Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How come in Safari you need to triple click to highlight the address bar?

C

ComputerWizard

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 20, 2003
42
0
Chicago, IL
How come you have to triple-click on the address bar in Safari to highlight the entire address?

This is the only thing that I don't like about Safari. I was wondering if this is normal. If it is, then is there any way to change it. I know that you can click on the picture to the left of the the address to highlight the entire address bar, but you should be able to highlight it like in internet explorer by just clicking on it once. It would make it so much more conveniant. Not that I'll ever switch back to using internet explorer, but I really want a way to change this setting.


-Thanks in advance -
Sam
 
It's normal. 1click = place cursor into address bar. 2 clicks= highlight a word you are clciking on. 3clicks=highlight everything. It's just a matter of getting used to from IE.
And i doubt you can change that.
 
i never paid attention to it, but it does make more sense for the address to be highlight-able in two clicks instead of three. (which i assume happened the same way all other text highlights are handled...) it's far more likely that the entire address would be needed than just a word in an URL...
 
the only nice thing about the standard triple-click in safari is that you can change websites from the root level very easily. like, you're at www.microsoft.com and you want www.apple.com, all you have to do is double-click microsoft and replace it with apple. which you should do anyway ;) but this is a rarity, most people are at some subdirectory by the time they go to another site.

so yes, it should be changed..

pnw
 
For a web browser designer, it's a no-win situation. When a user clicks, he/she might want to edit characters within the URL, might want to select part of the URL, or might want to highlight the entire URL to copy it or replace it. And even if the designers somehow guessed right most of the time, it wouldn't be the same as other web browsers, so some people would complain because it wasn't what they were used to (and, therefore, expecting).

As a program designer myself, my strategy in can't-win situations is to choose the choice that can be defended most logically, which is usually the "keep it simple" method, as opposed to the "try to be really really clever" method. In this case, I would design a web browser to have the URL field behave like any other text box. Click to place the insertion bar, double click for a word, triple-click for the whole field, drag to select a portion. The little icon to the left lets you select the whole thing, and that's a nice convenience to those (including me) who want to select the whole URL most of the time.
 
Originally posted by Doctor Q
For a web browser designer, it's a no-win situation. When a user clicks, he/she might want to edit characters within the URL, might want to select part of the URL, or might want to highlight the entire URL to copy it or replace it. And even if the designers somehow guessed right most of the time, it wouldn't be the same as other web browsers, so some people would complain because it wasn't what they were used to (and, therefore, expecting).

As a program designer myself, my strategy in can't-win situations is to choose the choice that can be defended most logically, which is usually the "keep it simple" method, as opposed to the "try to be really really clever" method. In this case, I would design a web browser to have the URL field behave like any other text box. Click to place the insertion bar, double click for a word, triple-click for the whole field, drag to select a portion. The little icon to the left lets you select the whole thing, and that's a nice convenience to those (including me) who want to select the whole URL most of the time.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying, but I still think that there should at least be an option to make it singe click double click or triple click. But I understand that apple wants to keep it simple. But how come someone hasn't made a hack to do this . I know the shortcuts like Command+L, and it is very useful, but I still think that this setting should be able to be changed. It can at times slow down my browsing a bit. This doesn't seem fitting for the fastest browser on the mac.
 
Once you develop a routine of single click with the icon on the left you'll be as fast as ever. Personally, I was always irritated that other browsers sometimes highlight the entire line with one click.... I am one of those who needs to change a single character or move through directories. Also, changing between .net/.org/.com/.edu.

Dan
 
Originally posted by alset
I am one of those who needs to change a single character or move through directories. Also, changing between .net/.org/.com/.edu
Click to expand...
Like changing whitehouse.com to whitehouse.gov before the teacher/parent/boss catches you? ;)
 
AFAIK that text field is a subclass of NSTextField with icons added to it, so yes, its very normal behaviour for the rest of the operating system. Microsoft just chose to act like Windows for some reason.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back