45125 - [RFE] "Go to Address in Clipboard" in location bar context menu

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 492544

(SeaMonkey :: General, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Neil Marshall]

I couldn't find this anywhere so I figured I'd suggest it.

In the past I've heard people ask for a Go button on the location bar (Where
search currently is).  I think it would be more useful if the right click menu
had these items

Cut
Copy
Paste
Go
Paste & Go

Go would be just like pressing enter.  "Paste and Go" will paste the contents of
the clipboard and try going to that location (Eliminating the need for the go
button).

Comment 1

[Jeffrey Baker]

Setting severity to enh.

Comment 2

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

over to UI Design Feedback for evaluation.

Comment 3

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

In bug 16081, I suggested:

  _Undo
  ---------------------------
  Cu_t
  _Copy
  _Paste
  Select _All
  ---------------------------
  _Go to Address in Clipboard

Which is slightly more accurate than `Paste & Go' (because `Paste' doesn't imply 
replacement of the original contents of the location field, when it should).

Comment 4

[Neil Marshall]

Yeah thats good (can't forget the undo as well)

But, you might want to include a Go on that menu as well (If there is not going 
to be a Go button)  Someone might paste a URL then cut parts out of it using the 
context menu, and then want to go to that page (I've seen someone do it before 
in IE).

Comment 5

[Brendan Donohoe]

A reasonable suggestion at least worthy of further examination.  Not likely 
for this version, though.  Marking Future so we can reconsider later.

Comment 6

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

This bug might become obsolete if bug 30797 (optional `Go' button) was fixed.

Comment 7

[leger]

Reassigning from bdonohoe to hangas

Comment 8

[Jesse Ruderman]

Blake, do you think this could this be done using the middle-click paste code?

Comment 9

[Jesse Ruderman]

Updating summary with mpt's text for the menu item.  See also bug 61057.

Comment 10

[Zach Lipton [:zach]]

Chaning the qa contact on these bugs to me. MPT will be moving to the 
owner of this component shortly. I would like to thank him for all his hard 
work as he moves roles in mozilla.org...Yada, Yada, Yada...

Comment 11

[Asa Dotzler [:asa]]

updating to new owner. sorry for the spam.

Comment 12

[Neil Marshall]

I managed to get this command working on my machine, by taking a couple lines of 
code from the go button, the select all code, and the paste code.  (It's only a 
couple lines in a small function)  The only problem is I couldn't figure out 
where to put this code in the xul files.  I tried creating an overlay but 
couldn't get that to work either.  Does anyone else know how to put this command 
in the location bar only?  I don't want it showing up in all textboxes.

Comment 13

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Well, now. I believe I was the one who suggested the `Paste & Go' context menu 
item in the first place -- I think I'm the `people' who Neil refers to in this 
bug. At the time, I was adamantly opposed to the idea of a `Go' button, under 
the reasoning that it would permanently slow users down by discouraging from 
ever learning to use the Enter key. However, I recognized the need for users 
without immediate access to the keyboard (for whatever reason) to be able to go 
to an address in the clipboard with the mouse only, so I suggested the context 
menu item.

But that was before I had the opportunity to watch over the shoulders of large 
numbers of people using the Web. To my consternation, I found that when the 
`Go' button was hidden in Internet Explorer, rather than figure out how to use 
the Enter key, novice users would do one of two things:
(1) ask me for help;
(2) click the `Search' button in the (vertically separate!) toolbar, under the
    impression that it was a `Go' button (usually leading to a further comedy
    of errors where the user entered their URL again into the search field
    produced by the `Search' button).

That's why we need a `Go' button, that's why the `Go' button needs to be on by 
default, and that's why it's bad for Navigator to have a `Search' button next 
to the address field (even worse than its placement in Internet Explorer). 
Teaching users that the `Go' button can also be activated using the Enter key 
(without being annoying about it) is the job of bug 51985.

Meanwhile, as I suggested in my 2000-07-25 comment, this bug is pretty much 
obsolete now that bug 30797 has been fixed. If you're the sort of user who is 
frequently unable to use your keyboard, then the `Go' button is for you. For 
that reason, I'm resolving this as wontfix.

Comment 14

[Claudius Gayle]

none of that 'consternation' would've happened with NS6. At step (2) your users would've
simply been taken to their website! No need for them to be forced to learn any behaviors.

Comment 15

[timeless]

vrfy wontfix

Comment 16

[Sean]

Can this enhancement request be reconsidered? Opera users get it by default and I don't see what harm it could do.

Comment 17

[Matthew T (active 1999-2002)]

Fifteen years later, I owe Neil and everyone else an apology here. Though I proposed "Go to Address in Clipboard" in bug 16081 comment 16, I wontfixed the equivalent proposal here, on the grounds that the browser needed a Go button instead, and there was little point in having both.

As it turned out, I underestimated Web users: they did eventually learn to use the Enter key in the address field. So browsers dropped their Go buttons, and as a result, "Paste & Go" became more useful. It appeared in Opera 7 in 2003, then in Chrome circa 2008, and finally Firefox in 2011, bug 492544.