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Just let me select text

aartaka.me

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Re: Just let me select text

#221

Post by pmontra »

NoraCodes wrote: post #16

Given that this page has the following styles which aren't applied anywhere else on the blog: body { -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none; } I think it's safe to assume that being unable to select text on this page is not unintentional, as several comments here assume, nor "ironic", but an intentional effort to demonstrate how annoyin…

Nice catch. Luckily I can use uMatrix to disable css and select and copy the post. Oddly the selection is transparent. Firefox Android.

> I’m lonely. Like everyone-ish else. Naturally, I’m on Bumble

Re: Just let me select text

#222

Post by kuekacang »

Anon1096 wrote: post #184
Hobadee wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real-world example I use nearly daily: Selecting the nav header that's the ticket number in our ticketing system. I copy-paste the number elsewhere. Of course there are many other bad design decisions that go into requiring me to do this, but it's still a real example of why all text should be selectable.

Something I absolutely loved while working at Meta was that basically every internal system has some kind of ticket ID, and more importantly, wherever it's displayed near the top of the page you very likely can click-to-copy it. And the click-to-copy gives you a rich version of the ticket ID that you could paste into Google Docs and have the link to the ticket page embedded already. Really small feature that improved…

Recently I've been considering simple click-to-copy button is a bad ux since it can destroy one's clipboard (granted, I'm not using clipboard manager). This might be mitigated with a confirmation before actually replacing the clipboard, but I haven't encountered such implementation. Maybe due to ctc more often appear in tech-related websites.

Re: Just let me select text

#223

Post by parpfish »

AlexandrB wrote: post #35

I like to idly select text as I'm reading and when it doesn't work it's super annoying. A pox on sites that do this.

same here. i use it as a kind of mental bookmark as i move down the page because I know that its very, very likely i'll get distracted by somethingand have to temporarily leave the article.

however, this is probably a habit for a minority of users because it only makes sense on desktop. if you're reading on a mobile touchscreen-device this highlight-as-you-go tic just doesn't make sense

Re: Just let me select text

#224

Post by dejongh »

I don't know the bumble app, but it really annoys me that I cannot copy text in reddit and facebook (I am forced to use this app by my daughters hobby). If you dev a mobile app - make sure users can select and copy text!

Re: Just let me select text

#225

Post by cosmojg »

I must admit, one of my favorite recent-ish Android[1] features is that all text is made selectable in the app switcher using on-device OCR. Regardless of the app[2], you can just swipe up and start selecting text.

[1] ...at least on the Google Pixel.

[2] ...unless it's a banking app and it blocks permissions for screenshots and similar things.

Re: Just let me select text

#226

Post by mintplant »

kuekacang wrote: post #222
Anon1096 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something I absolutely loved while working at Meta was that basically every internal system has some kind of ticket ID, and more importantly, wherever it's displayed near the top of the page you very likely can click-to-copy it. And the click-to-copy gives you a rich version of the ticket ID that you could paste into Google Docs and have the link to the ticket page embedded already. Really small feature that improved…

Recently I've been considering simple click-to-copy button is a bad ux since it can destroy one's clipboard (granted, I'm not using clipboard manager). This might be mitigated with a confirmation before actually replacing the clipboard, but I haven't encountered such implementation. Maybe due to ctc more often appear in tech-related websites.

I highly recommend getting a clipboard manager! They keep a (usually configurable) history of your most recent clipboard items and allow switching the active selection between them.

Re: Just let me select text

#227

Post by kokanee »

pmontra wrote: post #221
NoraCodes wrote: post #16

Given that this page has the following styles which aren't applied anywhere else on the blog: body { -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none; } I think it's safe to assume that being unable to select text on this page is not unintentional, as several comments here assume, nor "ironic", but an intentional effort to demonstrate how annoyin…

Nice catch. Luckily I can use uMatrix to disable css and select and copy the post. Oddly the selection is transparent. Firefox Android. > I’m lonely. Like everyone-ish else. Naturally, I’m on Bumble

No browser extensions necessary, just right click > inspect element > select , then turn off the CSS rules you don't want.

Re: Just let me select text

#229

Post by Theodores »

bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #114
catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

It's always bothered me that links on webpages are single click to open. They should require double clicking to open (like just about everything else on a computer) and single click should be used to start selecting text, like everywhere else on a computer.

I am sure that this would have been user tested many decades ago when mice had balls and three buttons. They might have even tested opening links on mouse over, which would be a bit too trigger happy.

Users of just the web are not fully computer literate. The interface is super easy compared to actual programs where you need things like menus, right clicks and full hotkey support.

If I think back to how my mother struggled with computers and how her friends were just as useless, I think they would be stumped with having to double click. Arthritis comes along too, so that generation needed all the help they could get. Generally it was only the advent of online shopping that enabled them to persevere with giving things a go.

Re: Just let me select text

#230

Post by sethammons »

catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

No, text should be selectable, even when links. The amount of times I've accidentally highlighted instead of clicking? Maybe a couple? The amount of times that frustrated or confused me? Absolutely zero.

I want to select the text of a link and copy the text of a link. I want to do this but I run into issues _daily_, esp. on mobile. PagerDuty app, I'm looking at you! Mobile seems to assume that you, in no world ever, could ever want to select text.

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