The search function Ctrl-F, or Command-F (Mac) not working in AskWoody threads.

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The search function (Ctrl-F Windows, or Command-F Macs) is not working properly. The reason could be the new skin, because before it worked perfectly. Although I have not used it for some time, so maybe the problem started earlier.

For example  “the” is one of the most common words in the English language, but the search function cannot find it. If one chooses the option to “mark” the desired word, or words, it will do so alright, but it will not take the cursor, and our vision with it, to any of the places where “the” occurs and has, consequently, been marked, as it is supposed to happen. It will stay in the same place, in a page with no “the” in sight (well, maybe not if one is really looking for “the”, bad example) or else jump to the very bottom of the thread, where there is nothing at all, because it is the end, below the box where one would entry the text of a new comment. It will inform us that it has found, let’s say, 1320 instances of the “the” word, but it will not take us to any of them. In this way, it is worse than useless, because it is also annoying.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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On further examination, it looks that what the problem is like depends on the browser. For example, it is as descried above using Waterfox, it works somewhat better, but not exactly well, with Chrome. Before there were no problems with either browser.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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AFAIK, the CTRL-F capability is provided by your browser, and in FF 93 it is working fine.

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mngerhold: “AFAIK, the CTRL-F capability is provided by your browser, and in FF 93 it is working fine.”

That is true. But my point is that is happening now and it did not happen before. Something has changed in AskWoody, not in the browsers, or at least not in the browsers alone. And what we are all about here is what happens on the AskWoody side. And in long threads, the ability to search for something matters. By the way: Lucky you, that like to use FF. I don’t.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Interesting. It will find “he,” “there,” “here,” and “the” (the with quotes around it) but not the naked the.

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Still browser dependent though. Edge finds naked the for me.

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Interesting. For me on 21H1 using FF 93.0, the naked “the” (no quotes) works just fine. Immediately prior to this post, it found 74 instances of the word on this page, both capitalized and non capitalized instances.

Perhaps those having problems with FF’s search feature here on AskWoody have tweaked a setting in about:config that’s affecting the search feature as an unknown side effect of the setting. Here on AW, I run FF accepting only first party cookies and blocking EVERYTHING else that enhanced tracking protection allows me to block. I’m also blocking the canvas extraction it’s asking for with no issues other than not seeing folks’ avatars, both personal and default.

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I just upgraded to 93.0 – didn’t fix things.
OK, the problem is in about:config – enable the “proton” items that were disabled previously and everything works.

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PK, In Waterfox, at least, looking with  about:search for it, there is only one “proton” item (called that with just the one word), and it is a Boolean, it seems,  set to “true” or set to “false.”

After fiddling with proton, the Boolean, and setting it to “false” in the about:search list, things seem to be working now.

But when searching for any word, or group of words, the search works just fine for any word, except for proton, but just the one in your comment. It finds ‘proton’ elsewhere also just fine.

If I could, I would send whoever develops these things in a one-way trip to Mars without a helmet. But that is just me.

If I am hit by this problem again, I’ll be back to tell everyone who cares to read it, here.

And this whole thing still begs the question: Why have PK and Yours Truly had to fiddle with the browser when the same browser (two different browsers in my case) did searches just fine in AskWoody before?

AskWoody is equally suspect here. Which has been my point all along.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

And this whole thing still begs the question: Why have PK and Yours Truly had to fiddle with the browser when the same browser (two different browsers in my case) did searches just fine in AskWoody before? AskWoody is equally suspect here. Which has been my point all along.

The problem is NOT with AskWoody.
The problem is with settings in the browser. Blocking the Proton changes (“fiddling with the browser”), in the case of FireFox – changes made by the User, reversed (more “fiddling”) when the changes were unmade. In this case, I caused the problem.

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PK, I appreciate your advice and opinion, usually quite helpful.

In this instance I have to ask: Do you mean that my browser settings, that were never an issue before in this respect, were changed, somehow, some time ago, without my knowledge?

The only changes I have made in recent times to each of the browsers has been to update them and install some of those protecting applications (Privacy badger, uBlock Origin, Tampermonkey) in Waterfox; AdBlock in both. Those applications have been installed for quite a while, I had them last year, when the search function was still working without problems. Generally speaking, I am totally averse to fiddling with software that works acceptably well.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Have you blocked any of the proton changes?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Susan, I did not even know of the existence of “proton” until PK mentioned it in her previous comment here.

And, to repeat, I am not a fiddler, do not fiddle with the settings of software unless it is absolutely necessary to fix a problem. And most certainly I had not done so with the browsers I am using now, Chrome and Waterfox, since I first set them up, long before I noticed the problem, except for experimenting with blocking cookies, when there was all that discussion last year about AskWoody’s cookies.

I am happy for those who are using FF without this problem. Good for them. And as I see it, not relevant. But, even if not relevant, staying on this just for a moment: Using or not using a certain browser is, as I see it, a matter of personal preference. I don’t use FireFox, or believe to have any need or reason to use it. Why don’t I use it anyways? Because I don’t like it. Why don’t I like it? Why some people like licorice and some don’t?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Using Firefox 93.0 set to automatically update, with several adblockers/tracking blockers etc. Ctrl + f finds all instances of naked “the”.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Chrome Version 95.0.4638.49 using CTRL+F in search for ‘the’

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Alex: Yes, I already mentioned that Chrome works better then Waterfox, just not very well: In a long thread, to have all the instances of the word being searched being marked with a colored rectangle is irrelevant, what is necessary is to be able to click and jump to the next place where the word appears, and keep clicking and jumping until one gets to the place where the word appears because that is the place one is looking for. Or the search comes up with the message that the word is nowhere to be found, so one can decide to stop looking or to use a different search word or words. And one can also search both down the thread or upwards equally well. In my experience, Chrome sometimes does some of those things, sometimes it does not.

And this never happened until, as far as I noticed, last week.

That is why I took the trouble to start this thread, explaining everything as well as I could. Unfortunately, it looks like some people only read the last thing someone posts in a thread before commenting. So I just have to be patient, and keep repeating myself, I guess.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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It appears to be unique to your setup though.  I tried to repro it in the various browsers I have and it doesn’t repro.  The first rule in fixing bugs is to determine if it reproduces on another platform/user.  If it doesn’t then you have to investigate what is going on not with the thing, but back with the person reporting the issue.  From the other responders it doesn’t appear to be an issue with the site.

Does the issue manifest itself on any other site or location?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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No, I haven’t had this problem elsewhere.

But then it really only matters regularly to me here, at AskWoody. Elsewhere I use the search function to see if a Web search “hit” really has any of the key words I used in its text, meaning that really there might be something I am interested in there, or not: Often a “hit” has nothing there of what I asked to be searched for, because it is a “dud” out and out and, without a working search function, reading through it most likely would be a complete waste of time. Fortunately, this function apparently works just fine in those sites.

But that is something considerably less demanding than looking for something in a long thread. And for me here is where problems do happen. Haven’t noticed this in other forums with comments in them.

So this might be a browser problem with long threads here, at AskWoody. But in two different browsers, and two I have not fiddled with?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Safari 161 matches

Waterfox and Firefox 170 matches

All three browsers on my Mac move to the “the” on this page with no issues.

To check the situation I would disable all plug ins.  See if it repros.  Reenable them one at a time.

Bottom line I am way more than willing to follow up on issues but I can’t repro this to start the investigation.  Would you mind testing out your plug ins please?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

1 user thanked author for this post.

OscarCP

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To Susan: Et tu, Susan?

Earlier in this thread, following a suggestion of PK. I explained that I had looked in the “about:config” of Waterfox for a thing I’ve never heard of before and, consequently, never had any interaction with, called something or other “proton”. Well I found a thing, just one, with just one word in the whole entry line: “proton” (without the quotation marks.) It had a switch to turn it between True and False, so it was, and still is, a Boolean. I flipped it, as that was the only thing I could do to it, and then the search function started working OK in the long thread of “Part I”, where I tested it. All this I have explained already, but, oh, well, never mind.

So here is the thing: how come something I never had anything to do with or even knew it existed, and might have gone on ignoring its existence except for PK,  went rogue on me?

But did it? Really? Ah, the frisson of a true multi-layered mystery beacons!

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

how come something I never had anything to do with or even knew it existed, and might have gone on ignoring its existence except for PK,  went rogue on me?

If you were using Firefox you would have heard the crowd cursing Proton.

https://www.ghacks.net/2021/04/03/firefox-proton-design-refresh-is-almost-ready-here-is-what-is-new/

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Thanks, Alex. This might clear some of the mystery enveloping certain recent strange browser search function developments … maybe.
(As to Waterfox, it still is in the “Classic” and “Current/G3” versions, and G3 is my present choice, as “Classic” is encountering increasing trouble connecting to Web sites that don’t like it).

From the Waterfox discussion site you have provided the URL, of “those who hate “proton””, something which existence I have only very recently discovered the hardest way:

“I hope it [Waterfox] keeps the current [“Current” version, because] proton sucks.. reason I ported over to Waterfox.”

“My bet is Proton will never come to Classic or G3 as that would mean backporting it, but I could see G4 having it unless a complete frontend UI rewrite is done.”

“It will be quite hard to remove the code, I guess?”

“We’ll see what Mr Alex decides.”

(“Mr. Alex” is Alex Kontos, starter and chief designer of Waterfox.)

My reaction to all of the above commentary, now, is : Ha! Dream on!

And from the other Web site you have provided the URL:

“Generally speaking: most preferences are Boolean and accept values of True or False. True enables the new design usually, False disables it; this is true for all preferences that end with “enabled”.”

As I believe, or at least seem to remember having said something about “Boolean” here, earlier on …

Nice of Waterfox to put the turning on and off everything “proton” in one single Boolean that can be turned to “False” with one click, seemingly to get rid of the whole “proton” lot. Which, as mentioned earlier, I have done with good result. So far without any apparent ill consequences.

If the above is correct, then the blame is on FF for infecting itself, and on Mr. Alex for allowing it to bring the contagion to Waterfox.

So, for the time being, I am holding AskWoody blameless until proven wrong about this.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Alex5723

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Waterfox G4 has been released; it requires an SSE4.2 compatible processor

Waterfox has been updated to version G4, and brings some important changes. An announcement on the developer’s website says that the browser has been heavily optimized for best performance…

Waterfox G4 has a new theme called Lepton, which is based on the Proton theme. There are two more themes you may choose from: Dark and Light. The most notable change in the new theme, is the tab bar, especially the tab corners, they look less like Chrome and are now similar to Firefox…

Waterfox requires a SSE4.2 compatible CPU

Waterfox G4 has a limitation that some users may not like, and this is related to the performance improvements. Starting with the latest version, you need to have a processor that supports the SSE4.2 instruction set technology, to use Waterfox…

Now as far as cross-platform compatibility is concerned, Waterfox’s website says that G4 is supported on Windows 7, macOS 10.12 Intel, macOS 11 ARM and Linux Kernel 5.4. It appears that support for macOS Yosemite 10.5 has ended out of the blue. ARM support for Apple’s new Macbooks is a welcome move, and the developer plans to add Windows and ARM builds in the future. You can find the installers, portable versions of the browser at the releases page…

Waterfox Classic coming to an end?

Waterfox Classic could be coming to an end, says Alex Kontos, the developer of the Firefox-fork. Responding to a query from a user on reddit, Kontos said that the existence of Waterfox Classic depends on whether security fixes from Firefox ESR91 can be ported to the Classic version…

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wavy

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Thanks, Alex. I’ll be keeping an weather eye on this development, that seems to bring in a full “proton” by another name, because “lepton” is the name of one part of the family of elementary particles known as “the Fermion’s”, with an integer multiple of half a spin as a family trait, a family that includes the iniquitous “proton” as a member! So this is the “proton” by a different name, in disguise, slipping in under cover of darkness! Shame on you, Alex Kontos, do you take us all here from particle physics ignoramuses?

As we not all of us have been born knowing what SSE4.2 is, here is  the straight dope on it, directly from the horse’s mouth (the same article as linked by Alex):

“Waterfox G4 has a limitation that some users may not like, and this is related to the performance improvements. Starting with the latest version, you need to have a processor that supports the SSE4.2 instruction set technology, to use Waterfox. According to Wikipedia, Intel started supporting SSE4.2 from the Nehalem-based processors in 2008, while AMD began supporting it with the Bulldozer-based FX chipsets from 2011. Basically, you don’t need to worry about it unless you are using a very old computer. But if you are wondering whether your computer supports SSE4.2, download a portable hardware monitoring program like HWiNFO or CPU-Z, and run it. The tool will tell you if your processor is compatible with the technology.”

As far as I know, “proton” came from FF and was about several things, including a new “skin” — that I take to mean the way it looks on the monitor screen of one’s computer, don’t know about those there gadgets people carry around in these fallen times.

Quite frankly, for what is pictured in the article, I can’t say I see much difference with how my Current/G3 looks; certainly the G3 tabs don’t look anything like Google’s, unlike what it also says there.

One thing, though, about the new Waterfox released version is that all this seems optional, at least going for what it can be seen in the cited article and I have taken this screenshot of it so you can also see it for yourselves:

 

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Further on the Current/G4 version:

From “Waterfox 4th Generation Release”, by Alex Kontos:

https://www.waterfox.net/blog/waterfox-4th-gen/

Excerpts (Emphasis is mine):

“Today marks the soft release of the 4th Generation of Waterfox. After enough time has elapsed, the automatic update will be seeded out to all users.”

….

“Waterfox has returned to its roots with performance at the forefront. We have aggressively optimised Waterfox for as much performance as possible. Unfortunately this means we have to leave older systems behind – but any computer from the last decade should work.

ARM builds are now available for macOS and these are also optimised, taking advantage of the new hardware Apple has to offer. Windows and Linux ARM builds will also follow in due course.

We have also changed the way we make changes to the underlying Gecko platform, meaning we can now track releases faster and in a more automated way. Over the next few months we will track the central branch of Gecko. If our features apply cleanly each release, we will then stop tracking the Extended Support Releases and instead start a rolling release for Waterfox. The idea behind this change is that not only will Waterfox be incredibly performant, but also be at the forefront of supporting the latest HTML standards.

Mobile browsers are also in the pipeline, but are dependent on us having our own Sync service primed. Once that has been achieved, mobile browsers will follow. We will keep you updated on progress.”

Interestingly, now, when one clicks on “About Waterfox” nothing at all happens.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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