# No mouseover **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [June 23, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436 "2020-06-23T16:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/41 "2021-04-25T21:57:57Z")
I usually am. Both my employer’s laptop and my windows laptop have touch screens. I only get mouseover on my Mac. I miss it. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/42 "2021-04-26T17:37:08Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Sorry, what’s the problem? Are you on a touchscreen device? My laptop has a touchsceen, but most commonly I’m using it docked with a second monitor and mouse. But the mouseover doesn’t work because the site detects that I have a touchsceen. Ideally, the site would turn mouseover on/off based on the presence of a pointing device. I don’t think that’s possible in browsers (yet), so maybe the mouseover could be on for everyone? Is there any problem with having it enabled for touch devices? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/43 "2021-04-26T17:43:26Z")
There was quite a lot of discussion about touchscreens and mouseover in this thread. > [@How are people feeling about Discourse?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-people-feeling-about-discourse/926428/285): > > Also, re: the touchscreen / keyboard combo devices, this is a browser limitation that I suspect we’ll be able to conquer over time. Apple insists that such devices do not exist… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/44 "2021-04-26T22:32:19Z")
I asked my husband, a web developer, about wherever there was anything inherent about having a touchscreen that made it hard to implement mouseover. He said there isn’t. But he says a common problem is that the code assumes you have mouseover and relies on it for some functionally, but the mouseover doesn’t work (despite being implemented) because you don’t have a separate pointing device. He thinks the issue must be in the package of utilities Discourse is using, which is trying to protect developers who use it from making that kind of mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/45 "2021-04-28T13:50:46Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > Sorry, what’s the problem? Are you on a touchscreen device? Yes, Surface Pro. If I turn off touch while I open SDMB, mouseover works. But that is a pain to remember to do every time. (needs me to run a small script) As far as I can see, to prevent accidental and annoying not-wanted mouseovers, Discourse uses touch capability to differentiate smartphones/tablets (keyboard and mouse -less devices) from Mac/PC. OK a while ago but in the last several years a lot of PCs have acquired touch, keyboard and mouse. Needs a better way to do this if still needed. Even a manual choice would be better. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2021, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/46 "2021-04-29T05:54:58Z")
One suggestion would be to detect all touch events and only disable mouseover events when one is currently active. Another simpler idea might be to never completely disable if the UserAgent is a desktop browser. Most mouse users would use one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/47 "2021-04-29T10:57:14Z")
I’m using a laptop that does not have touchscreen and never has. Mouseover is intermittent at best for me. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/48 "2021-05-19T09:45:13Z")
> [@Steven\_G](#): > > Raking this up again. Anyone know if Discourse may be updated to fix this? raking up the rake-up 😀 Is there any intention to look at this issue? ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/49 "2021-05-19T17:19:17Z")
As stated upstream, it’s a limitation of the browser tooling. There’s literally nothing we can do about it, because we can’t detect this state – “system has both a mouse and a touchscreen”. This may change in the future as browsers improve, however. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/50 "2021-05-19T17:26:07Z")
Is there a need to disable mouseover for touch screens? What’s the downside of it being always on? ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/51 "2021-05-19T17:27:47Z")
I believe it turns everything into a double-tap on touch. One tap to reveal the “hover”, then a tap to activate. That’s what I remember. So yeah, pretty traumatic. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/52 "2021-05-19T19:14:33Z")
How about 1. disable mouseover in mobile / enable it in desktop mode or 2. make it a setting Or, if you REALLY don’t want to do either of those, how about 3) just give up entirely on mouseover? It’s problematic to have it sometimes work and sometimes not work in ways that are confusing to the user. And I was just looking at a thread where apparently some mod made a moderation decision in part based on what the mouseover showed – which isn’t a uniform experience. Yes, I’m feeling bitchy about this, because most of my browsing is in Win10 these days, and like all good Win10 devices, my laptops have touchscreens. And I’m finding the whole thing very frustrating. My preference would be (2), as I really like mouseover, and miss it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/53 "2021-05-19T19:15:50Z")
I could probably live with double-tapping on my phone. I really do miss mouseover. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/54 "2021-05-19T19:43:58Z")
Just reinforcing this request and also wondering (as others have) if it could switch depending on whether you’re serving up the mobile website or the desktop version. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/55 "2021-05-19T20:22:16Z")
There’s a draft specification for [Media Queries Level 4](https://www.w3.org/TR/mediaqueries-4/) originally published in 2014 that I think provides better support. It’s still draft, but every major browser (except IE) already implements it. In particular, the `any-hover:hover` feature will indicate if the device has any hover-capable input. > **[Interaction Media Features and Their Potential (for Incorrect Assumptions) |...](https://css-tricks.com/interaction-media-features-and-their-potential-for-incorrect-assumptions/)** > > The Media Queries Level 4 Interaction Media Features — pointer, hover, any-pointer and any-hover — are meant to allow sites to implement different styles and functionality (either CSS-specific interactivity like :hover, or JavaScript behaviors, when... ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/56 "2021-05-19T21:05:16Z")
If I disable touch, start a browser, then reenable touch, mouseover works in _some_ themes. So how about removing this out-of-date way to detect smartphones and just create some smartphone themes? ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_G](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_g/32/5080_2.png) [@Steven\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_G)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/57 "2021-10-26T13:05:49Z")
Raking up the last rake up. Seems this gets discussed, with potentially useful suggestions, but no definitive answer on when/if it will be worked on or fixed. Note as per other posts, I am aware this is Discourse related Is this really dead for touch-screen PC users? Or in the pipeline somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/codinghorror/32/4242_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/58 "2021-10-26T20:14:51Z")
It depends if browser manufacturers give developers the ability to distinguish between touchscreen with keyboard, and touchscreen only. Right now that’s not possible. Best to follow up with the browser companies and ask. You can read more about it here. > Also ask yourself: what if the user with the touchscreen computer unplugs their mouse? What happens then? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/59 "2021-10-26T20:33:28Z")
My laptops with touch screens also have a built in touchpad that can’t be unplugged. I almost never use a mouse. I also miss the “mouse over”. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436/60 "2021-10-26T20:36:29Z")
Mouseover has been intermittent at best since the board software switch. I’ve been using the same laptop the whole time, that does not have touchscreen and never has. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-mouseover/912436.md?page=4)