411935 - Back button doesn't work when dropdown list of urls in the back button history is displayed

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[crf]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre) Gecko/2008011004 Minefield/3.0b3pre
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre) Gecko/2008011004 Minefield/3.0b3pre

To the immediate right of the back button, and sort of connected to it, is a little downward pointing arrow that when clicked, shows a list of selectable items in the back button's history.

Click the little downward pointing arrow, the list will be displayed, and the backbutton and the arrow will be highlighted in grey, indicating they are selected. Now move the pointer to the left so that it is over the back button. The backbutton will be highlighted in white, and a tooltip will appear with the text "go back one page". During this event, the down arrow will remain highlighted in grey and the list of sites in the back button history will remain.

Click the mouse button. This should take you one site back. It doesn't. The click doesn't do anything except dismiss the displayed list of sites in the back button's history. 

This is bad design. Everything about the back button in the state I've mentioned would indicate to the user that it should take the user one site back: the tooltip says so, the fact that the button is highlighted in white says so, and the fact that area with the little arrow and its list of sites in back-button's history becomes visually distinct from the area with back button says so. 

So not only should the drop down selectable list of sites in history be dismissed (as it does now), it should also take you one site back.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Click down arrow next to back button to show list of sites in back button's history.
2. Move the cursor over the back button itself.
3. Click back button.
Actual Results:  
The displayed list of sites in the back button's history is dismissed.

Expected Results:  
That you should go one site back. (In addition to the actual results.)

There is an easy work-around. You just click the back button twice. Once to dismiss the drop list of sites in the back button's history. Once to actually go back.

But you should only have to click it once. 

People become less productive and more frustrated with software when it gives all the visual cues of taking a certain action, but then doesn't take that action without additional user massaging.

Comment 1

[Joshua Nixon]

This behavior appears to occur on OS X (Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9b3) Gecko/2008020511 Firefox/3.0b3 ID:2008020511) but I don't see it as an actual bug.

Click-hold the back button brings up a dropdown list; the back button appears in the "pressed" position. If mouse is released while hovering over the list the button stays pressed and the list stays visible. Clicking back button does dismiss the list without going back, but clicking the first unchecked entry in the list will move back one page as requested by crf. The list appears to be acting normally in my mind. Any user not using a mouse to navigate would likely prefer the list stay visible until dismissed rather than taking action when dismissed.(In reply to comment #0)
> User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre)
> Gecko/2008011004 Minefield/3.0b3pre
> Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b3pre)
> Gecko/2008011004 Minefield/3.0b3pre
> 
> To the immediate right of the back button, and sort of connected to it, is a
> little downward pointing arrow that when clicked, shows a list of selectable
> items in the back button's history.
> 
> Click the little downward pointing arrow, the list will be displayed, and the
> backbutton and the arrow will be highlighted in grey, indicating they are
> selected. Now move the pointer to the left so that it is over the back button.
> The backbutton will be highlighted in white, and a tooltip will appear with the
> text "go back one page". During this event, the down arrow will remain
> highlighted in grey and the list of sites in the back button history will
> remain.
> 
> Click the mouse button. This should take you one site back. It doesn't. The
> click doesn't do anything except dismiss the displayed list of sites in the
> back button's history. 
> 
> This is bad design. Everything about the back button in the state I've
> mentioned would indicate to the user that it should take the user one site
> back: the tooltip says so, the fact that the button is highlighted in white
> says so, and the fact that area with the little arrow and its list of sites in
> back-button's history becomes visually distinct from the area with back button
> says so. 
> 
> So not only should the drop down selectable list of sites in history be
> dismissed (as it does now), it should also take you one site back.
> 
> 
> 
> Reproducible: Always
> 
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1.Click down arrow next to back button to show list of sites in back button's
> history.
> 2. Move the cursor over the back button itself.
> 3. Click back button.
> Actual Results:  
> The displayed list of sites in the back button's history is dismissed.
> 
> Expected Results:  
> That you should go one site back. (In addition to the actual results.)
> 
> There is an easy work-around. You just click the back button twice. Once to
> dismiss the drop list of sites in the back button's history. Once to actually
> go back.
> 
> But you should only have to click it once. 
> 
> People become less productive and more frustrated with software when it gives
> all the visual cues of taking a certain action, but then doesn't take that
> action without additional user massaging.
> 

Comment 2

[crf]

The list may be acting normally, but the button isn't.

When you press the back or forward button, it should do its job. It's job is to go back or forward. If the drop-down history list is shown, it should also dismiss this list.

If you have this drop-down history list shown, every other button, or even most every other click, dismisses the list, but also does its job. (Try it: with the list shown, click the reload button: it works and the list is dismissed. The close button: it works. The bookmarks menu: it works. Click in a page or blank area, nothing happens, as it should, except the list is dismissed. But the back and forward buttons, despite giving every indication that they should work, do not.) 

These buttons are acting differently depending on some particular state. A modal state. I think it's generally a goal to get rid of modal interfaces as much as possible.

I don't believe that it was a deliberate choice to have the button behave the way it is now.

Comment 3

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

I do see this with current trunk, so moving over to NEW. however, not sure if we will fix it or not.