Cursor keeps jumping up to beginning of post in progress

[margd]

For the last couple of weeks, my cursor has periodically jumped to the beginning of a post while I am in the process of writing it.  The problem is that after it does this, it will only allow me to continue writing at the beginning of the post, rather than at the end.  Using this post as an example, it is as though my cursor jumped up to the word "For" at the beginning and anything I wrote after that will only show up at that point.  It doesn't matter if I move the cursor back to where I was writing.

The only cure is to cut or copy the text, delete the post and paste the old text into a new box.

This only happens to me here at TCS and I'm baffled!

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
For the last couple of weeks, my cursor has periodically jumped to the beginning of a post while I am in the process of writing it.  The problem is that after it does this, it will only allow me to continue writing at the beginning of the post, rather than at the end.  Using this post as an example, it is as though my cursor jumped up to the word "For" at the beginning and anything I wrote after that will only show up at that point.  It doesn't matter if I move the cursor back to where I was writing.

The only cure is to cut or copy the text, delete the post and paste the old text into a new box.

This only happens to me here at TCS and I'm baffled!

Are you using a laptop with a touchpad?

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[Anne]

 
For the last couple of weeks, my cursor has periodically jumped to the beginning of a post while I am in the process of writing it.  The problem is that after it does this, it will only allow me to continue writing at the beginning of the post, rather than at the end.  Using this post as an example, it is as though my cursor jumped up to the word "For" at the beginning and anything I wrote after that will only show up at that point.  It doesn't matter if I move the cursor back to where I was writing.

The only cure is to cut or copy the text, delete the post and paste the old text into a new box.

This only happens to me here at TCS and I'm baffled!

It's happened to me in the past once or twice. Fortunately not more often than that as it really is very frustrating. It's extremely difficult to replicate this bug so it's hard to get support for that. The good news is that we're upgrading to a new platform really soon (hopefully just 2-3 more weeks) so let's hope we leave this bug behind us then. Sorry about the extra hassle with those posts!

 

[katachtig]

Which browser are you using? And do you use the Rich Text editor or the BB Code editor?

 

[margd]

It has happened to me using my laptop with the trackpad and with a mouse.   I use Firefox or Chrome and have had problems in both.  

I wasn't going to say anything because the new platform is coming but just recently it has gotten very bad. 

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
It has happened to me using my laptop with the trackpad and with a mouse.   I use Firefox or Chrome and have had problems in both.  

I wasn't going to say anything because the new platform is coming but just recently it has gotten very bad. 

You might consider locking the trackpad [double-click the trackpad icon; go to Advanced Settings, and choose "lock" in most cases] as an experiment, since it's often a faulty trackpad which causes this.  If it does nothing, you'll know the problem's elsewhere.

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[Anne]

Does it happen with every post, or just every other post (which would be bad enough). 

 

[margd]

It varies.  Sometimes it will be two posts in a row after which there will be four or five that work perfectly.  Five is about as long as it goes before the cursor takes off on its own again.  

About locking the trackpad - I'm on a Mac and system preferences doesn't give that option.  I've not been using the trackpad for about several weeks though so would expect it to be related to the mouse, if anything.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
It varies.  Sometimes it will be two posts in a row after which there will be four or five that work perfectly.  Five is about as long as it goes before the cursor takes off on its own again.  

About locking the trackpad - I'm on a Mac and system preferences doesn't give that option.  I've not been using the trackpad for about several weeks though so would expect it to be related to the mouse, if anything.

From the Mac website:

"In all versions of OS X from 10.7 Lion and up (including OS X Yosemite), head to System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad. There, find and check the box labeled Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present."

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[margd]

 
From the Mac website:

"In all versions of OS X from 10.7 Lion and up (including OS X Yosemite), head to System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad. There, find and check the box labeled Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present."

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Huh. I did not know about that.  Thank you!   Fingers crossed that it actually works!

 

 

[cat nap]

 
From the Mac website:

"In all versions of OS X from 10.7 Lion and up (including OS X Yosemite), head to System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad. There, find and check the box labeled Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present."

.

Huh. I did not know about that.  Thank you!   Fingers crossed that it actually works!

 

@Margd   ...Hopefully, the above tweak solved your issue, of the jumping cursor.

   I don't have a Mac, so would not know.

A few months ago, I was having a similar issue with Firefox, and the Rich Text Editor, on my Acer desktop.

The RTE seemed to be acting buggy, with the cursor moving, as if I was hitting the 'Tabs' button, ...every so often.

Yup, annoying, but one of the Mods told me that their RTE was fine, so I figured it was my system.

It turns out, that I had an "Add-on" called "highlighter" ...or something like that...added to Firefox.

When I disabled/deleted the 'Add-on' program...then things all went back to normal.

Perhaps, check to see if any strange 'add-on' programs are attached, and disable them, for awhile.

(I also wondered what the button,  beside "Source," at the top of the Rich Text Editor, does to the Format.

Since sometimes it would be in "Normal (div)" mode...and when I switched to "Normal"...it seemed better.)

 

[margd]

  Well, turning off the trackpad didn't help.  I just had it happen again.  Just a note:  it never happens on any other website or apps.

I don't think it's a matter of add-ons or extensions to my browsers as I use Firefox and Chrome interchangeably and it happens with both.  Just in case, I did turn off most of the add-ons/extensions and it's still happening.  Since it's apparently not happening to anyone else, I figure it must be my computer but I'm stumped.  As long as I remember to copy my text before I delete the buggy post, it's no problem so I won't worry about it.  Hopefully the way my computer interacts with the new platform will be different and resolve the issue.

Thank you everyone for all of the ideas! 

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 

  Well, turning off the trackpad didn't help.  I just had it happen again.  Just a note:  it never happens on any other website or apps.

I don't think it's a matter of add-ons or extensions to my browsers as I use Firefox and Chrome interchangeably and it happens with both.  Just in case, I did turn off most of the add-ons/extensions and it's still happening.  Since it's apparently not happening to anyone else, I figure it must be my computer but I'm stumped.  As long as I remember to copy my text before I delete the buggy post, it's no problem so I won't worry about it.  Hopefully the way my computer interacts with the new platform will be different and resolve the issue.

Thank you everyone for all of the ideas! 

"Home" is the keyboard command which would bring the cursor back to Line 1.  Have you ascertained that the Home key isn't sticking or making accidental contact?

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[margd]

There is an upward arrow [emoji]11014[/emoji] key on my keyboard that returns the cursor to the beginning of the post and it's not sticking.  Thank you for the idea, though. 

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

 
There is an upward arrow [emoji]11014[/emoji] key on my keyboard that returns the cursor to the beginning of the post and it's not sticking.  Thank you for the idea, though. 

You're certainly welcome.  I can't stand the new-fangled stuff, so I use a real keyboard which is usually covered by a cat which spews cat hair.  Popping the keys out and hitting it with canned air is just routine maintenance for me.

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[DreamerRose]

I've had something similar happen. It only happens on TCS, but I don't know if it's my computer. The cursor will blink a moment in the Reply box, then disappear. If I replace it, the same thing happens again. Then sometimes, I could type a few letters, then the cursor disappears, and I can no longer type anything. I have exited TCS, and come back. Sometimes it's fine, then sometimes it isn't. For the moment, the problem has completely gone away. (I wouldn't have been able to type this otherwise.) Very frustrating.