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Poll: Do you select text while reading?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?

#311

Post by kibwen »

devcpp wrote: post #293
Flenser wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I want to drag text on a web page I drag selected text to between tabs to create a new tab with a Google search for that text. I do that a lot.

Any idea if this exists for Firefox? I've been looking for it for a while. It's the major feature I miss from Chrome. I've had enough of Ctrl-C, Ctrl-T, Ctrl-V.

Highlight any text and right-click. The third option down will offer to search Google using the selected text (though it probably uses your default search engine, rather than hardcoding Google).

You can also highlight any URL (it doesn't need to be a link, just look like a URL) and tell Firefox to load it by either right-clicking or by dragging it to the tab bar. Try it out on any of the following:

  google.com
  www.google.com
  http://www.google.com

Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?

#312

Post by Flenser »

instakill wrote: post #266

Only select a sentence or two when I need to scroll back up and long page and get back to where I was reading quickly afterwards.

I do this too. I also sometimes do it when I scroll down a page to skim the content to see if I want to carry on reading.

Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?

#313

Post by Flenser »

beemoe wrote: post #277
mikeleeorg wrote: post #99

No, but I tend to scroll, so the top of the browser window marks where I should read next.

Ah, I have been looking for this comment. Finally someone else who does this! It doesn't just show me where my current spot to start from is; it prevents me from wasting time re-reading any text that I have already read. Even though this is my most common method, I occasionally use the mouse cursor (without selecting) to keep my place instead, particularly at the bottom of a page where I can no longer scroll down.

This is my method too. It also means that if I am interrupted I don't have to do anything to keep my place, although I still sometimes select text if I want to keep something above it on screen for context.

Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?

#314

Post by Flenser »

bradleyland wrote: post #177

I answered yes to the first three, because I find myself doing it for a variety of reasons at different times. The most common reason is to keep track of my place when someone calls me or walks in to my office. The next most common reason is related to the first reason, and it's a shame that I have to do so. When you use text highlighting to track your reading (line by line), it's a sign that the site you're reading…

When the typography is really bad I use readability, although I'm sure I select text on readability too.

Re: Poll: Do you select text while reading?

#316

Post by r0s »

rjzzleep wrote: post #248

no, but i'm surprised nobody brought this up yet: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/reasy/ you select text and it turns it into some speed reading format. tiny plugin and plain awesome

Interesting, I've been developing a very similar idea independently.
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