This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Odd "Reader View" behavior

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by guigs

ff2fan
ff2fan
more options

I was viewing an HTML file that is located on my local hard drive. The page is basically a list of HTML links.

While viewing the page, I noticed the (gray) "Reader View" icon/control in the "Address Bar", and I clicked the "Reader View" icon.

Here's what happened next:

1) The page display went nearly blank.

  • Along the left edge (vertically), the "Exit Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" icons/controls are shown.
  • Along the top of the page, a border/panel is shown, about 1.5 to 2 cm high.
  • About 1.5 to 2 cm below that, a "largish" rectangle icon with a styled circle inside was shown.

I have attached an image of how this looks.


2) After a short time, probably less than one-half second:

  • The "Exit Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" icons/controls disappeared.
  • The border/panel, and the rectangle icon disappeared.

3) At this point, the page was totally blank.

4) I then noticed that the "Address Bar" was totally empty.

  • The "History" and the "Refresh" icons/controls were shown at the right end of the "Address Bar".
  • The "Reader View" icon/control was no longer shown.
  • The URL to the page I was viewing was no longer shown.

5) If I click the "Back" button:

  • The URL to the page I was viewing is briefly shown in the "Address Bar".
  • The "Reader View" icon/control is briefly shown in the address bar (Orange).
  • The above behavior (#1-#4) repeats, and I am back to a blank page display and an empty "Address Bar".

If I go further back in the tab "History", I can view my original page.

Should I report this as a bug?

It would be great if someone else could try this to see if it happens to them, particularly on the current version of Firefox.



The content of the local HTML file is unimportant, but it seems that at least on a fairly small file, in order to get the "Reader View" icon/control to show in the "Address Bar", it is required to have some text formatted with the HTML "< PRE >" and "< /PRE >" tags.

A sample HTML file to try is below...

Note: The "HTML", "BR", and "PRE" ("Angle bracket") tags are not properly showing here so in some cases I had to add a " " (space) after the opening (left) "Angle bracket" in order to get this to display properly. When saving as a test file, reformat without the space after the opening (left) "Angle bracket": 

   < html>
   <head>
   <title>FF Reader View Test</title>
   </head>
   <body>
   < br />
   < br />
   Mozilla: <a href=
     "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1110151" 
     target="_blank">
     Odd "Reader View" behavior
   </a> < br />
   https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1110151 < br />
   < br />
   < br />
   < br />
   < pre>
   I was viewing an HTML file that is located on my 
   local hard drive. The page is basically a list of 
   HTML links. 

   While viewing the page, I noticed the (gray) "Reader 
   View" icon/control in the "Address Bar", and I 
   clicked the "Reader 
   View" icon. 

   Here's what happened next: 
   1) The page display went nearly blank. 
       Along the left edge (vertically), the "Exit 
           Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" 
           icons/controls are shown. 
       Along the top of the page, a border/panel is 
           shown, about 1.5 to 2 cm high. 
       About  1.5 to 2 cm below that, a "largish" 
           rectangle icon with a styled circle inside 
           was shown. 

   I have attached an image of how this looks. 

   .... 

   

   .... 

   < /pre>
   < br />
   < br />
   < br />
   </body>
   </html>
I was viewing an HTML file that is located on my local hard drive. The page is basically a list of HTML links. While viewing the page, I noticed the (gray) "Reader View" icon/control in the "Address Bar", and I clicked the "Reader View" icon. Here's what happened next: 1) The page display went nearly blank. * Along the left edge (vertically), the "Exit Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" icons/controls are shown. * Along the top of the page, a border/panel is shown, about 1.5 to 2 cm high. * About 1.5 to 2 cm below that, a "largish" rectangle icon with a styled circle inside was shown. I have attached an image of how this looks. 2) After a short time, probably less than one-half second: * The "Exit Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" icons/controls disappeared. * The border/panel, and the rectangle icon disappeared. 3) At this point, the page was totally blank. 4) I then noticed that the "Address Bar" was totally empty. * The "History" and the "Refresh" icons/controls were shown at the right end of the "Address Bar". * The "Reader View" icon/control was no longer shown. * The URL to the page I was viewing was no longer shown. 5) If I click the "Back" button: * The URL to the page I was viewing is briefly shown in the "Address Bar". * The "Reader View" icon/control is briefly shown in the address bar (Orange). * The above behavior (#1-#4) repeats, and I am back to a blank page display and an empty "Address Bar". If I go further back in the tab "History", I can view my original page. Should I report this as a bug? It would be great if someone else could try this to see if it happens to them, particularly on the current version of Firefox. <br /> <hr /> <br /> The content of the local HTML file is unimportant, but it seems that at least on a fairly small file, in order to get the "Reader View" icon/control to show in the "Address Bar", it is required to have some text formatted with the HTML "< PRE >" and "< /PRE >" tags. A sample HTML file to try is below... Note: The "HTML", "BR", and "PRE" ("Angle bracket") tags are not properly showing here so in some cases I had to add a " " (space) after the opening (left) "Angle bracket" in order to get this to display properly. When saving as a test file, reformat without the space after the opening (left) "Angle bracket": < html> <head> <title>FF Reader View Test</title> </head> <body> < br /> < br /> Mozilla: <a href= "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1110151" target="_blank"> Odd "Reader View" behavior </a> < br /> https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1110151 < br /> < br /> < br /> < br /> < pre> I was viewing an HTML file that is located on my local hard drive. The page is basically a list of HTML links. <br /> While viewing the page, I noticed the (gray) "Reader View" icon/control in the "Address Bar", and I clicked the "Reader View" icon. <br /> Here's what happened next: 1) The page display went nearly blank. Along the left edge (vertically), the "Exit Reader View" and "Adjust the text size" icons/controls are shown. Along the top of the page, a border/panel is shown, about 1.5 to 2 cm high. About 1.5 to 2 cm below that, a "largish" rectangle icon with a styled circle inside was shown. <br /> I have attached an image of how this looks. <br /> .... <br /> <br /> .... <br /> < /pre> < br /> < br /> < br /> </body> </html>
Attached screenshots

Modified by ff2fan

All Replies (1)

guigs
guigs
more options

Hi ff2fan, I understand that the reader mode in Firefox is displaying this example html page differently. I am happy to help.

Does it have: < DOCTYPE html/> Did this value reader.parse-on-load.force-enabled change in about:config?

For debugging and filing a bug, see the code here:

The resources for Filing a bug in bugzilla.mozilla.org are listed below:

Modified by guigs