Clickable links in non-browsing view

[sindresorhus]

Even when not in browsing view. Someone in an App Review requested this. Not sure about the use-case for this. If you also want this. Tell me why.

Request:

I wish the links on the webpage were still active and would open in the default web browser.

My reply:

This might be possible, but it's probably non-trivial. To allow clicking links, we'll have to enable full website interaction. That means users will be able to not just click links, but also scroll, select text, etc, which is a suboptimal experience as it can cause unintended interactions when working with files on the desktop.

Another possible solution rather than enabling full interaction would be to get all the links of the website, get their bounding boxes, and then pass those to Plash and we can detect clicks on those locations ourselves. That might be the best option, actually.

[geselle-jan]

I would really like to have this feature, too. It doesn't matter for me if I can't use files on the desktop anymore. Maybe you could add it with a warning about the consequences?

[sindresorhus]

Not sure about the use-case for this. If you also want this. Tell me why.

[geselle-jan]

Not sure about the use-case for this. If you also want this. Tell me why.

I would like to run a local webserver which serves a custom website as an interactive wallpaper. I would like to have widget-like sections on this website, for example a working calculator, links that run macros and other interactive elements. This website would behave like part of the operating system. I really love your app. My only problem is, that when I am in browsing view, the website doesn't stay in the background and thus it breaks the illusion of being part of the OS.
It's probably a fringe case, but I would love it.

But anyway, thanks for that sweet piece of software! :)

[jpeiniger]

Second that. Would be great if there is a mode, where only onClick events work, but nothing else interaction wise. Building a work timer and working buttons would be really cool.

Other option would be, if browser mode would not lay over all active windows and make them useless. If browse mode would stay in the background, one could handle the onClick stuff oneself and deactivate text-select via css or JS.

[geselle-jan]

Other option would be, if browser mode would not lay over all active windows and make them useless. If browse mode would stay in the background, one could handle the onClick stuff oneself and deactivate text-select via css or JS.

Yes, that would be perfect!

[sindresorhus]

Other option would be, if browser mode would not lay over all active windows and make them useless.

I think that's a good change regardless. Done: 912efb2

I don't plan to do a new release for a while, but here's a build with the change: Plash.app.zip

[jpeiniger]

Thanks, thats great. If you are open to it, I could look into some small things and send a pull request.

[geselle-jan]

I don't plan to do a new release for a while, but here's a build with the change: Plash.app.zip

Thank you so much, thats amazing! 😃

[imaverage]

@jpeiniger idk about @sindresorhus but I'd be open to it haha. I also use forks for other projects. that said, @sindresorhus 's zip here seems to work well enough for me.

[imaverage]

@sindresorhus All it needs now is to just remember to start in browsing mode now since I think all of us in this thread intend to stay in browsing mode. currently, you have to turn it on every time.