1717338 - make spell checker window moveable over previous window

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Core :: Spelling checker, defect)

Description

[Bernhard Riegler]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:89.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/89.0

Steps to reproduce:

just type a message and "send"
the spell checker Window pops up centered in the previous window.
I is not moveable. I cannot verify the complete sentence where the word is
commented by speed checker, because it is covered.

Actual results:

popup window is centered in previous window and cannot be moved.

Expected results:

I like to move the popup window independent of the previous window to
read the commented sentence and decide if the word endings are correct.

Comment 1

[Bernhard Riegler]

oops, it is spell checker and not speed checker.

Comment 2

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

I prefer using spellchecking as I type, but can confirm using check before sending, the spell check window sits in the middle of the composition window using TB 78.11.0 on Fedora 34 Workstation, Gnome 40 desktop and both move together.

I do not see the issue on Windows 10. There, the spell check window moves separately from the composition window.

Reporter, was this working in version 68?

Comment 3

[Bernhard Riegler]

Hi Walt,
I have never seen this 2 windows independent moveable on GNU/Linux Ubuntu platform. currently Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
I cannot answer your specific question for version 68.

Comment 4

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

(In reply to Bernhard Riegler from comment #3)

Hi Walt,
I have never seen this 2 windows independent moveable on GNU/Linux Ubuntu platform. currently Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
I cannot answer your specific question for version 68.

I see the same behavior in 68 and can only suggest:

1. You disable "Check spelling before sending" in the Composition preferences
2. Enable, "Enable spellcheck as you type" in the Composition preferences

If you don't want to do that:

1. After correction of all misspelled words, click "Stop" and review the message
2. Then send it
3. If you still see an error, then from the composition window select "Options > Spellcheck As You Type"
4. After it all looks correct, send it

I would think this is a duplicate, and Core is the only place I find a spell checking component.

Maybe you could find a dupe here https://mzl.la/3gTLlDR

Comment 5

[Bernhard Riegler]

Hi Walt,
today Ubuntu 20.04 LTS made an thunderbird upgrade to version 78.11.0(64bit)
my GTK+3 version is 3.24.20
I only complain about the GTK window frame moveability, not the words and dictionaries of the spell checker.

I switch to your preference "I prefer using spellchecking as I type"
thanks for your help and recommendations.
Bernie

Comment 6

[WaltS48 [:walts48]]

(In reply to Bernhard Riegler from comment #5)

Hi Walt,
today Ubuntu 20.04 LTS made an thunderbird upgrade to version 78.11.0(64bit)
my GTK+3 version is 3.24.20
I only complain about the GTK window frame moveability, not the words and dictionaries of the spell checker.

I switch to your preference "I prefer using spellchecking as I type"
thanks for your help and recommendations.
Bernie

Thanks for the update.

Might be GTK window frame issue. Whatever GTK is.

Comment 7

[Bob Montgomery Jr]

Thunderbird's non-moveable non-resizable spell checker popup hides and obscures view of text being corrected.

Usability issue.

Workaround: repeatedly 'close' and 'restart' spell check to enable sporadic views of context about and views of actual texts being corrected.

'Spell correctors'' which substitute correctly spelled words blindly into sentences serve as nothing more than semantics transformers.
Sentences resulting from 'blind' spell correction consist of only correctly spelled word. Meanings of the sentences so corrected' may be altered inappropriately and incorrectly. The world is replete with examples of such.

As human 'guidance' is presumed by an interactive pop-up spell checker,
such interaction should not be blind the actor to the subject of his/her corrections, specifically not obscure the text the person making the corrections is working with. The spell checker pop-up position and size in Thunderbird are presently fixed immutably and the pop-up is positioned squarely over text being corrected.

This issue is resolvable by moving the spell-check interaction area anywhere outside the panel presenting the text to be corrected.

This issue predominately affects shorter e-mails, which may be completely obscured by the spell-checker pop-up.

The present circumstance is somewhat like a throwback to the days of pre-WYSIWYG editing -
one is expected to keep in mind an exact character-by-character memory of the text being edited (because it is completely obscured!)
such that one can apply appropriate commands (here suggested text substitutions) to make changes.

Most other contemporary spell-checkers use simple, small, temporary pop-up context menus with lists of words
which only briefly obscure a portion of the text being edited,
instead of a full persistent dialog panel which in some cases completely obscures the target text of interactions.