User:DWalden (WMF)/Copy paste diffs/2021-10-20 dwalden

Description of current behaviour


Above shows the behaviour when you start your selection in different places on the page.

If you start your selection in the areas in the blue rectangles it will select text on the "deleted" side of the diff (left in this image, but would be right if this were an RTL wiki).

Areas in the green rectangles will select text on the "added" side of the diff (right in this image, but would be left if this were an RTL wiki).

Areas in the red rectangles will not select any text. (N.B. In Chrome, starting from the "+" and "-" indicators will allow you to select text).

Outside of the rectangles, the behaviour can be one of three things:
 * 1) If your last selection was on the "deleted" side of the diff, text in the "deleted" side will be selected
 * 2) If your last selection was on the "added" side of the diff, text in the "added" side will be selected
 * 3) If you have not previously selected text on either side of the diff, text on both sides will be selected

Note that there are small gaps between the blue and green rectangles. These also count as being outside of the rectangles. They are quite small, but you could start your selection there unintentionally, leading to surprising behaviour for the user (e.g. it might appear as if the "wrong" side of the diff has been selected).