My Back is Broken Again

dkf

Since the latest update, going back a page (an instinctive part of how I use Discourse, and most other websites too) has fairly frequently ended up with going to a random other page instead of where I expected. This used to mostly work in the previous few versions.

It seems particularly likely to happen when going back to Latest, New or Unread from a longer topic, with an emphasis on ones where there is substantial amounts of activity as well (e.g., any of the politics ~~flamewars~~ threads) but that might just reflect my recent reading history, and not anything to do with the problem. I've not yet checked if it is the history editing or something else that is wrong (i.e., if the browser history appears to have changed to refer to something weird before I go back).

boomzilla

I've actually been using my back button a lot today, and it's been working exactly like I'd expect it to work. Sometimes I've even middle clicked it.

EDIT: chrome on Linux

loopback0

Yeah, mine's working as expected too.

Chrome, Windows 8.1 in case it makes any difference.

blakeyrat

I pointed this out like a week or two ago. It's because the URL updater is on like a 5 second delay now. So if you don't spend long enough on the page for the URL to update, the back button goes back 2-3 pages instead of one.

HardwareGeek

@blakeyrat said:

I pointed this out like a week or two ago. It's because the URL updater is on like a 5 second delay now. So if you don't spend long enough on the page for the URL to update, the back button goes back 2-3 pages instead of one.

Maybe that's what I've seen happening. I occasionally wind up back at "New Tab" instead of Latest. It seems like it happens more on my old desktop at home than my laptop, but I hadn't paid sufficiently close attention to notice whether there's any correlation with how long I've spent in a topic. I'll try to pay attention to that next time.

jaming

I have seen this on my WP 8.1. If I enter a topic then click the header to return to the latest and then enter another topic quickly, the back button will return me to the previous topic.

dkf

In true Discourse style, bitching about it in a vague way makes it stop happening. For now.

Gąska

@jaming said:

I have seen this on my WP 8.1. If I enter a topic then click the header to return to the latest and then enter another topic quickly, the back button will return me to the previous topic.

Well, with my WP 8.1, it happens with every site on the internet. The back button takes me N pages back (usually 1), sometimes closes the tab, sometimes keeps it open but switches to another one. Also, there's no "forward" button (or I can't find it).

jaming

@Gaska said:

Well, with my WP 8.1, it happens with every site on the internet.

Hmm, I haven't had an issue on any other sites.

@Gaska said:

Also, there's no "forward" button (or I can't find it).

Have you tried swiping from the right edge of the screen to the left? The opposite also works for back.

Onyx

@jaming said:

Have you tried swiping from the right edge of the screen to the left? The opposite also works for back.

You mean to tell me someone discovered Opera's mouse gestures, which it had since 2001? What progress!

Filed under: Thought I prefer Rocker gestures

boomzilla

@Onyx said:

Filed under: Thought I prefer Rocker gestures

I'll have to go with obscene gestures.

Gąska

@jaming said:

Have you tried swiping from the right edge of the screen to the left? The opposite also works for back.

Oh, yeah, that. I haven't thought of that as a forward button - more like that fucking annoying thing that changes a website when I want to scroll left and right.

riking

Does that to me too on Laptop chrome. "Oh, you wanted to scroll left past the edge of the screen? Let me mooooove the whole thing over for you, oh and if you lift your finger I'm going back a page"

sam

We have this recent report:

Feb 16, 2015

Back is not always taking me to the correct page

Okay, I don’t think this is just me any more. I’ve been having this odd experience on mobile and on a desktop for a few days now here at Meta. Whenever I use the back button on my mobile (Android using Chrome) or if I use the u shortcut on a desktop, I’m occasionally taken to the wrong page (think...

@eviltrout is having a look at it.