GNOME Web Browser is Adding a Reader Mode (omgubuntu.co.uk) 65
An anonymous reader writes: An experimental reader mode will ship in the next version of GNOME Web, aka Epiphany. The feature is already available to try in the latest development builds of the GTK Webkit-based web browser, released this week as part of the GNOME 3.29.3 milestone. Reader mode (also known as "reader view") is a toggle option that strips a web page down to its bare text. All bespoke styling, background images, buttons, branding and page ephemera is removed. You get a distraction-free, text version of a web page. Because reader mode use its own custom .css to present web content it is (sometimes) possible to adjust a page's text size, background color, and/or layout for improved readability. There's no indication (yet) of customisation options being available in GNOME Web's version.
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The other question is how many people really use this feature in the current browsers too?
Most web developers are pure crap in following standards, and they do what they know what works, but not why it works. When the Reader view comes in play and messes up the styling data can be put in less then logical order.
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I use document mode in Firefox routinely. If I get shut out for running Adblock, I refresh and load the document before the block loads. Annoying video that loads that my settings can't block, same thing. Like many, I prefer the text over the presentation much of the time.
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I must be missing something obvious. Just where can I select this document mode? Not anywhere I can find in FF Quantum 60.0.2. Should I be using another FF version?
I want to save web pages/sites for input itnto Calibre. Making epub snapshots of websites is useful, but Calibre gets pretty lost in convoluted CSS. Calibre's author doesn't intend the product to be used quite this way. I'm still a occasional supporter though - it's great at what he designed it to do.
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There's a page-like button at the right side of the address bar which displays for sites that have a document tag. Try Wikipedia first to find it. I didn't have to do anything special, but if not there it should be in your toolbar buttons to select. I'm running under Windows and Android, can't speak for other distributions.
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Thanks for your suggestion, but of course me using Linux vs you using almost anything but, that didn't help. However, I DID manage to locate it in the View Menu dropdown shortcutted as Ctl-Alt-R. Perfectly logical once you know it.
Hope this relieves any other bafflement on the topic
really? (Score:1)
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Yes, so what? There's a Windows one, and a macOS one, and an Android one. Many OS's and user UI's have a specifir web browser. What's the problem?
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I just learned gnome has its own fucking virtual filesystem for things like removable drives. That is something the OS should be handling not your goddamn window manager.
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Don't worry, Red Hat is already doing this: they put Gnome components into the core of their new filesystem (Stratis).
I don't know whether to laugh or weep.
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I just learned gnome has its own fucking virtual filesystem for things like removable drives. That is something the OS should be handling not your goddamn window manager.
I vaguely remember Gnome having a browser component, for things like help files (which I guess could make sense, and which KDE had as well).
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what? :)) (Score:2)
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I used Galeon way back in the day (2001/2002 I think). I really loved it back then. Great browser. I would check it out today, but I uninstalled most of the gnome packages on my desktop. :-P
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Centers text, omits cruft, enlarged font. And in most instances gets the full text of an article behind a paywall.
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You know those articles that get cut up into 12 different page loads complete with a huge border of ads around each page?
Yeah, reader mode gets rid of all that shit and makes one scrollable article you can read, like it should be.
Sooo... (Score:1)
So this pretty much does what HTML was originally designed for?
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Totally agree. Did you know the Evernote web clipper plugin for Chrome still has a "Simplified article" view? It's meant to help you simplify the page content before you clip to Evernote, but often I just use it to read the article without clipping.
One caveat: that plugin displays an overlay that you can collapse but not entirely hide, because it's the UI for clipping the article to Evernote. It makes sense in the context of what the plugin is trying to help you do, and it's still better than nothing.
Need a Windows version (Score:5, Funny)
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Firefox has had it for years.
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Chrome does as well, though I've only tried it once or twice, but it seems to work well. As I recall, it depends on a document tag to decide what to present so it's not foolproof.
I want side-by-side split-pane browsing (Score:3)
What I really want in a browser is this: I want the window to be split horizontally into two panes. The left-hand pane contains a site, such as the Slashdot frontpage. Clicking on a link opens whatever you click on in the right-hand pane, replacing what was already there. It would let you skim articles quickly without opening an ungodly number of tabs.
I suppose I would also be ok with decreasing memory usage per tab, but I guess that ship sailed long ago...
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Thanks, that's really useful! I don't really like the fact that it opens two windows, but otherwise this is exactly what I meant.
What other options are there? I'd like to see if there are any that feel better...
Of course it would (Score:5, Insightful)
what's it called? (Score:4, Interesting)
Stripping bare to text? Might just use one of the classics, like w3m, links, lynx.
Or while we're at it, telnet to port 80, pipe through openssl as neccesary?
No kidding though, I still regularly use w3m from the command line to circumvent "funny" JavaScript stuff used to block access if you visit a site "too often" (pay after limited use news sites), or just plain avoid all those pesky ads especially with pop-in video and such.
For you web developers out there, this is also a rather healthy test of your websites - if it won't properly deliver content in such a text browser, they will also suck from a search engine perspective, and probably from the usability side too. Obvious exemptions for picture or video oriented websites.
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if it won't properly deliver content in such a text browser, they will also suck from a search engine perspective
When was this last tested? Last I checked, Google both operated a web search engine and published a web browser supporting JavaScript. Also last I checked, Google Search indexed JS-only websites. I wonder if these are related.
and probably from the usability side too
At least the accessibility side of usability has this covered. Karl Groves, the author of Mother Effing Tool Confuser [mothereffi...nfuser.com], has explained that assistive web browsers nowadays run JavaScript.
Nice ADA Feature (Score:1)
Reader Mode for email (Score:1)
Somebody should invent Reader Mode for email.
Seriously, just about every HTML mail message I get from my coworkers has small font size, non-default font face, non-black text, a humongous signature, or any combination of the above.
Bonus points for also dealing with discrete contramotion whole-thread-in-reverse-order messages.
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Use mutt and pipe html mails through w3 for formatting.
Kazehakase (Score:1)
Gnome lost it, when they killed the kazehakase browser. This thing was vi for the web.. but it didn't fit with gnome's feature reducing pattern.
for those curious:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Doesn't sound like it'll work (Score:2)
Yuck (Score:2)
Biggest offender of having non-Window controls in the title bar.