I've tried to reproduce this consistently, but I can't. I've noticed, about 10 times now, an occasional bug in the search box in the top right. I think my steps are:

  • I click into the search box
  • I press CMD + A to select all the text (whether or not there is text in it: it's a force of habit)
  • I type my search query. Only the single latest character typed is shown in the search box, and that character remains selected, as in the screenshot.

I'm in Chrome (31.0.1650.63, latest at the time of writing), on a Mac (OS X 10.8.3)

search box allowing only a single character

Edit: It's just happened again. I've noticed that I can press the left arrow key, which increases the number of characters allowed by one. Only one more character appears after a character key press, it becomes highlighted, and is replaced after every letter key press. The below shot shows this after several hits of the left arrow key + character.

enter image description here

Edit: I have managed reproduce this most (but not all) times, but using a slightly different method, not using CMD+A:

  • Go to a page with something in the search box, like http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/angularjs

  • Very quickly as the page loads, highlight the text in the search box from the right to the left

  • Then typing characters allows either a single character, or now 2, if they are typed in very quick succession.

Edit: Disabling all my Chrome extensions results in the same issue. However, if I use an incognito window, when not logged in, then I can't recreate it. Could it be something to do with my account?

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Could it be that you keyboard is sticking the CMD + A, causing the computer to be selecting the text all the time? Meaning, you type a letter, it gets selected, you type another one, it replaces the previous and gets selected in turn etc etc etc...? The screenshot you posted suggests that's the case. –  Oded Dec 26 '13 at 10:43
I don't think so: if I manually hold CMD + A (or just CMD), then the browser thinks I'm trying a keyboard shortcut, and starts reacting appropriately, like showing things like the find (CMD + F), print (CMD + P), or save (CMD + S) windows, which I've never noticed when the issue occurs. –  Michal Charemza Dec 26 '13 at 10:59
Once this starts, does it go away by itself when you (slowly) keep typing? If it does go away, and if this is on a MacBook: any chance your handpalm is on the touchpad, somehow selecting the text? (I have "tap to click" enabled, but I cannot reproduce your problem this way. And then it should happen in any text input in which the mouse cursor is in the very same input, not just the SE search box. But on a previous machine I did have many weird issues with the touchpad, caused by the old battery putting pressure on it, and "clicking" for me.) –  Arjan Dec 26 '13 at 11:53
The only way I could fix it was by refreshing the page: keeping typing doesn't solve it (but yes, this is on a MacBook with "tap to click" enabled). I've never noticed this on any other text box on any other page or site. –  Michal Charemza Dec 26 '13 at 11:57
And any chance this might only happen after you've started typing a comment and/or clicked the "Share" link? (The JavaScript for commenting does something with selections for the tab-completion, and the JavaScript for sharing pre-selects the URL for easy copy/paste. I still cannot reproduce with those either, but I know it doesn't happen to you all the time either.) –  Arjan Dec 26 '13 at 13:20
@Arjan I don't think so. It's just happened on my own profile page, that doesn't have commenting and a share link (that I can see). I've also discovered a bit more behaviour about it, which I've added to the report. –  Michal Charemza Dec 27 '13 at 9:49
I have edited the post with a way that reproduces the problem, most of the time. –  Michal Charemza Dec 27 '13 at 11:31
Just to check, have you tried reproducing this on non-SE sites, or with JavaScript disabled? This sounds like a bug either in your browser or in Stack Exchange's JavaScript code, and it would be nice to know which. (Ps. I was unable to reproduce this using your instructions on Chrome 31.0.1650.63 on Windows 7.) –  Ilmari Karonen Dec 27 '13 at 16:18
@IlmariKaronen I've just tried on a few non-SE sites, and it didn't happen. I also couldn't recreate it if I disabled JS on SO. Once I enabled JS, then I could again recreate the issue (with the "dragging" method at the end of the report). –  Michal Charemza Dec 28 '13 at 7:43
Can you also reproduce on a site that you actually don't visit too much? (Like: a site where you won't have any preferred or ignored tags, though I don't see how that would affect the example tag page you are using. As an aside: even when very quickly selecting using a Wacom pen tablet, I still cannot reproduce on my MacBook with the latest OS X and Chrome.) –  Arjan Dec 28 '13 at 18:59
@Arjan I've just signed up to code golf, and the same issue has occurred (when dragging to choose the text in the search box) –  Michal Charemza Dec 31 '13 at 10:25
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