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View history item in context

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When I search for a history item by name in 'History > Show All History', I can see all history items which match that name. But I'd like to be able to see that history item in context. I.e., I'd like for the window to scroll down to where I first viewed that item in my history. I like to see history items in context of what other things I was browsing for at the time. Like if I visited a Wikipedia article about bicycles, I'd like to be able to see what led me there. Maybe I searched for the inventor of bicycles, which landed me to that page. Seeing a history item in context helps me piece together things like this. Right now, the only way I know how to do this is to look at the date of the history item and then scroll down to that exact point in history and just start looking around. This is pretty cumbersome and I hope that there's a better way.

When I search for a history item by name in 'History > Show All History', I can see all history items which match that name. But I'd like to be able to see that history item in context. I.e., I'd like for the window to scroll down to where I first viewed that item in my history. I like to see history items in context of what other things I was browsing for at the time. Like if I visited a Wikipedia article about bicycles, I'd like to be able to see what led me there. Maybe I searched for the inventor of bicycles, which landed me to that page. Seeing a history item in context helps me piece together things like this. Right now, the only way I know how to do this is to look at the date of the history item and then scroll down to that exact point in history and just start looking around. This is pretty cumbersome and I hope that there's a better way.

All Replies (4)

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Hi, so you are using the Menu Bar which is found in Customize --> Left Bottom --> in Tool Bars ?

Does not the Views menu --> 11 options in Sort & the 8 options in Show Columns as well as months work for you ?

Then there are these options : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/search/?platform=mac&q=history

Since requesting a new something please Copy/Paste what you think matches to 3 Bar Menu --> Help --> Submit Feedback and a Team will review your submission for possible inclusion in future builds.

Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

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Pkshadow said

Hi, so you are using the Menu Bar which is found in Customize --> Left Bottom --> in Tool Bars ? Does not the Views menu --> 11 options in Sort & the 8 options in Show Columns as well as months work for you ? Then there are these options : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/search/?platform=mac&q=history Since requesting a new something please Copy/Paste what you think matches to 3 Bar Menu --> Help --> Submit Feedback and a Team will review your submission for possible inclusion in future builds. Please let us know if this solved your issue or if need further assistance.

Sorry, I'm really not sure what you're trying to tell me. I don't see any extensions on the link you gave which can solve the problem I'm describing. I just want to be able to search for a history item and see it in context of the other things I was browsing when I originally searched for it. This should be possible by the history window auto-scrolling down or keeping focus on the item which I click on. But neither of these things happen.

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It's a pretty common pattern in Firefox for filter boxes to hide the non-matching rows. It sounds as though you would prefer how "Find in page" works, where matches are highlighted and nothing is hidden. That would be nice, but I think such a change is unlikely in the short run. Keep in mind that the Library window doesn't show a URL in context if you revisited the page later. Instead, it is shown with a later timestamp and a higher number of visits. As a result, even if we had a highlighter, the list would have gaps. Hopefully someone will create an extension that does it the way you'd like. I would find it helpful myself.

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jscher2000 said

It's a pretty common pattern in Firefox for filter boxes to hide the non-matching rows. It sounds as though you would prefer how "Find in page" works, where matches are highlighted and nothing is hidden. That would be nice, but I think such a change is unlikely in the short run. Keep in mind that the Library window doesn't show a URL in context if you revisited the page later. Instead, it is shown with a later timestamp and a higher number of visits. As a result, even if we had a highlighter, the list would have gaps. Hopefully someone will create an extension that does it the way you'd like. I would find it helpful myself.

Yes, what you are describing is exactly what I want. I would also very much like an extension which can do this.