DisableBackspaceNavigation - Today's Browser Tip

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Browser Tips

DisableBackspaceNavigation - Today's Browser Tip

by Jordan Running Dec 28th 2005

Having "back" as part of its name is little justification, in my opinion, for having the backspace key bound to the Back action in Firefox. I cannot count how many thousands of words I have lost from blog entries and forum posts because I pressed backspace when I mistakenly thought that the edit form was in focus. Perhaps the only remarkable thing about DisableBackspaceNavigation, a Firefox extension which does exactly what its name suggests, is that it took this long for someone to think of it. Of course, this could be done with extensions like Keyconfig for some time now, but if the backspace snafu is your only complaint as far as keyboard shortcuts go, DisableBackspaceNavigation is the extension for you.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Greg said 8:21PM on 12-28-2005

wow... thanks for the handy extension link.

I've taken to written all blog entires in word out of the sheer fear that I have for losing an entry. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This might just be the thing that I need to get back in there.

Jason said 2:19AM on 12-29-2005

I gotta say that I'm actually a fan of the Backspace "navigate back" keyboard shortcut, but I can see why some might not be. My solution for the accidentally lost post is the Scribe extension at http://prismicspiral.com/scribe/ , which allows you to save your work as you go while writing in web forms. Jordan, I think you pointed me to Scribe, too!

Kesey said 8:16AM on 12-29-2005

I cannot stand browsers that don't let you use backspace to navigate back. Who doesn't know when they're in a text field? How would you lose a whole blog entry? Maybe a single character, but do you people with this problem hold down backspace?

Tim O. said 9:01AM on 12-29-2005

I'm an avid safari user, and have never had that problem. Actually, I routinely go back intentionally when typing in a text forms and copy things into them from past pages, never worrying about the text disappearing. I guess this is another reason I love safari so much. I even tested this on safari as far back as 1.3 (the Panther version) and it works.

kamery cyfrowe said 11:23AM on 12-29-2005

Very good site. You are doing great job. Please Keep it up�.!

Nizam Rahman said 7:44AM on 1-25-2006

Hahah I just use Opera. There's no fear of losing text form values when mouse gesturing back and forth between pages. Just shows Opera rocks more than Firefox.

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