links won't work - unless I FIRST "open in new tab", then they do
For this web site: http://ulsterhabitat.org/ in the post Ulster Habitat News (facebook) (third image, first small one), the link to the facebook page will only open if: I right click on it and choose "open in new tab" (It does not matter if I give focus to the new tab or not), then I left click on the link and it works. If I left click on the link first, nothing happens. (link says "Ulster Habitat Facebook").
What I have done: run in safe mode, refreshed Firefox, reinstalled Firefox 43.0.3 (with all profile data removed - as clean as could be) with no extensions, altered settings or add-ons. Behavior is always the same.
System is Windows 7 Pro, latest up-to-date version, but Firefox also does this on a W7 Home system, and a W10 Home system, both with latest Firefox. No Firefox extensions or add-ons on the W10 machine.
Bonus: Chrome 47.0.2526.106 does not do this (it opens the link immediately). IE 11.0.26 does just what Firefox does. It would seem to me that the link should either work or not work, but not depend on opening in a new tab first. Fascinated by this. Thank you. Tim
Chosen solution
Works fine for me.
There is JavaScript code attached to the link as you can see if you open the Inspector via the right-click context menu (Inspect Element) by the presence of an 'ev' button.
You can check the Web Console (Firefox menu button or Tools > Web Developer) for JavaScript and Security error messages. CSS errors shouldn't matter in this case, so best is to hide them if there are many.
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I access both pages without issue. Your protection programs may be the issue.
Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. Then start Firefox. Try Safe web sites. Is the problem still there?
Restarted in Safe mode with networking. Behavior is the same.
As you can, I can reach both pages - if I first open in new tab. It is NOT a bad link. If I copy it and then paste and go, it works.
Update: If I click on the link twice (not a double click), it opens the second time. True on both a W7 and W10 machine. I am not changing settings in between the clicks.
Q: Are you just clicking the link to change the current window, or middle click?
I am not changing the current window. (Plus more testing below)
Originally: right click/open link in new tab, but I never click on the new tab. next left click on original link and it works
Second pass: I just click left on the link once, wait, then left click again - it works
More input: Android 6.0+Firefox 43 works the same way (needs two clicks) Linux Mint 17 + Firefox 37 (sorry, old) works the same way.
It certainly looks like whatever it is is persistent and either a design choice or an old bug. Chrome does not behave this way on any of these systems (but I did not check Mint).
As noted Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge 20 do what Firefox does.
It's like something is getting flipped. However, the link works fine on second and all subsequent clicks. But if I open two identical tabs, the link in each one has to be clicked twice to work.
More input. On a whim, I opened Firefox, opened the page, saved the source. Then, clicked on the link (twice), used the back arrow to return to the original page and saved the source again. Did a file compare: files are identical, but they behaved differently. First one needed 2 clicks for the link to work. Second one worked with one click (because it was really the 3rd click). Tim
Were they the same web address?
Yup. Can you hit a back button and go to a different address? (Anyway, I double checked - same address)
Start Firefox in Safe Mode to check if one of the extensions (Firefox menu button/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
- Switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox menu button/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance
- Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window
As I stated in my first post, I am running an absolutely clean, default, no add-ons or extensions install. I also removed all personal data in %appdata% as part of the reinstallation to be as clean as possible.
However, I did start in safe mode. No change to the behavior.
What security software do you have?
Can you try a different mouse?
Also cleared ALL history, started in safe mode. Same behavior.
Well, since (per posts) I have exhibited this behavior on 3 different Windows machines (2 W7, 1 W10), an Android tablet and a Linux netbook, I have used multiple mice, and a variety of security systems. In fact, in Windows Safe mode with Networking, I used a trackpad and the mouse was disconnected. The W7 machines are MS Security Essentials, W10, Android and Linux is whatever is default.
Have you been able to reproduce this?
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Works fine for me.
There is JavaScript code attached to the link as you can see if you open the Inspector via the right-click context menu (Inspect Element) by the presence of an 'ev' button.
You can check the Web Console (Firefox menu button or Tools > Web Developer) for JavaScript and Security error messages. CSS errors shouldn't matter in this case, so best is to hide them if there are many.
Fabulous. Your note got me to a solution, although I think there is still a problem.
My notes: The JavaScript was from a WordPress plugin called WP Slimstat (which collects traffic stats). I used inspect element (per your advice), and noticed that there was a field "data-slimstat-clicked=false", which turned to "true" after the first click, and then the link worked. I turned off Slimstat and the original problem link works first time.
But (if anyone cares), the exact same JS existed on the title link in the first post, and it has always worked fine (on first click). So somehow the code is being interpreted inconsistently. And whatever it is is common (probably) to the JS implementation in Firefox (cross platform, since I saw this in W7, W10, Android and Linux), IE and Edge, but Chrome does it differently.
So, thanks for the pointer. Tim (Now I need to find a new stats plugin)