[Bug Report] Input field detection false positives on Wikipedia

RogueScholar · July 4

First of all, let me say that I understand this issue is small potatoes and I understand if it isn't addressed promptly. I write this from a place of "no one can fix problems they don't know exist," and this is me doing my part to raise awareness and help keep 1Password head-and-shoulders above the pack. Yes, I'm a software developer and yes, I do love to write. You have been warned.

Issue description

My issue concerns English Wikipedia, though I would suspect that it also affects any other language variant of Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia Foundation projects on which the ProveIt widget can be enabled. ProveIt is one of the tools to generate the inline references that are the backbone of Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia, and it has some characteristics that appear to clash with the browser extension. Specifically, the 1P Chrome extension activates whenever the cursor is in any of the Name fields (understandably), and worse still it completely obscures the entire field from view. There is no way to dismiss the selection menu (or if so, I am unaware of it), and pressing the Esc key which would normally have that effect also happens to trigger the ProveIt widget to hide itself from view! Talk about your first-world problems, eh? Nevertheless, as a semi-frequent editor on the site for over two decades now, it has proven to be a growing source of exasperation.

How to reproduce

To any developer(s) which may be assigned to this ticket, it's possible to temporarily activate the ProveIt widget without the need to have an account on the site and then also enable the ProveIt widget in that account's preferences. This is done by way of URL query parameters, such as this link to edit a random page. You can reproduce this issue in any Chromium-based browser with the 1Password extension active by clicking the preceding link and then attempting to add a new citation anywhere in the sample article with this workflow:
1. Place the cursor anywhere in the Edit box.
2. Click on the icon which appears in the lower-right corner of the window and give it a few seconds to expand.
3. Click on the blue "Add Reference" button.
4. In the Template field, choose any of the options which naturally include an author's name, such as "Cite web," "Cite magazine," or simply "Citation."
5. Upon making any of the First Name or Last Name fields active by Tab-ing down to them or clicking in them, the 1Password menu will appear to offer available identities to fill.

You can rule-out other possible false positives by clicking the "Show all fields" button once a template has been selected, as there are too many to enumerate completely here. Most templates, and especially those for academic journals and books have inputs for First Name and Last Name for 10-15 authors and likewise for editors, and 1Password obscures all of them for me.

Proposed solutions

Potential acceptable resolutions that I can imagine would include:

The presence of an unobtrusive Close button so that the menu could be dismissed as needed.
The ability to more granularly control what types of auto-fill are presented for pages on a certain domain name or subdomain, e.g. while I would grieve the loss of 1Password's auto-fill for logins on Wikipedia, I would love to have the ability to prevent it from offering to fill identity fields (nope, even after 20 years, Wikimedia still has no idea of exactly where I live, and they're polite enough not to ask), say, as an expansion of the existing controls for per-URL activation relating to subdomains.
The addition of logic to suspend the auto-fill behavior if the extension recognizes (by way of CSS media queries or some JS wizardry I'm not privy to?) that it will completely obscure the input field or that the field geometry prevents the display of the right-hand toggle.
Another less attractive option (to me) would be the ability to remap the ability to close the auto-fill menu to another keyboard key or combination, but I already have many more useful hotkeys than my brain can keep track of, and I ask that you take pity on me in that regard. 😇

Other useful links

These other information sources may prove useful in any efforts to solve this issue (Good Lord, I really do sound like someone who's been editing Wikipedia for half his life, don't I?):

ProveIt source code repository (Git VCS, Gerrit web interface; bare url for git clone-ing: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/gadgets/ProveIt)
The point-of-contact for ProveIt development is Felipe Schenone (a/k/a Sophivorus)
ProveIt issue tracker on Phabricator
Also feel free to pester me if you need more information or a guinea pig to validate attempted fixes, the e-mail associated with this account is valid and (mostly) monitored

Thanks for taking the time to review this, even if nothing happens. I do this stuff too, and I know all too well that "not all bugs get fixed" is as true as "not all superheroes wear capes." I do kinda hope that 1Password employees get to wear capes, at least the really cool ones, because you make a great product and have always treated me fairly and with respect. If you sold them as merch, I might even buy one, no promises though (people already think I'm weird enough as it is).

With appreciation,
Peter

1Password Version: 8.10.36 (81036042)
Extension Version: 2.25.12 (build 22501200, NIGHTLY channel)
OS Version: Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (build 26120.961)
Browser: Vivaldi Snapshot

EvonG1P · July 5

Hello, @RogueScholar. Thank you for taking the time to write in. I appreciate the details you shared on the issue you're bumping into with 1Password in the browser.

I've done some testing on my end and have been able to recreate the same behaviour. However, I can close 1Password's Inline menu with the ESC key. Can you click the 1Password icon in the field to close/open the Inline menu instead? Here's a short video demonstrating this -> https://share.cleanshot.com/d96Pps1f.

I've reported this behaviour to our development team for further investigation and added you as an affected user.

Alternatively, you can temporarily turn off all suggestions on a specific webpage by right-clicking the field or anywhere on the page, selecting 1Password - Password Manager and choosing the Hide on this page option. This is a temporary solution and would require you to re-do the steps after every browser restart.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

-Evon

ref: dev/core/core#31009

MichaelMaggs · November 3

Hi

I also see this issue, and it really makes editing Wikipedia (at least the English Wikipedia) quite difficult. The recent version of 1Password is now quite aggressive in offering to help when entering text in many different text-entry fields, and using many different editing tools that the Wikipedia community makes available. At the very least, it's a hassle to have to cancel the 1Password popup each time, and very often the icon at the right-hand side of the field makes it impossible to see what is being typed. ESC generally does not work, as it often simply closes the text-entry field entirely.

Could we have an option to enter (and save) site-wide exemptions? I'd like to be able to add https://en.wikipedia.org to a list of domains within which I will never need 1Password assistance.

Many thanks, Michael

EvonG1P · November 5

Hello, @MichaelMaggs. Thank you for reaching out. I apologize for the issue you're experiencing with 1Password while using it on Wikipedia. May I confirm if you also use the ProveIT widget for Wikipedia?

You mentioned:

it's a hassle to have to cancel the 1Password popup each time

To confirm, are you referring to 1Password's save contact information pop-up? If so, you can turn this off in the extension settings; here's how:

Right-click the 1Password icon in your browser's toolbar and select Settings.
In the Autofill & save section, turn off Offer to save contact information.

Could we have an option to enter (and save) site-wide exemptions? I'd like to be able to add https://en.wikipedia.org to a list of domains within which I will never need 1Password assistance.

I appreciate the feedback you shared. While I can't make any promises, I've shared your comment with our product team for further consideration. In the meantime, I recommend temporarily hiding 1Password on specific pages by selecting 1Password - Password Manager and choosing the Hide on this page option.

I hope that helps.

-Evon
ref:44026220

MichaelMaggs · November 5

Hi Evon, thanks for the response. Yes, I use the ProveIT tool for Wikipedia quite extensively. I do see the issues there, but there are quite a lot of other tools where the same thing happens. It may not be easy to get a complete list as there are so many, and different editors rely on different tools. Hence the suggestion for an option to be able to block out the entire domain.

To confirm, I was referring to the save contact information pop-up. I don't want to switch that off, as it's extremely useful generally, (but I never want either that or the 1Password icon to the right of the field when I'm working on Wikipedia)

Michael

EvonG1P · November 6

@MichaelMaggs,

Thank you for your reply. I understand you prefer to leave the save contact information pop-up option enabled. I appreciate the additional information. I've passed along your comments to the team.

Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with.