context menu

Context Menu

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Almost everyone using a computer to access the Internet uses the left click on a link to go to its location. Exceptions might be left handers who switch the buttons on a mouse, those using screen readers, or similar small niche users of the Internet.

I tend to multi-task, so I will scan a page and open all potential links I want to check in a new tab. The  way I accomplish this is the browser’s context menu with a right click on the link. In both Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, the open in new tab (or window) are the first options.

Since my exactly what I wanted to check does not persist in memory, opening them all up in their own tab, lets me not have to remember. I can just circle back through the tabs.

So any time a web designer changes the context menu so it is not there, my blood pressure rises.

A decade ago, web designers were terrified of people stealing photos and source code, so they would disable the context menu. Back then, I would turn off JavaScript from running, go to the page, download their images and source code, then email it to them as a proof of concept that all they did was annoy people.

Today, it seems my nemesis is a support portal where the right click on a link operates the exact same as a left click. At least Ctrl+Click still opens the item in a new tab, which is what I want. I did not name the company in hopes it takes them longer to not break my workaround too.

P.S. It appears that they keep track of the last page visited, but updating a ticket does not make it the last one visited. So I end up somewhere else.
🙁

Goodreads Context Menu Search

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At some point when I am not too lazy, I should empower my future laziness. I really need an easier way to look up books on Goodreads when I see them mentioned on other pages.

For example, say I go to BBC’s Big Read and want to add some to my wish list. At present I would highlight the title, Ctrl+C to copy, Alt+Tab to a window/tab with goodreads.com, click in the search box, Ctrl+V to paste, and hit Enter. Probably would take no more than a couple seconds.

What I want is to be able to highlight the title, right-click to bring up the context menu, and click on search for the title on Goodreads. Probably would take less than a second.

Interestingly enough with Google Chrome I can make the default search Goodreads. That achieves the above with the draw back that all searches go through it. So not a great solution as I do love being able to search from the address bar. But it’ll work for now as long as I remember to put it back.

Writing an extension appears to be the solution. Thus where my laziness is the barrier.
😀