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Selecting a word then dragging to select more text

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23. November 2011, 17:05:23

terey

Posts: 6

Selecting a word then dragging to select more text

I use the Hypertranslate extension which gives me an instant translation popup box next to a word when I select it by double clicking. When I used the same extension in Firefox, if I wanted to translate more than a single word, I would select the first one and then drag the mouse pointer over the rest of the text I wanted to translate, after which the translation popup box would appear.

However, in Opera, when I select a word I am not able to extend the selection by dragging it. The mouse pointer moves away with just the single word selected. Is there anyway I can get around this by adjusting any of the opera:config settings or by doing anything else?

Thanks for any help.

23. November 2011, 19:45:41

terey

Posts: 6

By the way, I just read that the "I-beam" cursor is part of the 11.6 beta, so I've downloaded that latest beta, but even with the new cursor you still can't do what I've mentioned above. Pretty annoying...

23. November 2011, 19:58:21

Pesala

Reclining Buddha

Posts: 27343

Its actually quite easy — double click or click and drag to start the selection, then shift click to end it. There is no harm in asking for this behaviour to be improved — it would save using the keyboard.

Improve Text Selection Behaviour with Double-click and Drag

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23. November 2011, 20:42:50

terey

Posts: 6

Hi. Thanks for the reply, but what you've said doesn't work for me. If I double click a word then I can't drag the selection. The single word stays selected and the cursor just moves away. I'm not sure what you mean by "shift click". I can do what I've mentioned above in every other browser and word processor that I've tried, so I don't know why it's not possible in Opera :(.

23. November 2011, 20:47:17

Pesala

Reclining Buddha

Posts: 27343

Shift click = hold down the shift key and click at the end of the desired selection. If you don't double-click, but click and drag to start, the popup menu doesn't appear. You can also avoid that happening by double-click + drag.

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23. November 2011, 21:11:14

terey

Posts: 6

Hi. The thing is I don't want to have to press any keys, I just want to double click on a word then drag the selection. This actually works when I do it in a text box (like in this quick reply box) but otherwise no. Is there any way I can make it work?

23. November 2011, 21:37:00

Pesala

Reclining Buddha

Posts: 27343

Originally posted by terey:

Is there any way I can make it work?

If you don't want to use the keyboard, then just click and drag. If there was a method with double-click and drag that I knew of would I have added it to the wish-list and told you how to use the shift click method as a work-around?

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23. November 2011, 22:01:14

terey

Posts: 6

Okay, fair enough. Just seems weird to me that you can't do this basic function in Opera when you can in any other browser. Small things like this make people stick with Firefox.

20. December 2011, 18:12:59

patrickokeeffe

Posts: 3

I also expected to be able to double-click and drag to select text by whole words because that is the behavior of many other programs. No, I'm not talking about IE or FF or Chrome or <insert rival browser name here>.

So, to confirm(?) the answer to the OP's question: there is no way to allow the user to simply double-click and select by words. All Opera users must abide by the "improved" method.

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