It would be nice to have built-in hotkeys assigned to the back and forward navigation: Assign ALT+LeftArrow and ALT+RightArrow for them, respectively. Why: 1. The same keys are used for browsers, so all the users would have muscle memory. 2. These hotkeys are not currently assigned to any other functions. So rather than making every user set up these hotkeys, provide them by default!
By back and forward should we assume you mean the SB Navigator deck with the 'Recency' movement stack as the selected mode? If so, the SB Navigator deck's UI 'Go back' and 'Go forward' buttons are mouse click centric. But no corresponding keyboard shortcuts can currently be assigned as they would require new UNO actions to do so. So possibly, => NEW against meta bug 86899 However, <Atl>+<Right> and <Alt>+<Left> shortcut/accelerators are not otherwise assigned and *are* available for user to make an assignment from Tools -> Customize -> Keyboard dialog to an existing UNO control of their choice.
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #1) > By back and forward should we assume you mean the SB Navigator deck with the > 'Recency' movement stack as the selected mode? Or previous/next page? On macOS, alt + command + cursor up/down (on Linux it's ctrl+up/down) jumps to the previous/next page (and is customizable).
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #2) >... > Or previous/next page? On macOS, alt + command + cursor up/down (on Linux > it's ctrl+up/down) jumps to the previous/next page (and is customizable). We already provide UNO [1] for those movements, and they can be assigned to <Alt>+<Left> or <Alt>+<Right>, though they already have assigned shortcuts. What we don't have is UNO to move focus on the 'Recency' stack. I think that is what the request is. =-ref-= [1] UNO .uno:GoToStartOfNextPage (<Alt>+<PgDn>) or .uno:GoToStartOfPrevPage (<Alt>+<PgUp>)
(In reply to V Stuart Foote from comment #3) > > What we don't have is UNO to move focus on the 'Recency' stack. I think that > is what the request is. @NarayanAras, the NEEDINFO is to you to describe what you need. Please review the Sidebar Navigator panel, put into the 'Recency' navigate-by mode (where default on list is 'Page'). Does clicking on the 'Go Back' and 'Go Forward' arrow buttons give you the movement you want to make available as <Alt>+<Left/Right> keyboard assignments?
What is "SB Navigator deck"? These commands are named uno:NavigateForward and uno:NavigateBack. I will explain with three separate examples: 1. You are at any place in the document. Now you click on a heading in the Navigator panel, and Writer takes you to that heading. To come back to where you were, press the green Left arrow in the Navigator panel. 2. You are at any place in the document. Now you CTRL+click on a hyperlink in the document, and Writer takes you to that hyperlink destination. To come back to where you were, press the green Left arrow in the Navigator panel. 3. You are at any place in the document. Now you scroll the document with two-finger drag method, and scroll up/down by several pages. To return to the old location, press the green Left arrow in the Navigator panel. 4. But if you zoom out, pressing the green Left arrow in the Navigator panel does not restore the earlier zoom. So, I conclude that this button/shortcut takes you back to earlier position, but it does not change the view (location+zoom) as in case of pdf readers. --------------- I have set ALT+LeftArrow for that "back" button, so I can use the hotkey. But my point is that these keys should be assigned by default in the out-of-the-box LibreOffice, because it allows fast navigation with keyboard. The user should not have to do it manually.
BTW, I have never needed to jump to the top of the previous/next page in Writer. (Can't imagine the user case for that, either.) I use pdf readers in "continuous" mode (as opposed to "single page" mode), so I do not need "jump to the top of next/previous page" command there, either.
From your comment, I got the doubt that the Back and Forward are working for the selected item in the "Navigate by" drop-down manu. But that's not the case. Those are vertical green arrows (up/down). The controls I am talking about are HORIZONTAL green arrows. (I am using Elementary (SVG) Light theme.)
Yep, I'd missed the established UNO, .uno:NavigateBack with Label: 'Back' and .uno:NavigateForward with Label: 'Forward', are already available to assign to a shortcut of your choosing. In addition to their use on the Navigation toolbar (View -> Toolbars -> Navigation) the only two buttons on the Navigation toolbar, the behavior in the Sidebar (SB) Navigator deck is exposed when the 'Recency' navigate-by mode is selected. And likewise when the 'Recency' navigate-by mode is exposed and set in the QuickFind bar. This 'Recency with Temporal Ordering' mode of navigation of cursor positions (by text entry or object placement) is as implemented in navmgr.cxx/hxx and used by the navsh.cxx/hxx. A GSOC 2009 contribution that has been refined over the years. That said, I would not now pre-assign them to the <Alt>+<Left> and <Alt>+<Right> shortcuts suggested. Too much potential interference with os/DE usage. Current ability to assign these established UNO to keyboard shortcuts is sufficient for users so desiring. The Labels might need a tweak to help discovery, maybe 'Navigate Back'/'Navigate Forward' IMHO => WF
bug 149820 asked for a shortcut to return to the previous position in the document; resolved wontfix with the tip to use the Navigator
bug 160732 discusses to rename for the feature into "Position History"
Please note there are RTL implications here. If this is considered, then - in some cases, "left" is actually "forward" while "right" is actually "backward". Should depend on UI locale direction, but perhaps also on some factors.