Add a user interface to configure keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl-Shift-V

[jonthegrocer]

Background

Every time I type CTRL-SHIFT-V in Google Docs (which is often), to paste unformatted, ABP launches its Blockable Items box instead. I can find no means to disable or change this keychord, which means I cannot paste unformatted in GD without pasting to a notepad and then copying from there.

For a Google Docs power user, this is unacceptable.

I have tried disabling ABP for docs.google.com, but this does not stop the Blockable Items box appearing.

What to change

Please either:

• Provide an option to change each ABP keychord to a user-selected chord, or;
• Provide an option to defeat each ABP keychord (or all of them), so as not to interfere with the web page's own.

[mapx]

​https://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=64186#p64186

[jonthegrocer]

Well, that takes me to a similar request, marked WONTFIX, which mentions that the settings can be changed in about:config. Here's what I posted in reply, there:

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Hacking settings through about:config is (1) completely inobvious to the vast majority of your users, (2) user-hostile, and (3) inimical to proper, modern (as in, within the last 20 years) user interface design.

It's barely one step away from telling a Windows user to fire up REGEDT32, hack some registry settings, and reboot.

Please, make this a UI feature. For pity's sake, I've been programming for over 40 years, and it didn't occur to me that you'd bury the settings deep in about:config - what chance does (say) your mother have?

[trev]

Replying to jonthegrocer:

what chance does (say) your mother have?

What chance does your mother have at even hitting this issue? There is a reason why this isn't exposed in the UI - very few users (compared to the entire Adblock Plus user base) care about this. The mechanism selecting the right shortcut key attempts to resolve conflicts but occasionally (if the conflicting shortcut key is defined in a non-obvious way) this won't work. Sadly, Ctrl-Shift-V as "paste as plain text" is such a case - it doesn't have a corresponding <xul:key> element in the browser, it's rather hardcoded somewhere in the code. That's why this about:config setting exists and why this possibility is mentioned in the ​documentation. You don't need to know that, typing "adblock plus change shortcut" into your search engine of choice will immediately get you there. Every now and then people will ask about this but this isn't exactly a common question.

So I am not convinced that this setting should have a UI. If anything, I might consider adding this to the ​Customizations extension. But even then the priority should be rather low for the effort (building a UI for key selection is tricky) - so chances are best if somebody contributes this code.

@jeen: Any thoughts on this?

[jonthegrocer]

There is a reason why this isn't exposed in the UI - very few users (compared to the entire Adblock Plus user base) care about this.

How do you know? Do you have telemetry? Do you know how many people got frustrated with the key conflict with Google Docs, and simply uninstalled or disabled ABP? Word from someone with over 30 years' commercial software experience: don't make assumptions. They'll come back to bite you.

As as for:

Ctrl-Shift-V [is] rather hardcoded somewhere in the code.

...no, it's not. It's part of Google Docs' code, and similar conventions in other browser-based and desktop apps. Given the transitions away from rather expensive Microsoft Office licensing (both installed and cloud (365) based) to cheaper GDocs, this is only going to increase.

Let me put it like this: my main consultancy client has about 10k staff. They've moved completely over from MSOffice to GDocs in the past year. ABP now presents problems for very single one of them who doesn't know about the about:config hack. And that's just one largish company. Sysadmins are more likely to say, "We no longer support ABP" than "Here's a hack for you". Thus, large numbers of ABP users...silently no longer are, and you don't find out why.

One last thing: if your users have to find the manual and read it, or find the right search engine runes for solutions¹, you've got the UX wrong. That's been well understood for two decades.

(¹ I did; I didn't chance on the right keyword combo.)

[trev]

I filed #4544 on improving detection of existing shortcuts in order to recognize that Ctrl-Shift-V is taken. I'm closing this bug, we shouldn't have/need a UI here.