for them to select the address bar. See: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/versions/?page=1#version-11.0.0 -- says "clarified notice about missing API for clearing the address bar or selecting the URL". The phrase "missing API" indicates "no way to do this."
For the time being, you need to select the text yourself using a keyboard shortcut, for example:
- Esc (cancel edit/selection)
- Ctrl+a
- Shift+End
- Ctrl+L (normal keyboard shortcut to select the address bar)
- F6 F6 (moves focus to page then back to address bar)
Or triple-click the URL.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (6)
www or no www - doesn't matter for Google if that is the homepage but other pages it might because by default it will place a www in front of url that doesn't have it unless it is a www2 url then those types would have issues. I do know if you just type google.com on the url it will be become www.google.com if there is nothing already there with the google name.
Chosen Solution
Hi PenTech Services, are you using the New Tab Override extension?
I think this is a known limitation of NTO and similar extensions: Firefox doesn't currently provide a way for them to select the address bar. See: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/versions/?page=1#version-11.0.0 -- says "clarified notice about missing API for clearing the address bar or selecting the URL". The phrase "missing API" indicates "no way to do this."
For the time being, you need to select the text yourself using a keyboard shortcut, for example:
- Esc (cancel edit/selection)
- Ctrl+a
- Shift+End
- Ctrl+L (normal keyboard shortcut to select the address bar)
- F6 F6 (moves focus to page then back to address bar)
Or triple-click the URL.
jscher2000 said
Hi PenTech Services, are you using the New Tab Override extension?
Ahhh yes! I certainly am using the New Tab Override extension, well, wait oneeeeeee second here.... nope, not using it anymore!
Thanks so much for your help! I gotta remember, always disable and re-enable each addon to troubleshoot an issue! I seem to forget this alot.
- )
I think the best approach will be a personal choice. If you want a specific page on the new tab because you use it more often than the address bar, you can live with the selection issue. But if you mostly use the address bar, the built-in page is more convenient.
I'm currently unable to find ANY addon that sets a custom new tab page url that will also put the cursor in the urlbar at the END of the text AND highlight all the text so I can begin typing in the urlbar upon loading a new tab.
This wasn't the case pre-firefox 57, all the new tab page addons worked as they should, set a custom page, move cursor automatically to end of urlbar text and highlight said text so the user can begin typing.
I found a fix that works, until Mozilla decides to either fix this or allow some sort of option to enable it. Downgrade your Firefox installation to the one listed below and install the "Custom New Tab" addon also listed below. Enter the addon's settings and type in the URL you want to use, I use https://www.google.com
DOWNLOAD PRE-57 VERSION OF FIREFOX: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/
(This links shows all downloadable versions, for Windows 32 & 64, macOS and Linux 32 & 64)
DOWNLOAD CUSTOM NEW TAB ADDON: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/custom-new-tab (There are others, but this one is the only I found so far that works without ANY issue.)
There! Done! Now your new tab page will load a custom page or URL of your choosing AND it will highlight/select all the text automatically so you can begin typing in the URLBAR right away without having to click/highlight anything manually.
FINDING YOUR SYSTEM INFORMATION:
If you don't know if your Windows installation is 32 or 64 bit follow these instructions:
START - SEARCH - Search for SYSTEM INFORMATION and OPEN it.
Look for SYSTEM TYPE to see if you're 32bit or 64bit.
ALSO: Make sure you disable or shut off the Firefox automatic update option in the browser settings otherwise it'll update on you and you'll be back where you started.
''If you have this issue, I hope this helps you out!
UPDATED NOTE: I don't really support anyone downgrading their Firefox and turning off automatic updates as this is not a good idea if you want to stay up to date with the latest bug fixes and such. But, If this new tab page addon thing not selecting the urlbar text properly really bothers you and you can't use Firefox without it working that way, then go ahead and try the above suggestion. lol Cheerz!''
Modified by pEnTiCtOn