[whatwg] suggestin a minor addion to the DOM

[Tab Atkins Jr.]

On Thu, Jun 28, 2012 at 11:38 AM, Chaals McCathieNevile <w3b at chaals.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 03:03:48 +0200, Bjoern Hoehrmann <derhoermi at gmx.net>
> wrote:
>> * Andri Sævar Sigríksson wrote:
>>>
>>> suggestion
>>>
>>> Boolean value
>>>
>>> implemented as Window.nobackspace  or  Navigator.nobackspace
>>>
>>> if set to true the browser would not accept the key press on backspace as
>>> a signal to go to the previous page
>>
>>
>> Why would users want that?
>
> Generally it isn't a very nice thing for users not to go back. It's a pretty
> fundamental part of the way we navigate the web. Redirecting the back button
> somewhere else because of a strange forward navigation path might happen,
> but breaking the general expectation isn't usually a good idea.
>
> Also, the fact that we have an inelegant way of doing something isn't
> necessarily an argument to make it easier. If it's a really common thing to
> do, then it makes sense to simplify it. But if it is a weird edge case, then
> duplicating stuff is a good way to let bugs creep into implementations,
> which come at the expense of doing something more useful...

You may be misreading this - it's about turning off the "backspace
means go back in history" functionality that some browsers have in
some circumstances.  It's not trying to shut down back navigation
generally.

I can easily see an editting-heavy page wanting to turn off this
behavior, as when I was still a FF user, I'd occasionally get
accidental navigations because I didn't notice that an input or
textarea had lost focus.

~TJ