Can't middle or right click on bookmarks to open in new tab

[Hew]

Binary package hint: firefox

With the new menu placed above the firefox window, I can no longer middle click a bookmark from the bookmarks menu to open in a new tab. No matter whether I left, middle or right click, it is treated as a left click and opens in my currently open tab.

Steps to reproduce:
Click "Bookmarks" menu and middle-click one of your bookmarks

What should happen:
That bookmark opens in a new tab

What actually happens:
That bookmark opens in the current tab

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: firefox 4.0~rc2+build3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-7.39-generic 2.6.38
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-7-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun Apr 3 16:06:59 2011
FirefoxPackages:
 firefox 4.0~rc2+build3+nobinonly-0ubuntu2
 flashplugin-installer N/A
 adobe-flashplugin N/A
 icedtea-plugin N/A
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta amd64 (20110330)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: firefox
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson)]

This isn't even supported by the menubar in Unity, so it's not a firefox bug

[Hew (hew)]

It's either a regression in firefox or unity. Confirmed the same problem with 2D and 3D unity.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

I think this is a good use case for menu items allowing modifier keys for menu items to perform expert variations on their normal functions. If clicking (or pressing Enter on) a bookmark menu item opens it, Ctrl+clicking (or pressing Ctrl+Enter on) it could open it in a new window or tab, just as it does for links in Web pages.

[Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson)]

I just checked the way this works in the native Firefox menu:

Ctrl+click = Open in new tab
Shift+click = Open in new window.

I'd like to add this to globalmenu-extension, but I would need dbusmenu to support this first

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

In addition to described behaviour, it doesn't support right click to display context menu as displayed within Firefox itself, I had to reorganize (moved) all bookmarks into bookmarks toolbar. Few hours work reorganizing round about 6000 bookmarks. Hence 'wishlist' in my view doesn't target the impact on users workflow.

[Ali Shtarbanov (ametedinov)]

This BUG is one of highest priority. It even causes DATA LOSS. Several times I have lost data on interactive webpages, thinking that by right/middle clicking a bookmark a new tab would open. BUT NO, it treats all clicks as left clicks. The priority for this bug should be BLOCKER.

[Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson)]

Just fixing the mess left by heere pomare

[Hugh Parker (hcp)]

Ali Shtarbanov is right. This is a major problem for me - Firefox is now significantly easier and less frustrating for me to use under Windows that on Ubuntu. It's taking me a while to get used to not being able to middle-click on my bookmarks, and I've lost innumerable sessions / half-filled-in forms, etc since upgrading to Natty.

[Hugh Parker (hcp)]

Also, I can no longer press Alt-B, then the letter of the bookmark - My most commonly used bookmarks used to take under a second to launch with the keyboard, now I have to mess around with the mouse. I think that's part of the same bug.

[Chris Coulson (chrisccoulson)]

No it's not. I don't even think that GTK supports that

[Hugh Parker (hcp)]

Chris Coulson: I don't know enough about which bits of the system do what to comment on whether it's GTK that supports it, but I can Alt-B, N to launch Netvibes (for instance) on Ubuntu 10.10, and I can't in 11.04. Should I file another bug?

[67GTA (67gta)]

Just remove the offending package. "sudo apt-get remove firefox-globalmenu"

[Hugh Parker (hcp)]

67GTA: Thanks, that's sorted it for me. It would be nice to report the bug, if it's a separate problem - is that the right thing for me to do? Sorry for my comparative noob-ness.

[67GTA (67gta)]

In most cases this would be considered a regression since functionality was taken away from the previous, and would warrant a bug report. The problem here is that the author of the firefox-globalmenu never seemed to have the intentions of including the former features into the globalmenu. From what I've gathered so far, the intent is to break third party features if they interfere with the Unity ideals/design, therefore this type of regression will not be considered as a bug for 11.04. Hopefully little niggles like this can be addressed for 11.10, and not be ingrained to the point of not being able to be undone. The best way to handle this is to use the Brainstorm site http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/ or the Wishlist wiki https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Ubuntu/Wishlist and request it.

[Ben Kennedy (bucfanben)]

Another work around is to disable the extension (tools / add ins / extensions). It would be nice if this could be fixed- I like the add in a lot, but like the bookmark functionality more.

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

Tiny addition to wishlist. Please add function to make global-menu-extension transparent in Unity-plugin, same as panel transparency. Thanks.

[David Marzal (marzal)]

It would be great to open all tabs from a folder with the middle click. For me is a must have in firefox.

Is there any way to show the bookmark icon in the navegation bar like when you have the no unity look?
With that icon you can use the middle and the right click like always.

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

Still the case in Oneiric.
David, try view -> customize and add it beside bookmarks toolbar. (screenshot (de))

[Christoph Buchner (bilderbuchi)]

Sam_, David Marzal: Please open a separate bug - this is a separate issue!
Concerning this here bug: I also see this as regression, and more important than wishlist - it causes disruption of established workflow! Breaking third party functionality is not very nice.
I disabled my globalmenu extension for now, this is the most immediate workaround.

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

Christoph, there is no difference between what I experience and what the topic says. Of course I've turned global menu off by now, asking myself why I was using something that disfunctional in the first place, but hovering over it still displays the menu bar, so it's there twice and in fact not turned off.

[David Marzal (marzal)]

I think it is all the same bug, the inability to use middle or right click on the bookmarks.

For me the workaround is this extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/bug582139/?src=api

Whit the bookmark button you can use all the options.

[jonbonjovi (jonbonjovi-84)]

@marzal: How should that extension be helpful? If I try to right-click on a bookmark, it still opens instead of showing the contextual menu.

[David Marzal (marzal)]

This extension enable icon/button bookmarks to be show in the "url bar". You can personalize (add the ico bookmarks with the small arrow) the bar to get this button from where you can use both middle and right click on the bookmarks.

I have this button next to the home and reload button for example.

[jonbonjovi (jonbonjovi-84)]

In ubuntu i already have the bookmark icon on the URL bar, but it remains open on the left when I click on it.

[David Marzal (marzal)]

The extension give you the oportunity to use this button in the image,

I think you are using the other one without the little arrow

[Hugh Parker (hcp)]

I think marking this as 'won't fix' is a mistake, for two reasons:

 - This bug is most problematic for the most able users, and they are the ones who people turn to for advice on which OS / distro to use.
 - Firefox now works better in Windows than it does on Ubuntu. Bug One is dependent on this bug.

I hope I don't come across as grumbling; I do appreciate the huge amount of work that goes into this system - but I do think it's important that this bug gets fixed.

[Cedric (cedric-brandenbourger-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry but i don't understand why this is:
 1. a wishlist item
 2. it won't be fix

For me it's clearly a regression!

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Just installed Precise. Stiil no improvement of right button behaviour. When I install the addd0n for the button to give correct right button behaviour on bookmark opening), restart Fiefox and click View&Toolbars&Customise, the ico bookmarks with the small arrow is not present in the window displaying other icons. Any body know a solution to this?

[David Marzal (marzal)]

If you are talking about this addon:
https://addons.mozilla.org/es-ES/firefox/addon/bug582139/?src=api
I'm suing it in Ubuntu 12.04 and still works.

[Jonathan Allard (joallard)]

+1: This is clearly a regression, not a wishlist bug. This feature was working before.

[blaamann (baggetun)]

My dad asked me why the delete bookmarks on right click was gone today, and I am shocked it actually opens the item in the bookmark menu on right click. This is almost epic fail. Please fix.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

syncing the status with the upstream dbusmenu task.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

I'm getting this on Precise on 2GB 5 year old PC with clean install. However, I don't get it on Precise with new 4GB PCs. It's documented under bug 1017828.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Correction to last message, I don't get this problem on PCs upgraded from Lucid to Precise. If I clean install 32 bit Precise, I get this problem.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

I do not understand how correcting this bug can be categorised as Wish List / \Won't Fix. Firefox is almost unusable without disabling the Global Menu Bar Integration addon. When the Global Menu Bar Integration addon is disabled, the HUD no longer works properly!

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Bug 1017828 is also caused by the Global Menu Bar Integration addon.

[Sel Goona (alieneye)]

Disable/Remove firefox-globalmenu seems to be the best solution for me. It solves not only the middle-click-problem for me. Once the firefox-menubar is not outsourced to the top unity-bar anymore, the firefox menubar reacts sooo much faster.

[Thaodan (theodorstormgrade)]

see this to fixs the globalmenu extension: #195380

[Thaodan (theodorstormgrade)]

see https://bugs.launchpad.net/globalmenu-extension/+bug/1195380

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

This bug went away when I disabled the Global Menubar Integration extension/add-on. However, even though I still have the Global Menubar Integration extension disabled, it has now returned with a new version of Firefox as a result of recent updates to 12.04. I note that the Global Menubar Integration is no long shown in Firefox's list of add-ons (obtained using men item Tools>Add-ons).

PS I had the Global Menubar Integration extension disabled because it caused delays in displaying the contents of Bookmarks folders as well as causing this bug.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Just had update to Firefox v22.0. Still same bug active.

[Thaodan (theodorstormgrade)]

@#41 the functionality is now provided by a patch applied to Firefox.
As I read this a nyi feature, like ALT + <underlied char> menu activation of the main menus, which doesn't works too.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

I have been advised that if I want this fix on my system, then I have to "add Mozilla Daily ppa". I am unwilling to do this as I will have Firefox updated every day and it may lead to more bugs in Firefox due to the ppa's package instability. Alerenatively, I can wait for the firefox package(s) to be released to Ubuntu's repositories. How can I found out when this will be?

[67GTA (67gta)]

It seems my fears have been realized. Just testing Ubuntu 13.10 (haven't used it for a while). The "firefox-globalmenu" package has been removed, and this setting has evidently been moved into the "firefox" package. Now Ubuntu is the only desktop OS that will not let you use this universal default web browser functionality.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

There is another irritating aspect to this bug (or should it be recorded as a new bug?). Right clicking on a folder (in bookmarks) no longer gives the options it used to (e.g. sorting bookmarks). I have installed firefox-trunk package (version 26.0 built 4 days ago) from ubuntu-mozilla-daily ppa on Launchpad. However, it still has this bug in it. How do I find out which bugs have been fixed by Firefox 26.0? Also, how do I find out when this bug's fix will be included in Firefox?

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

I'm using Precise 64 bit with Firefox 23.0. I've also tried the nightly build of firefox-trunk (version 26.0a1) but the bug wasn't fixed in that. I'm baffled by how the status of this bug against Global Menubar Extension is 'Fix committed' when that addon seems now to have been withdrawn for Ubuntu.

I've reported this bug as bug 913556 against Firefox in Bugzilla. Judging by the number of bugs in Firefox which are not allocated, I wonder if it will ever be fixed!

Re David Marzal's suggestion of using the addon bug582139: I've installed it & restarted Firefox, clicked View>Toolbars>Customise but I don't see any Bookmarks icon with an arrow by it in the popup containing icons. Nor do I see it anywhere else. If I use the standard Bookmarks icon, I still get the same incorrect behaviour.

[David Marzal (marzal)]

Since Firefox 23 the addon doesn't fix this for me either.

The addon say the bug is fixed in Firefox 23, but at least in linux isn't.

In the comments you have a solution:

https://addons.mozilla.org/es/firefox/addon/bug582139/reviews/495974/

For those guys who want to put their "bookmark icon" into the nav bar while the menu bar is not hidden (for those who dont like the orange Button in the upper left corner):

Just put these lines into the userChrome.css file which is in the chrome folder of your FF-Profile.

#bookmarks-menu-button{
display:-moz-box!important;}

I haved tested it and works for me.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

David,

I don't understand the solution. Ubuntu Dash is not able to find userChrome.css or FF-Profile. Where are they? Also, should the addon be removed?

[David Marzal (marzal)]

You have to use the terminal or a file explorer.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css

In my case is in ~/.mozilla/firefox/randomalphanumeric.default/

You have to create the direcory "chrome" and inside the file "userChrome.css" with this text:

#bookmarks-menu-button{
display:-moz-box!important;}

Then restart FF. Doesn't matter if you have the extension installed or not.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Solution worked for me.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

Thank you.

Regards, John
On 06/09/13 12:21, David Marzal wrote:
> You have to use the terminal or a file explorer.
>
> http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css
>
> In my case is in ~/.mozilla/firefox/randomalphanumeric.default/
>
> You have to create the direcory "chrome" and inside the file
> "userChrome.css" with this text:
>
> #bookmarks-menu-button{
> display:-moz-box!important;}
>
> Then restart FF. Doesn't matter if you have the extension installed or
> not.
>

[67GTA (67gta)]

Found it. It has been intergrated into appmenu. I forgot Unity was using QT. Just remove appmenu-qt and appmenu-qt5, but this will completly disable all of the global menus.

[Hippman (erufrank)]

Solution don't worked for me. No .mozilla directory in Ubuntu 12.04 Swissgerman edition.

[John Rose (johnaaronrose)]

I've just done a clean install of Trusty & this bug is still there. Moreover, after adding the Bookmarks addon & putting the required userChrome.css file into the appropriate directory, the Bookmarks icon is not visible in the Navigation Toolbar: in fact, neither the Refresh nor Stop iconns are visible. This needs sorting out urgently.

[Hippman (erufrank)]

This bug is still there.