Paste to Pages from Firefox with HTML-Links

Question

Level 1

8 points

Paste to Pages from Firefox with HTML-Links

Hello,

I use Pages 5.6.1 on a MacBook Pro with El Capitan. When I try to copy content from a Website in Firefox to Pages, the HTML disappears, so it pastes text-only. With Chrome it is the same. It seems that copy & paste is only possible from Safari.

As a workaround I can past the text (from Firefox) in another application (e.g. a Mail message) and then copy it again to Pages, then everything is fine, the HTML is still there. But this ***** and I would really like to just copy and paste from the Browse of my choice. Does anyone know a way to do this?

Also, I find this behaviour of Pages really annoying. It is literally the only app I know that behaves that way.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Mar 29, 2016 6:44 AM

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Answer 1

makkabi Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 29, 2016 8:33 AM in response to VikingOSX

Sorry, but this isn't true or helping. When I copy and paste a text from a website that contains a link (let's say a few words that are underlined in the text), it works without problems in LibreOffice, Mail and just about any app but Pages.. unless I use Safari as a Browser, only than does it copy the link (or to be more precise: the HTML).

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,202 points

Mar 29, 2016 7:27 AM in response to makkabi

There is no direct method of pasting a URL from the clipboard to become an automatic, active link in Pages, unless you have the Link Editor open and paste into it first, followed by a return. If it is a malformed URL, then that link will be changed to the default Apple address.

Neither Mail 9.3, LibreOffice 5.1, or TextEdit on OS X 10.11.4 will accept pasted URL other than just plain text. MS Word might, but I do not have it here to test.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,202 points

Mar 29, 2016 10:12 AM in response to makkabi

The bottom-line is that there is no automatic live link support in Pages v5.6.1 when receiving a pasted URL link from any other browser. Pages '09 v4.3 will do this with links sourced from Safari only.

I don't post responses for my amusement, and I always test against multiple applications and use cases before any response. Thus, I stand by the tested contents of my previous post. Apple applications handle content copied and pasted via the clipboard differently than third-party applications that use little to no Objective-C and Apple Frameworks.

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Answer 4

makkabi Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 29, 2016 10:33 AM in response to VikingOSX

Again: If I (or you) select and copy e.g. your answer here (including the links like "This helped me") using Firefox and paste it in LibreOffice or Mail, they will perfectly work as HTML, including active links. If I paste them in Pages, they will be text only, without any HTML. It only works if I use Safari as a Browser.

This is not a general problem of Apple Apps (see: Mail or also Notes), this is a problem of Pages (and, as I just tested, Keynote and Numbers, but there it is less a problem).

If someone has a solution other than the workaround that I mentioned (paste the HTML first into LibreOffice, Mail etc. and then copy and paste it from there into Pages), that would be highly appreciated.

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Answer 5

VikingOSX

Level 10

124,202 points

Mar 29, 2016 11:32 AM in response to makkabi

As I said, there is no user workaround beyond visiting other Rich Text Apple applications first. It very much is a Pages v5.6.1 design limitation.

Yes, I can now confirm that copying the “This helped me” link from your last post, and pasting from Firefox 45.0.1 into LibreOffice does indeed result in a live link. I can't explain that because a dozen other links from random websites did not paste as live URL links into LibreOffice.

I have some errands I must run. I am thinking about an AppleScript or Automator solution, but that may take awhile, if feasible at all.

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